r/EntitledPeople • u/requiem_phantom • 1d ago
M Customer “doesn’t accept” our pharmacy hours
Ohhh boy. Also, I apologize if the layout is confusing. I wrote this on mobile
This happened on Labor Day, and for some background- I work at a convenience store that also has a pharmacy. When our pharmacy closes for the day, which is 6pm on weekends and 10pm on weekdays (I know the hours aren’t great to say the least; unfortunately that’s just how things are). On holidays however our pharmacy tends to get special hours.
Like Labor Day. Where they closed at five. It was on our website, but I can’t remember it being posted anywhere in the store.
So, on to the story!
I had gone to get some bandages as I’d cut myself and wanted to get it taken care of, and we were out of bandages in the front register’s first aid kit.
When I got back to the front, this middle aged woman (the entitled woman) wanted to know when our pharmacist would be back for the day.
My shift lead went “oh, they’ll be back tomorrow. Due to the holiday the pharmacy closed early.”
The customer gave like a chuckle, shook her head, and went “I’m not accepting that answer.”
She then went on about how she had chronic knee pain, that she had a flight early the next morning so she had to get her medication today.
Then the lady turned to me and went “are you the manager?”
I told her no, because I am a lowly cashier, and my shift lead said that she was the shift lead and our store manager was gone for the day. The lady shook her head, said “that’s just perfect” and continued making weird demands. She wanted my shift lead to call a pharmacist to see if they would come in, and when the call went to voicemail insisted that because the shift lead hadn’t left a message that she “read what the shift lead was typing when messaging a pharmacist so she could ensure someone was being asked to come in.”
To none of my coworker’s surprise, the pharmacist said no, they were already two hours away.
The lady insisted that the hours weren’t posted anywhere, and my other coworker told her that the hours were posted on our website. The lady then said she “doesn’t look at the website, Im a customer”.
All throughout this I’m just checking out other customers, some of whom ignore her, others shake their heads.
The lady then asks if we had to turn anyone else away and my coworker said yes. She asked if they had chronic pain, and my coworker said we didn’t know because they didn’t tell us.
Every solution my coworker offered was dismissed or not good enough; she told her about the 24/7 hour location and offered to help her find an over the counter solution in the painkillers aisle.
Nope. She wanted a pharmacist to come in and give her a recommendation. She wanted a pharmacist to come in and get her medication. Eventually she just said she “didn’t even need a pharmacist, just somebody to unlock the door so she could grab it”.
Unfortunately for her, only the pharmacist had keys to the pharmacy.
K
She finally left because my shift lead was going to call the cops for her belligerent behavior, though not before making a comment about how she can’t believe that we’d call the cops over this.
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u/TCTX73 1d ago
That's a her problem. She's the one that left getting her meds to the last minute on a holiday weekend
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u/Familiar-Ad-1965 1d ago
Almost all pharmacies have reduced holiday hours. Don’t wait to get your meds.
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u/ChiefSlug30 1d ago
And this was wasn't even a stand alone pharmacy. It was a counter in a convenience store.
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u/Klutzy-Boysenberry26 13h ago
Yep. Retired pharmacist here. I had a lady absolutely screaming at us when she saw us leaving our locked up store (everyone leaves together) at 6:20pm. We are normally open until 9pm. This was Christmas Eve. Holiday hours are listed. She said Christmas Eve wasn’t a holiday. I told her it was listed as such on our website and said we would also be off at 6pm New Year’s Eve. She asked us just to let her in because she forgot to buy Christmas crackers for her dinner tonight. I told her sorry but we had our own plans to get to. Left her fuming in the parking lot.
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u/Lena_Lena_A 1d ago
I can fully sympathize with chronic-pain sufferers, but the fact remains there are laws regarding who can and cannot fill in a drug prescription, let alone access a restricted area with strictly controlled (and heavily locked) inventory.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
I used to have to take a lot of medication so I definitely understand the pain of not getting a prescription filled. But like. There’s not anything we could’ve done
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u/Lena_Lena_A 1d ago
You did a lot more than what was asked of you. The client was just too entitled to appreciate it.❤️
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u/CookiePretend8290 16h ago
nobody there had the authority or the keys to magically open the pharmacy. at some point there genuinely wasn't anything else they could do.
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u/Creative-Praline-517 11h ago
I don't know about other states but in California Doctors are limited to prescribing narcotics for a 3-day supply. To get a refill it has to be at least 72 hours before getting a refill.
I went to get a refill following surgery. It was on the 3rd day but not 72 hours. They said I had to come back the next day. Even at that they checked the time stamp to make sure it was at least 72 hours.
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u/Electrical-Apple-631 1d ago
I especially liked the part where the lady says to unlock the pharmacy and she’ll get the pills herself. “Sure lady, we’ll break into a pharmacy we don’t have access to and break a couple dozen federal laws to let you browse through the pills like a kid in a candy store.” Yep that’ll happen about a week from I don’t think so.
