getting fired from wags soon due to too many customer complaints, is this common?

[VictorOfHungerGames]

i've been with them for about a year now. 3 months after starting i was called in and had a talk about my performance with the DM and my RXM. i was told i was getting a lot of complaints on my floater evaluation forms. the stores i've been working at have been writing negative reviews about me. i've tried to fix the problem and improve my performance, this was in november. then in april which was 2 months ago i got called back in by the RXM. this time i had a complaint from a doctor. a doctor called asking about a dosing question, at the time i didn't help over the phone to answer it, so i guess the doctor reported it? anyway, my RXM found out and then wrote me up. fast forward to june which is now and i've been written up 2 more times. a customer called corporate and complained about me, she said i dispensed generic when she wanted brand. i personally don't remember the interaction, i do tons of things and interact with tons of people every work day. my second write up was due to opening the pharmacy late. i had a flat tire in the morning as a surprise and had to get it fixed. took care of it and came in. even stayed later to make up for the time i lost and help the store. rxm had no idea why i opened late, she just wrote me up and said if i open late again i will be fired. e-mailed the DM my reasoning for opening late and about my recent customer complaints, she didn't even acknowledge my late opening. she said that i've been given several opportunities to demonstrate customer care and that "every" review i've gotten from customers has been negative. she said if another complaint comes through, the RXM and her will review it and it could lead up to termination

so yeah. my store manager keeps telling me he has a file on me that is about 1-2 inches thick full of floater evaluation complaints and complaints in general. both him and my RXM literally don't like me and have no hope for me. they don't care about my improvement or me as an employee, they would rather see me fired and rid of already. do i have any ability to report such treatment to higher management or would they just brush it off? i was told if i get another complaint or opened late again then i will be terminated. i already started looking for new jobs, i think i have another 1 or 2 more months before the eventual complaint comes in or something happens and i end up getting fired

is this situation common? i have no idea how it came down to this to be honest. have been trying to improve and step up. i find myself in this situation now though, almost fired due to customer service issues

Sounds about right. Theyll throw new floaters under the bus in a heartbeat. Youre gonna be scapegoated every time. Even if its not your fault, theyll blame you since they dont want to take the fault. Ive experienced it at cvs so many times. PIC just made **** up and blamed it on me. She got caught lying and techs confirmed it DM did not care. So i left and went to an indie. I have never been so happy in my entire life.

Bottom line: gtfo. Its only gonna get worse.

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[ancienbon]

Sounds about right. Theyll throw new floaters under the bus in a heartbeat. Youre gonna be scapegoated every time. Even if its not your fault, theyll blame you since they dont want to take the fault. Ive experienced it at cvs so many times. PIC just made **** up and blamed it on me. She got caught lying and techs confirmed it DM did not care. So i left and went to an indie. I have never been so happy in my entire life.

Bottom line: gtfo. Its only gonna get worse.

Having worked in retail for almost 10 years i have seen so much backstabbing on the bench where eveything is blamed on others.! It is a dog eat dog world. There are so many rphs who would say and do anything to make others look bad! There was a rph that made a whole bunch of lies about me ! She was trying to get me fired! Thankfully the dm did not believe her! For the op the writings are on the wall already. .time to look for a new job. .

 

[meltyblend]

I read somewhere once it costs an average of 15k to train an employee. For pharmacists, I assume it's much higher based on our pay per hour. I don't understand how the chains can be so negligent in their training and employee retention. It's like their goal is to be higher turnover companies. Doesn't matter how many graduates there are, the game they play is a dangerous one.

You seem like a reasonable person tbh. Like, so reasonable that I hope you're working for a company that doesn't suck or are looking elsewhere for opportunities.

From what I was told, new pharmacists at CVS only get 40 hours of training, Don't know how accurate that is.

