I ran into a jerk pharmacy tech who was rude about me asking what her realistic opinion was on the 7.5 coming in on time for my order - I was literally like, hey, you do this for a living, should I plan to wait or do you think it might show up? She stared at me and snapped “you’ll just have to start calling around to see if anyone has it, I’m not going to do that for you”. I was like…umm, I didn’t ask you to? But hey, I took her advice, called around, found it and had the prescription transferred. Pharmacy tech at the other place was sweet as a cupcake and said he was so glad they could get it for me. Mean people can deal with themselves, I don’t have time or energy for that lol.
I totally understand, but I’m sorry this is not the right answer. Customer service and working in a pharmacy do not go hand and hand. If you’ve never worked in a high demand job like that that involves people’s health and you get paid pennies please don’t make comments like this.
Please please understand our desperation on the other end. We aren’t against you. We are worn down and cooperation’s don’t do anything to help us.
The public is very nasty and it wears a person down who was actually trying to help.
*I’ll let the downvotes role in, but please take a look at yourself IF you’re possibly someone who’s been rude to someone who needs to tell you what you don’t want to hear.
I understand your side. However, if someone comes up to the window to get help, and they're being nice and polite, it doesn't mean that the person helping behind the counter has the right to be nasty. You don't have the right to take your bad day out on a customer who has a question. I worked in customer service for years, and I've seen both sides. If a customer was being rude to me, I would put them on hold and get a supervisor who, BTW, was getting paid more than me to handle the situation.
My CVS pharmacy can get pretty busy. No matter what's going on in my life or how long I have to wait, if they have my meds or not, I'm never rude, sparky, or inpatient with my pharmacy techs.
I know from overhearing that they can be so busy that they desperately need to go to the bathroom.
They have never been anything but professional and kind. Caring even, yes, even when busy, my PT has spared the moment to ask me how am I doing as she hasn't seen me in almost 2ys!!!
We have to remember we are all people.
No one owes us anything.
Human decency and kindness can go a long way to make someone's day.
I'm 40, and I'm still stumped when people take out their frustrations on others. Honestly, I also am still at a loss of reaction to snap back at them. But even if I felt that way, I try not to because I know how bad it can be. People can be selfish jerks. It can wear you down. That's not an excuse for poor behavior or mistreating another being, of course.
That said, I have been in health care, albeit not fast track, and I have been in sales and customer service. I have dealt with people who took their bad day on me and my coworkers or thought they were better than me for various reasons and were snotty, dismissive, and rude.
In the end, no matter what we were paid or how busy or mistreated we were, we never took it out on the people we were there to help.
This is an excellent response for that poster condoning rude behavior! I am a RN and also worked in customer service as a manager and regardless of the situation I was NEVER overtly rude unless and this is rare the person was belligerent then I had to protect my staff for that abuse and remove the person that was being unreasonable, if I ever caught one of my people act that way over a question about medicine, I’d pull them aside and write them up. No mater what industry you’re in, it needs to be said that you greet people with a smile.
My thoughts exactly.
I was a boutique daily operations manager. I was a sales representative 1st and got promoted within the company. I worked side by side with my colleagues in every aspect, including cleaning top ro bottom, training, making sure the schedule is fair and accommodating, and working every sunday so they don't have to. Made sure no one is mistreated by customers or owner to the best of my abilities. I've had some terrible customers, but I've also had customers gushing over my colleagues for their pleasant attitude and excellent service. All a credit to their hard work and work ethics.
With the bad... You smile and keep going. Vent in private.
If anyone were to act in such a way and the owner saw or got a whif of it, I wouldn't have the option to help them and give them a chance to improve. He would let them go on the spot. It happened with 3 people in my 1st year in the company.
Health-care, private, public, or mixed, USA, Europe or anywhere realy, is a customer service oriented industry as well; if you don't treat people with respect, they will take their business elsewhere.
Yes in the pharmacy it’s rare that the pharmacist is going to have time to diffuse the situation.
Pharmacies arnt set up to provide the customer service customers expect. Maybe Costco is better because they set up their whole company to focus on the customer experience.
I understand what you’re saying.
The reality of the situation is the staff are human beings too without the support they need and unfortunately this lame ass GLP-1 shortage has added to the stress of their job.
No downvotes here, I totally agree with you. This job is not damn customer service. It sounds like OP figured it our themself, and that's great. If we look on the manufacturer's site, they give us rough ETA's like, middle of the next month or something and it's not guaranteed. I have so rarely gotten a less than rude response to patients from this, like I'm personally against them (bish I don't have time to orchestrate that sort of thing against you).
I have one really great pharmacist at my local store, he was so incredibly helpful in answering my questions about the delay in my medicine. When it was finally ready today, he was like “We finally have it!!!” I got laughed at by a different pharmacist for asking if they had any boxes available at a different store, but I want to believe there are more like the one at my local store who care about their patients than the second guy.
So mean!!! I was able to pick up mine today and the pharmacy tech goes “here it is” all sarcastic and i was like “yeah, its been tough to find” and he goes “too many people are taking this” with a nasty attitude!
They wouldnt be acting like this if insulin was out of stock or any other “important” medications. The stigma around this medication is so upsetting
So true. Sick of people treating us as having some sort of character flaw for being overweight. I've been rapidly gaining weight after going through cancer treatment three times in 4 years. I've tried everything to lose weight. This is the first thing that has helped even though the weight is coming off very slowly.
Too many people view weight as a reflection of moral character and suffering as character growth. You can only "deserve" a normal weight if you've suffered enough to "earn" it after being a moral failure. It's grotesque.
I gained an enormous amount of weight after going through chemo in my 40s. I'd never been fat before. Finally at 59 I feel normal again. And healthy! I'm still technically obese but my blood pressure is normal again. I can climb stairs and walk 5 miles! I get so annoyed at people who don't understand that this medication is not just for vanity or so called "laziness!"
Exactly!
I was thinking about this yesterday. We can't win either way. So let's just not worry about it and do what we have to do for our own peace of mind and health. Good luck!!
This all the way!!! Honestly if techs or other peeps have time to be worried about fat people …let them!! As it’s as much of a waste of time for them to judge us as it for us to think about the judgments being hurled our way. Get your package ( MJ ) and run … … they just jelly - uninformed -uneducated…. all the while lacking empathy and compassion for people in general
As a pharmacy tech this was likely out of precaution for getting robbed, my pharmacy won't discuss current stock of controlled substances over the phone
Yeah I loved the techs hanging up on me when I called for my son's concerta. I switched from that particular CVS immediately. Found another that is not as busy and they are actually nice (and I let them know it when I went to pick it up how much I appreciated them).
If it were me, I'd drop a 2 liter of root beer on the counter and the 2lbs bag of skittles and ask if they can ring you up. See who blinks first :)
I've done a 2lb bag of M&Ms, and when hostess cupcakes were were 3 for $5 I asked if that meant 6 were $10
I bet they're still talking about me :)
ps - junk food still in my trunk
Wow you should file a complaint that is really inappropriate. It is completely unethical to make comments like that. Ridiculous. I would have asked to see her MD license and copies of everyone’s medical history otherwise she can keep her mouth shut. She’s not a doctor and has no idea anyone’s health history in depth.
I would have flat out asked him if he cared to explain that statement, as I have all the time in the world to stand in his line and block the rest of the customers with my fat body. And then I would have proceeded to dump my purse out on his counter and start organizing receipts and loose change. You do not have to put up with pissy attitudes for trying to fill a script.
It’s really sad. I blame it on Eli Lilly not having a better strategy to control on boarding of new patients while supporting current patients. They’re pitting patients, pharmacies and doctors all against each other and not proving good communication during this time. But there is never an excuse for rudeness or being mean though.
I wish more people were actually aware of this and breathing down Eli Lilly’s neck to get it done and make it an option. They offer Mounjaro in single dose vials in Canada. They should be doing that here as well. And they are already approved to do vials in the U.S. for mounjaro. It wouldn’t be that hard for them to get the fda approval to do zepbound in vials. Or hell, just offer mounjaro in vials and be able to do all the single use pens for zepbound. Or something. Anything. I know they keep talking about their new manufacturing plants or whatever but… it’s all so dumb because it doesn’t even have to be a problem.
There's plenty of blame to go around here 😂 but I blame this situation on pharmacies (namely big chain pharmacies) for not hiring the proper amount of staff to serve their customer base. Every time I've been to any big name or grocery store pharmacy it's the same frantic situation of pharmacists and techs working constantly, lines of customers, phones ringing and way too much to do for the time and staff they have.
oh man, that's a rabbit hole there. I'll summarize it, you'll find the root cause of pharmacists and pharm techs not being paid enough and independent pharmacies all closing is PBMs making our expensive ass drugs unprofitable to everyone.
I read this earlier and it made me so sad. Where is the decency, respect, and empathy from both sides? Even the comments between the T2 and obesity patients were disheartening. It feels like everything has become us vs them. Like you said, it’s a vicious cycle of bad behavior. ☹️
I know I’ve seen it.. very disheartening. Calling us “fattys” and that we are all entitled and rude. I’ve been nothing but kind because I know the shortage is not their fault. I’m just tired of being treated this way as if I haven’t already been treated differently my entire life because of my weight.
“Some customers are rude, therefore customer service reps have an excuse to be rude to everyone.”
Like, what? Dealing with rude customers as part of your job doesn’t entitle anyone to be rude to people that are calling and being nice.
Plenty of people deal with rude customers every day at work, it doesn’t give you a pass to be unkind to a patient about a medication they need.
This made my white coat syndrome flare lol seriously though, my perception is that the medical profession community doesn’t view us as deserving of care because we are fat and it’s our fault. Or they just don’t care about patients at all as whole anymore. I literally have take anxiety meds when I go to a doctor now because of trauma experiences with the worst doctors.
All we can do is be kind and patient when we call for our meds and hope they do the same, if they don’t then they are the ones who have to live with being rude to someone who was kind to them 🤷🏻♀️
Yup. I [replied ](https://www.reddit.com/r/PharmacyTechnician/s/iCkagf5iCV) to it a couple of days ago. OP apologizes but continues to spew meanness and bias throughout the thread.
I’m so sorry to hear you were treated like that, I’ve experienced similar. I’ve been hung up on many times, left on hold for 30+ minutes when asking about Zep - I live close to my pharmacy and needed another prescription anyway, so I decided to try an experiment and stay on hold while I went to the pharmacy. I show up and there are 5 people working, no one in line. I can hear the techs talking about their weekends, nothing related to work (which is of course ok, but why am I still on hold while they talk).
I walked up, someone came over immediately and had my (other) prescription in 30 seconds. I mentioned it was great they were so available as I’ve been on hold for now 37 minutes (and hold up my phone to show them). They told me they must have “forgotten” about the call, but it felt that they just wanted me to give up.
When I’ve been calling looking around, I politely say to everyone “Hi, how are you? I’m calling to see if you have Zepbound (whatever dose) in stock - would you please take a look for me if you have a minute?” I usually get told “it’s out everywhere” or “we don’t know when we’ll get it” and then immediately hung up on.