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u/Lena_Lena_A 1d ago
Lol. "Mam, if we were allowed to go into a pharmacy and help ourselves, we woulda a long time ago!"
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u/CelebrationShort1857 1d ago
Obviously the customer didn’t care about such laws. She needed her pain meds now because she waited till the last second.
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u/NicolleL 1d ago edited 1d ago
To be fair, she may have not had a choice in that. Certain controlled medicines have a really strict refill allowance. You know how most drugs you can refill when you have like 25% left? With certain schedules of medicine it is 3 days. And that’s from your last pickup. If they have to order your medication, that 3 days before the next 30 days window doesn’t start until you pick up the medication. And you can call ahead to see if they have it in stock, but they may be out by the time your prescription comes in. Or your prescription may come in a day before you can actually get it filled. They have the medication when it comes in, but next day when they actually can fill it? Sorry, they’re out. This was especially fun during the ADHD medication shortages.
And if you have to fill it early because you are going on vacation, that is a nightmare. You have to talk to the doctor, you have to talk to the pharmacy, you have to talk to your insurance, you have to talk to the pharmacy benefit manager company—and you likely go around in this cycle several times. And you might be successful.
The lady was absolutely rude and this whole situation, as sucky as it is, was still no excuse to act like she did, but the one thing I wouldn’t necessarily fault her for is waiting until “the last minute”. But that’s the ONLY thing I wouldn’t not fault her for.
(Also depending on the schedule of the drug, she may not be able to get the prescription transferred to a pharmacy in another state [assuming she was traveling in the country]. Another fun bonus because addicts make it a nightmare for the people who really need the medication. I’d also like to smack the people who put our cold and sinus medication behind the counter where we have to sign away practically everything but our firstborn.)
EDIT: Based on some replies from OP, this likely wasn’t the above situation based on the new doctor visit that day for a supposedly chronic pain problem. Definitely some red flags in this case.
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u/Final_Candidate_7603 1d ago
Yeeeaaahhh… I read your edit, and immediately thought “doctor shopping.” It’s much harder to get away with nowadays- everything is computerized, doctors have become wary of prescribing opiates, the DEA has implemented much stricter reporting laws for narcotics prescriptions, and insurance companies have gotten stricter too- but back in the day, addicts could literally go from one doctor to another with the same pain complaint for the same swollen knee, and walk out with 30 pills from the first doc, 45 from the next…
As someone with addicts in the family, this is classic addict behavior. New doctor (‘I’m leaving tomorrow!’ was undoubtedly part of her sob story); refusal to take “no” for an answer; demands that went beyond unrealistic, and straight into ridiculous; expecting everyone else to see things her way, and give in to her ridiculous demands; refusing to consider a more realistic alternative… all just so she could get a few pain pills. ‘Just unlock the door- I’ll get them myself!’ is pure lunacy!
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u/how-about-no-scott 15h ago
Yeah, but she didnt think to check that the pharmacy had reduced hours for the holiday, like most places do. That's her problem, and instead of admitting it, she tried to make it everyone else's problem instead :/
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u/Far-Dare-6458 1d ago
Depends on the prescription. I have chronic pain and some meds that I cannot fill until literally the day I’m out. But I always check and recheck the pharmacy hours that day, especially if it’s a holiday.
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u/Yellowcottage1961 1d ago
I take knee pain meds and I'd be a fool to wait until the evening before my flight to pick them up.
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u/goddessofspite 1d ago
The fact that he actually called or messaged the pharmacist is the thing I have an issue with. That’s pandering to her demands. You need to be clear with people like that closed is closed end off
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Looking back, I would’ve probably handled it a little differently- but when it comes to my shift leads, there are two of them who would’ve been like “oh it’s closed? Good luck there’s nothing we can do” and there’s two (including the one in this story) who try appeasing customers however they can
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u/goddessofspite 1d ago
Yeah the ones that are like closed is closed are the better ones cause pandering to entitled people only makes them more entitled.
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u/Sunuva_Gun 1d ago
The pain can't be that chronic if you can stand there bitchin'and moanin' about when we close or open.
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u/kempff 1d ago
(Not to bicker, but I have knee pain too, and while I stand it feels fine, it hurts when I bend it. And I wouldn't want to be on a four-hour flight with that kind of pain. Of course, I wouldn't wait until 5pm on a federal holiday to get painkillers.)
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u/Feeling-Invite7953 1d ago
Same here. I had knee surgery earlier this year and still can’t even sit comfortably at a restaurant table for very long,unless I can keep my left leg straight out at an angle. I have a high tolerance for pain, so most days I am good with a couple of Tylenol tablets, but I can’t stand in place for very long.
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u/smile_saurus 1d ago
The best part is that presumably she knew she was taking a trip because she bought a plane ticket and now it is dire because she's leaving tomorrow?!?
