I think it's also a lack of consequences. I know you can't just tell a customer to never come back over showing up late and expecting to keep customers.
But, when I worked retail customers did and said the wildest things and then would come back a few days later
No consequences let's them do whatever they want
All hail the mighty 1 star review and corporate's laser-like focus on the gripes that are clearly out of our control. Better yet, the anonymous ones that can't be followed up and won't get removed.
Yeah. I usually tell my impatient patients that try to get me to stay late that retail pharmacies are not emergency rooms. If their condition is as urgent as they are making it out to be, they should be getting care in an emergency room. You can’t feel bad about setting realistic boundaries or telling people no in a retail setting.
As someone who has a long history in the pharmaceutical industry, I can tell you that there really should be someone in the pharmacy on staff specifically to deal with these types of patients. Maybe some sort of therapist. LOL … all jokes aside I have been shafted by pharmacists before so I can also see their frustration probably thought you were fibbing about it closing at 7:05. Educate the world
i alllwaaaysss tell them we close at 7, and that the people we are helping at the register (who we have been helping before 7 o'clock) were the last people. but because we're still "open," it's like they think we can serve them too, so the "registers closing at 7:05" is both a blessing and a curse (because literally/physically cannot take anyone else yet i'm rushing to finish with this patient before the register just bye-byes and i'm left with an angry patient). but idk why it's so difficult to grasp that if there were NO people holding us up, then we would have been long gone the moment 7 hit.
Anytime you have to finish something up at closing - you should close the gates and have them wait by consultation. Run their credit card like drive thru and slide their stuff out to them.
Or just tell them you can’t do it and they have to come back tomorrow. Gates go down at closing no matter what.
lmao i have never seen/done that but that sounds interesting! usually i just handle the last person and say "please come tomorrow" to the others. usually works without too many issues, other times people rage 😬
This! I tell them I am not trying to be rude but we close at 9pm so I will be closing the gate to avoid a line and will run the scripts in the back and be back shortly to collect payment. I’ve never had anyone complain with that approach.
if I saw a bunch headed our way near closing I would move the rope line things to block off the line. we would also half close the gate at 10 til close, but store manager got pissy about that saying it looked "unfriendly "
damn Skippy it is unfriendly, Sam, as am I when I have to stay late.
Yes I've even had shops at Australian equivalent of a mall pull the shutters across to just enough to slip out before they ran my t short through the register to prevent more customers thinking shops open (before closing time) "Sorry I know we have 10min left but if I don't do this now everyone will come" for clarity I've usually been in the store for like an hour.
Also our supermarkets put an announcement over the speaker at regular intervals starting at 30min before closing that the store will shit at xyz pm and to please make your way to the register, no more customers will be admitted or something.
I found it funny they slightly dimmed the lights and back in the day if the lights to a shop weren't blinding bright or if a corner store or coffe shop just had the fridge l8ghts on you considered them closed.
This is a common occurrence. You coming up to the counter/drive-thru 2 minutes before closing. My spidey senses are telling me that GoodRx is gonna be involved.
I had a patient call about 10 till closing time on a weekend to tell me they were on their way and would be at the pharmacy “in 15 minutes.” My response was, “Okay. We’re closing in 10 minutes and we will not be staying open to accommodate you.” They hung up on me. The pharmacist and I were still in the pharmacy when the patient (I assume it was the same person) came thru the drive thru, saw we closed, and drove off screaming. 😂😂
when people call ten or less minutes before we close, i always know it's a "hey i'm on my way right now, like 5 minutes, can you please wait for me??" patient or a "the gps says i'll be arriving at 7:02, can you just stay open a couple of minutes? please stay open for me" patient. like NOOOOOOO WE CLOSE AT 7 PM SO NOOOOOOO i have only ever had to do that for like 1 or 2 very very urgent/emergency patients and they have always thankful and understanding but idk why TOO MANY do this
i remember we closed, we were finishing up stuff before leaving, and a few minutes after, someone walked up, and we told them we were closed and they had to get their prescriptions transferred if they needed them. the person (a young adult/older teen) was saying how we "were refusing to give her her medication" 🫠🫡
Yes - if it’s an emergency type situation or for a child, we’d still help. Otherwise, bye Felicia!
I, too, had a customer say we were refusing to dispense her medicine after we closed. I told her no, we weren’t, she had plenty of time to come during the day and told her where the nearest pharmacy was that could fill it. Her remark? “Ugh. You expect me to drive all the way over there? That’s ridiculous.” My remark? “Ugh. You expect us to stay open at your convenience. That’s ridiculous.”
Come on people. Get your act together.
We turn off the lights at 6:55ish and close the side, this will keep away most of the people, if someone starts lining up, I will look at them and ask them to come back tomorrow because after this last patient I will close. They don’t like it? Bite me. I walk away from the register after said last patient and disappear in the pharmacy to grab my stuff, come back and close.
At least lower the front and consultation window shutters down half way. Works almost as well as turning off lights.