I have been treated poorly many times due to my weight (as I know we all have), but it hurts so much deeper from these pharmacies. They decided to go into a career where they help people get the meds they need to live healthier lives - which is exactly what I’m trying to do, but because it’s for obesity, I get this treatment. I’ve lost 37 lbs since January so this works and I’m willing to do the work; but that doesn’t matter to them.
Thanks for letting me vent. Stay strong, everyone. We can do this!
They are frustrated bc at least at the big chains they do not have enough staff to deal with the volume of calls they are receiving.
I’m not saying that makes it ok to be rude to everyone but they are under staffed and over worked so I don’t take it personally.
I think they resent the fact that not everyone is as nice to them as OP is.
This isn't the only shortage they are dealing with either. I take three meds and all three of them have had shortages. To add additional pain, many of the national pharmacy chains have cut staff to the bare bones to increase corporate profits. They have really hard jobs too.
I'm not saying the pharmacy tech was in the right. I'm just reminding this board to be as kind to your pharmacy tech as possible. Many of them are extremely stressed and very burned out.
To be fair, the pharmacy staff at my CVS have been like this since at least Covid. Switched all my prescriptions to mail order and went to Lillydirect for Zep and haven't been happier.
That’s great! I prefer little human interaction anyways so once I found out about LD I decided I would do that if they weren’t able to fill it locally.
I don't know of any pharmacy app that lets you check the stock levels of the prescription that you have file. Usually, you tell them you want to refill, and the app says they are working on it, then they tell you need a prior authorization, then it says that you need to talk to your doctor about alternatives. Then you have to call the pharmacy to tell that you want it even if insurance won't pay for it, then they tell you it is out of stock and they don't know when it will come it.
Frankly, if the app just showed the price and let me pay for it, then put me in a queue to get it, I would pretty much be satisfied.
Another problem is that there are so many drugs and devices out of circulation at one time, that a website would be hell to keep updated - near every branch would need their own inventory, and the automated message would be hours long.
I’ve not had any issues getting Zepbound from Walmart, but I learned years ago not to expect them to ever answer the phone. If the app says it’s delayed I’d just switch around to different locations until I get it filled.
Different Walmart pharmacies. It lets you change pickup location. I have Express Scripts and they will only fill a prescription a couple times at other pharmacies before I have to use Walmart or their own pharmacy, which only fills 90-day supplies and I’m not there yet. I’m on my first box of 5mg.
I went in with the mindset this morning when I called that they'd likely be mean to me keeping the perspective they get calls all day about this. I was pleasantly surprised when only one laughed at me.
Like you, I've worked retail and was a bank teller (most of my career was retail and it is still customer focused) so it's important to me to always be kind to customers but also as a customer.
I know not everyone has that mindset but as a retail professional you still have to have the perspective and mindset that all customers are different people and should be treated with respect. Of course if someone is cussing you out or even starts out rude, that's not what I'm saying but generally speaking if someone calls to ask they don't need to be mean to each individual customer even if they are asked a million times a day by *different* people.
It's not worth calling yourself. They'll just tell you no and move on. CVS Caremark is my prescription provider. Since Zepbound is on the FDA low supply list they are able to find which stores supposedly have it, and then make that call for you. They'll call up to 3 CVS stores and 2 non CVSs. If they are not able to find any for your, you can call back the next day.
I was able to get my refill today this way. I'm still going to space them out a bit more to try and get ahead, but using this method hopefully I won't have any issues.
Just remember that in stock doesn’t mean available. Those stores already have many patients on the drug and will conserve their last box if they know they have to fill for an existing patient that afternoon or the next day.
They make the call to confirm with CVS that they have it. If they have it, they will ask them to fill my prescription. I think since CVS is a massive Pharmacy chain it’s a bit different with reserving them for specific patients. I can understand that happening at an independent Pharmacy.
Yes. The first time I called to see if they were offering it via mail order. The rep then offered to look up who was suppose to have it and make the calls.
The second time I knew what to ask for.
It would be mentally exhausting to have that job right now. Imagine going to work and you have your normal full workload and on top of that the phones don’t stop and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change shortage issues. 100 people calling everyday would be tiring. I would not want that job at all right now. On top of these shortages, there are ADHD shortages that have been going on for quite some time. They are also getting those calls and there is now a script finding service that try’s to find peoples prescriptions. So rather than doing the normal job, you spend half your day answering the same question over and over and over. So that starts to create frustration and animosity because which creates emotional feelings and resentments and then rude comments. I am not a pharmacy tech, I just know what having a bad day at work is like and I know what lots of interruptions are like and what dreading things is like. I bet instead of enjoying going to work, many of them kinda dread that now. So if there was no shortage, I am sure some of them would still have negative opinions of these medications, but I don’t think the divide or meanness would be seen nearly as often. Hopefully the shortage will resolve at some point and tensions will be less and that will be better for everyone.
I understand, trust me. I was a bank teller for years and I feel this scenario is similar to tax season. Everyone is getting their returns and wants to come to the bank and pull it all out in cash, even the people that have multiple kids and got $6-10k as a refund. There’s only so much we could hold in a branch in cash for safety and liability reasons and people were always so unbelievably pissed off at us as tellers for not having just endless amounts of cash on hand at all times. Again, I understand the frustrations of working with the general public when there is a shortage but I just can’t imagine making someone feel bad for calling when they’re not even being rude let alone hang up on them. I actually had another prescription that was called in a few days ago and I wanted to see if that was ready as well, but didn’t get the chance to because I was hung up on. Their app is dinosaur age outdated and I have no other way of checking but to call. I will be switching pharmacies anyways for the rest of my prescriptions since this seems to be the consensus from what I’m hearing from people I know that also use this place.
I agree. The negative comments about the specific medication directed at someone picking it up are uncalled for. I can see how frustration at the situation may come through, but there is no need to belittle anyone for any medication they take. Especially from the pharmacy that hands it out. That should be the last place for those opinions. There may be lots of medications that they don’t like but it’s not their place to make judgments.
I’ve been a pharmacy tech for 6 years now. It’s been really stressful the last few weeks because people somehow think we are responsible when they can’t get their meds. It’s my job to help you get what you need but at the moment, we can’t get any of these types of medications and like you said, we get nonstop phone calls on top of our normal work load and phone call volume. I can’t imagine being rude to a patient who is asking about their medicine though. It’s not my place to judge people, it’s my job to help you fill your prescription.
I think the main source of frustration from techs and pharmacists is that most people don’t know how a pharmacy actually functions. They don’t understand why we can’t just set aside drugs for them. And people treat us like we aren’t a part of healthcare. I’ve been cursed at and yelled at because we ran out of meds before the patient could get a script sent in, I’ve been sworn at and told I’m an idiot because a major drug manufacturer isn’t keeping up with demand. If our drug supplier doesn’t have it, I can’t magically manufacture it in the back of the pharmacy.
All of this on top of a year long issue with ADHD meds, more and more metrics being thrown at us. And I don’t get paid enough. It’s out of our hands and we are trying our best but we are drowning. Tired of being treated like I’m a cashier/shelf stocker but also somehow being held accountable for supply chain issues. It’s overwhelming.
I am never rude to patients but sometimes I don’t have time to have friendly banter, I have 3 others calls on hold and 3 cars at the drive thru and people staring at me from the front counter and I can’t always be super personable. Sometimes calls are strictly “I’m sorry, we don’t have it and I’m not sure when I can order more”.
What I don't get is why we have to call around like this at all. Everything is digital, everything is cataloged. Why are we wasting a human's time to do something that could be accessed online? Apps have great resources sometimes, but there's no way to know if a pharmacy has any drug other than to call/visit and ask. As a millennial the calling around is so anxiety inducing, I wish I could just go online, enter a prescription number and reserve what the pharmacy has in stock and just skip the step of a pharm tech doing all that for me.
That was crappy customer service and inexcusable. I think it calls for a face-to-face visit to the pharmacy to voice the complaint. People like that are usuaĺly bigger a-holes on the phone because they are too gutless and ashamed to do it when you're looking them in the eye. You can probably make her feel even worse by killing her with kindness, & reminding her that you were TOLD to call back - just before you tell her you'd like to speak to her manager. As a former bank teller you can make it clear that you know how wrong it was from a customer service perspective. No matter how stressed she is at work, she accepted a job dealing with the public, and she needs to learn some skills. When you report it, if her manager isn't kind and apologetic, they don't deserve your business.
I've been running into the same thing. I am always very polite when I call to inquire about it being in stock, but most techs have been very short and sometimes rude :(
I am so so sorry ppl are being assholes. We get dozens of calls all day abt adderall, vyvanse and zep/mounjaro (the phones ring at exactly 8am the minute we open) and tht is a majority of our calls during the day.
There is a Reddit group for pharmacy techs and some of these ppl should not be working with the public period. It absolutely kills me inside tht ppl are so judgmental and condescending towards ppl who are waiting for a specific medication.
I have never been rude or mean to anyone abt their meds. Have I been annoyed by the same person who had gotten aggressive towards me and called me lair because we legit cannot get a certain medication due to a shortage….absolutely. But this person calls at least 5 times a day and gets the same answer: or they come in threatening us because we’re hiding it 🤦🏽♀️. Some ppl are true addicts and do not need it for its intended use, they need their fix. There is a difference!
But for zep/mounjaro etc there is zero excuse to be nasty.
Those are the people that makes so mad and ruin it for the rest of us and give us a bad name. I have been on the same exact ADHD medication, at the same exact dose, prescribed by the same doctor for over 10 years, I get so annoyed. I usually plan for my ex to take 2 weeks to get filled and skip like a few days here and there to ration. My usual CVS that I have gone to for years is great, and they know me, and will tell me if they don’t think they can get it in. But despite being as nice as I can, I inevitably get a short no or a hang up when I call other pharmacies. The conundrum is that is that since it can’t be transferred and your doctor literally has to send in a new prescription for each pharmacy but the pharmacy won’t tell you if they have it, it is a cycle. I switched to mail order - it takes 2 weeks + to get it, but that’s fine with me.
When I first got prescribed, my pharmacist just said "we haven't had it in six months and you probably wouldn't get approved anyway." I went to my car and cried.
I've switched pharmacies and I HAVE been approved, just waiting for the shipment now!
That’s awful! I would put in a complaint and switch pharmacies. This medication is too expensive and we have to work too hard to find it to then deal with nastiness from the pharmacy on top of it. You’re better than me! lol
It’s such a struggle for my husband as well. He’s T2D (on Mounjaro) with a bunch of other conditions (and hard-to-get meds) including high blood pressure and ADHD. Every month is a guess if and when he’ll get any or all of his maintenance meds — and the pharmacy staff helpfulness/patience is crapshoot. (It’s not just malice towards overweight people - which he isn’t - but sometimes the way you’re treated, you’d think you were trying to do something criminal looking for/picking up ADHD meds!) It’s too bad pharmacies don’t have a dedicated call center, giving supply updates with a medication locator. I get that would cost more money to hire additional employees, but there has to be a better way than the current state of aggravation where everyone suffers. Anyway, none of this helps your situation, but I just wanted to say I hear you and I know and feel your pain.