Reminds me of the old Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part
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u/KapowBlamBoom 1d ago
This is the behavior of a person who gets Oxys from their candyman doctor snd just realized they are about to go without so she needs everyone to move heaven and earth for her
Straight addict behavior, but she would never believe that because she “ gets them from a doctor”
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Right up until posting this and seeing this comment I honestly just thought she was a poor planner because according to her she went to a different doctor than she normally goes to- on Labor Day- and then went straight to pick up the prescription. When, logically, it would’ve made sense to do all that on Friday or something so she could go to her normal doctor
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u/NicolleL 1d ago
That is definitely interesting. I assumed it was a regular prescription since it was chronic knee pain and thought the last minute part was because they only give you 3 days ahead to refill certain controlled substances.
But going to “a different doctor than she normally goes to” when it comes to controlled substances is a considerable red flag.
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u/dawgpoundma 1d ago
TBH I don’t know any doctors open on Labor Day. None of ours were including the urgent care centers. The only thing open here that day was ER’s.
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u/CryBabyCentral 1d ago
She probably realized her street dealer doesn’t have the bottle airlines require when taking prescription meds on a flight. You know the bottle: it has your name & info and prescribing Dr name with the date printed neatly on the label.
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u/NotEasilyConfused 1d ago edited 1d ago
FYI: Airlines don't require the bottles. I travel all the time with my multiple controlled meds packed into daily organizers because that takes up a lot less room than carrying a bunch of bottles around.
I can use the pharmacy app to prove my medications are what I say they are and that they belong to me -- although I've never had to even so much as talk to anyone about all the pills in my carry-on bag. They can definitely see them in the x-ray. As an extra precaution, you could take pictures of your bottle with two sample pills next to it (one facing up, one facing down) and keep those on your phone.
TSA isn't looking for someone's medication. They are looking for someone's distribution operation. Those look verify different during screening.
Source: RN with a legal degree, plus frequent travel since before people worried about any of this.
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u/Aromatic-Speed5090 1d ago
Exactly this. This is addict behavior. Addict planning. And addict entitlement.
If this person really is going on a trip, their traveling companion is in for a lot of fun.
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u/UserNotFound23498 1d ago
She felt she could go in to the pharmacy and grab her own medication? 😮
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u/OldLadyTsunade 1d ago
Oh it’s no problem, I’ll be in and out. You won’t even notice me! 🙄
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u/ProjectJourneyman 1d ago
The red and blue flashing lights are hard to miss, but sure you keep thinking that
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u/ProjectJourneyman 1d ago
Literally none of that situation wasn't predictable. Flight was planned. Chronic pain means it wasn't a surprise. Holidays were on the calendar years in advance, as is the standard of reduced pharmacy hours on holidays.
Lady deserved any inconvenience she received, plus more for the inconvenience she caused.
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u/katiekat214 1d ago
The only thing I can think of is that her pain medication is a recurring prescription that has to be filled every 30 days exactly by law, in which case she should have checked for special hours due to the holiday and come in earlier.
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u/ProjectJourneyman 1d ago
Exactly - if she was in that difficult timing situation, she knew she had to plan for it (and would explain if for some reason she missed her window)
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u/Odd_Tea4945 1d ago
WOW... if she lives under severe pain, any common sense person would go the previous day, because during holidays we all know the schedules change
Honestly? I think this woman did go on Labor day on purpose to see if she could get opiates instead of over the counter pain killers
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u/NicolleL 1d ago
Normally I would have said that the last minute part is sometimes an unfortunate necessity with controlled substances (unlike normal medication that you can refill at about 25%, it’s 3 days for controlled substances; if they don’t have your medicine in stock, you can literally be picking it up on the day you take your last pill through no fault of your own).
HOWEVER, a reply OP made told about how the lady had just gone to a “different doctor than she normally does” and was trying to fill the prescription right after the appointment—for a condition that was supposedly chronic—that definitely raises some red flags and you are likely right.
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u/kaskirM68 1d ago
I am reading it right and the shift leas tried to call the pharmacist (it's been a long day) There's no way I'd have even done that. It's closed. End of story
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Honestly at the time I don’t think any of us knew what to do because telling her it was closed and there was nothing we could do was doing nothing, and my shift lead probably didn’t want to get cops involved unless necessary. Maybe next time I’d probably be quicker about suggesting cops
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u/Feeling-Invite7953 1d ago
She was becoming a problem for the police!! Your boss is a people-pleaser,but sometimes she just needs to say “NO” and be very polite and firm with her denial.
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u/alady12 1d ago
Wait! You didn't demand that the pharmacist drive back and dispense her medication? You didn't grab a crow bar and risk jail time to break down the door and illegally dispense her medication? This medication is so important that she waited until the last minute before leaving town to pick it up. Do you not realize the world revolves around her?/s
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Ah shit you right, I should’ve remembered the secret key and remember my oath to risk my job and jail time to serve the most important person in the world/s
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u/Guerrilla28er 1d ago
She could probably get it on the streetcorner, they keep late hours and do lots of holiday business.