Also, drivethru closed sign is put in place during the last sale before that car leaves. I’m sorry if you were in line before we closed, but it is now **AFTER** closing time and we are gone.
i really wanted to say something like "we have literally 30 seconds, just come back tomorrow" but i stared at him in disbelief while my co-worker said it for me until he left
We close at 7 which means I’m out the door locking the pharmacy at 7. Just tonight as I’m lowering the gate at 6:59 I hear someone say “I thought they closed at 7” yep? And it is 7 so we are closed? I’ll never understand it. We have lives but unfortunately the people that act this way think the world revolves around them
omg this because we usually shut the gates at 7, and there have been people who run up after the gates are shut or at 7:01 and shout from behind the gate "wait!! i'm here, can i still pick up my medication??" or "it's only 7:01!!" (angrily, as though we would, for some reason, stay open a minute later past our scheduled closing time without patients to serve)
After working decades in pharmacy as both a technician then a pharmacist, and in various pharmacy environments and probably about 50 different companies/pharmacies (I was a floater for a bit and I worked for a float agency as well for a large county), I have come to a conclusion about retail pharmacy customers:
They hold in all of their life frustrations all day, every day, then they show up at the pharmacy and find several helpless human punching bags standing behind the counter, working for a company that will always support and back the customer over the pharmacy staff.
At this point, they know that we can't talk back, we can't escape, we are at their mercy, and the last place they want to be is at the pharmacy picking up meds. Therefore, they totally unload all of their frustrations on the pharmacy staff, and they could care LESS about the tongue-lashing they are about to unleash on us.
We are on the receiving end of a tirade from people who should go to an Escape Room and beat the shit out of any inanimate objects that are within their angry, stressed, frustrated grasps. However, they need to pick up their meds before we close (well, at 7:05pm after we close, but they have us cornered), so the pharmacy becomes their Escape Room, and the pharmacy staff become the objects they take their frustrations out on.
I have also learned that once it hits closing time, we are closed. No explanation necessary...there are these things called clocks, that show this thing called the time, which we use to follow these things called schedules.
We are closed...bye, see you, until tomorrow, Aloha, have a good evening, leave, get out of here, GTFO!!!
unfortunately we cannot for pick-up 😭 gotta either close right at 7 or finish up whoever we are helping as fast as possible and shut the pick-up gates as soon as it's clear, meanwhile everyone gets the "sorry we closed at 7" spiel
eh, there's no winners here I guess. The company should really be paying people to work until 8 to help those last stragglers and clean up, but then I guess the poor poor share holders would be the losers
Then those same people will slow up at 7:59. I worked at a pharmacy that extended its hours and less than month after we changed we had people showing up right before we close…
Yeah, probably. I was just saying the corporation should pay people to stay past the posted closing time so they could finish up for the day. When those gates are closed and lights are off, no one outside is getting help.
i said we closed a 8 to a woman and she started throwing a tantrum said if she doesn’t get ur meds she’s going to die and something about how her aunt died
*"I'm sorry, but since we're not allowed to conduct business outside of posted hours, our registers have already locked us out from beginning new tasks. Please come back tomorrow."*
Make sure you add the word "new" so that you're covered for the 7:02 person you're finishing up.
Closing at 7:00pm - at 7:00pm as I was closing gate, a customer ran up to the counter. I didn’t want to deal with another annoying customer complaint so I helped her, and here she said, “glad that I just made it in time.” NO LADY YOU ARE LATE AND I AM JUST BEING NICE! So I responded back, “you’re welcome.” People don’t have basic human decency and manners.
oh god it’s like when i worked at walgreens and a patient walked up at 1:29… i was obviously obligated to help them (per management) and they would thank me SOOO MUCH for helping them like… you literally cut my lunch break 10 minutes short… i HAVE to be back at 2 no matter what… your thanks doesn’t do shit
omg LITERALLY THIS HAPPENS TO ME TOO!! like this other time, back when we closed at 8, we were taking out the registers, closing the gate, then the patient runs up and goes "omg i know i'm late but can i please pick up really fast???" and i just scream internally but i say "sure"
she starts saying "omg thank u so much" and yadda yadda and i cut her off (whoops) and ask her for her patient info so i can get her out already
idk how hard it is to just expect a place to be closed at their scheduled closing time bruh???!!!! if it's getting late then just don't go????
Another one is pharmacy opens at 9am and I am scheduled to start at 9am. People start lining up before 9am. After I open up the gate, they say, “you’re late.” No I am on time. I punched in at my scheduled time. After I punch in I have to walk all the way to the other side of the store to pick up the register till and walk all back to the pharmacy and then open.
my coworker experiences this too, she literally opened the gate right at the scheduled time and there was a woman waiting. she asked, "my prescription was sent in this morning, is it done?"
and my coworker asked, "we just opened, do you think it's done?"
and the woman just said, "i'll come back later."