I went straight from intern, to grad intern, to staff, to manager. As a grad intern they showed me how they verified, let me try once or twice, and that was about it. Once I was licensed, I had 1 day of pharmacist training (showed me how to count/verify CIIs) and was left alone the rest of the shift. I was then placed in one of the busiest store in the district and 6 months later I was "promoted" to manager at another busy pharmacy. Nobody showed me how to be a manager or what I even had to do.

Thank you for your kind words. I recently asked to step down and the answer sounded positive. Hopefully, it means I can go back to being staff. I actually don't mind the work, I just hate managing.

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

From what I was told, new pharmacists at CVS only get 40 hours of training, Don't know how accurate that is.

I went straight from intern, to grad intern, to staff, to manager. As a grad intern they showed me how they verified, let me try once or twice, and that was about it. Once I was licensed, I had 1 day of pharmacist training (showed me how to count/verify CIIs) and was left alone the rest of the shift. I was then placed in one of the busiest store in the district and 6 months later I was "promoted" to manager at another busy pharmacy. Nobody showed me how to be a manager or what I even had to do.

Thank you for your kind words. I recently asked to step down and the answer sounded positive. Hopefully, it means I can go back to being staff. I actually don't mind the work, I just hate managing.

I am a pic at an indie right now and although i was never a pic at cvs, i truly believe deep in my soul that 90% of pics ive met were nowhere near competent in managing the pharmacy. Probably bc theyre hiring and promoting based on either favoritism/nepotism or performance/metric reviews that ignores the human side of medicine. Not sure how long cvs, wags and other chains can last running their pharmacies that way.

 

[Sine Cura]

There is a third option: no other options

I have never gotten a "manager" position based on being the best candidate but as the only candidate and I am on a third reclamation project. I assure you there was zero consideration of people skills or leadership capability. My ****-posting style on forums is basically how I act IRL

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Haha that's not the training. As we've discussed retail pharmacies have horrible training. The $15k+ comes from the fact that new pharmacists make mistakes, piss off customers and lose business, need to waste time from other employees being taught what to do, etc. When you first start you know next to nothing and hemorrhage resources for the business. As time goes on that becomes less and less of an issue. But yeah these floaters all the managers blame for everything as they're trying to teach themselves how to be pharmacists, that's the cost of having a high turnover company.

My training modules when I started were pretty much useless. Half the time was spent trying to get the stupid iPad to work not mentioning that it worked at a speed comparable to a computer from the 1980's.

What? Are you kidding?
Cost per hire has nothing to do with any of that.

Stop posting ignorant opinions

 

[waitforit24]

Im putting this out there for the person who posted the original question to this thread. Not sure if you still seek advice about your current situation but maybe my story can help others. First, a bit about me. I’ve been a pharmacist with Walgreens for 10 years, 13 years altogether with the company. I was very excited coming out of school to begin my career as a pharmacist, and that first honeymoon phase was nice. But soon enough reality set in and I realized just how bad it could get. As a floater pharmacist please remember that you are on your own. It’s your word against the pharmacy manager, who do you think they will believe? You can be the best pharmacist but if you work in a toxic environment with techs and a manager who hate their jobs, they will make life difficult for you. May come across as a cynic but do not trust anybody. I have witnessed a pharmacy manager write bad review about myself to the dm yet never uttered a word to me in person about my performance. Mind you I do my job the same everywhere I go. You would think the first step in helping a fellow pharmacist improve at his or her job would be to have a one to one talk, not escalate the matter to upper management. Needless to say, I too am keeping an eye on any possible job opportunities but in this field it’s more who you know than what you know. I suggest if you look at other alternatives as a backup because being a pharmacist for Walgreens, especially a floater pharmacist, is a very precarious position my friend. Best of luck