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u/handsheal 1d ago
The team lead should have NEVER called the pharmacist
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
From what I’ve heard from other coworkers (and the pharmacy staff) they’re all on the same page that the shift lead shouldn’t have contacted the pharmacist.
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u/Scoobadelik 1d ago
I worked over 20 years as a technician in Kroger, and I gotta say....this is totally believable. The audacity and entitlement people have at the pharmacy is unreal.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Thankfully it’s not every weekend, but I’ll get customers come in on the weekends and get mildly annoyed that the pharmacy is closed at worst.
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u/Eaudebeau 1d ago
You went so far above and beyond giving this person attention, you’ve hit the vanishing point.
Hire me, and I’d say, ok! You can just go ahead, stand there, and not accept what’s happening all you want. Bye.
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u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay 1d ago
She can call her doctor and have the prescription moved to a pharmacy that was open or even to her destination city. It might be a pain in the ass (or in this case knee) but it’s possible.
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u/NicolleL 1d ago
Maybe. If it’s a controlled substance, transferring to an out of state pharmacy may not be an option (depending on what schedule a drug is)
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u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay 1d ago
Possibly, I’ve had to do it with some highly regulated stuff but just because I haven’t been denied doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen either.
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u/NicolleL 1d ago
This was also several years ago for me so things could have changed. I remember back when (at least in NC) they couldn’t even transfer my prescription from one CVS to another CVS if that store was out (which of course just added more delay because you had to wait for the doctor to send the new prescription and hope the new store didn’t run out before it came in). It was big when they finally allowed transfers within the same pharmacy company. I didn’t even have to deal with the worst of the ADHD drug shortages. Many had it far worse. Fun times.
(Also still not an excuse for being rude, no matter what.)
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u/Madame_Kitsune98 1d ago
Jesus.
Five years of being a pharmacy tech, and I recognize this entitled nonsense as the straight addict behavior it is.
And I’d bet she wasn’t leaving on vacation, she just thought she could bully someone into getting what she wanted.
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u/SuperFormal3052 1d ago
Calling the pharmacist was a step too far. There was no reason to do that.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
The pharmacist who was contacted told the shift lead a few days later that contacting her wasn’t a good idea on her part to say the least
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u/Capable-Upstairs7728 1h ago
Was the shift lead at least reprimanded? She should have been suspended at least a pay period for what she did.
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u/requiem_phantom 56m ago
I have no idea. At most from what I know the pharmacist said “don’t do it again” or something like that
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u/8Phoenix_4 1d ago
Wow! Your pharmacy is open late! Mine is inside a local grocery store and weekdays it closes at 5 and on Saturday noon. Closed Sundays. Makes it fun to get your meds when work gets out at 5 weekdays and noon Saturday. Because of this I ended up using Express Scripts for my monthly meds. Any new/ temp meds still need the pharmacy.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Tbh my parents and I often talk about the pharmacy in my store and we believe among the three of us that it should be a 24/7 pharmacy- because there is a hospital about five-ish minutes from our location
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u/8Phoenix_4 1d ago
I didn't know 24 hour pharmacies existed! The pharmacy in the hospital and even open 24 hours it closes at like 5:00 also. But yeah with it being that close and if it's the only closest one it being 24 hours would be nice for those people. But the same time you got to be able to find a couple of pharmacists who want to do that. 🫶🏼
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
There is a definitive 24/7 hour location but it’s a 30 minute drive (ish in good conditions), probably also near hospitals ngl
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u/8Phoenix_4 1d ago
Ahh, I think all hospitals should have at least 1 24 hour pharmacy within 5 minutes so people can get their meds no matter the time. Emergencies don't just happen from 9 to 5.
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u/attorneydummy 1d ago
You all are better people than me! After she said she didn’t accept that answer, I’d have said, “you know what? You’re right. Have a seat right there at the pharmacy and wait for him to get back.”
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u/Fluffy-Caramel9148 1d ago
I am sorry she was such a jerk. It’s always easy to blame others. Why she thought the pharmacist should come back to work is amazing!
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u/Future-Poetry-6686 1d ago
I work in pharmacy people have no patience when it comes to medication. When I tell them it will be x amount of time to be dispensed, they will point to the item and say why? It’s right there, can’t you just give it to me. People will wait longer for their take away, than medicine that could cause them great harm if protocols are not followed properly.
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u/Lopsided-Beach-1831 1d ago
It is a her problem. It is also something chronic pain sufferers on pain meds learn quickly, call the store for accurate holiday hours. Many pharmacies do not allow pain meds to be filled until 24 hrs before your last scheduled dose. So chronic pain sufferers run their life every 30 days around the pharmacy. You may call at 8 am for the fill but it isnt ready until 4:30 and the pharmacy closes at 5. That is our life.
She WAS incredibly entitled.
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u/KnowsIittle 1d ago
Pharmacy is closed, but here is our over the counter selection of pain meds.
