(An order comes to my pharmacy for a well-known antibiotic. This antibiotic is known to smell exactly like rotten eggs, so most of us just hold our breath while we count it and try not to think about it too much. We dispense it to a woman who is picking it up for her teenage son. Everything is normal and she leaves with the prescription, but about 10 minutes later she comes stomping back into the pharmacy, pretty much shoves the person that I am currently helping out of the way, and throws the bottle of medication on the counter.)
Customer: “I want to speak to your manager right now! You guys gave me rotten medication!”
Me: “Really? Let me look at the expiration date on your bottle. Normally we don’t keep anything that has one less than a year away.”
(I look at the bottle and see that the pharmacist wrote a date of over a year away, and I go over to our stock bottle and check and the numbers correspond with each other.)
Me: “Hmm. Well, ma’am, it doesn’t look like this medication is expired but I will have the phar—”
Customer: “You are just lying! I mean, come on and open that bottle! It smells totally rotten! I can’t believe that you would ever give someone bad medication! My son is very very ill!”
Me: “Oh, that’s just because the active chemical that is in this medication has a bad smell. Trust me, I wish there was something that we could do about it back here, too. Most of us hold our breath while we count it.”
Customer: “Stop ****** lying to me. You just don’t want to admit you did something wrong! I will have your job for this, b****!
(At this point the pharmacist who has been listening the whole time walks over.)
Pharmacist: “Ma’am, while I don’t like the fact that you are calling my staff names like that I will let you know two things. One is, certain chemicals have a bad smell. It’s just a fact of life. So, while I know that smell is unpleasant, it’s just one of those side effects that come with being able to take medications that will help your sick son. I assure you it’s supposed to smell that bad. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t work right. Two, since you don’t seem to want to listen to my employees and call them awful names, this will be the last time that you or any members of your family can shop or fill any type of medication here. Maybe in the future you can learn how to treat people the way you want to be treated.”
(The woman proceeded to turn bright red with embarrassment and tried to apologize, but my boss wouldn’t hear it. That was almost two years ago and he still will not allow her or her family to fill their prescriptions at his pharmacy.)
(I work at a large chemist’s shop in North Yorkshire. I am about halfway through my shift when a woman comes running into the shop and up to the register. She is scratching herself really fast and making weird faces.)
Me: “Good morning, ma’am. How can I help you?”
Customer: “ALLERGIC REACTION!”
Me: “I’m sorry…?”
Customer: “ALLERGIC REACTION!”
Me: “Okay… what about it?”
Customer: “ARE YOU STUPID OR WHAT? I NEED MEDICINE! ALLERGIC REACTION!”
(I was quite alarmed by this point and other customers in the shop were starting to stare.)
Me: “Right, what caused your reaction? Is it animal related, or—”
Customer: *scratching like mad* “I DON’T KNOW! ALLERGIC REACTION!”
Me: “Yes, but to give you the correct medication we need to know what caused your reaction. What—”
Customer: “I DON’T F****** KNOW WHAT CAUSED IT! ALLERGIC REACTION! GIVE ME SOMETHING TO MAKE IT STOP ITCHING!”
Me: “But, ma’am…”
(The customer was now running around the store pulling items from the shelves before throwing them to the ground.)
Customer: “WHERE IS THE F****** ALLERGIC REACTION MEDICINE? I NEED IT NOW!”
(The manager, hearing the commotion, runs out from the back room.)
Manager: “What seems to be the problem?”
Customer: “I NEED MEDICATION FOR AN ALLERGIC REACTION AND THIS F****** S*** WON’T GIVE ME IT!”
Manager: “What caused your reaction, ma’am?”
Customer: “I. DON’T. F******. KNOW!”
Manager: “In that case we can’t help you. Have a nice day, ma’am.”
Customer: “F*** YOU! WHEN I DIE I’M GONNA COME GET YOU FIRED!”
(The customer runs out of the store screaming ‘ALLERGIC REACTION!’)
(A man comes up to the pharmacy registers to purchase a bottle of hair growth product. These items come with coupons attached to the box so customers receive instant savings.)
Customer: “I’d like to purchase this, and I have a coupon for it.”
Me: “Excellent. I’ll ring this up for you.”
Customer: “I also have two coupons from previous boxes that I forgot to use before but I don’t have them with me. You can just take the ten dollars off my purchase now, though.”
Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but unfortunately I can only use one coupon per purchase of this item as it says here at the bottom of the coupon.”
Customer: “Well, I didn’t get to use them before so I would like to use them now.”
Me: “So you would like me to give you a discount for coupons that you do not currently have with you today?”
Customer: “Yes. I don’t see what the problem is.”
Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not the way it works.”