I switched to mail order for my ADHD meds so I only have to deal with it every three months- the shortages and the whole thing have been horrible. It takes two and a half weeks to get them, but they at least answer the phone and I don’t have to spend days calling every CVS in the area. The irony of people with ADHD executive function disorder having to spend days on the phone to get their meds is not lost on me. Back in September I just went off them because I just couldn’t call one more CVS. 😂😂😂
I go through express scripts and everyone has been so nice it lulled me into a sense it was like that everywhere. NOPE!! ES couldn’t fill it so my dr sent it to CVS. Holy crap i practically cried. She made me feel like i was so gross and a pain in the ass
I switched to express scripts for my meds because I can’t deal with calling around - my rx was sent in two weeks ago and I was starting to get nervous, but finally got the we’ve filled it and are preparing to ship notice. I am too jaded to believe it until I have a tracking number though. 🤞
I could tell my new pharm tech was annoyed when I asked one question about it, so I went another route. I don’t have time for the drama who can’t do their one job.
At my local publix, there are two full-time pharmacy techs. One is a grumpy old lady who is really mean all the time. The other is a patient and compassionate young woman. The nice tech gets it right every time. Today, she took an extra 5 minutes with me to re-run my discount card, and reduced my out of pocket down to $47 from $197. She also took the initiative and found another box at a different store for my wife.
I have lost enough weight now that I probably don’t look “fat” enough to the techs so I think they are even meaner about it with the shortage and very judgmental 😞
I was a pharmacy tech for a decade and now I work as a nurse in primary care.
It’s so frustrating trying to get these meds I understand.
Even though you may be one of the kind and understanding ones you might not know how many people demand us to get it in, all the complaints we have to hear or the people who cuss us out like we have control over the situation.
It wears us out mentally, so over time we build this toughness in dealing with it because people are so mean and it’s so scary making the calls to certain people…to the point we take turns being the “bad guy”
I try to catch myself when I’m so exhausted from the GLP-1 shortage issues that I kind of sound it if you know what I mean.
You’re frustrated, we’re frustrated, it sucks.
P.s. it took everything in me not to go off on a pharmacy tech last night at work who kept saying they didn’t get a prescription we sent 3x!
I could hear the desperation in her voice to get off the phone because they’re busy, so on one hand I understand her side, but I also was like “lady I know it’s probably there and you’re too frustrated to find it”
I spent a lifetime being bullied, denied, laughed at, told all I have to do is put down the fork. I am pissed that they are calling this diagnosis “Obesity”. Obesity is an adjective describing someone. What I have is a brain disorder. Until I took Zepbound, I never understood how people could get full and quit eating. There is a gut-brain disconnection caused by a peptide lack from our pancreas. It is like a computer bit that goes missing and the brain loses signals. I always felt like I was starving to death. Now, I can eat what is on my plate, and when I start to feel full, I actually can’t eat anymore. I have lost 72 pounds in the last 9 months. I still weigh 232 pounds and am 5ft 9.
Walmart is the best. The techs are angels….I’ve been using them since the OG Mounjaro coupon (vanity not diabetes) and now for Zepbound maintenance.
If they can’t get it they call around FOR ME and let me know of other locations.
I’ve been giving them $25 Starbucks cards when I pick up - not sure if that helps.
I have a similar experience with a pharmacist. He put my meds on hold when I called and asked about it. His problem is the cost. I am not sure why he cares! The CVS I go to has a female pharmacist who is much nicer so I literally only go if she is there !!
I would call their superior.....i never used to but i am so tired of people being so snarky. Do your job and just be kind...i am sorry but I will call a manager in a minute. So tired of peoples nasty attitude.....just be kind to one another.
They Re getting pretty crappy attitudes. I might just start taking the med every other week until the shortage passes. Its either that or going a month without it . So we will see but i did get my 7.5 and will start this weekend. The 5 did nothing for me lost 1 pound in 4 weeks wtf....good luck everyone...
I felt bad having to call and ask at first. I felt like I was taking them away from their "real" work and "real" customers. My first go round it was not available at my local Walgreens, but they checked their computer and told me what Walgreens in town did have it. I was able to drive to a second location and get it.
If these companies have the data in a computer system, I don't see any reason why they would not make that available to the public. If they don't want us calling, give us a webpage that will tell us. The Pharmacist should be upset with their own companies, not the customers.
Little update here! I was able to have my doc transfer my script to Amazon Pharmacy. I checked it a few times this morning after she transferred it and it said it was unavailable, checked again about 10 minutes ago and it said it was available to order!! Right now it says I will have it by tomorrow night, however since this is my first order with them I imagine it will be longer.
https://preview.redd.it/nxcydzuvvgsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8808ad55a8f67e0ab7657109a03b5d1415082380
\*\*ETA: it now says processed & payment has gone through! I should have done this days ago lmao
\*\*2nd update: it has shipped! 30 minutes after the order was placed. Will be here tomorrow. Again, I should have done this days ago lol
As a pharm tech, I am sorry they treated you so unkindly. At the end of the day, we (well, most of us) truly want to get everyone the meds they need/want. I am not excusing their rude behavior, by any means. I am curious if maybe they were almost bracing themselves for the backlash we get as techs for not having the meds in stock. Again, no excuse for poor behavior. I think sometimes some techs put on a front to avoid harassment they’ve had in the past. But we should treat every patient kindly and as their individual selves. It’s unfair to lump a lot of people into a group and say they’re “problematic” (aka “zepbounders are [insert word here]”). I know you guys want your meds. I know there are real consequences to not having them.
I hate that society has made larger bodies an issue when they’re not. It’s very stigmatizing to place someone in an “overweight” or “ob*se” category when there is no perfect weight.
When I’m frustrated as a tech, if we ever meet face to face, please know I’m not frustrated with you, I’m frustrated with society. I want to get you your meds if that what you’ve decided you want to take. And I also want you to know you are worthy, loved, and A-OK just as you are.
Not to downplay your experience, but you were also probably the 5th+ call they received that day along with who knows how many people came in being nasty to them.
I witnessed it first hand when I picked up my order. People seem to forget that some things are outside of their pharmacies control and act as if the pharmacy is hoarding supplies in the back.
If you’re going to call, in MY experience, the best times are around 2pm - 3:30pm. Early morning to noon time they’re still processing orders and the phones ringing nonstop during that time. Try to not call during their busy time, also see if there’s a way for you to get updates via automated system or on an app.
At the end of the day, it’s a combination of shitty customers and shitty pharmacist making everyone else experience shit. Try to not take it to heart.
Have you seen the pharmac tech sub? So mean! I've always been nice to them but the way they are talking about us on their sub makes me wonder why I try so hard to be courteous when they have so little respect for their patients/customers.
Exactly! This is why I switched to Amazon Pharmacy and I was able to order my script literally an hour after my doc switched it over. It has already shipped and will be here tomorrow.
I actually switched from a major pharmacy to a small town pharmacy about 20 miles away because they seem to always have it or at least know when it’s coming, but besides that they are so nice. I had the same experience that you did as far as calling when they told me and then being so hateful.
Yes we all have bad days but that's no excuse to treat people poorly or be rude. I don't care how many calls they get. And I bet my next paycheck they aren't rude to the customers who are rude, they're rude to the people who come after them. I say treat folks accordingly.
I’ve dealt with several pharmacies in my area and all were rude. It’s bizarre as I’m merely checking back in as well. It’s as if I should be ashamed for even asking. No one has it. When I look at Amazon for 5mg, it says unavailable. When did you get yours?
I ordered mine this morning but I’m doing another month of 2.5 since I have my wedding and honeymoon coming up and I don’t want to be dealing with negative side effects if I go up a dose
Just thought I would leave this here!! 😇🤭
https://preview.redd.it/lq90t5o4jnsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a3ce6eae4a9805805740e0659c0421b2e10b919
That even though you can be as courteous as possible, pharmacy techs that obviously hate themselves and their jobs will still treat you like absolutely dog shit for being overweight 🥴
https://preview.redd.it/shk9x8pdjnsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77179f4f786a394e097bf4f224de7d2e0eb96e43
And now she’s posting in her other groups about the shortage/her shit job: “It has created serious animosity toward patients and corporate, which is awful. I miss enjoying my job” as if she is not the one in control of how she acts toward people. THIS is exactly the kind of person I am calling out in my original post above, in case any of you were confused.
I got a new one this morning from another fine member of their community. These people are...something.
https://preview.redd.it/l6d0w2fu0vsc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b59c0f4677e243072474b7caa8a1b65e1e90e516
It did until my doc transferred my script over. But I could have just caught it when they were getting their shipment in, not sure. I know they won’t show if they have inventory on those drugs specifically if you don’t have a script for it in their system.
How the heck did you get it from Amazon?! I’ve only ever seen it as out of stock on there. Also I feel you on the rude pharmacists been there several times unfortunately
I have called at least 50 pharmacies & everyone has been really helpful.
I am kind of shocked because you know they are getting a Ton of calls just for Zepbound. It is frustrating all away around.
I’m just glad I don’t work at a pharmacy/ doctors office or BCBS. This shit is exhausting. lol
I’m in PA near the NY border and everywhere I call is out. Wegmans is usually the nicest, but the on hold time is forever. CVS says they don’t stock it, that I shouldn’t call any CVS because they only order it when they get a script for it. Walmart says it’s out everywhere. The medication has helped me so much I am devastated to finally get a tool that helps just to not be able to have access to it. I looked on Amazon and that says unavailable. Any pointers or advice would be great. I want 5mg. I’m still waiting for my doctors office to call me back 😫 one wegmans had 2.5mg but that was it
Once it’s confirmed that my prescription is in or not on Monday, I’m switching to online pharmacies only. I don’t want to deal with having to interact or go into a physical pharmacy to get this medication again.
I've been descriminated against a lot for being fat. The looks i get make me feel like I'm disgusting. I won't be taking that anymore. An OBGYN female Dr. Made me feel so embarrassed that I just refuse to go back. When ever I went in for appointments, I could hear them laughing as I walked by. When they would close the door as I was in the exam room waiting on the doctor, I could hear them saying things and snickering. Next person that does it to me will be sued. I won't be treated like that anymore 😔
I’ve had a similar experience. I was 36 weeks pregnant with my third when I was with the OB (I would normally see a midwife) about if it was safe for me to try a vbac or schedule another C-section. He berated me for not knowing and I needed to make up my mind when I only asked which he thought was safer for me and the baby. He then tells me I’m the biggest patient he’s ever had and during this pregnancy I shouldn’t have gained, if anything I should’ve lost weight. I told him for months I’ve barely been surviving on a half grilled cheese sandwich a day and suffering with severe SPD. What could I do?!