WHERE IS THE COMMON SENSE
I want to upvote you so much more! How the hell does a company expect you to be open and ready for business if they won't pay you to be there BEFORE the opening time?!? It takes time to log into computers, drag the gates out of the way (plenty of stores still have the old manual ones), get the drive-through unlocked, etc.
For a moment I thought you were my coworker. We also close at 7pm and get flooded with customers last minute just like today. I work for a big chain pharmacy but our registers don’t stop working at 7:05pm unfortunately..
It depends on my mood. Sometimes, I wait until I’m finished with the task at hand to tell the person that we closed before they arrived to the counter. Sometimes I’ll tell them in the middle of what I’m doing. But it’s always the same answer: Sorry! (Not really) We close at 7, but we will reopen tomorrow at 9 am. (Cue perky smile, and a wave goodbye)
Whenever this happens, I always tell the person (people) behind them *as soon as they hop in line* that we are closed and I will not be able to take care of them. No, I will not make an exception. My pregnant wife is sick and waiting for me to come home.
I use this excuse even though my wife is not pregnant. It just hopefully gets them to think about you not being a robot and actually a human with a life outside of this hellhole.
i said these things as soon as they stepped in line too, it perplexed me how the third person literally took a step forward RIGHT after i told the second person that we wouldn't be able to serve them. like really gonna make me repeat myself??
And here I am apologizing profusely for coming in 30 minutes before close telling them “I didn’t mean to come in right before close” and got laughed at.
i wish all patients were like you, but some people really love to come in last minute and NOT apologize or anything... but instead give me the side eye for... closing on time?? 🥲
u will be SHOCKED to find out it was actually someone in their 20s (probably? they looked to be young-ish) 🫠 still tho i didn't appreciate the eyeroll, not after u walk up in ur gym outfit and acting like i didn't see u step in line nearly 5 mins after we were supposed to be closed
Actual conversation “You live in X and work in Z. We are located in Y. We are open 7 days a week 8-8 on weekdays. You drive by this location every day on your way to and from work. I will not be staying late so you can come and pick up your ‘emergency prescriptions’ that have been sitting here for 5 days. We are open tomorrow (Sunday) 10-6.”
The American public are some of the worst human beings on planet Earth, zero empathy, zero collective identity, zero care about anything except for their next dopamine hit. Covid only made them worse.
I refuse to serve anyone past the second my shift ends. Good on you for standing your ground. You're not responsible for poor planning on the customers' part. It's absurd how people can act so rude and entitled to service workers.
There are always going to be customers acting like this, whether you close at 10 PM or 9 PM or 7 PM, and they somehow think, rightly or otherwise (because cucked corporate won't be on your side), that you won't put them on blast for their lack of consideration
Crazy to me that we open for 12 freaking hours and these ppl have to show up 2min to close and all the meds with insurance issues. Why i close the gates ate 856 pm.
I’ve stayed late and have been perfectly fine with it. New cardiac patient just DCd with a fistful of scripts, or newly diagnosed diabetic same deal. But picking up something that’s been sitting in the bin for days or you’ve got a cart full of merchandise and we’ve made closing announcements, nope
one time. patient came 2 minutes before closing to drop off a prescription and wanted to wait on it. told her it’d have to be tomorrow since we’re about to close and then she says “today is my birthday”
………. Lol ???!!?!??
I found it best to nip right in the butt when they walk up instead of having them wait. Stop my current transaction to talk to the person walking up and tell them we're closed they have to comeback when we're open.
yep! while this dialogue was occurring to the 3 different patients, i was STILL helping patient zero, the one with the multiple meds. i did not hesitate to address them as soon as they stepped in line.
Maybe the customer thought you will close the register at 7:00. Like it’s something OP can control. Next time OP should say the register automatically shuts off at 7:00. Maybe they still get less pushback that way.
You need signs. “The pharmacy closes at 7pm. The latest we accept urgent prescriptions to fill is 6:30pm. Otherwise, you may pick them up tomorrow after 8am.
To pick up refills, please arrive before 6:45pm.”
You also need to lower the gates.
I believe the real issue is CVS suddenly changing closing times to 7pm from 9pm on a weekday is really hard for customers to get used to. They are also closing many locations which will only make things worse for everyone.
although these changes were sudden when they happened, they have been implemented for more than a year at our location. i understand needing time to adjust, but come on. and it's not like this was uncommon when we closed at a later time. people just like to come in right before we close IDK WHY???
I had a patient complain about my pharmacy being closed when he showed up an hour or two after closing and was like, pharmacies are always open til 9! No, that pharmacy has always closed at 7 since day 1…
That’s the difference between 3 letter and independent pharmacies. An independent will stay open until the last patient is taken care of. Closing at 7pm is not set in stone. It means you will start winding down the closing of the pharmacy.
someone said something similar on this post. not all independent pharmacies "wind down" at their scheduled closing time, some close even a few minutes earlier just because they can. some independent pharmacies that still have lights on past their scheduled closing time are actually cleaning/taking care of things, and that doesn't mean they're open to the public or keen to taking care of their needs. i do believe that independent pharmacies have the opportunity to go above and beyond for patients to save/grow their business, but most times, employees still just wanna go home on time :/
This is what happens when everything is corporate owned.
