Unprofessional Behavior?!

[Saint_]

Grrrr... I need to vent.

so I go over to Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my wife, (she got her new leg today!) and I walk up to the counter.

There's a pharmacist EATING HER DINNER ON THE COUNTER. Over a mouthful of food, she says, "Yeah?" No "May I help you" or anything like that. I'm horrified. This is the person that is going to use her grubby hands to put my wife's pills in a bottle? She's actually eating dinner right on the counter while helping customers?!! And this is some stinky food too! Sick people are going to have to stand right over this and smell it!!

I tell her, "That's unprofessional, please put that food away." So she just laughs as if I'm joking. I state again, in a more serious voice, "I'm not joking, put that food away before you help me."

She gives me a smirk and a "harumph!" and stalks to the back of the pharmacy. On her way back she stops to whisper in a co-worker's ear and point at me. OK...now I'm pissed.

I raise my voice and ask her loudly, so that everyone in the entire pharmacy can hear me, "Did you just mock or insult me to your coworker?" She begins to realize that I am not someone to be trifled with, and says, still with a smirk, "No." I say, I saw you whisper to her and point at me, just what did you say?" She just shrugs.

I've had it. I ask, "Who is the pharmacy manager?"

'He's right over there." she states, pointing at a man, but making no effort to go get him.

"Go get him."

The manager comes up, but to my surprise, he has the same attitude as the young girl! I ask him, "What is the store policy concerning employees eating food on the counter while helping customers? In a snide voice he replies, "I'm not aware of any policy concerning that.

Now, I KNOW this is a lie, because I can't think of ANY business that would allow that kind of behavior. So I tell him, "So you are saying that you have no problem with this at all? You condone this kind of behavior in a health care setting?"

He is on the defensive now, because he is not used to people that stick up for themselves. So he puffs up blusterly, sticks out his chest and says, 'I have no problem with it."

I kind of feel sorry for him at this point because his pride and stupidity have just crucified him. But I'm not about to let him off the hook.

I tell him, 'You better write down every single thing that happened right here because I have a feeling that your store manager and the Central Command structure of your corporation are going to have as big a problem with this as I do, and since I'm writing it all down and sending it to them, you might want to defend your actions.

So....who was out of line here.

Me, for requiring better behavior from my health care providers and being too nit-picking?

Or him, for allowing outright reprehensible behavior from his staff?

[beowulf]

he was....100%...you did right

[Odie]

he was way out of line!

no one should be eating in a pharmacy, no one.:rolleyes:

have your prescriptions transferred to another pharmacy.

I hope you report all of them and contact your health department.

how is your wife feeling now?

[ZAP]

Good for you Saint!! You were 100% correct! Their actions were appalling.

[Nomad]

Gross.

People have to try awfully hard to make me like them and when people like that come along clearly they are just not trying hard enough.

[CARLA]

Customer is always right. If I were the manager of the store both would be fired, not acceptable in a health care setting or any other for that matter. They have a break room for eating not on the counter in the Pharmacy. I agree with Odie have your perscriptions transfered to a more suitable place.

[Saint_]

Odie;1308316 wrote:

how is your wife feeling now?


thanks for the health department, i forgot about that. My wife cried today when she got her leg. It broke me up too...

But she was smiling from ear to ear as she was crying!:o

[Odie]

Saint_;1308323 wrote: thanks for the health department, i forgot about that. My wife cried today when she got her leg. It broke me up too...

But she was smiling from ear to ear as she was crying!:o


your welcome, I'm positive the Health Department would be quite interested in how the employers/employer run that pharmacy.

Oh Saint, I'm so happy to know this has helped her so much.....and you to.

bless you both.:-4

[hoppy]

Our local Walmart was/is big on that kind of behaviour. It's why I haven't stepped into a Walmart store in 5 years. That, and the fact that a few blocks down the same street is a Farm & fleet store. Much neater and cleaner. Better help too.

[Lon]

Saint_;1308299 wrote: Grrrr... I need to vent.

so I go over to Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my wife, (she got her new leg today!) and I walk up to the counter.

There's a pharmacist EATING HER DINNER ON THE COUNTER. Over a mouthful of food, she says, "Yeah?" No "May I help you" or anything like that. I'm horrified. This is the person that is going to use her grubby hands to put my wife's pills in a bottle? She's actually eating dinner right on the counter while helping customers?!! And this is some stinky food too! Sick people are going to have to stand right over this and smell it!!

