Target's Pharmacy Will Not Answer Questions One Minute After Closing?
If you're picking up your prescriptions close to closing time at Target's pharmacy, you might want to make sure you don't have any questions after closing time. Reader Kathy says she realized that she had a question about her son's prescription immediately after picking up the prescription, but when she turned around to ask it — she was too late.
Kathy says:
I was picking up prescriptions for my 11 year-old son (who had pneumonia) at the Target pharmacy and was given the bag, asked if I had any questions for the pharmacist, I said “no” then paid and turned to leave (it was approximately 9 p.m.).
I looked in the bag before leaving—I was about 5 steps from the pharmacy counter, and I realized I had better ask a question about the odd looking box inside I had never seen before. Since the last time I had given my son nebulizer treatments at home, the medication had changed.
So, I turn and tell the female Target pharmacy employee that I DO in fact have a question about my prescriptions and I noticed the “iron curtain” had been pulled down behind her indicating the closure of the pharmacy. They must have pulled that down fast as I turned to ask the question in mere seconds after leaving the counter. The female then told me to “come back tomorrow at 9 a.m. We are closed.”
I didn’t pay her any mind and proceeded to take the medication out of the sack and proceed with my questions hoping she could answer them. She told me that she didn’t know the answer and repeated to me, “come back or call tomorrow at 9 a.m. I told her that I couldn’t do that as I was heading home to give my son the medication immediately and I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t sure what or how to give it. Well, she didn’t budge or even offer to get the pharmacist from behind the iron curtain. I was pretty much denied access to the pharmacist because it was something like 9:01 p.m.—after official closing time.
Kathy says she complained to the Minnesota Pharmacy Board (they were apparently horrified) and to Target itself. Target's response was to remind her of the closing time of the pharmacy.
It seems like Kathy has the situation well in hand, complaint wise, but she might consider letting Target's CEO know about the incident.
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Comments:
The situation stinks a bit, and the reaction at the pharmacy counter is a bit odd. They clearly could have handled things better.
That said, I can't tell if the OP knew the medication was changing or not. If they did, then they should have asked at the time they picked it up, or when they were asked if they had any questions.
Regardless, it is a good idea to review what you're given at the counter at that time.
Not trying to shift blame to the OP either, but come on...5 steps and the "iron curtain" is already down? And they didn't hear it get pulled down or across in those 5 steps? It doesn't excuse they were treated, but that part doesn't float with me.
Was it Midway?
Also, I must've skimmed over the part where she banged on the iron curtain loudly.
@MrFalcon: Wow. First comment blames the OP. Congratulations.
She didn't show up at 10:30 pm. She had just picked it up. If she had waited 15 minutes, or even 20 minutes, or the pharmacist had already left for the day, I could understand. Customer service has wiggle room to it, and if you're still in the pharmacy after getting a medicine they ought to advise you on how to use it without watching the clock.
In fact in some states (California) they're required to give you a consultation with the pharmacist by law.
I can understand them pulling down the curtain as Kathy left (they were probably waiting to finish with her to leave), but they definitely should have answered her question. It's not like it would have taken long (presumably), and it's not like as soon as they dropped the curtain they stopped getting paid (I would also assume).
Bad customer service, definitely.
how would she not hear the "iron curtain" close behind her? i think that the OP is exaggerating her experience.
there's probably a discrepancy in the distance walked and the time.
try walgreens or another 24 hour pharmacy next time. you could probably call them and they will assist even though you did not get it at that store.
or you could just read the box instead of freaking out that the box was different.
She doesnt state if the pharmicist was there or not. If it was just a cashier then they cannot answer medical questions. More information is needed.
Worst case the person at the counter should have said "I'm sorry I'm not qualified to answer than and the pharmacist is gone". If it was the pharmacist they should have answered the question even if it was the end of a long shift.
Wait a second, Target isn't giving out free puppies and rainbows to every customer anymore?
Target has made it clear previously that they don't care about customer satisfaction.
Need a question answered at 9:01pm? Call tomorrow.
Got a gift with no gift reciept- No returns. Sorry.
Got stuff on your registry that's duplicate? See above.
If people stopped shoppping at places with bad customer service, maybe they would treat people better.
Unfortunately many behind-the-counter people filling 'scrips aren't actual Pharmacists, y'know, the doctorin' type, so it's safest to ask them. Lots of people die each year from wonky prescriptions.
I have some doubts about this account being 100% accurate as well, I would bang on the curtain or find a store manager immediately. However, that still doesn't excuse Target employees from not using good customer service, especially in the case of Asthma medicine, which can be a life or death situation.
Well it was jerkish of them, but they do have to close sometime. I seem to recall from working in retail that if we didn't close right on time, there'd be fifteen people saying "Just one more minute! Come on, just a minute, I'm almost done!" If you didn't cut them off, they'd never leave.
I didn't even know Target had pharmacies? None of the ones within 50 miles of me do.
Anyways, hope she gets some resolution from this and that clerk is FIRED. Outrageous.
@lotussix: Agreed! The pharmacy staff could and probably should have been more helpful if they were able to be...but I don't know if there were other regulations in place that weren't expressed to the customer that made it impossible to help the customer. Are there insurance regulations that prohibit pharmacy techs from helping when they're not behind the counter? Etc...
