Retail rant

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I have a doctorate. Nobody calls me Dr. CynicalIntern besides my mother and the alumni association trying to raise money, but I have it nonetheless. And if I can't use it to get a little professional courtesy in streamlining the process of completing a prescription transfer, then you should probably change your phone tree to say explicitly "If you are calling in a prescription from the doctors office." Until that happens, I'm going to keep pressing the button when it says "if you're a doctor or doctors representative, press one" and I'm not going to feel bad one bit.
 
CynicalIntern said:
I have a doctorate. Nobody calls me Dr. CynicalIntern besides my mother and the alumni association trying to raise money, but I have it nonetheless. And if I can't use it to get a little professional courtesy in streamlining the process of completing a prescription transfer, then you should probably change your phone tree to say explicitly "If you are calling in a prescription from the doctors office." Until that happens, I'm going to keep pressing the button when it says "if you're a doctor or doctors representative, press one" and I'm not going to feel bad one bit.
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Um...it says prescribers, so fail.... Really doesn't bother me when walgreens calls the prescriber line, I just hope they enjoy our hold music.
 
Dr Wario said:
Um...it says prescribers, so fail.... Really doesn't bother me when walgreens calls the prescriber line, I just hope they enjoy our hold music.
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You're that pharmacist that all the other pharmacists laugh about.
 
Dr Wario said:
Um...it says prescribers, so fail.... Really doesn't bother me when walgreens calls the prescriber line, I just hope they enjoy our hold music.
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You do you. But I have made many connections simply by being nice on the phone and taking care of transfers promptly. I guess if all you want to be is a CVS lifer at where ever you are, then it really doesn’t matter.
 
29513261_1699653490111119_5690165851170917842_n.jpg
 
zelman said:
Nope. I make patients call the receiving pharmacy because when they tell me “SEND IT TO THE CVS ON MAIN ST” I can guarantee that they will be screaming at me 45 minutes later “NO, YOU IDIOT! YOU SENT IT TO THE WRONG PHARMACY! I TOLD YOU THE CVS THAT YOU CAN GET TO THE PARKING LOT FROM MAIN ST!” even though their mailing address is on Dumbcustomer Ave.
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lol! preach brotha/sista!
 
Customer service at an all time low in this thread.
 
wagrxm2000 said:
You're that pharmacist that all the other pharmacists laugh about.
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I find it fairly simple to bring humor to unsophisticated minds, I am glad I can bring some joy to their otherwise dull lives.
 
Dr Wario said:
I find it fairly simple to bring humor to unsophisticated minds, I am glad I can bring some joy to their otherwise dull lives.
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As long as you're ok with it.
 
a student said:
I always ask for fax, unless the other rph insists on giving it verbally.
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Most states require verbal confirmation of the information on the fax. A lot of people skip that part. Yes, I feel dumb doing it but hey, it was on my MPJE. Anyone could write the pharmacist's name on a fax. Verbal confirmation via phone eliminates that.
 
Dr. Pill said:
The issue with transfers is something called professional courtesy.
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THANK YOU! Exactly, at one point, I used to mind pharmacists calling the prescriber line and I would not make those calls a priority. My reasoning was those pharmacists were allowing patients to come into the pharmacy and ask for a transfer while they wait. It's annoying when they do that. But you know, they pay our bills...
I didn't do that for too long because I quickly felt like an @$$ when I realized that most of the competitors I had to call for transfers, had that professional courtesy with our pharmacy. When technicians say "transfer line 1", I just finish up what I am doing or back out of it, and grab it right away.
Sometimes you need favors. How many times has the stupid medicaid site being down and you can't look people up? I call wherever else they've filled prescriptions recently and they gladly pass on the insurance information to us.
 
I had a new patient from out of state. Silly me, I trusted every single bull**** story he was coming up with. (Rule number 1 on retail, assume the worst at all cost!) I happen to have a CII-reporting account of the state from which he claims he was from, and voila! Just filled CII one week ago through his insurance. He was upset that I wrote on the script. He left with lots of blessings from God. 🙂 At the end, I stopped arguing, and I just shut my mouth and indulged the hatred coming out of his mouth. Alas!
 
