Its Always The End of the World

[TelephoneAngel]

Sometimes, I cannot process an authorisation payment until the next day for various reasons.This means that the customer has to wait till the next morning to pick it up.Telling a customer this usually produces much weeping and wailing -

I'll lose my house, i was going to pay rent with that money

my kid will starve to death if i dont get it today

i'll go to prison coz i'll rob someone to get money now

'll get beaten up coz i owe someone that money and promised him i woudgive it to him today.

and on and on and on And most times we are talking about a sum of between £5 and £10.

[RxBoy]

That's funny. It seems like no matter what area of customer service we work in it's the same. If we can't do what they want right now it's going to be the end of the world. Nine times out of ten the only actual problem is the fact that the customer waited until the last minute.

[searssoulslave]

Or my very favorite, "I'm going out of town I can't wait it has to be done TODAY." I'm assuming you knew well in advance that you were leaving the country, why did you wait at all?

[RxBoy]

Or my very favorite, "I'm going out of town I can't wait it has to be done TODAY." I'm assuming you knew well in advance that you were leaving the country, why did you wait at all?

That is so common at my pharmacy. We request that people call in refills 24 hours in advance so that we have time to order the drug in if we don't have enough in stock. If people would do this, there would never be a problem with them getting their medicine except for those rare times when a drug is not readily available on the marketplace. Yet you would not believe how many people walk in with their empty bottle to get a refill and we don't have medicine in stock, then they tell us that they are on their way to the airport now or they are leaving at 4am tomorrow and can't wait until our next delivery.

The worst part is that if they had called the day before they would not have the problem. It amazes me. You pack your bags, get your passports in order, get your tickets, get your car serviced if you are driving, reserve your hotel or rental car, etc. and this all gets done in the weeks before departure. They don't wait until the last possible second to do these things yet they seem to think nothing of doing that with their medications.

[draco664]

Let's not be naive, they're not going anywhere.

When an SC is told 'no, come back tomorrow', they immediately come up with a situation where they are unable to do so, in the apparent belief that physical laws of time, space and casuality can all be suspended if they convince the poor customer service drone that they will be too inconvenienced to comply.

An out of town trip is ideal, since it combines the lie of being unavailable, with the benefit of being vaguely probable and completely unfalsifiable.

When still told the same thing, rather than accept it, they come up with more and more outlandish scenarios in the (once again) mistaken belief that they just need to hit upon that magical level of customer inconvenience that will result in their request being processed.

But they're not going on holiday/leaving. We're not that lucky.

[RxBoy]

If that's the case, then they are more out of touch than I thought. The fact is that we don't have the medication in stock right now and we need to order it. The soonest we can have it is tomorrow at around 1pm. The fact that they can't wait until that time doesn't change the fact that I don't have any medication in stock. There is not magic portal in the back of the pharmacy that I can go though and get it and I certainly can't fart the medication out no matter how hard I strain. So the only options are to wait until tomorrow, pick it up when you come back, or get it filled at another pharmacy (either here in town or where you are going). If you are not leaving town, your options are to either wait until tomorrow or find another pharmacy that has it and transfer it there. Why don't they understand this? Why do they think that ranting long enough will change the fact that we don't have it?

[Pagan]

Why do they think that ranting long enough will change the fact that we don't have it?

That's a rhetorical question, right?

[searssoulslave]

I certainly can't fart the medication out no matter how hard I strain.

Ok, Rx that one got me laughing all night. Every time I'm going to the Pharmacy I'm going to wonder if one of the aids is standing with a bottle in the corner...

[Cazzi]

Ok, Rx that one got me laughing all night. Every time I'm going to the Pharmacy I'm going to wonder if one of the aids is standing with a bottle in the corner...

I'm so glad I'd just finished my cup of tea 15 seconds before I read that.. saved my monitor getting another shower

[dalesys]

Ok, Rx that one got me laughing all night. Every time I'm going to the Pharmacy I'm going to wonder if one of the aides is standing with a bottle in the corner...

These pills taste like arse on toast...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

These pills taste like arse on toast...

When I was younger, my parents used to give me pills of some kind that really did taste awful. I might even say they tasted like ass on toast, but I don't know what ass on toast really tastes like. I have to use my imagination.

These pills were so awful tasting, I wouldn't take them with water. So my parents had to crush them and mix them with applesauce or ice cream so I'd take them, but I could still tastes the pills.

[Kogarashi]

When I was younger, my parents used to give me pills of some kind that really did taste awful. I might even say they tasted like ass on toast, but I don't know what ass on toast really tastes like. I have to use my imagination.

These pills were so awful tasting, I wouldn't take them with water. So my parents had to crush them and mix them with applesauce or ice cream so I'd take them, but I could still tastes the pills.

Growing up, I had to take penicillin/amoxicillin before every dental checkup. Mom usually got me the nice-tasting chewable kind for kids, but one time she forgot until the last minute, and the only kind the pharmacy had were adult-size capsules you had to swallow. I could not manage to choke those down, and once they started melting on my tongue, it tasted nasty. Mom had to reschedule my dental checkup because I couldn't get my medicine down.

Now that makes me wonder where those capsules came from....

[LadyAndreca]

Growing up, I had to take penicillin/amoxicillin before every dental checkup. Mom usually got me the nice-tasting chewable kind for kids, but one time she forgot until the last minute, and the only kind the pharmacy had were adult-size capsules you had to swallow. I could not manage to choke those down, and once they started melting on my tongue, it tasted nasty. Mom had to reschedule my dental checkup because I couldn't get my medicine down.

Now that makes me wonder where those capsules came from....

I'm allergic to penicillin, and had to take arithromycin (I think) as a kid. The liquid form of that is so foul, I begged to be allowed to have pills and forced myself to learn to take adult-sized tablets, even though I had to cut them in half, so I never had to taste it again. Liquid penicillin smelled so good to me that I was always tempted to taste my siblings' medicine just so I could taste it again. The whole 'you might get horribly sick and die!' thing, and worse, the idea that Mom might punish me, kept me from doing it.

[RxBoy]

I'm allergic to penicillin, and had to take arithromycin (I think) as a kid. The liquid form of that is so foul, I begged to be allowed to have pills and forced myself to learn to take adult-sized tablets, even though I had to cut them in half, so I never had to taste it again. Liquid penicillin smelled so good to me that I was always tempted to taste my siblings' medicine just so I could taste it again. The whole 'you might get horribly sick and die!' thing, and worse, the idea that Mom might punish me, kept me from doing it.

You must be thinking of clarithromycin. The liquid form of that is absolutely horrible tasting. Luckily, nowadays we can add flavor to medicines to make them taste better. Whenever a parent brings in a prescription for clarithromycin liquid I always advise them to get the flavoring added. I even suggest it to adults since it is so bad tasting.

[LadyAndreca]

You must be thinking of clarithromycin. The liquid form of that is absolutely horrible tasting. Luckily, nowadays we can add flavor to medicines to make them taste better. Whenever a parent brings in a prescription for clarithromycin liquid I always advise them to get the flavoring added. I even suggest it to adults since it is so bad tasting.

That's probably it. I haven't had it in years and years, so forgive my mangling of the spelling.