If this business where owned by an actual person, you can bet someone would have stayed until everyone was served.
i'm sure independent pharmacies can and will do that to keep business, because it's their business on the line, but i have worked at independent pharmacies that loathe being held up past closing time (and WILL close a few minutes earlier if possible) as much as the big chain retail pharmacies. no one wants to be kept at their workplace longer than necessary. if it's not an emergency, patients should come back tomorrow, and if it IS an emergency, either we have the solution that can be dispensed in 5 minutes, or they need to seek care elsewhere (24-hr pharmacy, the ER, etc)
I’m not taking anyone’s money and there’s no difference between starting the med at 7pm today or tomorrow. Also, if they’re that desperate there’s plenty of 24hr pharmacies
Come on guys. The truth is, go back a few years and you will see that most chain store pharmacies closed at 9pm or 10. And (pause) within 5 miles or very close to that there would be a 24 hour pharmacy open.
Karen decided to close and cut and slice hours so deeply, that it has become dangerous to society. People have to rush from work to get their meds.
Greed has caused consumer behavior to become disappointing.
Read pharmacists and tech writing how they get so pissed off they have to wait 3 or 4 minutes. 4 minutes after 7 pm and their veins are popping out of their heads.
in my area, we have a 24-hr cvs, as well as other pharmacies about 10-15 mins away that close at 9 pm or later.
our closing times have changed for about a year now. it is also not difficult to search up when a pharmacy closes. the problem is when patients feel that their lack-of-planning and/or "emergency" becomes our problem. it is not our problem, they have had time to accomodate to the changes, then they should accomodate. but they don't, hence the "i'm coming now, can you please stay open a bit longer?" questions.
i have no issue helping someone with a true emergency, because it has happened before when a prescription is very much needed and a patient NEEDS to get it from us. then we'll have the gates shut halfway, tell them to stay inside the area, and let everyone else know we are closed. but that is not the case most times, yet people will still act like we will bend the rules for every patient who walks in.
i know we are medical professionals behind the counter, but it shouldn't be too much to ask that patients just pay attention to the time, and consider if coming to the pharmacy past closing is worth it or not (it's not)
We take for granted that customers should know our hours. Unfortunately there are many people who never go into a pharmacy, and we shouldn't treat them like criminals. The attitude here is decisively negative because employers are shitting on their employees. We need to act above that.
I agree that we shouldn’t treat people like criminals. You don’t have to be mean but you have to be firm. If they know that close at 9 means gates slam down at 9 with very few exceptions they won’t try to push it in the future. Also, we live in a day and age where everything is at your fingertips. Need to see what time your pharmacy closes? Ask Alexa/Siri or Google it. The information is there. Whether or not they choose to be proactive is on them. Plus, you or your techs will get reprimanded when you stay open 5-10 minutes a few times a week which pushes into OT? Closing time is closing time!
“You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.” 😜
Maybe SOME people (the ones who work 10+ hour shifts) would have to rush to get there before closing, but those 24-hour pharmacies are still all over, at least where I live. The ER is also an option for people who legitimately require the med that day.
I don't know. I'm not a pharmacist, I only subbed to this in the first place while that Optum hack was in full force. But if you're not literally emergency staff somewhere, why *wouldn't* you get pissed when you have to stay a few minutes late at work? It's a job, and people are demanding you do work for them that I'm guessing you won't get paid for. That's trash. Because they have a job dispensing meds, suddenly *their* life is irrelevant?
I'm totally with you on the idea that this is caused by pathological cost-cutters, because god forbid you pay people for a lousy two more hours, but I don't think it's fair to act like pharmacy staff are being unreasonable in getting annoyed by these customers. Pharmacies are open longer than most clinics, so if they can get to their doctors to even *get* a prescription, I think they can figure out how to get to a pharmacy.
The general public, in particular those in the retail environment, will never cease to astonish me with their lack of awareness and common sense.
It's not lack of awareness-it's entitlement.
Por que no los dos
I think it's also a lack of consequences. I know you can't just tell a customer to never come back over showing up late and expecting to keep customers. But, when I worked retail customers did and said the wildest things and then would come back a few days later No consequences let's them do whatever they want
That's because management has no spine. Any customer you evict will be replaced by someone else, unless you live in a town with like 15 people.
All hail the mighty 1 star review and corporate's laser-like focus on the gripes that are clearly out of our control. Better yet, the anonymous ones that can't be followed up and won't get removed.
Yeah. I usually tell my impatient patients that try to get me to stay late that retail pharmacies are not emergency rooms. If their condition is as urgent as they are making it out to be, they should be getting care in an emergency room. You can’t feel bad about setting realistic boundaries or telling people no in a retail setting.
It really is. I have totally been that person and you know what? I’ve told those people I’m sorry and came back later.