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iloveclementine said:
I had a new patient from out of state. Silly me, I trusted every single bull**** story he was coming up with. (Rule number 1 on retail, assume the worst at all cost!) I happen to have a CII-reporting account of the state from which he claims he was from, and voila! Just filled CII one week ago through his insurance. He was upset that I wrote on the script. He left with lots of blessings from God. 🙂 At the end, I stopped arguing, and I just shut my mouth and indulged the hatred coming out of his mouth. Alas!
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I don't recommend writing on the script. I have no clue what the customer could do but better to be safe.
 
I'm going to share what I tell my new hires and the pharmacist team I work with....

When all is said and done, and the dust finally settles.. There is a patient with a diagnosis / condition / illness who just needs to fill their medication. Some of them might be sweet. Some of them might be ogres. Some of them might be fun. Some of them might be lying through their teeth. In the end, it doesn't matter. They are the patient and they need your help.

Your Pharmacy, Their Pharmacy.. It doesn't matter. I agree with the need for professional courtesy part. In the course of a month, the two pharmacies might be transferring people left and right. As long as you are providing stellar customer service, the patients come back. They may need to visit one of your other stores due to life reasons, but they will always come back when you give them enough reason to.

They also don't come back when you give them enough reason to.
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
I'm going to share what I tell my new hires and the pharmacist team I work with....

When all is said and done, and the dust finally settles.. There is a patient with a diagnosis / condition / illness who just needs to fill their medication. Some of them might be sweet. Some of them might be ogres. Some of them might be fun. Some of them might be lying through their teeth. In the end, it doesn't matter. They are the patient and they need your help.

Your Pharmacy, Their Pharmacy.. It doesn't matter. I agree with the need for professional courtesy part. In the course of a month, the two pharmacies might be transferring people left and right. As long as you are providing stellar customer service, the patients come back. They may need to visit one of your other stores due to life reasons, but they will always come back when you give them enough reason to.

They also don't come back when you give them enough reason to.
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Lol.

What.
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
Lol.

What.
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"Cliff Notes" version - This thread sounds really petty. Do what is best for the customer. Give good customer service so that you retain a customer base. It doesn't matter if you transfer a customer here and there, you get some back from other stores / pharmacies. All the in-between of which line to call and who is right/wrong? Just treat people with respect. Be the person that does the right thing, regardless of whether that makes you right or wrong.
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
"Cliff Notes" version - This thread sounds really petty. Do what is best for the customer. Give good customer service so that you retain a customer base. It doesn't matter if you transfer a customer here and there, you get some back from other stores / pharmacies. All the in-between of which line to call and who is right/wrong? Just treat people with respect. Be the person that does the right thing, regardless of whether that makes you right or wrong.
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Hahaha, so do the right thing even if it makes you wrong.

Thanks for that pearl, class of 2023 member.
 
wagrxm2000 said:
You never know what could set someone off.
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I can't imagine actually being scared of any of my patients.

Granted, I'm 6'3", but how do yoilu willingly give that power to someone? They can smell it.
 
RxVampire said:
Must have been posted immediately after a pharmacy practice lecture..."professionalism". lol
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CetiAlphaFive said:
Hahaha, so do the right thing even if it makes you wrong.

Thanks for that pearl, class of 2023 member.
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No, I've just worked in the industry for 15 years, and in customer service for more than 20. It has nothing to do with learning in a classroom.

So if you'd like to poke fun at me going back to school in my 40s to join the class of 2023, That's ok. You wouldn't even be the first. If you want to poke fun at me knowing some things before having to take a class on it. That's fine, too.
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
I'm going to share what I tell my new hires and the pharmacist team I work with....

When all is said and done, and the dust finally settles.. There is a patient with a diagnosis / condition / illness who just needs to fill their medication. Some of them might be sweet. Some of them might be ogres. Some of them might be fun. Some of them might be lying through their teeth. In the end, it doesn't matter. They are the patient and they need your help.

Your Pharmacy, Their Pharmacy.. It doesn't matter. I agree with the need for professional courtesy part. In the course of a month, the two pharmacies might be transferring people left and right. As long as you are providing stellar customer service, the patients come back. They may need to visit one of your other stores due to life reasons, but they will always come back when you give them enough reason to.