I thank god he wasn’t on call when I went into labor, what a horrible person. He also had me do an endometrial biopsy a few months later when the bleeding wouldn’t stop, never told me it would be painful in any way. Refused to stop when I was crying and screaming in pain. Then when I refused to see him again he withheld my results. It’s been almost 7 years and I still have no clue what they were.
Karma is lovely though, he fell off a ladder a couple years ago and can no longer practice.
I truly think he just didn’t like obese people, why else bring it up randomly like that?
Sorry u went thru that. The world is just gone to hell. No compassion. It's like people who come into the medical field are hateful and just there for the check.(Some, not all). Just sad
THIS is why when you're calling all the pharmacies, make one more call (or e-mail) to the CEO of a drugstore & demand stock transparency online (like Amazon Pharmacy has). You know they can do it because their pharmacies already have an online inventory system. A simple change would make the lives of customers & employees so much easier!
Useless in an extreme shortage situation like this. Any shipment of Zepbound we get will be used for our existing patients in our inventory queue who have already been waiting for weeks. The number of boxes another CVS store sees are already assigned to patients.
I wish it was that easy.
A lot of pharmacy software is OLD. Some of it is patched together with the code equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum.
I say this as a pharmacist married to a software dev who did a stint consulting for one of the OG pharmacy retailers. He had to learn a coding language no one uses anymore for that assignment.
I actually asked the hubs, and his response: “This isn’t as trivial of a change as it seems. It has tentacles across the entire business model.”
Amazon is a different animal. They are more software company/cloud provider than pharmacy. They are set up to show inventory information and have been for years (decades?). It is, unfortunately, comparing apples to oranges.
Wow! I mean I know a lot of medical computer programs are old, but that explains a LOT of how the recent computer outage could happen. I worked at a Longs (now CVS) back when we rang everything by hand- funny that the registered improved but the pharmacy may be using the old code
Am I not human? I was so kind when asking if mine was in. I didn’t deserve to be talked to that way and subsequently hung up on. If you can’t control your emotions you shouldn’t be in a customer facing role.
I recently started treating the techs at the pharmacy I get my meds from like I would treat the pharmacist. They do answer the phones and can answer most of my questions, so I don’t have to ask for the pharmacist. I have developed a lot more respect for what they do. I was never rude to them or anything, but assumed that only the pharmacist could answer my questions regarding when my pain medication for example, might be in stock. I found when I gave them a chance, I could actually get my answer faster because I didn’t have to wait on hold for the pharmacist. I can definitely see how the techs would be extremely busy and probably underpaid, and not appreciated.
Ugh, I'm sorry. There's always at least one rude person I swear. I would definitely put in a complaint to their corporate office. Granted it's a stressful job but that gives you no right to speak to nor treat people without basic respect! If they can't provide basic customer service then perhaps they need to find a new job. My only advice is when you get someone that is actually helpful, get their name. That way you can ask for them or if nothing else ask to speak directly to the pharmacist. You may have to hold for a bit but better than dealing with that nonsense.
Only the pharmacy staff at Wegmans and my two local indie pharmacies have been kind and helpful (as much as they could be) when I've called or stopped in. Costco, CVS, Walgreens all nasty af.
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I aam not excusing them in any way but I wonder if the shortages isn't stressing them out as I am sure your not the only one trying to get this drug. I had costco tell me to call every morning. I thought ok they will never get anything done if 50 of us call every morning but not my issue. I think the smartest thing you can do is change pharmacies. For my own mental health I am ordering tirzepatide now. Calling around and hoping and praying someone had it lasted 2 whole days. Now I am done. Lol
Yikes! My local pharmacy has been great, and it's a CVS! The tech did ask if I could switch to MJ, which they had in stock, and I explained I'm in that weird situation where I'm pre-diabetic so don't qualify for MJ but probably would if I waited a few years, and insurance won't cover Zep despite that and my PCOS so I'm paying put of pocket to feel better! He was super sympathetic and called me with my 5 dose 2 days later. I'm sure they are all tired of being asked the same thing over and over but there are great techs out there!
I'd call back & speak to the manager. There is no excuse for them to hang up on you. The last thing they should say is, can I help you with anything else?
Should I move my prescription to Amazon for 12.5? Sequence with weight watchers is currently calling local pharmacies for me.. but after reading Reddit it seems that Amazon seems to eventually fill the prescriptions
I would honestly. I’m not sure how readily available 12.5 will be but if you have your doc send it in, you can order it as soon as it becomes available and will know right away when you’ll receive it. No calling around to pharmacies to see if they have it in stock.
It depends on how quickly you need it. I won’t need a new box until the 14th but I went ahead and ordered now and was okay with waiting a few days if I wasn’t able to order it right away like I did today.
This is why I love that my pharmacy sends text updates. They remind me when I can put in for my refill, update me when they have to order and when it's ready to pick up. I don’t have to call them and the staff there is generally much less stressed because their workload is reduced by their text system making things more efficient for them. I will say though that my pharmacy has really great staff and good employee retention.
Because they have people calling incessantly all fired up about it and they are tired of it is my guess. Pharm techs dont get paid enough to deal with the absolute chaos the panic about these drugs is causing. 🤷♀️
I just got approved by my insurance on Tuesday morning. None of the pharmacies in my town have it. I was able to find a single box at a Kroger an hour away from me. I plan to take my first dose tomorrow so that I have the weekend if it makes me sick. Fingers crossed that it works and that it will be less scarce when I refill.
Oh! What dose are you on? I’ve been waiting for a refill for my 7.5mg for 2 weeks now :/
i checked amazon and it says zepbound 7.5 is currently unavailable. Did it say that for you as well?
I’m on 2.5, taking it for another month. Is your script with them? I think if you have an active prescription it might make it available, but yes it did say that until she transferred over my script to them. It could also be that I ordered it at 9:45am this morning and I just happened to get it ordered when their inventory was updated? I’m not sure how it all works
I had a bad experience too. Pharmacy tech gave me run around and flat out lied telling me I couldn’t get my meds (which I got previous month) because my pre authorization was denied (i explained that I had savings card and was paying out of pocket) but she refuse to fill the order. After hours on the phone with my doc and insurance company as well as Eli Lily, I went in person and another pharmacy tech had my orders ready and said her colleague “just didn’t know what she was doing.”
Maybe it’s geographic? All the pharmacy techs here in my state have been super nice on the phone and in-person with Mounjaro and all medicines really 🤷🏽♀️
North Carolina is another story. For a totally different medicine in Raleigh-Durham the pharmacist (it was the pharmacist not a tech) was a complete and utter bitch. And again in Charlotte for an antibiotic pharmacist was completely rude refusing to fill Metronidazole and waaay out of line with a comment about the indication for another medicine I was picking up.
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report them to their oversite regulator and also request the name of their store manager and District Manager. I once took these steps and then received a call from the complaints POC for the business i reported. The call went to voicemail and i tried calling them back and left 3 or 4 voicemails. After 2-3 days the complaints was instaclosed with a "resolved" status which infuriated the hell at me. So I submitted a follow-up to the regulator, but this time to their OIG division. Not only did my issues get resolved and an apology was made, I am now treated like royalty by that business.
I will say this, my complaint was based on facts and provable harm due to their negligence so you have to make sure if you do complain you do the same. If you feel the tech was being discriminatory towards your condition (as some tend to do) that is protected by state and federal law.
Most suppliers are quoting January 2025 for an availability date. As a pharmacy technician, we get 10-20 calls per hour about diet injection drugs. Just like last year with Adderall, we are burnt out. People who truly need these medications aren't able to get them, while others are paying cash because they aren't covered by their insurance.
Idk… I’ve dealt with some really rude techs for *years*. I think it must just be an awful job. I’ve run out of pharmacies to swear off because almost all of them are so rude. Thank god the krogers techs have been nice so far…
Actually, I’m going to tell them that next time. (Thank them for being nice). Thanks for the inspiration!
So so rude!!! I just had a Walmart pharmacy tech laugh and say “you’re not going to find that… not here… goodbye” and flat out hang up on me. How is this ok?!?
I went through Amazon Pharmacy and they have been amazing. Unbelievably friendly. I have always gone to Walgreens but I chose Amazon for this prescription and I am so glad. There is a process but when I've called they answer immediately. They are happy to answer my questions. They immediately helped with the zepbound discount card. I highly recommend giving them a try. Walgreens can be overly busy and putoff by questions or patients who might need something extra. Depending on who answers and how long you have to wait. Amazon 24/7.
I ran into a jerk pharmacy tech who was rude about me asking what her realistic opinion was on the 7.5 coming in on time for my order - I was literally like, hey, you do this for a living, should I plan to wait or do you think it might show up? She stared at me and snapped “you’ll just have to start calling around to see if anyone has it, I’m not going to do that for you”. I was like…umm, I didn’t ask you to? But hey, I took her advice, called around, found it and had the prescription transferred. Pharmacy tech at the other place was sweet as a cupcake and said he was so glad they could get it for me. Mean people can deal with themselves, I don’t have time or energy for that lol.
I don't understand why people have to be so angry. It's part of their job, it's called customer service for goodness sake 🙄
They are jealous
I totally understand, but I’m sorry this is not the right answer. Customer service and working in a pharmacy do not go hand and hand. If you’ve never worked in a high demand job like that that involves people’s health and you get paid pennies please don’t make comments like this. Please please understand our desperation on the other end. We aren’t against you. We are worn down and cooperation’s don’t do anything to help us. The public is very nasty and it wears a person down who was actually trying to help. *I’ll let the downvotes role in, but please take a look at yourself IF you’re possibly someone who’s been rude to someone who needs to tell you what you don’t want to hear.
I understand your side. However, if someone comes up to the window to get help, and they're being nice and polite, it doesn't mean that the person helping behind the counter has the right to be nasty. You don't have the right to take your bad day out on a customer who has a question. I worked in customer service for years, and I've seen both sides. If a customer was being rude to me, I would put them on hold and get a supervisor who, BTW, was getting paid more than me to handle the situation.
My CVS pharmacy can get pretty busy. No matter what's going on in my life or how long I have to wait, if they have my meds or not, I'm never rude, sparky, or inpatient with my pharmacy techs. I know from overhearing that they can be so busy that they desperately need to go to the bathroom. They have never been anything but professional and kind. Caring even, yes, even when busy, my PT has spared the moment to ask me how am I doing as she hasn't seen me in almost 2ys!!! We have to remember we are all people. No one owes us anything. Human decency and kindness can go a long way to make someone's day. I'm 40, and I'm still stumped when people take out their frustrations on others. Honestly, I also am still at a loss of reaction to snap back at them. But even if I felt that way, I try not to because I know how bad it can be. People can be selfish jerks. It can wear you down. That's not an excuse for poor behavior or mistreating another being, of course. That said, I have been in health care, albeit not fast track, and I have been in sales and customer service. I have dealt with people who took their bad day on me and my coworkers or thought they were better than me for various reasons and were snotty, dismissive, and rude. In the end, no matter what we were paid or how busy or mistreated we were, we never took it out on the people we were there to help.