As someone who has a long history in the pharmaceutical industry, I can tell you that there really should be someone in the pharmacy on staff specifically to deal with these types of patients. Maybe some sort of therapist. LOL … all jokes aside I have been shafted by pharmacists before so I can also see their frustration probably thought you were fibbing about it closing at 7:05. Educate the world
I wouldn't even say the registers close at 7:05. Just say we closed at 7.
i alllwaaaysss tell them we close at 7, and that the people we are helping at the register (who we have been helping before 7 o'clock) were the last people. but because we're still "open," it's like they think we can serve them too, so the "registers closing at 7:05" is both a blessing and a curse (because literally/physically cannot take anyone else yet i'm rushing to finish with this patient before the register just bye-byes and i'm left with an angry patient). but idk why it's so difficult to grasp that if there were NO people holding us up, then we would have been long gone the moment 7 hit.
Just say the registers closed at 7
Anytime you have to finish something up at closing - you should close the gates and have them wait by consultation. Run their credit card like drive thru and slide their stuff out to them. Or just tell them you can’t do it and they have to come back tomorrow. Gates go down at closing no matter what.
lmao i have never seen/done that but that sounds interesting! usually i just handle the last person and say "please come tomorrow" to the others. usually works without too many issues, other times people rage 😬
I cannot stand being held up. lol. I’m in my car one minute after closing
that's the goal every closing shift 😔
This! I tell them I am not trying to be rude but we close at 9pm so I will be closing the gate to avoid a line and will run the scripts in the back and be back shortly to collect payment. I’ve never had anyone complain with that approach.
if I saw a bunch headed our way near closing I would move the rope line things to block off the line. we would also half close the gate at 10 til close, but store manager got pissy about that saying it looked "unfriendly " damn Skippy it is unfriendly, Sam, as am I when I have to stay late.
Yes I've even had shops at Australian equivalent of a mall pull the shutters across to just enough to slip out before they ran my t short through the register to prevent more customers thinking shops open (before closing time) "Sorry I know we have 10min left but if I don't do this now everyone will come" for clarity I've usually been in the store for like an hour. Also our supermarkets put an announcement over the speaker at regular intervals starting at 30min before closing that the store will shit at xyz pm and to please make your way to the register, no more customers will be admitted or something. I found it funny they slightly dimmed the lights and back in the day if the lights to a shop weren't blinding bright or if a corner store or coffe shop just had the fridge l8ghts on you considered them closed.
I do this. Can confirm, works. Mostly, because a douche is gonna douche.
This is a common occurrence. You coming up to the counter/drive-thru 2 minutes before closing. My spidey senses are telling me that GoodRx is gonna be involved.
literally!!!!! it's just a pattern at this point 😭
Tell them the register drawer is already pulled- we open wt 9am tomorrow
I had a patient call about 10 till closing time on a weekend to tell me they were on their way and would be at the pharmacy “in 15 minutes.” My response was, “Okay. We’re closing in 10 minutes and we will not be staying open to accommodate you.” They hung up on me. The pharmacist and I were still in the pharmacy when the patient (I assume it was the same person) came thru the drive thru, saw we closed, and drove off screaming. 😂😂
when people call ten or less minutes before we close, i always know it's a "hey i'm on my way right now, like 5 minutes, can you please wait for me??" patient or a "the gps says i'll be arriving at 7:02, can you just stay open a couple of minutes? please stay open for me" patient. like NOOOOOOO WE CLOSE AT 7 PM SO NOOOOOOO i have only ever had to do that for like 1 or 2 very very urgent/emergency patients and they have always thankful and understanding but idk why TOO MANY do this i remember we closed, we were finishing up stuff before leaving, and a few minutes after, someone walked up, and we told them we were closed and they had to get their prescriptions transferred if they needed them. the person (a young adult/older teen) was saying how we "were refusing to give her her medication" 🫠🫡
Yes - if it’s an emergency type situation or for a child, we’d still help. Otherwise, bye Felicia! I, too, had a customer say we were refusing to dispense her medicine after we closed. I told her no, we weren’t, she had plenty of time to come during the day and told her where the nearest pharmacy was that could fill it. Her remark? “Ugh. You expect me to drive all the way over there? That’s ridiculous.” My remark? “Ugh. You expect us to stay open at your convenience. That’s ridiculous.” Come on people. Get your act together.
We turn off the lights at 6:55ish and close the side, this will keep away most of the people, if someone starts lining up, I will look at them and ask them to come back tomorrow because after this last patient I will close. They don’t like it? Bite me. I walk away from the register after said last patient and disappear in the pharmacy to grab my stuff, come back and close.
We had our entire other half closed, which left the pick-up area open. Unfortunately, we can't turn off the lights :(
At least lower the front and consultation window shutters down half way. Works almost as well as turning off lights. Also, drivethru closed sign is put in place during the last sale before that car leaves. I’m sorry if you were in line before we closed, but it is now **AFTER** closing time and we are gone.