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

i am the OP. i'm still working at wags, but most likely not for long. i would give myself another month before i get fired. it's a cycle, right now i'm in the nice and cozy stages, no explosions or bad events as of now. but in a month i'm gonna get the text from the manager "come in the store, we need to talk", and then they're going to sit me down again as usual, talk **** to me, but this time fire me. so yeah

i'm still looking for jobs too, which is really hard. every hiring person expects you to be top notch and top of the game, they won't take you otherwise. when you know no one, it's hard to get a job. there is no cutting you slack, you show you're the top **** and that you will excel, if you can't and you're only sub-par or decent/good, then they won't take you. i recently got rejected by an indie pharmacy. did two rounds of interviews with them too. first interview was a standard one, then a second working interview which was 2 hours in the pharmacy. next week they e-mail me and said they decided to go with another candidate. it's tough

i have a phone interview with a different place next week. over the phone the lady told me outright that she's gonna be expecting me to know certain knowledge-based questions relating to the position, and that she will be testing me for these things. how difficult will this be? i have no idea

so in conclusion. if you don't know anyone or don't have a connection, then you will need to jump through a lot of hoops and barriers to impress whoever is interviewing you. and if you're lucky and if you've done it all just right and if the interviewer believes so, then they will grant you the job

so now i'm gonna just suck it up and prepare for my phone interview next week. i should probably keep applying to more places as well to be honest. next week i could get another rejection even if i well prepare for the phone interview. god dammit

 

[thecoolpharmboi]

i am the OP. i'm still working at wags, but most likely not for long. i would give myself another month before i get fired. it's a cycle, right now i'm in the nice and cozy stages, no explosions or bad events as of now. but in a month i'm gonna get the text from the manager "come in the store, we need to talk", and then they're going to sit me down again as usual, talk **** to me, but this time fire me. so yeah

i'm still looking for jobs too, which is really hard. every hiring person expects you to be top notch and top of the game, they won't take you otherwise. when you know no one, it's hard to get a job. there is no cutting you slack, you show you're the top **** and that you will excel, if you can't and you're only sub-par or decent/good, then they won't take you. i recently got rejected by an indie pharmacy. did two rounds of interviews with them too. first interview was a standard one, then a second working interview which was 2 hours in the pharmacy. next week they e-mail me and said they decided to go with another candidate. it's tough

i have a phone interview with a different place next week. over the phone the lady told me outright that she's gonna be expecting me to know certain knowledge-based questions relating to the position, and that she will be testing me for these things. how difficult will this be? i have no idea

so in conclusion. if you don't know anyone or don't have a connection, then you will need to jump through a lot of hoops and barriers to impress whoever is interviewing you. and if you're lucky and if you've done it all just right and if the interviewer believes so, then they will grant you the job

so now i'm gonna just suck it up and prepare for my phone interview next week. i should probably keep applying to more places as well to be honest. next week i could get another rejection even if i well prepare for the phone interview. god dammit

I’ve never heard of an employer who’d hire just “mediocre” or “subpar” in this type of market especially.

Good luck!!

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

I’ve never heard of an employer who’d hire just “mediocre” or “subpar” in this type of market especially.

Good luck!!

"in this type of market"

and that's the problem. mistakes made from the very very beginning. should have never gotten "in this type of market". employers have you by the balls here, it's not an employee market

 

[rxkrafted]

If you know you are going to be fired soon, you better hope you find a job before they execute that because the next place you interview for will wonder why you got let go after only a year of working there as a pharmacist... (based on your previous postings if i remember correctly)

 

[alpha12]

Getting fired as a pharmacist would suck. You only have a handful of options. You have cvs, walgreens and then what? walmart? You get fired, you are blacklisting your self from a lot of opportunites. So if walgreens fires you only have cvs and a few other chains left and vice versa. Probably the only industry where getting fired from one company can destroy you opportunites. What if you get fired from both walgreens and cvs?