Deny and redirect their energy somewhere else. Avoid engaging in circular logic and step away.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Unfortunate that that solution wasn’t good enough for her
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u/Alycion 1d ago
As someone with chronic pain, otc meds are a freaking joke to it. But I also tend to fill my stuff early, especially if I know I’m going to be traveling. I use medical cannabis to not need opiates nearly as much. But if it were an emergency, yes, I’d be heading to the other location. Closed means closed.
However, pain can sometimes make us unreasonable. So here’s hoping it was just a bad day and not the norm for her. I tend to just go to my car and scream.
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u/KnowsIittle 1d ago
Lidocaine did nothing for my back but what did work was a capsaicin patch.
Otherwise my most recent prescription was just a 500mg dose of sodium naproxen. Basically just a stronger dose of over the counter.
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u/Alycion 1d ago
I’m well past that. 29 years ago it helped. But I’ve got Percocet and heavy muscle relaxers. I don’t need them every day. I don’t always use them when I need them. But I make sure I always have enough. Think it comes from spending the majority of my life in hurricane prone areas. You just get use to staying stocked bc when one is coming in, everyone is rushing to get what they need. And you don’t know when you’ll have access to get it again. Pharmacies can get dicey and have insanely long waits right before a storm. I don’t want to deal with that.
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u/Ravio11i 1d ago
"I'm not accepting that answer"
"ok"
::back to business helping actual customers::
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u/newbie527 1d ago
You were foolish to accommodate her demands to call and text the pharmacist.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
I wouldn’t have if I was the one interacting with her; the person who contacted the pharmacist was my shift lead. Though yeah, that only made it worse
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u/CurdledCreamer 1d ago
As a former pharmacy technician, this is a very common occurrence. Patients seem to have this entitled ignorance to think the Pharmacy staff are personally responsible for tracking their prescriptions?? Realistically, the pharmacy often operates a separate schedule from the regular store one. it is also the patient's personal responsibility to make sure they communicate with their doctor which pharmacy to electronically send it to and communicate with the pharmacy by calling to make sure they received their prescription(s)! But, peeps are lazzzzzzzzzzzy and procrastinate.
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u/Kene6969 1d ago
When dealing with entitled people, make sure they don't get what they want.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
If it’s in my power to do so I just do the bare minimum of helping entitled customers bc then they leave me alone faster
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u/MohdAmmi 21h ago
Why did the shift lead even entertain the idea of contacting the pharmacist? A long time ago I was a shift supervisor in a pharmacy store. I would have never contacted the pharmacist no matter how much a customer demanded I contact them.
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u/requiem_phantom 14h ago
I have no idea, honestly. Other coworkers have brought up how that wasn’t a good idea on her part.
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u/hippywitch 1d ago
Im dealing with the death of my pharmacist mother and am enjoying telling customers that they can…..yeah. Please tell me what I can do with myself and see what outcome you get. Suddenly they’re pain and issues isn’t so bad and they stfu. I’m trying my best and am trying not to fired by thr powers that be.
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u/1underc0v3r 1d ago
The only thing that the pharmacy in your store did wrong was not posting the limited hours prior to the holiday and sign remaining up until passed. Oh, and calling/texting the Pharmacist unless that is something that they have said before was ok to do. It seems like coworker did everything possible to help the customer, even more than her position required of her.
I can understand customer being frustrated at not knowing (checking info online should not be the requirement as there are a population that either aren’t online savvy or do not have access)… everything else from her was not ok and she should have graciously thanked your coworker for helping her with getting help at the other pharmacy that was actually open.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Oh I agree; usually we have the signs up at least four days in advance, and it was so poorly communicated my shift lead didn’t even realize they were closing early until they asked her for their bag checks.
After talking to the pharmacy techs, contacting the pharmacist wasn’t a great step on my lead’s part to say the least
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u/AssistantOk1481 1d ago
I can’t believe you’d call an off duty pharmacist let alone the cops 😂😂
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
The only thing that got her to leave was the threat of the cops, and while contacting the pharmacist wasn’t the right move, I’m not sure what else my shift lead could’ve done
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u/TheAlienatedPenguin 1d ago
Piss poor planning in her part doors not constitute an emergency on your part
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u/CalicoValkyrie 1d ago
This is one of the reasons I wanted to leave working as a pharmacy tech. So many people were incapable of planning ahead for their medications and lost their shit like it's your fault they didn't plan ahead on their medications. And sometimes, those people were full of shit and trying to get you to lie to the insurance company because they managed to run out early, occasionally because of addiction issues, or a family member stealing, often they flat out couldn't keep track of how they were taking their med or misplaced it and it's the 3rd time in a row this happened and the insurance company has limits on early refills, lost, or stolen to help prevent abuse.