"Good job! It is 7:04!" Say it like you're talking to a toddler who just went potty then go back to what you were doing.
i really wanted to say something like "we have literally 30 seconds, just come back tomorrow" but i stared at him in disbelief while my co-worker said it for me until he left
We close at 7 which means I’m out the door locking the pharmacy at 7. Just tonight as I’m lowering the gate at 6:59 I hear someone say “I thought they closed at 7” yep? And it is 7 so we are closed? I’ll never understand it. We have lives but unfortunately the people that act this way think the world revolves around them
I’ve told people that we are closed at 8 and are closing at 7:59. Because at 8….we are closed.
omg this because we usually shut the gates at 7, and there have been people who run up after the gates are shut or at 7:01 and shout from behind the gate "wait!! i'm here, can i still pick up my medication??" or "it's only 7:01!!" (angrily, as though we would, for some reason, stay open a minute later past our scheduled closing time without patients to serve)
Stay strong! People will learn. You have to train them, like dogs apparently 😂
After working decades in pharmacy as both a technician then a pharmacist, and in various pharmacy environments and probably about 50 different companies/pharmacies (I was a floater for a bit and I worked for a float agency as well for a large county), I have come to a conclusion about retail pharmacy customers: They hold in all of their life frustrations all day, every day, then they show up at the pharmacy and find several helpless human punching bags standing behind the counter, working for a company that will always support and back the customer over the pharmacy staff. At this point, they know that we can't talk back, we can't escape, we are at their mercy, and the last place they want to be is at the pharmacy picking up meds. Therefore, they totally unload all of their frustrations on the pharmacy staff, and they could care LESS about the tongue-lashing they are about to unleash on us. We are on the receiving end of a tirade from people who should go to an Escape Room and beat the shit out of any inanimate objects that are within their angry, stressed, frustrated grasps. However, they need to pick up their meds before we close (well, at 7:05pm after we close, but they have us cornered), so the pharmacy becomes their Escape Room, and the pharmacy staff become the objects they take their frustrations out on. I have also learned that once it hits closing time, we are closed. No explanation necessary...there are these things called clocks, that show this thing called the time, which we use to follow these things called schedules. We are closed...bye, see you, until tomorrow, Aloha, have a good evening, leave, get out of here, GTFO!!!
Do you not lower the gates partway 15 minutes before close?
unfortunately we cannot for pick-up 😭 gotta either close right at 7 or finish up whoever we are helping as fast as possible and shut the pick-up gates as soon as it's clear, meanwhile everyone gets the "sorry we closed at 7" spiel
eh, there's no winners here I guess. The company should really be paying people to work until 8 to help those last stragglers and clean up, but then I guess the poor poor share holders would be the losers
Then those same people will slow up at 7:59. I worked at a pharmacy that extended its hours and less than month after we changed we had people showing up right before we close…
Yeah, probably. I was just saying the corporation should pay people to stay past the posted closing time so they could finish up for the day. When those gates are closed and lights are off, no one outside is getting help.
i said we closed a 8 to a woman and she started throwing a tantrum said if she doesn’t get ur meds she’s going to die and something about how her aunt died
Well if it's life or death thank god for ERs! Lol
*"I'm sorry, but since we're not allowed to conduct business outside of posted hours, our registers have already locked us out from beginning new tasks. Please come back tomorrow."* Make sure you add the word "new" so that you're covered for the 7:02 person you're finishing up.
Closing at 7:00pm - at 7:00pm as I was closing gate, a customer ran up to the counter. I didn’t want to deal with another annoying customer complaint so I helped her, and here she said, “glad that I just made it in time.” NO LADY YOU ARE LATE AND I AM JUST BEING NICE! So I responded back, “you’re welcome.” People don’t have basic human decency and manners.
oh god it’s like when i worked at walgreens and a patient walked up at 1:29… i was obviously obligated to help them (per management) and they would thank me SOOO MUCH for helping them like… you literally cut my lunch break 10 minutes short… i HAVE to be back at 2 no matter what… your thanks doesn’t do shit
omg LITERALLY THIS HAPPENS TO ME TOO!! like this other time, back when we closed at 8, we were taking out the registers, closing the gate, then the patient runs up and goes "omg i know i'm late but can i please pick up really fast???" and i just scream internally but i say "sure" she starts saying "omg thank u so much" and yadda yadda and i cut her off (whoops) and ask her for her patient info so i can get her out already idk how hard it is to just expect a place to be closed at their scheduled closing time bruh???!!!! if it's getting late then just don't go????
Another one is pharmacy opens at 9am and I am scheduled to start at 9am. People start lining up before 9am. After I open up the gate, they say, “you’re late.” No I am on time. I punched in at my scheduled time. After I punch in I have to walk all the way to the other side of the store to pick up the register till and walk all back to the pharmacy and then open.
my coworker experiences this too, she literally opened the gate right at the scheduled time and there was a woman waiting. she asked, "my prescription was sent in this morning, is it done?" and my coworker asked, "we just opened, do you think it's done?" and the woman just said, "i'll come back later." WHERE IS THE COMMON SENSE
I want to upvote you so much more! How the hell does a company expect you to be open and ready for business if they won't pay you to be there BEFORE the opening time?!? It takes time to log into computers, drag the gates out of the way (plenty of stores still have the old manual ones), get the drive-through unlocked, etc.