I tell her, "That's unprofessional, please put that food away." So she just laughs as if I'm joking. I state again, in a more serious voice, "I'm not joking, put that food away before you help me."

She gives me a smirk and a "harumph!" and stalks to the back of the pharmacy. On her way back she stops to whisper in a co-worker's ear and point at me. OK...now I'm pissed.

I raise my voice and ask her loudly, so that everyone in the entire pharmacy can hear me, "Did you just mock or insult me to your coworker?" She begins to realize that I am not someone to be trifled with, and says, still with a smirk, "No." I say, I saw you whisper to her and point at me, just what did you say?" She just shrugs.

I've had it. I ask, "Who is the pharmacy manager?"

'He's right over there." she states, pointing at a man, but making no effort to go get him.

"Go get him."

The manager comes up, but to my surprise, he has the same attitude as the young girl! I ask him, "What is the store policy concerning employees eating food on the counter while helping customers? In a snide voice he replies, "I'm not aware of any policy concerning that.

Now, I KNOW this is a lie, because I can't think of ANY business that would allow that kind of behavior. So I tell him, "So you are saying that you have no problem with this at all? You condone this kind of behavior in a health care setting?"

He is on the defensive now, because he is not used to people that stick up for themselves. So he puffs up blusterly, sticks out his chest and says, 'I have no problem with it."

I kind of feel sorry for him at this point because his pride and stupidity have just crucified him. But I'm not about to let him off the hook.

I tell him, 'You better write down every single thing that happened right here because I have a feeling that your store manager and the Central Command structure of your corporation are going to have as big a problem with this as I do, and since I'm writing it all down and sending it to them, you might want to defend your actions.

So....who was out of line here.

Me, for requiring better behavior from my health care providers and being too nit-picking?

Or him, for allowing outright reprehensible behavior from his staff?


Question-----------Was it actually the pharmacist or one of the clerks that work in the pharmacy? I use Walgreens regularly and the pharmacists are generally not working the counter in the pharmacy section. It was wrong even if it was a clerk, but more likely.

[Saint_]

Lon;1308389 wrote: Question-----------Was it actually the pharmacist or one of the clerks that work in the pharmacy? I use Walgreens regularly and the pharmacists are generally not working the counter in the pharmacy section. It was wrong even if it was a clerk, but more likely.


Yeah, she was pretty young, so maybe it was a clerk. I don't know...I was just so mad at her surly behavior I was shaking.

[Bevdee]

Call OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA Public Website Contact Information Page

OSHA devised universal precaution for infection control, re: transmission of HIV. They will be able to tell you about eating around medications. I know that nurses can't eat at their nursing stations in the hospital for infection control reasons. I would also talk to the Walgreen's manager, then the corporate offices. They're probably short staffed, and don't get physical breaks, but still. You don't see the pharmacy people at WalMart or Kroger eating at their counters. I have never seen a pharmacy employee do that. Aside from the germ factors, it's just rude.

[G#Gill]

Gone are the days, it seems, of courtesy, common sense, and consideration.

My dad was a pharmacist and he would have sacked an assistant on the spot for such conduct in a healthcare environment. He was a stickler for correctness. He used to say to me that the pharmacy was a professional place, like a doctor's surgery. His staff would be instructed in the professional approach to customers. They weren't even allowed a glass of water behind the counter! He had a small room at the back of the shop for staff to go for their breaks. His staff were always polite and helpful, and they all appreciated 'the customer is always right', even if the customer happened to be wrong!

Saint, that pharmacy is very unprofessional, and I'm sure that the health and safety authorities would be interested in them. They sound like the sort of staff who would omit to wash their hands after going to the powder room! :-5

[YZGI]

What was she eating?

[Peter Lake]

Saint_;1308299 wrote: Grrrr... I need to vent.

so I go over to Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my wife, (she got her new leg today!) and I walk up to the counter.

There's a pharmacist EATING HER DINNER ON THE COUNTER. Over a mouthful of food, she says, "Yeah?" No "May I help you" or anything like that. I'm horrified. This is the person that is going to use her grubby hands to put my wife's pills in a bottle? She's actually eating dinner right on the counter while helping customers?!! And this is some stinky food too! Sick people are going to have to stand right over this and smell it!!

I tell her, "That's unprofessional, please put that food away." So she just laughs as if I'm joking. I state again, in a more serious voice, "I'm not joking, put that food away before you help me."