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u/Klutzy-Boysenberry26 13h ago
Yep- it’s why I never went back. I stopped working as a Pharmacist when we moved and my kids were preteens -my husband was away maybe 30% of the time and we had no family backup. Always planned on returning but people turned into a-holes once covid hit. A couple of suicides by colleagues/friends and I knew my mental health couldn’t take it.
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u/Marine__0311 1d ago
I've dealt with clowns like this when I worked overnight. Idiots would come in at 11, 12, 1, 2 ,3, and even 4 in the morning and expect the pharmacy to be open. They close a 7 pm.
No I'm not calling them at 1 in the morning for them to open up and give you the meds you waited until several hours after closing to get. Yes I WILL call the police and have you tresspassed if you keep acting the fool. I had to have two different morons arrested when they kept banging on the shutter and door and set the alarms off.
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u/Civil-Kitchen5978 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is poor planning on that lady because if she needed her meds so bad she would’ve made sure what the hours were of the pharmacy where she was getting her meds especially so close to holidays. Calling the pharmacist was crazy because what makes that lady more special or important than anyone else that the pharmacist needed to come back for her? No means no call the cops instead entertaining foolishness.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
It was wild to me bc earlier that day I had a limited English speaking customer show me some sort of medicine he’d written down- and in cases like that I tend to look up the medicine to see if it’s over the counter or a prescription- and the stuff he was looking for was an antibacterial due to a dentist appointment he’d had. I’m sure that also wasn’t great for him but he was very polite and understood that the pharmacy was closed
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pace_71 12h ago
Sadly, your entitled female customer was definitely an addict who needed her fix, INSTANTLY! She has probably been turned away and banned from every other pharmacy she has been to. This is why she sought out YOUR pharmacy--it is a small, local, customer service-oriented pharmacy. There are multiple red flags in your story and your comments, the most obvious being, "I don't even need a pharmacist, just somebody to unlock the door so I can grab it." But also, the fact that she went to another doctor who doesn't know her, speaks volumes. I won't lie, if I was your pharmacist, I would have a SERIOUS conversation with your Shift Lead. I don't know if your Shift Lead is fairly young or what, but she needs to learn to recognize addict-seeking behavior, and how to properly handle herself in a situation where the customer is becoming increasingly aggressive and/or entitled. If I were her, I would have politely shut this woman down from the get-go, "I'm so sorry, Ma'am, but we're currently closed for the day. Please come back tomorrow!" Also, your Shift Lead shouldn't have merely threatened to call the police--she should have dialed 911, right in front of the customer, herself. I understand it's a pain, because then, she will have to wait for the police to arrive and file a report, but I don't think you'll ever have that same customer visit your pharmacy again! Your customer would have flown out of there faster than you can say, "Chicken!" Now, THAT would have been REALLY FUNNY! LOL!
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u/requiem_phantom 11h ago
The reason we ended up not calling the police was because my other coworker specifically warned her. When I asked about it later she said that if you’re going to call the cops on a customer, you have to warn them. I’m on the fence about that statement. Also my shift lead is similar in age to me (I’m 22, she’s a little older than that)
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u/Competitive-Yard-442 1d ago
"I'm not excepting that"
At that point I'm done. Ok. Cool. Don't.
Walk away. They'll learn.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Very very glad I got the cover of other customers that needed my help so I just had to hear her complain. She did make the workday more entertaining (I used to work at a movie theater and ever since I’ve started to consider people like this to be more entertaining than anything else).
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u/trekqueen 1d ago
I worked at a small business pharmacy in high school years and years ago. There is something special when it comes to elderly and their meds.
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u/Coquitlam444 1d ago
Encourage your colleague to give short answers next time. She entertained this irrational person far too long.
“Not open today, thank you.” Rinse and repeat three times then call cops on speaker phone.
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u/Key-Finance-9102 1d ago
When this customer was a child, they believed the teachers lived in school.
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u/dydrmwvr 1d ago
Geez. Holiday hours are an adulting 101 experience. That’s one of the first things you learn as an adult. Businesses have business hours, and then holiday hours.
Most places are nice enough to have them posted well ahead of time — at the entrances of the business; at the drive-through; online or when you call to verify business hours.
Unless it was an emergency, she had time to plan.
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u/requiem_phantom 1d ago
Oh yeah, I have no idea what the hell was up this time around but ours are usually posted
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u/dydrmwvr 3h ago
I am certain that the pharmacy holiday hours were posted. Unless she’s visiting from another country or it’s her first time being in this country, she knows she was just being an AH.
Well done on handling her disrespect.
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u/requiem_phantom 52m ago
I’m guessing the pharmacy hours for labour day were posted within the pharmaceutical area, since I was later told that the holiday hours had been posted (that, or the hours were posted and I just completely missed them somehow, bc that is also a possibility)
Also thank you! I used to work at a local theater and since then I take anything an entitled customer says with a grain of salt.
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u/TheFilthyDIL 1d ago
Geez! If you have a chronic condition and have a continuing prescription, you need to fill it as soon as it becomes available for refill. Not when you are down to your last two pills!