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

If you know you are going to be fired soon, you better hope you find a job before they execute that because the next place you interview for will wonder why you got let go after only a year of working there as a pharmacist... (based on your previous postings if i remember correctly)

i think that's why the indie i interviewed for didn't take me. they asked me why i don't have my own store at wags yet and why i'm still floating. they realize that i've only been there for a year. i'm lucky in that i float 45-60 minutes away so i use that as an excuse for finding work. then they ask me why i haven't transferred to a store closer to home. so yeah, a lot of probing questions, basically wondering why i'm trying to get a new job after 1 year.

i agree it does kind of suck. literally worked for 1 year as a new grad and now already i'm trying to find a new spot. looks weird on my resume. whatever place i end up next if i get fired from that after a year then it'll probably be extremely extremely hard to find a new job in this area lol...

Getting fired as a pharmacist would suck. You only have a handful of options. You have cvs, walgreens and then what? walmart? You get fired, you are blacklisting your self from a lot of opportunites. So if walgreens fires you only have cvs and a few other chains left and vice versa. Probably the only industry where getting fired from one company can destroy you opportunites. What if you get fired from both walgreens and cvs?

there are other things to do with a pharmd besides retail chain pharmacy. seriously, these companies aren't your entire career

 

[projektreverb]

There is such a thing as a career floater. Just saying.

 

[Sine Cura]

Hm, we can't treat our jobs as some cush sinecure where we aim to maximize unproductivity and pissing off customers? What a shock

I know a guy who worked at a CVS (actually the one I managed in Arizona) as a failed manager, then went to Walgreens as a failed staff pharmacist, then went to Albertson's. He was an indie owner who sold his pharmacy records off to CVS. Don't know what he's up to you but this guy was a prick working in corporate and he apparently got his ass jumped at the pharmacy and got a broken arm for it somehow

 

[Timbo]

What's your answer when they ask you why you want to leave Walgreens during your interviews?

 

[BidingMyTime]

What's your answer when they ask you why you want to leave Walgreens during your interviews?

With leaving any job, you would tailor your answer to that question, based on what the new job offers. Closer to home? Better schedule? Better benefits? More pay? (hahahaha, not likely these days!) More variety of pharmacy? More specialized pharmacy? Better computer system? Anything that the new pharmacy offers, that the old pharmacy doesn't, could be a legitimate answer.

 

[Chrish]

I have seen people getting terminated in their position and then getting the job with the same company in different market. One guy got fired at CVS, then worked for competitor for couple of years and then was re-hired at CVS in different state (he was moving with the family).

They only put you on a blacklist if you do something really stupid (stealing/ drug-diversion etc.).

 

[mustang sally]

Hard to say from your posts, but I just know that once the boss or company gets it into their mind that they don't like you, they are most likely going to document every single little grievance until they have the opportunity to terminate you. I have seen it happen multiple times in the pharmacy that I work at.

I wouldn't do the dispensary (maybe if it was literally like the last option before becoming homeless) until the feds legalize marijuana.

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

Hard to say from your posts, but I just know that once the boss or company gets it into their mind that they don't like you, they are most likely going to document every single little grievance until they have the opportunity to terminate you. I have seen it happen multiple times in the pharmacy that I work at.

I wouldn't do the dispensary (maybe if it was literally like the last option before becoming homeless) until the feds legalize marijuana.

ya my rx manager at wags is a literal lunatic. i asked to transfer districts 6 months ago but they wouldn't let me due to "performance issues". i doubt they would let me if i ask again, i'm on the brink of getting fired after all

i am having second thoughts about the cannabis job. like, i wonder if it will really sacrifice my degree and future. i wanna live in CA down the line, so i don't think it will matter. then again all my recent experience will be marijuana. so i would most likely have to do something cannabis related if i get the job and lose it down the line

 

[nampa]

I don't think "Is this common?" the right question to be asking at this point. We tend to work in silos. I have worked in places where I was aware of pharmacists being written up but the details would be limited. Most employers want to limit the spread of information.