Customer: “Well what do you expect me to do with the coupons, then?”
(I work in a well-known national chain pharmacy. The particular store that I work in provides medicine to at least half of our well-sized county, so we stay rather busy and have a lot of customers. This exchange happens far more often than it really should
Customer: “I’m here to pick up a prescription.”
Me: “All right, what’s the name?”
Customer: “Johnson.” *or some other common last name*
(I’m in line at the pharmacy. It’s been a long day, and I just want to pick up my prescription and go home. The customer in front of me has a basket full of groceries.)
Customer: “I need to pick up my medicine! And I want to pay for my groceries here. I only have six things.”
Pharmacist: “Sure, let me get those for you.”
(The customer puts way more than six grocery items on the counter. I am beyond irritated at this point since she’s making me wait. As the pharmacist scans the groceries, however, I decide not to let it get to me. The wait isn’t that much longer, and I’m next in line anyway.)
Pharmacist: “… and there you go. You’re all set. Have a nice evening!”
Customer: “You too.”
(The customer turns to go and notices me standing in line behind her.)
Customer: *to me* “Excuse me.”
Me: “Oh, it’s no problem—”
Customer: “I SAID, EXCUSE ME. THE SIGN SAYS YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR THE PHARMACIST, NOT CROWD AROUND THE PEOPLE AT THE COUNTER. YOU ARE IN MY WAY!”
(She grabs her stuff and storms off in a huff, leaving both me and the pharmacist speechless.)
(I work as a cashier and am finally at the end of a long, frustrating split-shift. About 10 minutes to closing a group of guys in their early 20s come in and head straight for the confection aisle. They seem to be having a hard time deciding, and become panicked when my supervisor makes the closing announcement. They shove their candy, chips, and pop into the arms of one guy, and push him toward the cash. They leave the store, leaving their friend to pay. He places the items very slowly on the counter, blinking with confusion a number of times, swaying a little on his feet. I ring his items through.)
Me: “That’s $14.59. How will you be paying?”
Customer: “Uh… debit?”
(He slowly pulls out his wallet and fumbles for his card. He finally places it in the debit machine, and then stares at it, unmoving. The machine times-out, so I reset it. He manages, with some difficulty to make it through the rest of the transaction. When I place his bag in front of him, he looks confused.)
Customer: “Is this mine?”
Me: “Yes, it is.”
Customer: “These are the things I bought?”
Me: “Uh… yes. Are you all right?”
Customer: “Huh? Oh, yeah, don’t mind me, I’m just really fried.”
(He pulls a 2 dollar coin out of his pocket and puts it on the counter.)
Customer: “Don’t tell; my parents know the owner.”
(He left, marveling at the automatic doors as he did. He has been back to the store a number of times, in the same state, and makes my day whenever he shows up.)
(The pharmacy that I work at has a very standard closing time of 7:00 pm. We’ve had this for years, much longer than I’ve worked there. If a customer comes in around 6:58 or so they usually purchase their items quickly and leave. This customer comes in at 6:59.)
Customer: “Whoo! Made it in the knick of time!”
Me: “You certainly did! You picking up a prescription today?”
Customer: “Yes, it’s [Name].”
(The transaction goes smoothly and he heads for the door. It’s 7:01 pm and he turns and goes to the blood pressure machine which usually takes a couple minutes to finish the measurement. My boss tells me to turn the lights off because we’re technically closed.)
Customer: “Hey! Can you turn the lights back on? I can’t see my reading!”
Me: “The display is LED; you don’t need the lights on, sir.”
(I’m out with my parents, running some errands. During one stop, my dad picks up a prescription while my mom and I wait in the car, since it’ll be quick. She cracks the windows, though, since it’s warm. Two women exit the store.)
(I’m in the pharmacy picking up my prescription for insulin.)
Pharmacy Tech: “We are currently out of the insulin pens, so we’ve substituted a bottle of insulin that you can use until we get the pens back in stock in a few days.”
Me: “That’s fine, but I don’t have any syringes at home any more so I’ll need to buy some.”
Pharmacy Tech: “You’ll need to get a doctor to send us a prescription for the syringes.”
Me: “So, you are saying you don’t have the insulin pens. So you are giving me a bottle of insulin, but you won’t give me the syringes to use them?”
Pharmacy Tech: “We can’t give you syringes without a doctor’s prescription.”
Me: “Can I please talk to the pharmacist?”
Pharmacy Tech: “She’s very busy right now, and she’s going to tell you the same thing.”
Me: “I will wait.”
(The pharmacy tech huffs, and I go sit down in the waiting area. About 10 minutes later, after I’ve seen the pharmacist give several consultations, I walk up to the consultation window.)
