paging Julia Sugarbaker...
Anyone remember Designing Women? My mama goes off like Julia!
This is the email complaint my mom sent to Walgreens about what happened after my grandpa's surgery Wednesday:
On June 13, I attempted to have a prescription for pain medication filled for my father who had just had surgery. I got to the store at 4:00 and provided the prescription. They said it would take 20 minutes to fill. I checked at 4:30, and was told that the doctor had omitted the quantity of pills on the prescription. (I had to check; my father and I were sitting right there waiting, but they didn't bother to call us over to tell us.) They said they had called the number on the prescription pad, but that no one had called them back. At 5:02, I again asked the status. They showed me the number they had called. I immediately called the number myself. The number on the pad was for the Surgery Center, not the doctor's office, and the Surgery Center closed at 5:00. There was no information on a covering physician provided. When I told the pharmacist this, he said not to get upset and that he would try another way to get the missing information. I told him I would take my father home and that I would call to determine the status. When I called, they said they were very busy and had no further information. I provided them with the number of the doctor's office. After several additional calls checking on the status, I again called at 7:00 (3 hours after dropping off the original prescription), reminding them of the passing time. I was told there were 4 voice mail messages that they had not had time to pick up and that my father's physician's return call might be one of them. He said they would retrieve the voice mail messages and to call back in 10 minutes. I called again at 7:15 and was kept on hold for 45 minutes! To deliberately leave someone on hold for 45 minutes is despicable! I hung up and called the Store Manager, to whom I relayed the unfolding disastrous customer service I was experiencing. I told him politely but extremely firmly that the pharmacist was to return my call to discuss what options were available to me on behalf of my elderly father. The manager returned my call five minutes later, and said he had paged the pharmacist, but that the pharmacist had not responded. At that point, I called the doctor's office myself and spoke with the on-call surgeon. He informed me that the office had returned Walgreens call hours ago! He then said he would call for me right then. Three minutes later, the pharmacy calls and says, lo and behold, the surgeon just called. Of course he did! I just did their job for them! I told them politely (again), but in no uncertain terms, that I would be on my way to pick up my father's prescription and that it was to be ready when I arrived. I still had to wait another 5 minutes after I got there before it was ready. The pharmacist never spoke to me to apologize for the delay in filling the prescription, about keeping me on hold for 45 minutes, or about anything. The action of this pharmacist and staff was unconscionable! My father was with me; the pharmacist could see that he is an elderly man. To have to wait for 4 1/2 hours for pain medication after surgery is absolutely ridiculous! As far as I am concerned, I will NEVER place any prescription at this pharmacy. I don't care how busy a place is, when someone is needing pain medication, you do everything in your power to make that happen! If you know a physician's office is supposed to call with needed information, YOU ANSWER THE PHONE, not let it go into voicemail! I can't begin to tell you how angry I was last night and how angry I still am about the way this whole situation was handled. I'm at a loss to see how the customer service at this pharmacy could get any worse! I certainly hope that management from some level (district, regional, etc.) speaks to this pharmacist and staff. They deserve the strongest rebuke possible.
"And that, Marjorie - just so you will know - and your children will someday know - is the night. The lights. Went out. In George-uh!!" (I swear, that's how Dixie Carter said it on the show)
This is the email complaint my mom sent to Walgreens about what happened after my grandpa's surgery Wednesday:
On June 13, I attempted to have a prescription for pain medication filled for my father who had just had surgery. I got to the store at 4:00 and provided the prescription. They said it would take 20 minutes to fill. I checked at 4:30, and was told that the doctor had omitted the quantity of pills on the prescription. (I had to check; my father and I were sitting right there waiting, but they didn't bother to call us over to tell us.) They said they had called the number on the prescription pad, but that no one had called them back. At 5:02, I again asked the status. They showed me the number they had called. I immediately called the number myself. The number on the pad was for the Surgery Center, not the doctor's office, and the Surgery Center closed at 5:00. There was no information on a covering physician provided. When I told the pharmacist this, he said not to get upset and that he would try another way to get the missing information. I told him I would take my father home and that I would call to determine the status. When I called, they said they were very busy and had no further information. I provided them with the number of the doctor's office. After several additional calls checking on the status, I again called at 7:00 (3 hours after dropping off the original prescription), reminding them of the passing time. I was told there were 4 voice mail messages that they had not had time to pick up and that my father's physician's return call might be one of them. He said they would retrieve the voice mail messages and to call back in 10 minutes. I called again at 7:15 and was kept on hold for 45 minutes! To deliberately leave someone on hold for 45 minutes is despicable! I hung up and called the Store Manager, to whom I relayed the unfolding disastrous customer service I was experiencing. I told him politely but extremely firmly that the pharmacist was to return my call to discuss what options were available to me on behalf of my elderly father. The manager returned my call five minutes later, and said he had paged the pharmacist, but that the pharmacist had not responded. At that point, I called the doctor's office myself and spoke with the on-call surgeon. He informed me that the office had returned Walgreens call hours ago! He then said he would call for me right then. Three minutes later, the pharmacy calls and says, lo and behold, the surgeon just called. Of course he did! I just did their job for them! I told them politely (again), but in no uncertain terms, that I would be on my way to pick up my father's prescription and that it was to be ready when I arrived. I still had to wait another 5 minutes after I got there before it was ready. The pharmacist never spoke to me to apologize for the delay in filling the prescription, about keeping me on hold for 45 minutes, or about anything. The action of this pharmacist and staff was unconscionable! My father was with me; the pharmacist could see that he is an elderly man. To have to wait for 4 1/2 hours for pain medication after surgery is absolutely ridiculous! As far as I am concerned, I will NEVER place any prescription at this pharmacy. I don't care how busy a place is, when someone is needing pain medication, you do everything in your power to make that happen! If you know a physician's office is supposed to call with needed information, YOU ANSWER THE PHONE, not let it go into voicemail! I can't begin to tell you how angry I was last night and how angry I still am about the way this whole situation was handled. I'm at a loss to see how the customer service at this pharmacy could get any worse! I certainly hope that management from some level (district, regional, etc.) speaks to this pharmacist and staff. They deserve the strongest rebuke possible.
"And that, Marjorie - just so you will know - and your children will someday know - is the night. The lights. Went out. In George-uh!!" (I swear, that's how Dixie Carter said it on the show)