No good deed goes unpunished…..
I could hardly believe this unfolded:
I filled a prescription for this lady for a drug and she had no insurance. It had been 34.99 cash. I learned from a pharm friend of mine about a online discount that as long as you used a certain group number, and any 9 digit ID, it would give a pretty competitive price. It seemed like a friendly gesture to see if I could save this woman a few dollars. So, in addition to choosing the larger strength and doing the 1/2 tab thing, by using this discount, it saved her about 12.00. Pretty nice huh? I was feeling pretty good about myself, put the rx on the shelf and went home for the weekend.
I came back on monday to find another $12 refund hanging on the wall for her. I asked my partner about it and he said that her response to learning that we have her this new discount was:
“WHY the HELL haven’t you been giving me this all along–what kind of customer service do I get around here–I guess you dont really want my business!”
So, as my gut starts burning earlier than normal this day (what pharmacist doesn’t have GERD?) I think to myself–what the heck just happened? If this happened to me, I’d just be bouncing down the aisle with my new cheaper rx thinking what great people they are–they gave me a discount I neither enrolled in nor deserve! How cool is this?… BUT NO! We get ripped a new lower-orifice for not giving it to her earlier.
So, heres my new credo–thanks to this lovely encounter–you get the discounts YOU enroll in, thank you very much, don’t wanna be accused of playing favorites! No, not me! Equal opportunity prices–whatever the computer spits out.
Who needs that kind of abuse–for being nice?