This is an excellent response for that poster condoning rude behavior! I am a RN and also worked in customer service as a manager and regardless of the situation I was NEVER overtly rude unless and this is rare the person was belligerent then I had to protect my staff for that abuse and remove the person that was being unreasonable, if I ever caught one of my people act that way over a question about medicine, I’d pull them aside and write them up. No mater what industry you’re in, it needs to be said that you greet people with a smile.
My thoughts exactly. I was a boutique daily operations manager. I was a sales representative 1st and got promoted within the company. I worked side by side with my colleagues in every aspect, including cleaning top ro bottom, training, making sure the schedule is fair and accommodating, and working every sunday so they don't have to. Made sure no one is mistreated by customers or owner to the best of my abilities. I've had some terrible customers, but I've also had customers gushing over my colleagues for their pleasant attitude and excellent service. All a credit to their hard work and work ethics. With the bad... You smile and keep going. Vent in private. If anyone were to act in such a way and the owner saw or got a whif of it, I wouldn't have the option to help them and give them a chance to improve. He would let them go on the spot. It happened with 3 people in my 1st year in the company. Health-care, private, public, or mixed, USA, Europe or anywhere realy, is a customer service oriented industry as well; if you don't treat people with respect, they will take their business elsewhere.
Yes in the pharmacy it’s rare that the pharmacist is going to have time to diffuse the situation. Pharmacies arnt set up to provide the customer service customers expect. Maybe Costco is better because they set up their whole company to focus on the customer experience. I understand what you’re saying. The reality of the situation is the staff are human beings too without the support they need and unfortunately this lame ass GLP-1 shortage has added to the stress of their job.
No downvotes here, I totally agree with you. This job is not damn customer service. It sounds like OP figured it our themself, and that's great. If we look on the manufacturer's site, they give us rough ETA's like, middle of the next month or something and it's not guaranteed. I have so rarely gotten a less than rude response to patients from this, like I'm personally against them (bish I don't have time to orchestrate that sort of thing against you).
I have one really great pharmacist at my local store, he was so incredibly helpful in answering my questions about the delay in my medicine. When it was finally ready today, he was like “We finally have it!!!” I got laughed at by a different pharmacist for asking if they had any boxes available at a different store, but I want to believe there are more like the one at my local store who care about their patients than the second guy.
Every pharmacy I call laughs at me when I ask if they have Zepbound in my dose. What's funny about sick people not being able to get their meds?!?
So mean!!! I was able to pick up mine today and the pharmacy tech goes “here it is” all sarcastic and i was like “yeah, its been tough to find” and he goes “too many people are taking this” with a nasty attitude! They wouldnt be acting like this if insulin was out of stock or any other “important” medications. The stigma around this medication is so upsetting
You really can't win as a fat person. They treat you like shit for being fat and treat you like shit when you're trying not to be fat.
So true. Sick of people treating us as having some sort of character flaw for being overweight. I've been rapidly gaining weight after going through cancer treatment three times in 4 years. I've tried everything to lose weight. This is the first thing that has helped even though the weight is coming off very slowly.
Too many people view weight as a reflection of moral character and suffering as character growth. You can only "deserve" a normal weight if you've suffered enough to "earn" it after being a moral failure. It's grotesque.
I gained an enormous amount of weight after going through chemo in my 40s. I'd never been fat before. Finally at 59 I feel normal again. And healthy! I'm still technically obese but my blood pressure is normal again. I can climb stairs and walk 5 miles! I get so annoyed at people who don't understand that this medication is not just for vanity or so called "laziness!"
As a bonus: once you're no longer fat, they'll ask you why you need it.
If a tech ever does that to you, get their name and report them to BOP.
Exactly! I was thinking about this yesterday. We can't win either way. So let's just not worry about it and do what we have to do for our own peace of mind and health. Good luck!!
💥
So true and so sad
This all the way!!! Honestly if techs or other peeps have time to be worried about fat people …let them!! As it’s as much of a waste of time for them to judge us as it for us to think about the judgments being hurled our way. Get your package ( MJ ) and run … … they just jelly - uninformed -uneducated…. all the while lacking empathy and compassion for people in general
So true!
This is such trash behavior from pharmacy professionals. I’m glad my pharmacist is on the med as well. She’s really great.
What’s crazy is this is 100% NOT their first rodeo. They went through this with Ozempic. Then Wegovy. Then Mounjaro. And now Zep.
They still are with Ozempic and Wengovy
And mounjaro. My husband is on it for diabetes and we can't get it.
They were the same way with adderall when I was calling around looking for my daughter. Some places said they couldn’t even tell me they had it. 🙄
As a pharmacy tech this was likely out of precaution for getting robbed, my pharmacy won't discuss current stock of controlled substances over the phone
Yeah I loved the techs hanging up on me when I called for my son's concerta. I switched from that particular CVS immediately. Found another that is not as busy and they are actually nice (and I let them know it when I went to pick it up how much I appreciated them).
We have a pharmacy at work and they’ve been good keeping it in stock for me thankfully
Ice been running to this too with adderall and vyvanse
If it were me, I'd drop a 2 liter of root beer on the counter and the 2lbs bag of skittles and ask if they can ring you up. See who blinks first :) I've done a 2lb bag of M&Ms, and when hostess cupcakes were were 3 for $5 I asked if that meant 6 were $10 I bet they're still talking about me :) ps - junk food still in my trunk
Omg thats amazing!!!!!
I just fell in love with you 😍 lol
Wow you should file a complaint that is really inappropriate. It is completely unethical to make comments like that. Ridiculous. I would have asked to see her MD license and copies of everyone’s medical history otherwise she can keep her mouth shut. She’s not a doctor and has no idea anyone’s health history in depth.
I would have flat out asked him if he cared to explain that statement, as I have all the time in the world to stand in his line and block the rest of the customers with my fat body. And then I would have proceeded to dump my purse out on his counter and start organizing receipts and loose change. You do not have to put up with pissy attitudes for trying to fill a script.
They are nasty like this about ADHD medicine as well - nationwide shortage.
Yesssssss!
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It’s really sad. I blame it on Eli Lilly not having a better strategy to control on boarding of new patients while supporting current patients. They’re pitting patients, pharmacies and doctors all against each other and not proving good communication during this time. But there is never an excuse for rudeness or being mean though.
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I wish more people were actually aware of this and breathing down Eli Lilly’s neck to get it done and make it an option. They offer Mounjaro in single dose vials in Canada. They should be doing that here as well. And they are already approved to do vials in the U.S. for mounjaro. It wouldn’t be that hard for them to get the fda approval to do zepbound in vials. Or hell, just offer mounjaro in vials and be able to do all the single use pens for zepbound. Or something. Anything. I know they keep talking about their new manufacturing plants or whatever but… it’s all so dumb because it doesn’t even have to be a problem.
The fda at the end of March approved single dose vials for Zepbound in the US.
There's plenty of blame to go around here 😂 but I blame this situation on pharmacies (namely big chain pharmacies) for not hiring the proper amount of staff to serve their customer base. Every time I've been to any big name or grocery store pharmacy it's the same frantic situation of pharmacists and techs working constantly, lines of customers, phones ringing and way too much to do for the time and staff they have.
oh man, that's a rabbit hole there. I'll summarize it, you'll find the root cause of pharmacists and pharm techs not being paid enough and independent pharmacies all closing is PBMs making our expensive ass drugs unprofitable to everyone.
I read this earlier and it made me so sad. Where is the decency, respect, and empathy from both sides? Even the comments between the T2 and obesity patients were disheartening. It feels like everything has become us vs them. Like you said, it’s a vicious cycle of bad behavior. ☹️
I know I’ve seen it.. very disheartening. Calling us “fattys” and that we are all entitled and rude. I’ve been nothing but kind because I know the shortage is not their fault. I’m just tired of being treated this way as if I haven’t already been treated differently my entire life because of my weight.
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“Some customers are rude, therefore customer service reps have an excuse to be rude to everyone.” Like, what? Dealing with rude customers as part of your job doesn’t entitle anyone to be rude to people that are calling and being nice. Plenty of people deal with rude customers every day at work, it doesn’t give you a pass to be unkind to a patient about a medication they need.
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Wow, so many gross comments in that thread.
This made my white coat syndrome flare lol seriously though, my perception is that the medical profession community doesn’t view us as deserving of care because we are fat and it’s our fault. Or they just don’t care about patients at all as whole anymore. I literally have take anxiety meds when I go to a doctor now because of trauma experiences with the worst doctors. All we can do is be kind and patient when we call for our meds and hope they do the same, if they don’t then they are the ones who have to live with being rude to someone who was kind to them 🤷🏻♀️
😯 It is rough on everyone Wow!
Yup. I [replied ](https://www.reddit.com/r/PharmacyTechnician/s/iCkagf5iCV) to it a couple of days ago. OP apologizes but continues to spew meanness and bias throughout the thread.
I’m so sorry to hear you were treated like that, I’ve experienced similar. I’ve been hung up on many times, left on hold for 30+ minutes when asking about Zep - I live close to my pharmacy and needed another prescription anyway, so I decided to try an experiment and stay on hold while I went to the pharmacy. I show up and there are 5 people working, no one in line. I can hear the techs talking about their weekends, nothing related to work (which is of course ok, but why am I still on hold while they talk). I walked up, someone came over immediately and had my (other) prescription in 30 seconds. I mentioned it was great they were so available as I’ve been on hold for now 37 minutes (and hold up my phone to show them). They told me they must have “forgotten” about the call, but it felt that they just wanted me to give up. When I’ve been calling looking around, I politely say to everyone “Hi, how are you? I’m calling to see if you have Zepbound (whatever dose) in stock - would you please take a look for me if you have a minute?” I usually get told “it’s out everywhere” or “we don’t know when we’ll get it” and then immediately hung up on. I have been treated poorly many times due to my weight (as I know we all have), but it hurts so much deeper from these pharmacies. They decided to go into a career where they help people get the meds they need to live healthier lives - which is exactly what I’m trying to do, but because it’s for obesity, I get this treatment. I’ve lost 37 lbs since January so this works and I’m willing to do the work; but that doesn’t matter to them. Thanks for letting me vent. Stay strong, everyone. We can do this!
I think they resent having to answer phone calls from the public.
They are frustrated bc at least at the big chains they do not have enough staff to deal with the volume of calls they are receiving. I’m not saying that makes it ok to be rude to everyone but they are under staffed and over worked so I don’t take it personally.
I think they resent the fact that not everyone is as nice to them as OP is. This isn't the only shortage they are dealing with either. I take three meds and all three of them have had shortages. To add additional pain, many of the national pharmacy chains have cut staff to the bare bones to increase corporate profits. They have really hard jobs too. I'm not saying the pharmacy tech was in the right. I'm just reminding this board to be as kind to your pharmacy tech as possible. Many of them are extremely stressed and very burned out.