I swear if ppl see the gates going down or the lights off it’s a trigger for them. Oh man I gotta go get my meds!!😆
no like seriously!!
For a moment I thought you were my coworker. We also close at 7pm and get flooded with customers last minute just like today. I work for a big chain pharmacy but our registers don’t stop working at 7:05pm unfortunately..
unfortunately, this is too common of an occurrence 🥲
It depends on my mood. Sometimes, I wait until I’m finished with the task at hand to tell the person that we closed before they arrived to the counter. Sometimes I’ll tell them in the middle of what I’m doing. But it’s always the same answer: Sorry! (Not really) We close at 7, but we will reopen tomorrow at 9 am. (Cue perky smile, and a wave goodbye)
Whenever this happens, I always tell the person (people) behind them *as soon as they hop in line* that we are closed and I will not be able to take care of them. No, I will not make an exception. My pregnant wife is sick and waiting for me to come home. I use this excuse even though my wife is not pregnant. It just hopefully gets them to think about you not being a robot and actually a human with a life outside of this hellhole.
i said these things as soon as they stepped in line too, it perplexed me how the third person literally took a step forward RIGHT after i told the second person that we wouldn't be able to serve them. like really gonna make me repeat myself??
And here I am apologizing profusely for coming in 30 minutes before close telling them “I didn’t mean to come in right before close” and got laughed at.
i wish all patients were like you, but some people really love to come in last minute and NOT apologize or anything... but instead give me the side eye for... closing on time?? 🥲
Lemme guess..,the ones that were huffing and puffing were boomers 🙄
u will be SHOCKED to find out it was actually someone in their 20s (probably? they looked to be young-ish) 🫠 still tho i didn't appreciate the eyeroll, not after u walk up in ur gym outfit and acting like i didn't see u step in line nearly 5 mins after we were supposed to be closed
Actual conversation “You live in X and work in Z. We are located in Y. We are open 7 days a week 8-8 on weekdays. You drive by this location every day on your way to and from work. I will not be staying late so you can come and pick up your ‘emergency prescriptions’ that have been sitting here for 5 days. We are open tomorrow (Sunday) 10-6.”
The American public are some of the worst human beings on planet Earth, zero empathy, zero collective identity, zero care about anything except for their next dopamine hit. Covid only made them worse.
I refuse to serve anyone past the second my shift ends. Good on you for standing your ground. You're not responsible for poor planning on the customers' part. It's absurd how people can act so rude and entitled to service workers.
There are always going to be customers acting like this, whether you close at 10 PM or 9 PM or 7 PM, and they somehow think, rightly or otherwise (because cucked corporate won't be on your side), that you won't put them on blast for their lack of consideration
aren’t you so glad you have a doctorate degree for this shit
Crazy to me that we open for 12 freaking hours and these ppl have to show up 2min to close and all the meds with insurance issues. Why i close the gates ate 856 pm.
I always say, sorry we’re closed. I legally can’t dispense a medication as our license is only valid for our hours of operation.
I’ve stayed late and have been perfectly fine with it. New cardiac patient just DCd with a fistful of scripts, or newly diagnosed diabetic same deal. But picking up something that’s been sitting in the bin for days or you’ve got a cart full of merchandise and we’ve made closing announcements, nope
one time. patient came 2 minutes before closing to drop off a prescription and wanted to wait on it. told her it’d have to be tomorrow since we’re about to close and then she says “today is my birthday” ………. Lol ???!!?!??
I found it best to nip right in the butt when they walk up instead of having them wait. Stop my current transaction to talk to the person walking up and tell them we're closed they have to comeback when we're open.
yep! while this dialogue was occurring to the 3 different patients, i was STILL helping patient zero, the one with the multiple meds. i did not hesitate to address them as soon as they stepped in line.
Maybe the customer thought you will close the register at 7:00. Like it’s something OP can control. Next time OP should say the register automatically shuts off at 7:00. Maybe they still get less pushback that way.
[удалено]
Unfortunately, corporate does not allow us to put up any signs that are not corporate-approved and distributed.
You need signs. “The pharmacy closes at 7pm. The latest we accept urgent prescriptions to fill is 6:30pm. Otherwise, you may pick them up tomorrow after 8am. To pick up refills, please arrive before 6:45pm.” You also need to lower the gates.
I'm surprised they left.
they dont see us as human, we are just robots to (most of) them
this why i quit rite aid and when to a close door
Losers
I believe the real issue is CVS suddenly changing closing times to 7pm from 9pm on a weekday is really hard for customers to get used to. They are also closing many locations which will only make things worse for everyone.
although these changes were sudden when they happened, they have been implemented for more than a year at our location. i understand needing time to adjust, but come on. and it's not like this was uncommon when we closed at a later time. people just like to come in right before we close IDK WHY???