She gives me a smirk and a "harumph!" and stalks to the back of the pharmacy. On her way back she stops to whisper in a co-worker's ear and point at me. OK...now I'm pissed.

I raise my voice and ask her loudly, so that everyone in the entire pharmacy can hear me, "Did you just mock or insult me to your coworker?" She begins to realize that I am not someone to be trifled with, and says, still with a smirk, "No." I say, I saw you whisper to her and point at me, just what did you say?" She just shrugs.

I've had it. I ask, "Who is the pharmacy manager?"

'He's right over there." she states, pointing at a man, but making no effort to go get him.

"Go get him."

The manager comes up, but to my surprise, he has the same attitude as the young girl! I ask him, "What is the store policy concerning employees eating food on the counter while helping customers? In a snide voice he replies, "I'm not aware of any policy concerning that.

Now, I KNOW this is a lie, because I can't think of ANY business that would allow that kind of behavior. So I tell him, "So you are saying that you have no problem with this at all? You condone this kind of behavior in a health care setting?"

He is on the defensive now, because he is not used to people that stick up for themselves. So he puffs up blusterly, sticks out his chest and says, 'I have no problem with it."

I kind of feel sorry for him at this point because his pride and stupidity have just crucified him. But I'm not about to let him off the hook.

I tell him, 'You better write down every single thing that happened right here because I have a feeling that your store manager and the Central Command structure of your corporation are going to have as big a problem with this as I do, and since I'm writing it all down and sending it to them, you might want to defend your actions.

So....who was out of line here.

Me, for requiring better behavior from my health care providers and being too nit-picking?

Or him, for allowing outright reprehensible behavior from his staff?
You have my sincere sympathy. We don't seem to encounter the same problem in this country with food but we sure do suffer with some rude staff. I had an experience with a pharmicist very recently when i went to collect my regular pain relief. I was subjected to a barrage of personal questions infront of other shoppers and treated like a criminal. He demanded to know what i was taking them for, how often i took them and so it went on. He ended by demanding to know who my doctor was so he could phone him to verify my condition. I had never felt so humiliated and my doctor was also astonished. I am a pensioner for goodness sake who had been collecting prescriptions for years. I haven't as yet reported him as i'm waiting for the next time i need them and the wife goes to collect them for me. Then i shall observe from a safe distance away from the counter and would advise anyone in the near vacinity to do the same.

[G#Gill]

What you mean to say, Peter, is that you will send in your secret weapon next time and stand back and watch the fireworks! Are you going to sell tickets? I'll buy one

[Saint_]

G#Gill;1308407 wrote: Gone are the days, it seems, of courtesy, common sense, and consideration.

My dad was a pharmacist and he would have sacked an assistant on the spot for such conduct in a healthcare environment. He was a stickler for correctness. He used to say to me that the pharmacy was a professional place, like a doctor's surgery.


Yeah! That's how I feel too! To me, even though its at Walgreens, it's still an extension of my doctor's office and should be run that way!

Saint, that pharmacy is very unprofessional, and I'm sure that the health and safety authorities would be interested in them. They sound like the sort of staff who would omit to wash their hands after going to the powder room! :-5


Thanks to Bevdee, I filed a report with OSHA because, the more I thought of it, the more I realized that germs from the food could be transmitted to the medicines!

[Saint_]

YZGI;1308411 wrote: What was she eating?


Some kind of stinky, messy Chinese food. It stank to High Heaven and I remember thinking, "That would really turn my stomach if I were sick."

She surely wasn't thinking of her customers.

[Peter Lake]

G#Gill;1308417 wrote: What you mean to say, Peter, is that you will send in your secret weapon next time and stand back and watch the fireworks! Are you going to sell tickets? I'll buy one
All tickets are already sold out Gill but i'm filming the occassion and will post the video here for you.

[YZGI]

Saint_;1308427 wrote: Some kind of stinky, messy Chinese food. It stank to High Heaven and I remember thinking, "That would really turn my stomach if I were sick."



She surely wasn't thinking of her customers.
You were in the right then, Chineses food is nasty. Now if she had been eating tacos I would have given her a pass.

[Bruv]

I don't think it has anything to do with food and control of infection, it is just bad practice and woefully bad manners to eat while serving anybody in any outlet, at any time.

If they were not getting meal breaks, surely there is a room where they could take a bite of food before engaging with customers.