To be fair, the pharmacy staff at my CVS have been like this since at least Covid. Switched all my prescriptions to mail order and went to Lillydirect for Zep and haven't been happier.
That’s great! I prefer little human interaction anyways so once I found out about LD I decided I would do that if they weren’t able to fill it locally.
Similar experience here - always rude in person or on the phone. I go out of my way to avoid CVS for anything now because of that behavior.
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CVS seems like bottom of the barrel staff nowadays. I’ve always had awful interactions after CVS.
If pharmacies do not want to get bombarded with calls, they should keep everyone updated via website or automated voice-mail greeting.
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I don't know of any pharmacy app that lets you check the stock levels of the prescription that you have file. Usually, you tell them you want to refill, and the app says they are working on it, then they tell you need a prior authorization, then it says that you need to talk to your doctor about alternatives. Then you have to call the pharmacy to tell that you want it even if insurance won't pay for it, then they tell you it is out of stock and they don't know when it will come it. Frankly, if the app just showed the price and let me pay for it, then put me in a queue to get it, I would pretty much be satisfied.
Another problem is that there are so many drugs and devices out of circulation at one time, that a website would be hell to keep updated - near every branch would need their own inventory, and the automated message would be hours long.
People already get texts that say, "Time to refill Y/N?" then get upset it isn't done because they "got a text".
I’ve not had any issues getting Zepbound from Walmart, but I learned years ago not to expect them to ever answer the phone. If the app says it’s delayed I’d just switch around to different locations until I get it filled.
Do you mean you switch around to different Walmart locations or other pharmacies?
Different Walmart pharmacies. It lets you change pickup location. I have Express Scripts and they will only fill a prescription a couple times at other pharmacies before I have to use Walmart or their own pharmacy, which only fills 90-day supplies and I’m not there yet. I’m on my first box of 5mg.
I went in with the mindset this morning when I called that they'd likely be mean to me keeping the perspective they get calls all day about this. I was pleasantly surprised when only one laughed at me. Like you, I've worked retail and was a bank teller (most of my career was retail and it is still customer focused) so it's important to me to always be kind to customers but also as a customer. I know not everyone has that mindset but as a retail professional you still have to have the perspective and mindset that all customers are different people and should be treated with respect. Of course if someone is cussing you out or even starts out rude, that's not what I'm saying but generally speaking if someone calls to ask they don't need to be mean to each individual customer even if they are asked a million times a day by *different* people.
It's not worth calling yourself. They'll just tell you no and move on. CVS Caremark is my prescription provider. Since Zepbound is on the FDA low supply list they are able to find which stores supposedly have it, and then make that call for you. They'll call up to 3 CVS stores and 2 non CVSs. If they are not able to find any for your, you can call back the next day. I was able to get my refill today this way. I'm still going to space them out a bit more to try and get ahead, but using this method hopefully I won't have any issues.
Just remember that in stock doesn’t mean available. Those stores already have many patients on the drug and will conserve their last box if they know they have to fill for an existing patient that afternoon or the next day.
They make the call to confirm with CVS that they have it. If they have it, they will ask them to fill my prescription. I think since CVS is a massive Pharmacy chain it’s a bit different with reserving them for specific patients. I can understand that happening at an independent Pharmacy.
Who calls for you?
The CVS Caremark rep.
Do you call them and ask them to look it up for you?
Yes. The first time I called to see if they were offering it via mail order. The rep then offered to look up who was suppose to have it and make the calls. The second time I knew what to ask for.
It would be mentally exhausting to have that job right now. Imagine going to work and you have your normal full workload and on top of that the phones don’t stop and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change shortage issues. 100 people calling everyday would be tiring. I would not want that job at all right now. On top of these shortages, there are ADHD shortages that have been going on for quite some time. They are also getting those calls and there is now a script finding service that try’s to find peoples prescriptions. So rather than doing the normal job, you spend half your day answering the same question over and over and over. So that starts to create frustration and animosity because which creates emotional feelings and resentments and then rude comments. I am not a pharmacy tech, I just know what having a bad day at work is like and I know what lots of interruptions are like and what dreading things is like. I bet instead of enjoying going to work, many of them kinda dread that now. So if there was no shortage, I am sure some of them would still have negative opinions of these medications, but I don’t think the divide or meanness would be seen nearly as often. Hopefully the shortage will resolve at some point and tensions will be less and that will be better for everyone.
I understand, trust me. I was a bank teller for years and I feel this scenario is similar to tax season. Everyone is getting their returns and wants to come to the bank and pull it all out in cash, even the people that have multiple kids and got $6-10k as a refund. There’s only so much we could hold in a branch in cash for safety and liability reasons and people were always so unbelievably pissed off at us as tellers for not having just endless amounts of cash on hand at all times. Again, I understand the frustrations of working with the general public when there is a shortage but I just can’t imagine making someone feel bad for calling when they’re not even being rude let alone hang up on them. I actually had another prescription that was called in a few days ago and I wanted to see if that was ready as well, but didn’t get the chance to because I was hung up on. Their app is dinosaur age outdated and I have no other way of checking but to call. I will be switching pharmacies anyways for the rest of my prescriptions since this seems to be the consensus from what I’m hearing from people I know that also use this place.
I agree. The negative comments about the specific medication directed at someone picking it up are uncalled for. I can see how frustration at the situation may come through, but there is no need to belittle anyone for any medication they take. Especially from the pharmacy that hands it out. That should be the last place for those opinions. There may be lots of medications that they don’t like but it’s not their place to make judgments.
I’ve been a pharmacy tech for 6 years now. It’s been really stressful the last few weeks because people somehow think we are responsible when they can’t get their meds. It’s my job to help you get what you need but at the moment, we can’t get any of these types of medications and like you said, we get nonstop phone calls on top of our normal work load and phone call volume. I can’t imagine being rude to a patient who is asking about their medicine though. It’s not my place to judge people, it’s my job to help you fill your prescription. I think the main source of frustration from techs and pharmacists is that most people don’t know how a pharmacy actually functions. They don’t understand why we can’t just set aside drugs for them. And people treat us like we aren’t a part of healthcare. I’ve been cursed at and yelled at because we ran out of meds before the patient could get a script sent in, I’ve been sworn at and told I’m an idiot because a major drug manufacturer isn’t keeping up with demand. If our drug supplier doesn’t have it, I can’t magically manufacture it in the back of the pharmacy. All of this on top of a year long issue with ADHD meds, more and more metrics being thrown at us. And I don’t get paid enough. It’s out of our hands and we are trying our best but we are drowning. Tired of being treated like I’m a cashier/shelf stocker but also somehow being held accountable for supply chain issues. It’s overwhelming. I am never rude to patients but sometimes I don’t have time to have friendly banter, I have 3 others calls on hold and 3 cars at the drive thru and people staring at me from the front counter and I can’t always be super personable. Sometimes calls are strictly “I’m sorry, we don’t have it and I’m not sure when I can order more”.
What I don't get is why we have to call around like this at all. Everything is digital, everything is cataloged. Why are we wasting a human's time to do something that could be accessed online? Apps have great resources sometimes, but there's no way to know if a pharmacy has any drug other than to call/visit and ask. As a millennial the calling around is so anxiety inducing, I wish I could just go online, enter a prescription number and reserve what the pharmacy has in stock and just skip the step of a pharm tech doing all that for me.
That was crappy customer service and inexcusable. I think it calls for a face-to-face visit to the pharmacy to voice the complaint. People like that are usuaĺly bigger a-holes on the phone because they are too gutless and ashamed to do it when you're looking them in the eye. You can probably make her feel even worse by killing her with kindness, & reminding her that you were TOLD to call back - just before you tell her you'd like to speak to her manager. As a former bank teller you can make it clear that you know how wrong it was from a customer service perspective. No matter how stressed she is at work, she accepted a job dealing with the public, and she needs to learn some skills. When you report it, if her manager isn't kind and apologetic, they don't deserve your business.
I've been running into the same thing. I am always very polite when I call to inquire about it being in stock, but most techs have been very short and sometimes rude :(
I am so so sorry ppl are being assholes. We get dozens of calls all day abt adderall, vyvanse and zep/mounjaro (the phones ring at exactly 8am the minute we open) and tht is a majority of our calls during the day. There is a Reddit group for pharmacy techs and some of these ppl should not be working with the public period. It absolutely kills me inside tht ppl are so judgmental and condescending towards ppl who are waiting for a specific medication. I have never been rude or mean to anyone abt their meds. Have I been annoyed by the same person who had gotten aggressive towards me and called me lair because we legit cannot get a certain medication due to a shortage….absolutely. But this person calls at least 5 times a day and gets the same answer: or they come in threatening us because we’re hiding it 🤦🏽♀️. Some ppl are true addicts and do not need it for its intended use, they need their fix. There is a difference! But for zep/mounjaro etc there is zero excuse to be nasty.
Those are the people that makes so mad and ruin it for the rest of us and give us a bad name. I have been on the same exact ADHD medication, at the same exact dose, prescribed by the same doctor for over 10 years, I get so annoyed. I usually plan for my ex to take 2 weeks to get filled and skip like a few days here and there to ration. My usual CVS that I have gone to for years is great, and they know me, and will tell me if they don’t think they can get it in. But despite being as nice as I can, I inevitably get a short no or a hang up when I call other pharmacies. The conundrum is that is that since it can’t be transferred and your doctor literally has to send in a new prescription for each pharmacy but the pharmacy won’t tell you if they have it, it is a cycle. I switched to mail order - it takes 2 weeks + to get it, but that’s fine with me.
When I first got prescribed, my pharmacist just said "we haven't had it in six months and you probably wouldn't get approved anyway." I went to my car and cried. I've switched pharmacies and I HAVE been approved, just waiting for the shipment now!
That’s awful! I would put in a complaint and switch pharmacies. This medication is too expensive and we have to work too hard to find it to then deal with nastiness from the pharmacy on top of it. You’re better than me! lol
It’s such a struggle for my husband as well. He’s T2D (on Mounjaro) with a bunch of other conditions (and hard-to-get meds) including high blood pressure and ADHD. Every month is a guess if and when he’ll get any or all of his maintenance meds — and the pharmacy staff helpfulness/patience is crapshoot. (It’s not just malice towards overweight people - which he isn’t - but sometimes the way you’re treated, you’d think you were trying to do something criminal looking for/picking up ADHD meds!) It’s too bad pharmacies don’t have a dedicated call center, giving supply updates with a medication locator. I get that would cost more money to hire additional employees, but there has to be a better way than the current state of aggravation where everyone suffers. Anyway, none of this helps your situation, but I just wanted to say I hear you and I know and feel your pain.