They have been building a case against you for awhile. You might hang on or you can be gone before your next shift. I wouldn't make any generalizations based on your experience with one employer though. As one older pharmacist told me during one of the rotations - "You want to be liked by your patients." Of course, most companies still want you to be very efficient but you need to get a sense when an interaction can lead to a complaint and put out that fire before it gets to corporate.

Can you elaborate on this point

 

[waitforit24]

There is such a thing as a career floater. Just saying.

That's essentially what I've been relegated to after all these years breaking my back for this company. Lost my so called split after all the pharmacy hours were changed and budget cuts are preventing me from averaging close to 40 hours anymore. Loyalty is not reciprocated by the big corporations in the retail world. Shocking no? LOL

 

[projektreverb]

That's essentially what I've been relegated to after all these years breaking my back for this company. Lost my so called split after all the pharmacy hours were changed and budget cuts are preventing me from averaging close to 40 hours anymore. Loyalty is not reciprocated by the big corporations in the retail world. Shocking no? LOL

So you towed the company line and fell for the bait they fed you, huh? Lower management America sucks my dude. I’m sorry you had to realize that the hard way.

 

[waitforit24]

So you towed the company line and fell for the bait they fed you, huh? Lower management America sucks my dude. I’m sorry you had to realize that the hard way.

Yeah as a 23 year old single guy coming out of pharmacy school, I was brimming with positivity and optimism, can you blame me? Now it seems that version of myself is nothing but a relic of the past. Now at 33 about to be 34 years old, a family and mortgage, I don't have a choice but to persevere through all the bull****. If not for myself then for those that depend on me. But hey, I only have about 30+ years to go before I retire to a nice 401k/profit sharing sum right? Here's to hoping I live long enough to see it.

 

[projektreverb]

Yeah as a 23 year old single guy coming out of pharmacy school, I was brimming with positivity and optimism, can you blame me? Now it seems that version of myself is nothing but a relic of the past. Now at 33 about to be 34 years old, a family and mortgage, I don't have a choice but to persevere through all the bull****. If not for myself then for those that depend on me. But hey, I only have about 30+ years to go before I retire to a nice 401k/profit sharing sum right? Here's to hoping I live long enough to see it.

I don’t blame you. It’s very easy to be motivated early on. Especially when they keep dangling a carrot in front of you.

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

That's essentially what I've been relegated to after all these years breaking my back for this company. Lost my so called split after all the pharmacy hours were changed and budget cuts are preventing me from averaging close to 40 hours anymore. Loyalty is not reciprocated by the big corporations in the retail world. Shocking no? LOL

yeah in my experience there is 0 loyalty in retail chain pharmacy. the company is too big and no one gives a **** about each other. it's all about survival and being selfish (for the most part)

a smaller and low key company would probably value employee loyalty. you want to work for a company that nurtures its employees, respects them, and recruits fine and capable people

 

[gwarm01]

I don’t blame you. It’s very easy to be motivated early on. Especially when they keep dangling a carrot in front of you.

Many of us learn this lesson the hard way early in our careers. I definitely had a moment where I realized my manager was one of those fake, ultra positive narcissists @lord999 mentioned above. As long as I have agency in my career, I will never work for someone like that again.

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

now that i have a new job i'm re-reading this thread and the OP. man, i had that flat tire that one day and opened late. but stayed 1 hour later after my shift and continued to work. no one had to ask me nothing. i just did it cause i knew it was right and i wanted to help. then this piece of crap RXM writes me up that day lol... i can imagine it, she probably saw that i opened 1 hour late and had a mental melt down and instantly wrote me up. didn't bother to call or text me asking questions or what happened. what a serious dirt bag she was. so glad i'm done with her

i recommend for anyone that if you are in a similar toxic situation like i was in to find new work immediately. literally all of upper management was against me, the DM, RXM, and store manager. there was not even indifference, i could handle if my DM or store manager thought i was just alright and didn't really like me. but this was pure hate across the board, unreal