Peter Lake;1308415 wrote: I was subjected to a barrage of personal questions in front of other shoppers and treated like a criminal. He demanded to know what i was taking them for, how often i took them and so it went on. He ended by demanding to know who my doctor was so he could phone him to verify my condition. .


I have been questioned about medication before now, but I understood it was to verify you were who you said you were, and the medication was for the condition you suffer from, for the patients benefit rather than intrusive questions.

Of course there are ways to do such 'interviews' without embarrassing the customer, obviously your chemist hadn't passed that sensitivity test.

[Peter Lake]

Bruv;1308438 wrote:

I have been questioned about medication before now, but I understood it was to verify you were who you said you were, and the medication was for the condition you suffer from, for the patients benefit rather than intrusive questions.

Of course there are ways to do such 'interviews' without embarrassing the customer, obviously your chemist hadn't passed that sensitivity test. The whole experience was awful and i will never go back there myself. I have never been treated like that before in my life and i was left shocked and quite upset that anyone could be so insensitive. I understand that they do have to have checks but most chemists have booths now for one on one with the pharmacist. He just seemed to enjoy belittling me and exerting his own self importance. I had a host of identification on me should he have needed to verifiy who i was and other shoppers were equally as astonished as they looked on.

[G#Gill]

There is no excuse for somebody to be eating food whilst serving customers! There is a legal requirement that employees have a 15 minute break twice in an 8 hour day, plus a minimum of 30 minutes for a lunch break. (Perhaps somebody will correct me if I am not accurate with these figures) . So if that employee was being asked to work through a break because of lack of cover staff, then the management is contravening these laws!

[chonsigirl]

That was totally gross! I wouldn't want to pick up a perscription if they were eating stuff.

[Saint_]

Flash: This just in: A formal, poorly-worded and misspelled apology...



*

May 6, 2010

*

*

Mr. Johnathan St. Ives USAFR

*

Dear Mr. St. Ives,

*

I would like to take this opportunity to formally appologize for the service*that you recieved at our store at 4221 E. Main St. on May 5, 2010.

*

I have reviewed the situation with our staff. We will work to ensure that these service issues do not recur. Walgreens is, above all, service-oriented and is committed to helping our customers with their medication and drugstore needs.

*

If I may be of assistanceto you in the future, please feel free to contact me at ***-****.

*

*

Sincerely,

Gene Beevers

Store Manager

Well, I guess the complaint I put in with the front office has filtered down to them now. Think I should go back there and see how I get treated?:-3

Wait until they get the complaint from the Federal OSHA office!;)

[YZGI]

Saint_;1308478 wrote: Flash: This just in: A formal, poorly-worded and misspelled apology...





*

May 6, 2010

*

*

Mr. Johnathan St. Ives USAFR



*

Dear Mr. St. Ives,

*

I would like to take this opportunity to formally appologize for the service*that you recieved at our store at 4221 E. Main St. on May 5, 2010.

*

I have reviewed the situation with our staff. We will work to ensure that these service issues do not recur. Walgreens is, above all, service-oriented and is committed to helping our customers with their medication and drugstore needs.

*

If I may be of assistanceto you in the future, please feel free to contact me at ***-****.

*

*

Sincerely,

Gene Beevers

Store Manager



Well, I guess the complaint I put in with the front office has filtered down to them now. Think I should go back there and see how I get treated?:-3



Wait until they get the complaint from the Federal OSHA office!;)
No, you might get poisoned.

[CARLA]

Maybe buy something over the counter at the pharmacy so they can poison you... :wah:

[along-for-the-ride]

I am sorry about your experience, but proud of the way you handled it. There is no excuse for poor customer service.



Seems that, sadly, that pharmacy is just one of others with problems of poor customer service:

Walgreens Pharmacy Complaints - Poor Customer Service

[K.Snyder]

Saint_;1308299 wrote: Grrrr... I need to vent.

so I go over to Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my wife, (she got her new leg today!) and I walk up to the counter.

There's a pharmacist EATING HER DINNER ON THE COUNTER. Over a mouthful of food, she says, "Yeah?" No "May I help you" or anything like that. I'm horrified. This is the person that is going to use her grubby hands to put my wife's pills in a bottle? She's actually eating dinner right on the counter while helping customers?!! And this is some stinky food too! Sick people are going to have to stand right over this and smell it!!

I tell her, "That's unprofessional, please put that food away." So she just laughs as if I'm joking. I state again, in a more serious voice, "I'm not joking, put that food away before you help me."