@MrFalcon:
Even if every issue you bring up with this is true, this is someone's life. I don't care how much you may hate your job, or how it may be 9:01, you're a pharmacist. The bar is set slightly higher, or at least should be.
@tedyc03:
Not blaming, or attempting to blame outright the OP - just trying to toss in a bit of healthy skepticism and a mention of what might be done different to avoid it in the future for anyone.
Isn't that usually the point of the postings, besides just venting about a bad experience?
@ZukeZuke: I really like Target pharmacy, because I get to browse while I'm waiting for my script...and they're much better about renewing my prescription every month and calling me to let me know it's ready for pick up. I used the grocery store pharmacy before, and it was ridiculous when the person filling out the form stepped away to answer a question at the self-scan lanes.
I'm an official member of the defending Target brigade, but in this case Target really had nothing to do with it. The pharmacists aren't Target employees and the managers in the store have very little say over them - they weren't even on our schedule or payroll when I worked there. The behavior of the pharmacist was rude and complaining to the pharmacy board was the right move, but the store manager couldn't really do anything about it.
@nicemarmot617: Normally, I'd agree and understand Target's situation...but the woman had just stepped away. They can't just give a quick explanation? Most people who have prescription questions don't require lengthy answers, nor are their questions generally complicated.
I don't agree with most of the posters here. It's on thing to leave at 9:01 when you're working a cash register, but when you're dispensing medication, you are advising someone on their health (or their child's). If I were a pharmacist, I'd feel bad knowing that some child might get sicker because I was a wench, even if it wasn't technically my fault.
The OP should just call a 24 hour pharmacy next time. CVS is always helpful to me, as long as you're not asking an emergency question.
@tedyc03: Well, she did refuse the consultation. But that's no excuse. I wonder if the person who refused was a pharmacy tech or the actual pharmacist.
To me this appears to be a case of company policy lockdown. By that I mean I have found many times that the front line person has been told something is company policy with no exceptions, and that person is not allowed under any circumstances to make any decision other than to quote said policy. You find this a lot with cell phone companies and internet service providers.
In this case I'd be willing to bet at some point in the past Target got burned by some law firm or state regulatory agency over a similar situation, so they went into lockdown on pharmacy hours issues. If you're there 10 seconds too late, the answer is always the same. No exceptions.
I wonder how accurate the story is, but if it's true it is further evidence of the mechanized inhumanity of our capitalistic system. The pharmacy doesn't exist to help. It exists to dispense drugs for cash, and when the clock stops, the logic goes, so too does responsibility.
It's not Target's fault. It's the fault of the culture.
I dunno, having worked in retail, nicemarmo has the right idea. Once doors are closed, they are closed. Otherwise you end up with 10 people coming in, or asking questions saying they will "just be a minute"...then you end up with 15 associates standing around waiting to go home and a shopper with a cart full of groceries eventually wheels up to the front, smug in the fact they just reamed you all.
if accurate, which I will give to her, this sounds potentially illegal
@PandaWatch: Ah. I must not have mentioned that I don't really believe that she was only "five steps" away. She had probably left the pharmacy area. Otherwise, how could she not have noticed them starting to close up? It doesn't make any sense - those iron chains are noisy.
They are already open until 9pm. I wont get on the phone and answer questions after closing time, I have a family to get home to. You have to remember one minute here, plus a couple of minutes for asking questions and that might make the difference between seeing their kids before bed or not.
When I work the morning shifts I don't mind extending my day a little bit(weather on the clock or not), but at 9pm I DO mind.
@ZukeZuke:
I realize the words "child" and "sick" should immediately peg the other guy as the person at fault, but Ms. Kathy failed as well. What prevented her from coming in earlier, especially when buying medicined for a child who is sick is of the utmost importance? The pharmacist asked if Kathy had any questions, and Kathy responded "no", it should not be the worker's responsibility to ask again or wait around until one comes up.
While, I think it was rude for the employee to completely snub her when asked face to face for help, but I also think it was rude for Kathy to come in right before close, and expect help after the store's closing. Had the person helped her out after close, then I would contact Consumerist in appreciation, but complaining about not getting help after the Target had closed and the employee is trying to get home? I don't believe this was very newsworthy at all.
@IrvCrapper: Companies are in business to maximize shareholder value, not to "help" people. That isn't a cultural issue, it's ECON 101.
Whether providing friendly and helpful service after hours maximizes shareholder value is another question...it could be successfully argued either way.
The person she asked was most likely NOT a pharmacist, but a pharmacy technician. Pharmacy technicians are not licensed to consult with patients about their medication and a pharmacist was probably not there.
All you people jumping on the OP because she couldn't hear the "iron curtain" coming down behind her, give me a break. She was pre-occupied with the new prescription for her son and trying to makes heads and tails of it. No big surprise that she didn't notice the window being shut. And even if she had, what was she supposed to do? Yell Noooooooooooooooo!, turn, and launch herself at the closing window, throwing her body between it and the counter while stretching her arms out toward the pharmacist in supplication?