They also don't come back when you give them enough reason to.
Click to expand...
So, I’ve got a lot of patients with non-specific back pain that have trouble filling their prescriptions for the holy trinity. Please post your pharmacy’s mailing address so I can send them to you to fill a week early every month.
 
Back to the point of the thread - I always read back and I have never had anyone ever talk to me the way the op stated.

If someone ever spoke to me thatnway I would make sure to say something snide like - “I need to read this back because you slured your words”

Or even say - “I want to make sure that if a mistake was made I can properly blame you”
 
It seems like every major pharmacy has cut back on transfer coupons so people abusing the system is less of a problem. When we had a customer transfer back and forth every month it was always next day pick up. I would put the other pharmacy on hold for a while if they put it in as a waiter.
 
a) i don't call on doctor lines because i'm afraid it's just gonna direct me to the vmail and i don't wanna restart the call all over again. so i always wait for the pharmacy staff option ha. but if i was 100% confident i would ring in to the doctor line i totally would. i call in doctor lines at doctor offices, which is usually pointless anyway. but like hello.... i'm not a customer or patient, so i'm gonna use the health care professional (doctor) line.

b) ugh i hate transfers. it takes so long to go through everything. WAG system is ok for faxing out but they don't let you fax out on a control which is a bummer. and technically at WAG if you receive a fax transfer they want you to re-write everything anyway.

anyone at WAG just cut out barcodes from the verbal/transfer pads and tape them on to the printed out faxes?
 
JustFillIt said:
Back to the point of the thread - I always read back and I have never had anyone ever talk to me the way the op stated.

If someone ever spoke to me thatnway I would make sure to say something snide like - “I need to read this back because you slured your words”

Or even say - “I want to make sure that if a mistake was made I can properly blame you”
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dude i need a man like you at my workplace..
 
zelman said:
So, I’ve got a lot of patients with non-specific back pain that have trouble filling their prescriptions for the holy trinity. Please post your pharmacy’s mailing address so I can send them to you to fill a week early every month.
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Sorry, I'm working with one of the specific insurances so they can't take too many MMEs. You probably dislike me for other reasons..

"Prior Authorization required."
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
Sorry, I'm working with one of the specific insurances so they can't take too many MMEs. You probably dislike me for other reasons..

"Prior Authorization required."
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Oh. So you’re talking from a place of complete ignorance, not mild naïveté. Makes sense.
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
Aren't you quick to make assumptions? I'm not going to argue with you to make you feel better. Hope your weekend gets better.
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I accept your admission of not knowing what you were talking about. That was really big of you.
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
"Cliff Notes" version - This thread sounds really petty. Do what is best for the customer. Give good customer service so that you retain a customer base. It doesn't matter if you transfer a customer here and there, you get some back from other stores / pharmacies. All the in-between of which line to call and who is right/wrong? Just treat people with respect. Be the person that does the right thing, regardless of whether that makes you right or wrong.
Click to expand...

I don't care if you have 50 years of customer service experience, until you have the license and are on duty for a few years you won't know what its like. We (pharmacists) have professional responsibilities and I always strive to achieve them. When it comes to transfers 95% of the time they are routine. That means patients should make those requests in advance and not wait to the last minute. Anymore the slow pharmacies are the closed ones, so this means it will take some time to complete transfers. If people wait to the last minute and go without their medication, its their fault.

I hope you learn how to do good retail pharmacy service. If you come across as naive customers will eat you alive. Your employer will also do likewise.
 
I always put a postit on the rx and write on it. Learned hard way. I also treat everyone like Dr. House, "Everybody lies". As far as customer service, what is that?
 
johnpharm01 said:
I don't care if you have 50 years of customer service experience, until you have the license and are on duty for a few years you won't know what its like. We (pharmacists) have professional responsibilities and I always strive to achieve them. When it comes to transfers 95% of the time they are routine. That means patients should make those requests in advance and not wait to the last minute. Anymore the slow pharmacies are the closed ones, so this means it will take some time to complete transfers. If people wait to the last minute and go without their medication, its their fault.