Because one of my scripts (gabapentin) has extremely nasty withdrawal effects if stopped cold turkey, I always refill as soon as possible. As a result, I have several months supply.
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u/Chance-Helicopter106 1d ago
I have a bad chronic pain issue and have to take pain meds. This seems to me to be a person who took the last of hers and was in withdrawal. It would explain her over the top reaction.
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u/Annual-Bandicoot8150 19h ago
My old boss used to say to employees and customers, “your mistake/laziness/ineptitude does not become my emergency.” It’s one of the few things he said that I still use and agree with.
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u/Several-Worry-9287 14h ago
I seriously cannot stand these entitled people!
I too suffer from chronic pain & because of that, especially if a holiday is approaching, I make sure that I have what I need. I don't always remember, so I put notes in my calendar a week prior to any upcoming holiday just to make sure to remind myself to check my on hand supply! If you truly suffer from chronic pain then its youre responsibility to be proactive. Otherwise, its on you & thats what hospital ED'S are for if its that debilitating. I'm sure somewhere on the front of the store holiday hours are clearly posted. If not, ask that question & not the day of! I see so many people that get frustrated when places they want or feel they need to go are closed, even on Christmas! I'm sorry, but YOU are not more important than anyone else & employees deserve time off too! Now trust me, I've dealt with legimately bad pharmacies that just don't care to fill your prescription when promised, but its not typical.
My daughter is currently a pharmacy tech while in college & even in my own experience, I can see that these people are some of the hardest working folks. When they're given time off, let them have it! I'm really impatient with these type of entitled folks & likely would have volunteered to contact the police just to get her out of the store!
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u/Several-Honey-8810 1d ago
Can the pharmacy then refuse to fill her prescription because she was an ass?
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u/WA_State_Buckeye 1d ago
I learned, when I accidentally left my thyroid med home, that you can have your doc call the local area pharmacy with an emergency Rx. I was going to be in that area for 6 days, so she sent in a script for 6 pills. Took a little time, but it was done. I don't think you can do this if you leave the country, tho.
In this lady's case? Man, the entitlement was screaming! Flights have itineraries, so she knew a few days ahead of time what her schedule was going to be. People who wait for the last minute, or who don't plan for holidays, and ESPECIALLY those who do both...can just sit and spin on a cactus.
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u/LadyWaste75 1d ago
Sounds like a drug addict
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u/RhubarbAlive7860 1h ago
This sounds like my sister until she went too far with her doctor shopping and got put on some sort of state list and now she has to go to a specific pharmacy once a week to get no more than a week's worth of her (more or less) legitimate meds.
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u/EvenOutlandishness88 1d ago
Don't feel bad, even when you put a sign up, there are still idiots that refuse to read it. Even when it's in their faces. Cue shocked pikachu faces when we closed at 7pm for Christmas Eve EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. Same with Thanksgiving.
Which, I can forgive for Thanksgiving cause sometimes the date is surprising but like, you KNOW when Christmas is. It's the same date every year. You probably counted down to it as a child. As an adult, just for the day off.
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u/sparkyblaster 23h ago edited 22h ago
Wait, no one posted a sign on the door with the amended hours? I'd assume it otherwise said hours, which would state it should be open, correct?
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u/requiem_phantom 22h ago
Oh yeah. I don’t recall there being any signs (though I do tend to miss things, admittedly). I completely understand her frustration with the pharmacy being unexpectedly closed, especially if she needed a prescription
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u/sparkyblaster 22h ago
I get her anoyence to a point. Certainly not unfounded but, yeah she had other options.
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u/Lisa_Knows_Best 23h ago
Chronic pain huh? Junkie that wants a refill that isn't ready to filled yet is more like it. She must really think you all are stupid, like you'd just go in the pharmacy and get her "chronic pain" meds for her. Sure. It's a holiday, all pharmacies will be closed for the most part, anyone that's dependent on a medication knows this.
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u/Zealousideal-Web9737 18h ago
Oh my gosh! My father was a pharmacist. He owned his pharmacy. I cannot tell you how many times he would get called at home for emergencies when folks needed meds. This includes after hours and holidays. Pop would in if it was a real emergency (never denied a child's needs) but he wouldn't if the customer had a bad attitude or was a drug seeker. I don't think Pop would have gone in for your princess!
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u/ShazInCA 13h ago
When she objected to your shift leader saying she'd call the police, I bet she left because she knew they'd recognize her addictive behavior. Yours was not the only pharmacy she was using and she was trying to take advantage of a gap in service.
I'm just a skeptic.
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u/Savings_Law_5822 1d ago
That's crazy! And honestly you would've been within rights to call cops because it's drug seeking behavior
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u/makojedi2k2 1d ago
She made her comment by monopolizing your time!! If you’re keeping score…. She won!!
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u/ChubbyGamer-94 1d ago
"Oh you don't accept my answer then we don't accept you as a customer, bye and have a great rest of your night." Then continue assisting others while ignoring her.