She gives me a smirk and a "harumph!" and stalks to the back of the pharmacy. On her way back she stops to whisper in a co-worker's ear and point at me. OK...now I'm pissed.

I raise my voice and ask her loudly, so that everyone in the entire pharmacy can hear me, "Did you just mock or insult me to your coworker?" She begins to realize that I am not someone to be trifled with, and says, still with a smirk, "No." I say, I saw you whisper to her and point at me, just what did you say?" She just shrugs.

I've had it. I ask, "Who is the pharmacy manager?"

'He's right over there." she states, pointing at a man, but making no effort to go get him.

"Go get him."

The manager comes up, but to my surprise, he has the same attitude as the young girl! I ask him, "What is the store policy concerning employees eating food on the counter while helping customers? In a snide voice he replies, "I'm not aware of any policy concerning that.

Now, I KNOW this is a lie, because I can't think of ANY business that would allow that kind of behavior. So I tell him, "So you are saying that you have no problem with this at all? You condone this kind of behavior in a health care setting?"

He is on the defensive now, because he is not used to people that stick up for themselves. So he puffs up blusterly, sticks out his chest and says, 'I have no problem with it."

I kind of feel sorry for him at this point because his pride and stupidity have just crucified him. But I'm not about to let him off the hook.

I tell him, 'You better write down every single thing that happened right here because I have a feeling that your store manager and the Central Command structure of your corporation are going to have as big a problem with this as I do, and since I'm writing it all down and sending it to them, you might want to defend your actions.

So....who was out of line here.

Me, for requiring better behavior from my health care providers and being too nit-picking?

Or him, for allowing outright reprehensible behavior from his staff?


First thing's first, that "young girl" was definitely not a Pharmacist. She was probably either a Pharmacy Technician:yh_wink or a Pharmacy Aid.

Secondly, as Bevdee pointed outBevdee;1308406 wrote: Call OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA Public Website Contact Information Page

OSHA devised universal precaution for infection control, re: transmission of HIV. They will be able to tell you about eating around medications. I know that nurses can't eat at their nursing stations in the hospital for infection control reasons. I would also talk to the Walgreen's manager, then the corporate offices. They're probably short staffed, and don't get physical breaks, but still. You don't see the pharmacy people at WalMart or Kroger eating at their counters. I have never seen a pharmacy employee do that. Aside from the germ factors, it's just rude. the FDA are sticklers to the skin of teeth as well.

Lastly while most Pharmacies do provide prescription and non prescription drugs they shouldn't be considered the same as "health care providers". Quite a large number of Pharmacies are either independently owned by those Pharmacists or are owned by simple business entrepreneurs that hire Pharmacists. Again they just kettle to OSHA and the FDA so what's left is up to your preference. You can get your prescriptions filled at other pharmacies.

Looking at the situation non objectively I would say the establishment is a joke and anyone that deals with them beyond reading the OP they truly are, as the English would say, "daft!"!

[Odie]

Saint_;1308478 wrote: Flash: This just in: A formal, poorly-worded and misspelled apology...



*

May 6, 2010

*

*

Mr. Johnathan St. Ives USAFR

*

Dear Mr. St. Ives,

*

I would like to take this opportunity to formally appologize for the service*that you recieved at our store at 4221 E. Main St. on May 5, 2010.

*

I have reviewed the situation with our staff. We will work to ensure that these service issues do not recur. Walgreens is, above all, service-oriented and is

committed to helping our customers with their medication and drugstore needs.

*

If I may be of assistanceto you in the future, please feel free to contact me at ***-****.

*

*

Sincerely,

Gene Beevers

Store Manager

Well, I guess the complaint I put in with the front office has filtered down to them now. Think I should go back there and see how I get treated?:-3

Wait until they get the complaint from the Federal OSHA office!;)




he had no choice but to apology.



yes.........he needs to get the complaint from the OSHA office.

[Bill Sikes]

Saint_;1308478 wrote: Flash: This just in: A formal, poorly-worded and misspelled apology...



"Dear Mr. St. Ives,

(snip)

Sincerely,

Gene Beevers

Store Manager"

Well, I guess the complaint I put in with the front office has filtered down to them now. Think I should go back there and see how I get treated? -3


Hang on, is this the "store manager", or someone from Head Office? If it's just the local chappie, I'd insist on action being taken by someone further "up".