I hope you learn how to do good retail pharmacy service. If you come across as naive customers will eat you alive. Your employer will also do likewise.
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I've met lead/special/manager/whatever you wanna call them techs like this over the years.
They remind me of LVNs who refuse counseling because they know all about the medicines.

They don't know that they don't know.
 
VA77 said:
I always put a postit on the rx and write on it. Learned hard way. I also treat everyone like Dr. House, "Everybody lies". As far as customer service, what is that?
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I always said good customer service starts with a correctly filled prescription. Treat people with respect, don't waste their time. But unfortunately at major retailers customers expect getting whatever they want be it legal or not. When I started at a major retailer a customer noticed my fresh face and tried to claim she hadn't received her fentanyl patches. After investigating, they all had been dispensed and it was clear they were just trying to fish for a weak pharmacist who would just hand out more. Several pharmacy staff members at different stores would tell me the dm would tell them to give out customer shortages on 2's. as claimed by the customer.
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
I've met lead/special/manager/whatever you wanna call them techs like this over the years.
They remind me of LVNs who refuse counseling because they know all about the medicines.

They don't know that they don't know.
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Agreed. In this case the poster will know once they join the rest of us. Until then magical thinking.
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
I've met lead/special/manager/whatever you wanna call them techs like this over the years.
They remind me of LVNs who refuse counseling because they know all about the medicines.

They don't know that they don't know.
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Not that this was specific to me, but I can only speak for myself. I know where my limitations are. I look forward to learning more about what I don't know. Currently, I work with some excellent Pharmacist with various levels of knowledge, expertise, and experience. They share much of the role-specific ideas and processes and such with me. It's one of the reasons I opted to take the next step from being in my area and a tech to advancing towards being a pharmacist. I know what I'm working towards. I understand the responsibilities I will be gaining with the degree and licenses.

In my comments above, I didn't try to tell anyone how to be a pharmacist or how to do their job as a pharmacist. I would never presume to do so. You're right. I'm not a pharmacist yet, and I don't try to be one. If my comments made me come across as ignorant or naive or "know it all," that was not my intent. I spoke only to the customer service points because of some previously made comments.
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
Not that this was specific to me, but I can only speak for myself. I know where my limitations are. I look forward to learning more about what I don't know. Currently, I work with some excellent Pharmacist with various levels of knowledge, expertise, and experience. They share much of the role-specific ideas and processes and such with me. It's one of the reasons I opted to take the next step from being in my area and a tech to advancing towards being a pharmacist. I know what I'm working towards. I understand the responsibilities I will be gaining with the degree and licenses.

In my comments above, I didn't try to tell anyone how to be a pharmacist or how to do their job as a pharmacist. I would never presume to do so. You're right. I'm not a pharmacist yet, and I don't try to be one. If my comments made me come across as ignorant or naive or "know it all," that was not my intent. I spoke only to the customer service points because of some previously made comments.
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Oh, it wasn't that.
Please accept my apologies.

I was just worried that a CBL on customer service achieved sentience and that we were all about to experience SkyNetCare
 
Saisri_PharmStdnt said:
Not that this was specific to me, but I can only speak for myself. I know where my limitations are. I look forward to learning more about what I don't know. Currently, I work with some excellent Pharmacist with various levels of knowledge, expertise, and experience. They share much of the role-specific ideas and processes and such with me. It's one of the reasons I opted to take the next step from being in my area and a tech to advancing towards being a pharmacist. I know what I'm working towards. I understand the responsibilities I will be gaining with the degree and licenses.

In my comments above, I didn't try to tell anyone how to be a pharmacist or how to do their job as a pharmacist. I would never presume to do so. You're right. I'm not a pharmacist yet, and I don't try to be one. If my comments made me come across as ignorant or naive or "know it all," that was not my intent. I spoke only to the customer service points because of some previously made comments.
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I appreciate your honesty and enthusiasm, but just be ready so you don't become frustrated and burnout. I think mastering non verbal communication and energy will help you out.
 
johnpharm01 said:
I appreciate your honesty and enthusiasm, but just be ready so you don't become frustrated and burnout. I think mastering non verbal communication and energy will help you out.
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Haha, sound advice. I'll keep that in mind.. Never too old to learn to new things or master old ones 🙂
 
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