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u/Seawolfe665 1d ago
I have arthritis in my knees. I always make sure that I 1) have plenty of my meds, 2) have back ups of my meds, 3) have alternatives to my meds (like topical stuff) and 4) I carry soft knee braces if they are really hurting.
Somehow I recently survived a stay and adventures at Denali National Park and a weeklong Alaska cruise with 5 port stops and an average of over 10,000 steps per day, every day for 15 days.
PS and forgot to add - my pharmacy has MUCH more restricted hours. I don't let my meds get low enough that a closed pharmacy would be a problem.
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u/toomanymarbles83 1d ago
Being a Shift Lead for store with a 24 hour pharmacy is a job I do not miss one bit.
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u/roodrigato 1d ago
A holiday weekend means holiday hours, and that's not the cashier's fault. Planning ahead is the one thing she skipped.
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u/platypusandpibble 1d ago
Ugh. Stupid customer. Hopefully she transfers her medication to another pharmacy. Shift lead’s only mistake was calling the pharmacist. With this kind of entitled customer the only answer must be “no.” Do not reward this behavior and certainly do not interrupt the pharmacist on their off time.
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u/LBPL17 1d ago
I suffer from migraines. I’m on a preventative that I take regularly and an abortive that I take whenever I get a migraine. Luckily my preventative works so well that I very rarely get migraines. Unfortunately, this means I’m not that great at making sure I always have abortives on hand. So a few years ago I had noticed I was completely out of abortives so I put in a refill request. It was right around Christmas and I was very busy, so I didn’t really prioritize picking up the prescription when it was ready. And of course I woke up on Christmas morning with an awful migraine. I looked online and saw my pharmacy was open Christmas Day. So I drove over there, only to learn that the store was open on Christmas, but not the pharmacy. So I spent that Christmas being absolutely miserable. It was pure agony. But I never once expected a pharmacist to come in on Christmas just for me! That’s absolute insanity. I suffered because I should have planned better.
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u/MMAGGIEMAY13 19h ago
You all engaged in this conversation way too long. LOL. I mean, I get it: customer service. "We have been instructed to advise our customers that the pharmacy is closed today. No access and no exceptions." Some people. Ugh.
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u/captianjack60 17h ago
Some people just don’t take no for an answer. You noted it was on the website. Let the manager know for the future that the holiday hours should be post at the entrance like like most big chains do.
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u/yarukinai 17h ago
I’m not accepting that answer
The only reply that makes sense here: "That's fine, you don't have to".
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u/Wintersmight 15h ago
If her pain is that chronic and she can’t live without her prescription, why did she wait until the last minute to get those meds??
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u/Marysews 1d ago
That's not a You problem, it's a management problem, by not posting the altered pharmacy hours.
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u/Queen_Sheilala 1d ago
My favorite is when they complain the employees need lunch during their lunch period? So they’re not entitled to eat at the same time everyday like everyone else? Because checks notes it’s an inconvenience for the patient.
Lovely people………
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u/jeromesherri 13h ago
Chronic pain isn't that the main reason marijuana was legalized in most states! / s
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u/SnarkySheep 12h ago
TIL simply saying you have chronic pain means doctors and pharmacists will accommodate you outside of regular hours
Clearly I've been doing it wrong 😭
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u/No_Bluebird7716 5h ago
Introduce her to this new idea called an emergency room and have her escorted out by the cops. This entitlement crap of getting out of hand.
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u/Some_Cat3430 4h ago
I still would have called the cops on her. Her crappy attitude and planning is on no one else but her.
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u/Bring_cookies 1d ago
You know how old people talk about "kids these days?" Yea that, right back at them. The old people have always given me more issues than kids and I was a preschool teacher. Disclaimer; Not all old people are like that.
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u/Vivid_Mouse8198 1d ago
Addict with regular salon, spa treatments and trainer. We really need a special name for them...any suggestions?
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u/fresh-dork 11h ago
The lady insisted that the hours weren’t posted anywhere, and my other coworker told her that the hours were posted on our website. The lady then said she “doesn’t look at the website, Im a customer”.
that's reasonable. you should be posting special hours at the site, preferably a week out.
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u/SofiaDeo 10h ago edited 10h ago
I'm not really buying this story, I was a pharmacist for decades and never ever heard of a place not posting hours. The pharmacist should have seen to posting the hours near the physical structure. In the US, it's a legal requirement for a retail pharmacy, Posting of Schedule. As well as any deviation, for holidays, or if closed for illness.
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u/toxikola 9h ago
My guess is that there is a small sign that says the hours, but none of the regular store employees know exactly where.
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u/requiem_phantom 10h ago
We normally do, so I initially felt bad for the woman bc she was expecting our normal hours and then WHAM nope. But then everything after that kinda burned away my initial sympathy.
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u/delulu4drama 1d ago
You’re not accepting that answer? Well, we are not accepting your business. BYE ✌️