Around noon on Sunday, I called in my prescription refills. The automated system told me that my refills would be ready by 10:30 on Monday. On Monday, I had not received my usual text from the pharmacy that my prescriptions were ready. Not by 10:30. Not by 1:30. I called the store, and waited to speak with a real person.
"I'm calling to see if my refills are ready."
"Okay. What's your birthdate?"
"Numberty-number, the year of that."
"And your name?"
"Hillbilly Mom."
"Oh. Uhh... can I put you on hold?"
"Sure." [2-3 minutes later...]
"Um. Are you coming to get them today? I can have someone get them ready..."
"I was just seeing if they were ready. I can understand if you're really busy. Or is there something wrong? Is there something I need to do?"
"Uh... no. We have it all..."
"Okay. Then I'll just pick them up tomorrow."
See there? I really was just calling to see if they were ready, since I didn't get my usual text, saying they were ready. It was three hours after the automated refill line had told me they would be ready. I've called before, and they were out of one, and had to wait until it came in the next day. So I had no ulterior motive. Just saving myself a stop if they weren't.
However... does this gal seem shady, or what? I think she's the one I got at the window that one time, who charged me $20 too much, and then said they were giving me a discount after she left me sitting there for 10 minutes.
I swear, she makes my pharmacy seem very much like the Liquor Store, catty-corner from them across the road to Country Mart. You KNOW my feelings on that Liquor Store. They seem to be operating some clandestine business that is NOT just liquor and vapes.
All This Gal had to do was look up my account, and say, "I'm sorry. They're not ready yet." That's it. Not a big deal. Now I'm kind of afraid to see what happens when I go pick them up. BECAUSE on the way to town, I got a text that 3 of 3 prescriptions were ready.
I did NOT stop by to get my meds. I showed THEM, heh, heh! I hope I am not marked as "difficult" in my file..."
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Tuesday, I drove to the pickup window at the pharmacy. A very Polite Gal waited on me. Asked my birthdate and name, punched it into her computer, then picked up the bag hanging on the rack of the drive-thru. She told me the price, asked if I had any questions for the pharmacist, then rang it up and handed it out the window.
Just like a normal pharmacy would do business. The cost was within a few cents of last month's total. Maybe the rest of the employees leave This Gal out of the loop for a reason...
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After all that, at least you got all your medications and didn't have to mortgage the farm to pay for them. You might be right about them leaving that girl out of the loop.
ReplyDeleteFinally I have found a pharmacy I love. It's a small, independent one--a pharmacy that time left behind. There's lots of old bottles on display, you're greeted when you come in (by pharmacists who look up from their work to say hi) and it's a lot cheaper than "The Drug Storee," it's more reliable than DWT, and more trustworthy than CeilingReds.
ReplyDeleteAs Carson McCullers SHOULD have said, a good drugstore is hard to find...
River,
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised at the lack of hassle it took to procure my drugs! I guess it's just that one girl. Maybe she's a relative of somebody who runs the place.
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Sioux,
Are you shopping in Harry Potter World? I've never read the books, but that's what your description popped into my head. Is there a sign out front that says "Apothecary" in fancy script?
OR "A good Diet Coke is hard to find." But I guess that was after her time.
I just wrote an entire post about refills!
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it will read like a horror movie screenplay!