Pharmacist: *very pleasantly* “Hi. Do you need a consultation?”
Me: “Actually, the lady at the register said that you were substituting a bottle of insulin instead of the pens because you are out.”
Pharmacist: “Oh, you need to know how to use the syringes?”
Me: “No, I know how to do that, but I don’t have any syringes.”
Pharmacist: “Oh, no problem. We’ll give you some since we are out of the pens.”
Me: “The lady at the register is refusing to give them to me without a prescription.”
(The pharmacist looks towards the registers and glares.)
Pharmacist: “She’s been doing that all day. I don’t know why I have to keep explaining it to her. At least she goes home in half an hour.”
(The pharmacist rang me up and I was on my way with syringes. I never saw the pharmacy tech there again.)
(I get a call on the first of April, one day after a job interview.)
Caller: “HEY! HEY! Guess what!”
Me: “Who is this?”
Caller: “It’s [Name] from [Company] from yesterday! You’re hired! All the other applicants were total f****** idiots! That’s why we want you!”
Me: “Uhm, thanks? That’s—”
Caller: “You know what I did? Do you want to hear it?”
Me: “What did you do?”
Caller: “I called all the other applicants and told them they’re hired! And when they got all excited I screamed ‘April Fools!’ Haha, I would have loved to see their faces. The first guy told me he’d sue me! Isn’t that funny?”
Me: “So… is this a joke? Or am I hired?”
Caller: “You’re actually hired. As I said, all the others were total f****** idiots! Welcome to [Company]!”
(I am the cashier at a convenience store that also has a pharmacy on the back. It is a slow day and my pharmacy coworker asks me to watch his station for a minute. A mustached, gallon-hat wearing cowboy (boots and all) comes up to me and asks in a very deep voice
Cowboy: “Do you carry generic Viagra?”
Me: *stunned* “I’m sorry. If you could just wait for a minute?”
(Thankfully my coworker heard him and took over. I went back to my station and then the same customer appeared. His purchases? Generic Viagra, a tequila bottle, and a 25-pack of lollipops…)
Please Keep Customer Interaction To A Condominimum, Part 2
Pharmacy | Right | April 29, 2014
(It is a Friday late afternoon. I am mechanically ringing up sales adding “have a nice weekend” to my normal “here’s your receipt” spiel. I realized after saying this to a male customer that he is buying several high-quantity boxes of condoms. I also remember he had a work shirt on with his name sewn on it. I stepped into the pharmacy and talk to my coworkers.)
Me: “Oh, my God!”
Coworker: “What is it?”
Me: “I just told a customer to have a good weekend, before noticing he was buying nothing but condoms! He obviously has plans to do so!”
(About thirty minutes later the phone rings, and the pharmacist picks it up.)
Coworker: “[My Name], you have a phone call.”
(I answer.)
Caller: “Hi, I’m [Customer With Named Shirt]. I’m calling because I want to go out with you this weekend!”
(It’s eight in the morning on a Saturday, at a very small shop that’s located by a big shopping centre. There’s literally nobody in the car park or in the shops of this place. The only people in the area are the pharmacist and the cashier.)
Me: “Could I get my ears pierced, please?”
Pharmacist: “Sorry. We’re too busy on weekends to pierce ears.”
(There’s a moment of awkward silence as I look around the empty, silent shop.)
Me: “You’re too busy?”
Pharmacist: “Yes. We only pierce ears on weekdays because weekends are too busy.”
(I’m lost for words for a moment, as I stand alone in the customer area where not even all the aisles have their lighting on.)
Me: “Could you make an exception?”
Pharmacist: “What if ten people with prescriptions were to suddenly arrive? Then what would we do? There’s only two of us behind the counter.”
(I end up leaving pretty soon after without getting anything, as the pharmacist continued to insist that ten people with prescriptions would materialise from the empty car-park.)
Great Stuff, Ignoring & Inattentive, New Jersey, Pharmacy, USA | Right | January 2, 2014
(The customer in front of me is dropping off a prescription. She’s on her phone.)
Customer: “…and then can you pick up [Child] from school, or do you want me— Hang on, I’m at the front of the line.” *to pharmacist* “Here’s my prescription, ID, insurance data. Need anything else?”
Pharmacist: “Just give me a minute to read through this.”
Customer: *on phone* “So, anyway, about the groceries. Why is taking—”
Pharmacist: “Excuse me?”
Customer: “Oh, hang on.” *to pharmacist* “Sorry, I know it’s rude to talk on the phone, but—”
Pharmacist: “No, no. Your prescription. It says ‘cheese, yogurt, chunky peanut butter.'”
(There is a pause.)
Customer: *on phone* “I think I know why it’s taking you so long at the grocery store.”
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