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Hello, all, I am a recent grad working for a big chain pharmacy. I have dealt with my fair share of unruly customers throughout my internship and my brief experience as a pharmacist, and I always seek feedback of my more experienced colleagues when things tend to go awry. I wanted to post about a situation I found myself in and am looking for feedback as to what I did right/what I should have done. Caution, strong language follows as I quote the customer.
Tonight, I had two customers come to my drive through window picking up prescriptions. These customers are apparently well-known to the staff and well-liked, but I do not know them personally. My technician answers the window as I am filling some prescriptions for people waiting in the store. Customer A (the driver)'s prescriptions were all ready to go. Customer B (passenger) had some problems. We had filled a prescription through our automatic refill program that he (or she) did not want to pick up at this time and remarked that "this **** happens all the time and I'm tired of it." My technician told him that he did not have to purchase the prescription and that we would hold it until he needed it. He then remarked that his doctor should have sent an electronic refill for one of his prescriptions 2 days prior, and that needed it that night. There was no record of a such a script in his profile. My technician told him this and he began to yell in the car across the driver's side that this happens every month and he is taking his business elsewhere. At this point, I tell the technician to trade me places so that I can speak with the customer. I apologized for not having his prescription on file and told him I would call his doctor in the morning to figure out what had happened. He then told me that he absolutely needed this medication tonight because he had not been taking it for 2 days (no explanation as to why he waited 2 days to pick it up). I asked him if he felt it was an emergency to which he responded that it was. I then asked him if he would like to me to see if I could call an after-hours line to see if there was a physician on call who might be able to call in a refill for later on in the evening. His response was that he could not wait and demanded that his passenger "give me the ****ing papers to sign and get the hell out of here." They signed for the scripts and peeled out of the drive through.
About 20 minutes later, customer A (the driver, who had been silent in the car before) calls the pharmacy and proceeds to tell me he (or she) has never been treated this poorly at my pharmacy before and that for the past decade or so, a pharmacist has given him a few pills/bottles/whatever to hold them over until a new prescription arrives. I told the customer that we do this as a courtesy to patients when all other options have been exhausted and that I would have no problem doing so if I cannot reach a doctor on-call. I again asked if I could try to call a doctor on-call and give them a call back. This customer agreeed.
I had to doctor on-call paged, who called me and authorized the refill. I called the patient's home and spoke to the driver of the car, who said he would come to pick up the prescription. Upon arrival, he reaffirmed what he had said on the phone about never being treated so badly at this pharmacy before but would continue to give us his business because I helped him. He went on to say that for a company that prides itself in customer service, I was not doing as such, and that he should not have had to come back to the pharmacy to get this medication. He did not apologize for what he had said on the phone or for what his passenger had said in the drive through.
I try my best to make every customer at my pharmacy happy, and I honestly think I do a good job of it. I hesitate to dispense anything without remaining refills because I don't want to risk my license each time I do so, but I think customers at my pharmacy have become accustomed to us bending over backwards for them each and every time they come in.
Should I have given this customer his prescription without trying to get a valid prescription first? The entire ordeal lasted a total of 45 minutes - from the time they rolled up in the drive through to the time they came back to get the prescription. I had a prior experience with a customer demanding that I call the pharmacist-in-charge (who they claimed would gladly give them a couple pills to hold them over) - when all it took was a phone call to a doctor who refilled the prescription within the hour. Not to mention, I hate calling doctors after-hours because they should not have to worry about refilling prescriptions during their time off.
Anyway, I'm looking for some advice here from the more experienced pharmacists who have dealt with a similar situation or who have some wisdom to share.
Thanks in advance - I look forward to your responses.
Tonight, I had two customers come to my drive through window picking up prescriptions. These customers are apparently well-known to the staff and well-liked, but I do not know them personally. My technician answers the window as I am filling some prescriptions for people waiting in the store. Customer A (the driver)'s prescriptions were all ready to go. Customer B (passenger) had some problems. We had filled a prescription through our automatic refill program that he (or she) did not want to pick up at this time and remarked that "this **** happens all the time and I'm tired of it." My technician told him that he did not have to purchase the prescription and that we would hold it until he needed it. He then remarked that his doctor should have sent an electronic refill for one of his prescriptions 2 days prior, and that needed it that night. There was no record of a such a script in his profile. My technician told him this and he began to yell in the car across the driver's side that this happens every month and he is taking his business elsewhere. At this point, I tell the technician to trade me places so that I can speak with the customer. I apologized for not having his prescription on file and told him I would call his doctor in the morning to figure out what had happened. He then told me that he absolutely needed this medication tonight because he had not been taking it for 2 days (no explanation as to why he waited 2 days to pick it up). I asked him if he felt it was an emergency to which he responded that it was. I then asked him if he would like to me to see if I could call an after-hours line to see if there was a physician on call who might be able to call in a refill for later on in the evening. His response was that he could not wait and demanded that his passenger "give me the ****ing papers to sign and get the hell out of here." They signed for the scripts and peeled out of the drive through.
About 20 minutes later, customer A (the driver, who had been silent in the car before) calls the pharmacy and proceeds to tell me he (or she) has never been treated this poorly at my pharmacy before and that for the past decade or so, a pharmacist has given him a few pills/bottles/whatever to hold them over until a new prescription arrives. I told the customer that we do this as a courtesy to patients when all other options have been exhausted and that I would have no problem doing so if I cannot reach a doctor on-call. I again asked if I could try to call a doctor on-call and give them a call back. This customer agreeed.
I had to doctor on-call paged, who called me and authorized the refill. I called the patient's home and spoke to the driver of the car, who said he would come to pick up the prescription. Upon arrival, he reaffirmed what he had said on the phone about never being treated so badly at this pharmacy before but would continue to give us his business because I helped him. He went on to say that for a company that prides itself in customer service, I was not doing as such, and that he should not have had to come back to the pharmacy to get this medication. He did not apologize for what he had said on the phone or for what his passenger had said in the drive through.
I try my best to make every customer at my pharmacy happy, and I honestly think I do a good job of it. I hesitate to dispense anything without remaining refills because I don't want to risk my license each time I do so, but I think customers at my pharmacy have become accustomed to us bending over backwards for them each and every time they come in.
Should I have given this customer his prescription without trying to get a valid prescription first? The entire ordeal lasted a total of 45 minutes - from the time they rolled up in the drive through to the time they came back to get the prescription. I had a prior experience with a customer demanding that I call the pharmacist-in-charge (who they claimed would gladly give them a couple pills to hold them over) - when all it took was a phone call to a doctor who refilled the prescription within the hour. Not to mention, I hate calling doctors after-hours because they should not have to worry about refilling prescriptions during their time off.
Anyway, I'm looking for some advice here from the more experienced pharmacists who have dealt with a similar situation or who have some wisdom to share.
Thanks in advance - I look forward to your responses.
