Idiot Or Liar

I went to my pharmacy on the eve of Christmas Eve. I wanted to pick up my prescription refill before the holidays and the weekend. I called it in through the automated system on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. Plenty of time, right? But no. Apparently my doctor (nurse practitioner) had not called in refills after my yearly appointment, even though he said he was doing so. That means I got a standard message to allow an extra business day for the request. I was sure they would see the prescription refills had been submitted. 

But no.

I called Wednesday at 1:00, to see if it was ready. No. But the gal said she could push it ahead and have it ready in 20 minutes.

"Oh, I won't be there for 90 minutes. No need to rush." I just want to make sure it's there before I wait in line to get it."

"We can have it ready for you."

An hour and 15 minutes later, T-Hoe and I rolled up to the drive-thru window. The gal had her back to the window. I could not reach the little doorbell thingy on the wall, to notify them of my presence. The giant concrete pole there makes me give a wider berth, and my arms are not those of an orangutan.

Anyhoo... after a 5-minute wait, The Gal came to the window. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were waiting."

"That's okay. I can't reach your doorbell."

Blank stare. Then I gave my name and birthdate.

"I'll go see if we have that."

The Gal came back, with a bag in her hand. "That will be $63.84."

"Oh. Well. Has it gone up? Because for years, it has been $53.52."

"Seems like everything has gone up. Besides money, heh, heh."

That got a blank stare from me. "Was it run on insurance? Because I pay cash. It's cheaper than with insurance."

"It says CASH."

"Well. Okay." I handed her my debit card. Then she went off to the farther ranges of the pharmacy. After five minutes, she returned. Punched something into her cash register. Gave me the clipboard with a receipt to sign.

"I had them put it back."

"What do you mean, put it back?"

"To the other price. The $53.52."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you so much."

Here's the thing. Something is off. Either it wasn't run through as a cash transaction, or The Gal was blowing smoke. If it was truly run as a cash transaction, my price should have been the same. In any case, I don't think they can just "put it back" to a price I quote them. I think somebody ran my prescription on insurance. Then when I complained, they ran it through again as a cash transaction. 

The Gal was goofier than Farmer H trying to find his way around a kitchen.