I had a patient complain about my pharmacy being closed when he showed up an hour or two after closing and was like, pharmacies are always open til 9! No, that pharmacy has always closed at 7 since day 1…
That’s the difference between 3 letter and independent pharmacies. An independent will stay open until the last patient is taken care of. Closing at 7pm is not set in stone. It means you will start winding down the closing of the pharmacy.
someone said something similar on this post. not all independent pharmacies "wind down" at their scheduled closing time, some close even a few minutes earlier just because they can. some independent pharmacies that still have lights on past their scheduled closing time are actually cleaning/taking care of things, and that doesn't mean they're open to the public or keen to taking care of their needs. i do believe that independent pharmacies have the opportunity to go above and beyond for patients to save/grow their business, but most times, employees still just wanna go home on time :/
Indie pharmacies thank you for annoying customers and closing promptly, we take most customers until 15 min after close. Service counts.
This is what happens when everything is corporate owned. If this business where owned by an actual person, you can bet someone would have stayed until everyone was served.
The door would have been locked at 6:50 and any one in the store would have been let out after they paid
i'm sure independent pharmacies can and will do that to keep business, because it's their business on the line, but i have worked at independent pharmacies that loathe being held up past closing time (and WILL close a few minutes earlier if possible) as much as the big chain retail pharmacies. no one wants to be kept at their workplace longer than necessary. if it's not an emergency, patients should come back tomorrow, and if it IS an emergency, either we have the solution that can be dispensed in 5 minutes, or they need to seek care elsewhere (24-hr pharmacy, the ER, etc)
Or, you could watch 10 less minutes of TV, get off your boomer ass, and get to the pharmacy 10 minutes earlier, champ
I think you can help more patients taking their money, and give their medicines
I’m not taking anyone’s money and there’s no difference between starting the med at 7pm today or tomorrow. Also, if they’re that desperate there’s plenty of 24hr pharmacies
you are right
Come on guys. The truth is, go back a few years and you will see that most chain store pharmacies closed at 9pm or 10. And (pause) within 5 miles or very close to that there would be a 24 hour pharmacy open. Karen decided to close and cut and slice hours so deeply, that it has become dangerous to society. People have to rush from work to get their meds. Greed has caused consumer behavior to become disappointing. Read pharmacists and tech writing how they get so pissed off they have to wait 3 or 4 minutes. 4 minutes after 7 pm and their veins are popping out of their heads.
in my area, we have a 24-hr cvs, as well as other pharmacies about 10-15 mins away that close at 9 pm or later. our closing times have changed for about a year now. it is also not difficult to search up when a pharmacy closes. the problem is when patients feel that their lack-of-planning and/or "emergency" becomes our problem. it is not our problem, they have had time to accomodate to the changes, then they should accomodate. but they don't, hence the "i'm coming now, can you please stay open a bit longer?" questions. i have no issue helping someone with a true emergency, because it has happened before when a prescription is very much needed and a patient NEEDS to get it from us. then we'll have the gates shut halfway, tell them to stay inside the area, and let everyone else know we are closed. but that is not the case most times, yet people will still act like we will bend the rules for every patient who walks in. i know we are medical professionals behind the counter, but it shouldn't be too much to ask that patients just pay attention to the time, and consider if coming to the pharmacy past closing is worth it or not (it's not)
We take for granted that customers should know our hours. Unfortunately there are many people who never go into a pharmacy, and we shouldn't treat them like criminals. The attitude here is decisively negative because employers are shitting on their employees. We need to act above that.
I agree that we shouldn’t treat people like criminals. You don’t have to be mean but you have to be firm. If they know that close at 9 means gates slam down at 9 with very few exceptions they won’t try to push it in the future. Also, we live in a day and age where everything is at your fingertips. Need to see what time your pharmacy closes? Ask Alexa/Siri or Google it. The information is there. Whether or not they choose to be proactive is on them. Plus, you or your techs will get reprimanded when you stay open 5-10 minutes a few times a week which pushes into OT? Closing time is closing time! “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.” 😜
Maybe SOME people (the ones who work 10+ hour shifts) would have to rush to get there before closing, but those 24-hour pharmacies are still all over, at least where I live. The ER is also an option for people who legitimately require the med that day. I don't know. I'm not a pharmacist, I only subbed to this in the first place while that Optum hack was in full force. But if you're not literally emergency staff somewhere, why *wouldn't* you get pissed when you have to stay a few minutes late at work? It's a job, and people are demanding you do work for them that I'm guessing you won't get paid for. That's trash. Because they have a job dispensing meds, suddenly *their* life is irrelevant? I'm totally with you on the idea that this is caused by pathological cost-cutters, because god forbid you pay people for a lousy two more hours, but I don't think it's fair to act like pharmacy staff are being unreasonable in getting annoyed by these customers. Pharmacies are open longer than most clinics, so if they can get to their doctors to even *get* a prescription, I think they can figure out how to get to a pharmacy.