I'm not questioning the accuracy of the story, but how long, precisely, was the pharmacy tech supposed to leave the store open "just in case" this woman changed her mind? 10 minutes? 20? What if she'd gotten home and then changed her mind? - If the customer had stepped far enough away not to hear the rumble of the security gate closing, then clearly she'd walked out of the line of sight of the pharmacy tech, which meant that she was, according to the tech, unlikely to return.
@Dansc29625: I agree wholeheartedly. She waits until literally the store is closing, making the people state late. They ask if she has a question, she says no, they shut down.
They were probably waiting specifically for her so they could close and go back to THEIR families. Most pharmacies have to either log questions into their computer system or need it to answer questions. now she's making them open EVERYTHING back up and logging into the system again.
Why should they be stuck till 9:15 - 9:30 because someone changed their mind after closing?
@Hedgy2136: If the pharmacist wasn't there why did the technician ask if she wanted a consultation? If she had said yes, would the technician have told her "too bad, come back tomorrow"?
What would have happened if she'd said yes?
@nicemarmot617: Regardless, if she had paid and was on her way out, it had to be within minutes of the Pharmacy closing.
If I were the pharmacist, I wouldn't think twice about taking a minute of my precious "after hours" time to help the lady out with her question regarding something important like medication.
Wow...our Target pharmacy is great. We dont go there very often, but when I do--I nearly always have a coupon in my hand for something else in the store--they always give me coupons they have. They are usually for things other drugs, like cleaning products.
I cant imagine someone being that rude, in any job, not just something as critical as medications.
This situation cancels out the good that Target did by switching that mans 44 WalMart gift cards for Target ones and letting him pass them out in front of their store.
Target is back to square one again.
@nicemarmot617: in addition to what others have said, this is a pharmacy, not retail. You're handing out drugs to people...if they have questions, you should help them as best you can.
@Saboth: And then the associates/cashiers/lowest person on the ladder gets screamed at for not closing on time and racking in overtime. You can't win.
Could this woman not do some research online when she got home? Or stop at another pharmacy on the way home? What if she had gone back and there was nobody at the pharmacy? Would she have curled up in a ball shrieking her son's name? This whole story reeks of someone not smart enough to solve a problem on their own and blaming everyone else for their inconvenience.
Does the action of one snotty employee at closing time really constitute "Target" doing something? I'm not saying it doesn't necessarily, but unless there is some pattern, I'm not sure it's fair to hold the entire corporation responsible for one associate's rude behavior. Fun, yes. Cathartic, maybe. Fair, not so much. I'm not buying that "Target's response was to remind her of the closing time of the pharmacy." I mean it was probably some bland apology, followed by a reminder of the hours, but it was a pretty bland offense to begin with.
Can't we just go back to hating on Walmart like normal? I love the Trrrget crrrcles.
@snowburnt: you never had a boss who darted out the second the doors closed and left the underlings to shut everything down? the pharmacist may have left the second they heard her initially decline a consultation.
A few things - most doctors offices close at 5 pm, so this woman did have plenty of time to fill the script before 9 pm. Also, I doubt she looked in the bag after walking five feet - if she was going to check it out, wouldn't she have either opened it at the counter or in the car?
While I think it sucks that she couldn't get the info she needed, I think she may have exaggerated the callousness of the pharmacy worker and painted herself as a wronged customer when perhaps there was something she could have done to avoid this.
The solution is so simple - you finish dealing with the customer, which includes the "Oh, actually I DO have a question" scenario.
You also say to anyone else who might front up and demand service "I'm sorry - we've already closed and I'm just helping this last customer"
Just how difficult is this?
@lotussix:
I agree. I hate it when people blame the OP but I'm going to do it in this case. My guess is that the pharmacist had already left and there wasn't any other option. I don't think this happened how she says it did.
You know, with all the stories we read on here about how the world would be so much nicer if people just took the time to be human to one another, and now people are getting mad at the OP b/c she wanted to ask a question about pneumonia medication for her child?
Seriously, people, I know stores have certain closing times and that people want to get home to their families. But a couple extra minutes helping someone with a sick child is not going to be that big of a sacrifice. Have none of you ever stayed late at work for reasons far more trivial than this? If the OP had written in to tell the same story, but it ended with the pharmacist coming out and answering the questions she had, everyone here would be like "That's what customer service is supposed to be!"
And this is why I hate people.
@BlondeGrlz is having a BlondeBoyz!: Ah yes, that's the excuse I got when I complained about the photo-finishing service one time. "Those aren't Target employees." Well hey, there's no sign saying "you're leaving Target when you step up to this counter". The receipts still say Target on them. Sorry, but if a corp somehow subcontracts some or all of their services, I don't really care. I walked into Target, the photo/pharmacy/badfoodcounter is in Target, it's all Target to me.
The store manager has the responsibility to serve his customers and protect the reputation of his employer. This does not include pointing out where the imaginary Les-Nessman-office-wall lines are.
Maybe she shouldn't cut it so close. If she'd gotten there 1 minute later, apparently her kid would've been SOL for medicine that night. Way to look out for your kid, lady. Try a 24 hour pharmacy next time.