Who are you, anyway? (kinda long)

[radiocerk]

I have a HUGE pet peeve in the pharmacy. It happens to me several times a day, and nothing I do will ever stop it. Examples:

Person walks up to the pick up window: "I'd like to pick up my prescription." and stares at me.
Me: "Can I get your name, please?"

Person in drive-thru: "I need to pick up my sister's presciption, she said it'd be ready."
Me: "Patient's name, please."
Guy driving the car rattles off an address.
"Can I please get the patient's name?"

Person calls me on the phone. Tells me what medication they're on, what time they want to pick up their meds, why their left toenail hurts, everything but: "Can I get your name?"

And then there's the REALLY dumb ones:
"Can I get your name?"
"Lisa."
*headdesk* "Can I get your last name?"
"Why?"

"I need to get a prescription for John Smith."(not real name, but just as common) Thank God, someone with a clue!
"Can I verify your address?"
"No." I figure he's afraid of the evil mailing list.
"Can I verify your birthdate?"
"Why?"
"Because I have seven John Smith's at this pharmacy, and I need to make sure you're the right one."
"Oh."

Why won't they tell me who they are?

[Sheldonrs]

"Why won't they tell me who they are?"

Because you sell drugs for a living. :-)

[Eric the Grey]

And then there's the REALLY dumb ones:
"Can I get your name?"
"Lisa."
*headdesk* "Can I get your last name?"
"Why?"

I get that all the time:

Caller: Hi, this is Joe at plant 52. . .
Me: Joe, what's your last name?
Caller: Do you really need that?, or Why do you need that?

Gosh, I don't know. Perhaps there are just a few different Joe's in amongst the 50,000 (an exaggeration, I'm sure) employees we have in this company

My favorite was the one who called and cussed at me. He asked me if he was going to get in trouble.

Eric the Grey

[Luna Baby]

Last year I stopped in our pharmacy to pick up the RX listings for the previous year's taxes. The clerk asked for my name and the kids' names. She verified my address and DOB and promptly got me the reports. I get home and start looking over them only to wonder why my oldest son had all these weird drugs listed (he was 9-10 and these would not have been appropriate in any way for him). So I got to thinking about it and started looking closer. This was for a guy that worked for the cleaning company that cleaned our factory. His name is Billy, my son's name is William.

I verified with him that he lived on such-n-such road and told him what had happened (he and I were friendly so I knew I could tell him about this). He asked me to not tell the pharmacy that he knew. He was going to see if they ever owned up to the mistake. I took the papers back to the pharmacy and told them what had happened. You would have thought the world was coming to an end! The head pharmacist came to me and had to take a detailed report. I knew which tech had done it but I jut couldn't rat her out this one time. I think she got the point of verification REAL QUICK. If she had just asked me to verify the kids' dates of birth and their address as well, this could have been prevented. I don't get why people don't want to verify who they are when RX's can be pretty confidential.

BTW, they never called the elder Billy. I think he changed pharmacies after that as well.

[Apathy]

People tend to be super paranoid (at least in the Midwest) about giving out any information. Yes, we - a retail chain - are going to steal your identity.

[depechemodefan]

And then there's the REALLY dumb ones:
"Can I get your name?"
"Lisa."
*headdesk* "Can I get your last name?"
"Why?"

I can imagine if she had to go to HR at work:
HR: We need your last name.
Lias: Why?

or when she goes to the bank
Bank: we need your last name on your withdrawl slip
Lisa: Why?

I took the papers back to the pharmacy and told them what had happened. You would have thought the world was coming to an end! The head pharmacist came to me and had to take a detailed report. I knew which tech had done it but I jut couldn't rat her out this one time.

I can imagine. The 30 hours Lawsuit class a pharmacist takes must have drilled that in.

At the pharmacy I go to they have me verify my address. My mom is really sick now and she can't get her meds, but I'm afraid one day when I do get them for her the pharmacy will not give them to me. So far that hasn't happened.

Oh, the other day when I went to pick up some medicine, this family in front of me was dropping off Rx for their kids. Granted, I dont' know if they were the parents or the guardians or just aunty and uncle helping out, but they didn't know the kids DoB. Heck, I have my mom's SS memorized when I fill out forms for her.

[LewisLegion]

Because of my thyroid I pick up prescription pills every month. I always call them in beforehand and when I get there I always say the same thing. "I'm here to pick up a prescription for last name 'my last name'," then I spell my last name because there are two or three different ways to spell it. The pharmacy files all their pickups by the last name and its spelling. They then grab it and verify my first name.

THEN they show me my pills to verify they are correct. Even though I've been going there every single month for two years and know all the pharmacists.

Never had a problem this way.

[Evil Queen]

Well, Radiocerk, you're far better off then I am! When I had to pick up prescriptions I'd always say "Pick up for [Ms. Surname]."

Of course I would get asked; "What's your name?"

....I already.... told... you....

Drives me crazy. -_-'

[Primer]

I usually hand my ID to the person behind the counter as I ask for my drugs, but then most of my drugs require ID anyway.

[Pagan]

Why won't they tell me who they are?

Because they are watching! Don't ask, I haven't got a clue who they are. Maybe it's Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura.

[Andara Bledin]

Because they are watching! Don't ask, I haven't got a clue who they are. Maybe it's Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura.

Who knows.

Maybe it's this guy!

^-.-^