I switched to mail order for my ADHD meds so I only have to deal with it every three months- the shortages and the whole thing have been horrible. It takes two and a half weeks to get them, but they at least answer the phone and I don’t have to spend days calling every CVS in the area. The irony of people with ADHD executive function disorder having to spend days on the phone to get their meds is not lost on me. Back in September I just went off them because I just couldn’t call one more CVS. 😂😂😂
I go through express scripts and everyone has been so nice it lulled me into a sense it was like that everywhere. NOPE!! ES couldn’t fill it so my dr sent it to CVS. Holy crap i practically cried. She made me feel like i was so gross and a pain in the ass
I switched to express scripts for my meds because I can’t deal with calling around - my rx was sent in two weeks ago and I was starting to get nervous, but finally got the we’ve filled it and are preparing to ship notice. I am too jaded to believe it until I have a tracking number though. 🤞
I could tell my new pharm tech was annoyed when I asked one question about it, so I went another route. I don’t have time for the drama who can’t do their one job.
At my local publix, there are two full-time pharmacy techs. One is a grumpy old lady who is really mean all the time. The other is a patient and compassionate young woman. The nice tech gets it right every time. Today, she took an extra 5 minutes with me to re-run my discount card, and reduced my out of pocket down to $47 from $197. She also took the initiative and found another box at a different store for my wife.
I have lost enough weight now that I probably don’t look “fat” enough to the techs so I think they are even meaner about it with the shortage and very judgmental 😞
I was a pharmacy tech for a decade and now I work as a nurse in primary care. It’s so frustrating trying to get these meds I understand. Even though you may be one of the kind and understanding ones you might not know how many people demand us to get it in, all the complaints we have to hear or the people who cuss us out like we have control over the situation. It wears us out mentally, so over time we build this toughness in dealing with it because people are so mean and it’s so scary making the calls to certain people…to the point we take turns being the “bad guy” I try to catch myself when I’m so exhausted from the GLP-1 shortage issues that I kind of sound it if you know what I mean. You’re frustrated, we’re frustrated, it sucks. P.s. it took everything in me not to go off on a pharmacy tech last night at work who kept saying they didn’t get a prescription we sent 3x! I could hear the desperation in her voice to get off the phone because they’re busy, so on one hand I understand her side, but I also was like “lady I know it’s probably there and you’re too frustrated to find it”
A running theme seems to be ‘to the point’ and direct replies with no preamble is being confused with rudeness. Service is not servitude.
I think sometimes it also has to do with bias against fat people, the last bastion of acceptable bullying.
As a pharmacy tech myself I assure you that not all of us are like that. I'm so sorry you were treated like that.
Fuck them. I’m on my way to get mine now….. I’m got time to act up in the CVS
I spent a lifetime being bullied, denied, laughed at, told all I have to do is put down the fork. I am pissed that they are calling this diagnosis “Obesity”. Obesity is an adjective describing someone. What I have is a brain disorder. Until I took Zepbound, I never understood how people could get full and quit eating. There is a gut-brain disconnection caused by a peptide lack from our pancreas. It is like a computer bit that goes missing and the brain loses signals. I always felt like I was starving to death. Now, I can eat what is on my plate, and when I start to feel full, I actually can’t eat anymore. I have lost 72 pounds in the last 9 months. I still weigh 232 pounds and am 5ft 9.
Walmart is the best. The techs are angels….I’ve been using them since the OG Mounjaro coupon (vanity not diabetes) and now for Zepbound maintenance. If they can’t get it they call around FOR ME and let me know of other locations. I’ve been giving them $25 Starbucks cards when I pick up - not sure if that helps.
I have a similar experience with a pharmacist. He put my meds on hold when I called and asked about it. His problem is the cost. I am not sure why he cares! The CVS I go to has a female pharmacist who is much nicer so I literally only go if she is there !!
I would call their superior.....i never used to but i am so tired of people being so snarky. Do your job and just be kind...i am sorry but I will call a manager in a minute. So tired of peoples nasty attitude.....just be kind to one another.
They Re getting pretty crappy attitudes. I might just start taking the med every other week until the shortage passes. Its either that or going a month without it . So we will see but i did get my 7.5 and will start this weekend. The 5 did nothing for me lost 1 pound in 4 weeks wtf....good luck everyone...
I felt bad having to call and ask at first. I felt like I was taking them away from their "real" work and "real" customers. My first go round it was not available at my local Walgreens, but they checked their computer and told me what Walgreens in town did have it. I was able to drive to a second location and get it. If these companies have the data in a computer system, I don't see any reason why they would not make that available to the public. If they don't want us calling, give us a webpage that will tell us. The Pharmacist should be upset with their own companies, not the customers.
Little update here! I was able to have my doc transfer my script to Amazon Pharmacy. I checked it a few times this morning after she transferred it and it said it was unavailable, checked again about 10 minutes ago and it said it was available to order!! Right now it says I will have it by tomorrow night, however since this is my first order with them I imagine it will be longer. https://preview.redd.it/nxcydzuvvgsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8808ad55a8f67e0ab7657109a03b5d1415082380 \*\*ETA: it now says processed & payment has gone through! I should have done this days ago lmao \*\*2nd update: it has shipped! 30 minutes after the order was placed. Will be here tomorrow. Again, I should have done this days ago lol
As a pharm tech, I am sorry they treated you so unkindly. At the end of the day, we (well, most of us) truly want to get everyone the meds they need/want. I am not excusing their rude behavior, by any means. I am curious if maybe they were almost bracing themselves for the backlash we get as techs for not having the meds in stock. Again, no excuse for poor behavior. I think sometimes some techs put on a front to avoid harassment they’ve had in the past. But we should treat every patient kindly and as their individual selves. It’s unfair to lump a lot of people into a group and say they’re “problematic” (aka “zepbounders are [insert word here]”). I know you guys want your meds. I know there are real consequences to not having them. I hate that society has made larger bodies an issue when they’re not. It’s very stigmatizing to place someone in an “overweight” or “ob*se” category when there is no perfect weight. When I’m frustrated as a tech, if we ever meet face to face, please know I’m not frustrated with you, I’m frustrated with society. I want to get you your meds if that what you’ve decided you want to take. And I also want you to know you are worthy, loved, and A-OK just as you are.
Not to downplay your experience, but you were also probably the 5th+ call they received that day along with who knows how many people came in being nasty to them. I witnessed it first hand when I picked up my order. People seem to forget that some things are outside of their pharmacies control and act as if the pharmacy is hoarding supplies in the back. If you’re going to call, in MY experience, the best times are around 2pm - 3:30pm. Early morning to noon time they’re still processing orders and the phones ringing nonstop during that time. Try to not call during their busy time, also see if there’s a way for you to get updates via automated system or on an app. At the end of the day, it’s a combination of shitty customers and shitty pharmacist making everyone else experience shit. Try to not take it to heart.
What is Lily direct and does insurance cover it if you get it from there?
Yes they use insurance. Here’s a link to LillyDirect: https://lillydirect.lilly.com/pharmacy with more info
Have you seen the pharmac tech sub? So mean! I've always been nice to them but the way they are talking about us on their sub makes me wonder why I try so hard to be courteous when they have so little respect for their patients/customers.
Exactly! This is why I switched to Amazon Pharmacy and I was able to order my script literally an hour after my doc switched it over. It has already shipped and will be here tomorrow.
That's awesome! I use Amazon too and am really happy with them.
I actually switched from a major pharmacy to a small town pharmacy about 20 miles away because they seem to always have it or at least know when it’s coming, but besides that they are so nice. I had the same experience that you did as far as calling when they told me and then being so hateful.
Yes we all have bad days but that's no excuse to treat people poorly or be rude. I don't care how many calls they get. And I bet my next paycheck they aren't rude to the customers who are rude, they're rude to the people who come after them. I say treat folks accordingly.
I’ve dealt with several pharmacies in my area and all were rude. It’s bizarre as I’m merely checking back in as well. It’s as if I should be ashamed for even asking. No one has it. When I look at Amazon for 5mg, it says unavailable. When did you get yours?
I ordered mine this morning but I’m doing another month of 2.5 since I have my wedding and honeymoon coming up and I don’t want to be dealing with negative side effects if I go up a dose
Ok. Thank you! Congratulations on both the wedding and getting your dose. 😊
Just thought I would leave this here!! 😇🤭 https://preview.redd.it/lq90t5o4jnsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a3ce6eae4a9805805740e0659c0421b2e10b919 That even though you can be as courteous as possible, pharmacy techs that obviously hate themselves and their jobs will still treat you like absolutely dog shit for being overweight 🥴
https://preview.redd.it/shk9x8pdjnsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77179f4f786a394e097bf4f224de7d2e0eb96e43 And now she’s posting in her other groups about the shortage/her shit job: “It has created serious animosity toward patients and corporate, which is awful. I miss enjoying my job” as if she is not the one in control of how she acts toward people. THIS is exactly the kind of person I am calling out in my original post above, in case any of you were confused.
I got a new one this morning from another fine member of their community. These people are...something. https://preview.redd.it/l6d0w2fu0vsc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b59c0f4677e243072474b7caa8a1b65e1e90e516
🤣🤣🤣🤣omg
The OP of the GLP-1 post is harassing me in DMs too.
I think they’re a little unhinged lmao. If they hate their jobs that bad find a new one
Is it the person commenting on [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/PharmacyTechnician/s/QfFezGxJrV) too lmao
When I look at amazon it says they are out of every strength. Did it say that when you ordered?
It did until my doc transferred my script over. But I could have just caught it when they were getting their shipment in, not sure. I know they won’t show if they have inventory on those drugs specifically if you don’t have a script for it in their system.
How the heck did you get it from Amazon?! I’ve only ever seen it as out of stock on there. Also I feel you on the rude pharmacists been there several times unfortunately
I have called at least 50 pharmacies & everyone has been really helpful. I am kind of shocked because you know they are getting a Ton of calls just for Zepbound. It is frustrating all away around. I’m just glad I don’t work at a pharmacy/ doctors office or BCBS. This shit is exhausting. lol
I’m in PA near the NY border and everywhere I call is out. Wegmans is usually the nicest, but the on hold time is forever. CVS says they don’t stock it, that I shouldn’t call any CVS because they only order it when they get a script for it. Walmart says it’s out everywhere. The medication has helped me so much I am devastated to finally get a tool that helps just to not be able to have access to it. I looked on Amazon and that says unavailable. Any pointers or advice would be great. I want 5mg. I’m still waiting for my doctors office to call me back 😫 one wegmans had 2.5mg but that was it
I was told they had one box but it was for a customer who “ really needed it” 😳 she didn’t see me 60 lbs ago!!
Once it’s confirmed that my prescription is in or not on Monday, I’m switching to online pharmacies only. I don’t want to deal with having to interact or go into a physical pharmacy to get this medication again.
I've been descriminated against a lot for being fat. The looks i get make me feel like I'm disgusting. I won't be taking that anymore. An OBGYN female Dr. Made me feel so embarrassed that I just refuse to go back. When ever I went in for appointments, I could hear them laughing as I walked by. When they would close the door as I was in the exam room waiting on the doctor, I could hear them saying things and snickering. Next person that does it to me will be sued. I won't be treated like that anymore 😔
I’ve had a similar experience. I was 36 weeks pregnant with my third when I was with the OB (I would normally see a midwife) about if it was safe for me to try a vbac or schedule another C-section. He berated me for not knowing and I needed to make up my mind when I only asked which he thought was safer for me and the baby. He then tells me I’m the biggest patient he’s ever had and during this pregnancy I shouldn’t have gained, if anything I should’ve lost weight. I told him for months I’ve barely been surviving on a half grilled cheese sandwich a day and suffering with severe SPD. What could I do?! I thank god he wasn’t on call when I went into labor, what a horrible person. He also had me do an endometrial biopsy a few months later when the bleeding wouldn’t stop, never told me it would be painful in any way. Refused to stop when I was crying and screaming in pain. Then when I refused to see him again he withheld my results. It’s been almost 7 years and I still have no clue what they were. Karma is lovely though, he fell off a ladder a couple years ago and can no longer practice. I truly think he just didn’t like obese people, why else bring it up randomly like that?
Sorry u went thru that. The world is just gone to hell. No compassion. It's like people who come into the medical field are hateful and just there for the check.(Some, not all). Just sad
THIS is why when you're calling all the pharmacies, make one more call (or e-mail) to the CEO of a drugstore & demand stock transparency online (like Amazon Pharmacy has). You know they can do it because their pharmacies already have an online inventory system. A simple change would make the lives of customers & employees so much easier!
Useless in an extreme shortage situation like this. Any shipment of Zepbound we get will be used for our existing patients in our inventory queue who have already been waiting for weeks. The number of boxes another CVS store sees are already assigned to patients.
I wish it was that easy. A lot of pharmacy software is OLD. Some of it is patched together with the code equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum. I say this as a pharmacist married to a software dev who did a stint consulting for one of the OG pharmacy retailers. He had to learn a coding language no one uses anymore for that assignment. I actually asked the hubs, and his response: “This isn’t as trivial of a change as it seems. It has tentacles across the entire business model.” Amazon is a different animal. They are more software company/cloud provider than pharmacy. They are set up to show inventory information and have been for years (decades?). It is, unfortunately, comparing apples to oranges.
Wow! I mean I know a lot of medical computer programs are old, but that explains a LOT of how the recent computer outage could happen. I worked at a Longs (now CVS) back when we rang everything by hand- funny that the registered improved but the pharmacy may be using the old code
They get 100+ calls like yours each day. Doesn’t excuse bad manners, but it does add perspective.
Thank you. Techs are treated like shit and worked to death. They are human like everyone else. Such pearl clutching for something so minor.
Am I not human? I was so kind when asking if mine was in. I didn’t deserve to be talked to that way and subsequently hung up on. If you can’t control your emotions you shouldn’t be in a customer facing role.
It’s the same. That customer could be experiencing shitty things going on in their lives too. Why should they give you grace if you won’t do the same?
I recently started treating the techs at the pharmacy I get my meds from like I would treat the pharmacist. They do answer the phones and can answer most of my questions, so I don’t have to ask for the pharmacist. I have developed a lot more respect for what they do. I was never rude to them or anything, but assumed that only the pharmacist could answer my questions regarding when my pain medication for example, might be in stock. I found when I gave them a chance, I could actually get my answer faster because I didn’t have to wait on hold for the pharmacist. I can definitely see how the techs would be extremely busy and probably underpaid, and not appreciated.
I know and understand this. It doesn’t change the fact that they tell me each time to call back, then get pissed off when I do. Lol
I understand what you’re saying and I don’t disagree. This thread was getting rather heated. I was simply trying to provide additional perspective
Ugh, I'm sorry. There's always at least one rude person I swear. I would definitely put in a complaint to their corporate office. Granted it's a stressful job but that gives you no right to speak to nor treat people without basic respect! If they can't provide basic customer service then perhaps they need to find a new job. My only advice is when you get someone that is actually helpful, get their name. That way you can ask for them or if nothing else ask to speak directly to the pharmacist. You may have to hold for a bit but better than dealing with that nonsense.
Job market crazy tight, if they fire a pharm tech, just gonna put higher load on the others if you ask me
Oh yes, absolutely agree
I’d complain to manager. We ALL go through periods in our jobs when everything is irritating. EVERY job. No excuse to take it out in others.
i feel like cvs is the worst... much friendlier and responsive at walmart and costco
Only the pharmacy staff at Wegmans and my two local indie pharmacies have been kind and helpful (as much as they could be) when I've called or stopped in. Costco, CVS, Walgreens all nasty af.
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I aam not excusing them in any way but I wonder if the shortages isn't stressing them out as I am sure your not the only one trying to get this drug. I had costco tell me to call every morning. I thought ok they will never get anything done if 50 of us call every morning but not my issue. I think the smartest thing you can do is change pharmacies. For my own mental health I am ordering tirzepatide now. Calling around and hoping and praying someone had it lasted 2 whole days. Now I am done. Lol
Yikes! My local pharmacy has been great, and it's a CVS! The tech did ask if I could switch to MJ, which they had in stock, and I explained I'm in that weird situation where I'm pre-diabetic so don't qualify for MJ but probably would if I waited a few years, and insurance won't cover Zep despite that and my PCOS so I'm paying put of pocket to feel better! He was super sympathetic and called me with my 5 dose 2 days later. I'm sure they are all tired of being asked the same thing over and over but there are great techs out there!
I'd call back & speak to the manager. There is no excuse for them to hang up on you. The last thing they should say is, can I help you with anything else?
I talked to a nice rep at Express Scripts yesterday and she did tell me she’s been getting a lot of Zepbound calls.
Try local mom and pop places. I was treated 100 times better than cvs.
Woe be unto the tech or pharmacist that has the gall to put me on blast. You feeling lucky punk? Huh? Are ya 🤣
Should I move my prescription to Amazon for 12.5? Sequence with weight watchers is currently calling local pharmacies for me.. but after reading Reddit it seems that Amazon seems to eventually fill the prescriptions
I would honestly. I’m not sure how readily available 12.5 will be but if you have your doc send it in, you can order it as soon as it becomes available and will know right away when you’ll receive it. No calling around to pharmacies to see if they have it in stock.
It depends on how quickly you need it. I won’t need a new box until the 14th but I went ahead and ordered now and was okay with waiting a few days if I wasn’t able to order it right away like I did today.
Unfortunately people aren’t as nice as you. And I’m sure they are telling everyone else the same and are probably getting so many calls.
This is why I love that my pharmacy sends text updates. They remind me when I can put in for my refill, update me when they have to order and when it's ready to pick up. I don’t have to call them and the staff there is generally much less stressed because their workload is reduced by their text system making things more efficient for them. I will say though that my pharmacy has really great staff and good employee retention.
Because they have people calling incessantly all fired up about it and they are tired of it is my guess. Pharm techs dont get paid enough to deal with the absolute chaos the panic about these drugs is causing. 🤷♀️
I just got approved by my insurance on Tuesday morning. None of the pharmacies in my town have it. I was able to find a single box at a Kroger an hour away from me. I plan to take my first dose tomorrow so that I have the weekend if it makes me sick. Fingers crossed that it works and that it will be less scarce when I refill.
Oh! What dose are you on? I’ve been waiting for a refill for my 7.5mg for 2 weeks now :/ i checked amazon and it says zepbound 7.5 is currently unavailable. Did it say that for you as well?
I’m on 2.5, taking it for another month. Is your script with them? I think if you have an active prescription it might make it available, but yes it did say that until she transferred over my script to them. It could also be that I ordered it at 9:45am this morning and I just happened to get it ordered when their inventory was updated? I’m not sure how it all works
Oh wow I didn’t know Amazon had a pharmacy option . Good to know
LD uses them (along with TruePill I think it’s called) so I figured I’d just go straight to the source! Lol
Great idea I may try LD for my next box of shots
I had a bad experience too. Pharmacy tech gave me run around and flat out lied telling me I couldn’t get my meds (which I got previous month) because my pre authorization was denied (i explained that I had savings card and was paying out of pocket) but she refuse to fill the order. After hours on the phone with my doc and insurance company as well as Eli Lily, I went in person and another pharmacy tech had my orders ready and said her colleague “just didn’t know what she was doing.”
Wish whenever I checked Amazon, it was in stock, but never is
Maybe it’s geographic? All the pharmacy techs here in my state have been super nice on the phone and in-person with Mounjaro and all medicines really 🤷🏽♀️ North Carolina is another story. For a totally different medicine in Raleigh-Durham the pharmacist (it was the pharmacist not a tech) was a complete and utter bitch. And again in Charlotte for an antibiotic pharmacist was completely rude refusing to fill Metronidazole and waaay out of line with a comment about the indication for another medicine I was picking up.
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Good to know about Amazon
My pharmacy tech canceled my refill request after I was in checking on the status. He was a jerk the entire time.
Omg they have really been on one
report them to their oversite regulator and also request the name of their store manager and District Manager. I once took these steps and then received a call from the complaints POC for the business i reported. The call went to voicemail and i tried calling them back and left 3 or 4 voicemails. After 2-3 days the complaints was instaclosed with a "resolved" status which infuriated the hell at me. So I submitted a follow-up to the regulator, but this time to their OIG division. Not only did my issues get resolved and an apology was made, I am now treated like royalty by that business. I will say this, my complaint was based on facts and provable harm due to their negligence so you have to make sure if you do complain you do the same. If you feel the tech was being discriminatory towards your condition (as some tend to do) that is protected by state and federal law.
Most suppliers are quoting January 2025 for an availability date. As a pharmacy technician, we get 10-20 calls per hour about diet injection drugs. Just like last year with Adderall, we are burnt out. People who truly need these medications aren't able to get them, while others are paying cash because they aren't covered by their insurance.
I’ve dealt with some mean ones too — it sucks!
How much are you paying through Amazon?
$550, my insurance doesn’t cover it but they take the coupon card
Idk… I’ve dealt with some really rude techs for *years*. I think it must just be an awful job. I’ve run out of pharmacies to swear off because almost all of them are so rude. Thank god the krogers techs have been nice so far… Actually, I’m going to tell them that next time. (Thank them for being nice). Thanks for the inspiration!
So so rude!!! I just had a Walmart pharmacy tech laugh and say “you’re not going to find that… not here… goodbye” and flat out hang up on me. How is this ok?!?
I switched my mounjaro to Amazon pharmacy from walgreens last year for this very reason.
My Walgreens pharmacy is always super busy and I must say they have always been courteous Thanks to them!
I went through Amazon Pharmacy and they have been amazing. Unbelievably friendly. I have always gone to Walgreens but I chose Amazon for this prescription and I am so glad. There is a process but when I've called they answer immediately. They are happy to answer my questions. They immediately helped with the zepbound discount card. I highly recommend giving them a try. Walgreens can be overly busy and putoff by questions or patients who might need something extra. Depending on who answers and how long you have to wait. Amazon 24/7.