We all visit a pharmacy to pick up a prescription, i.e., a medicine prescribed by a doctor to treat a physical ailment, or a non-prescription, i.e., an over-the-counter item. A pharmacist prepares and fills a prescription, whereas a customer picks up an over-the-counter item with or without the help of a store clerk or pharmacist. We usually consult the latter to know about the benefits or side effects of the item before or after its purchase.

There is no problem picking up a prescription unless a pharmacist tells a customer to come later, as the medicine prescribed is currently unavailable at the pharmacy. Again, a pharmacist advises a customer about how to take the prescribed medicine and its possible side effects. There really is no issue about the role of a pharmacist in filling up a prescription and its pick-up or delivery.

Likewise, a customer can pick up an over-the-counter item without anyone’s help if it’s clearly visible and stacked up on a pharmacy’s shelf. However, when it’s not visible, one naturally asks a pharmacist if the pharmacy carries that item, and if so, could he/she please help find it. Customarily, a pharmacist would lead or direct a customer to the shelf where that item is placed. At times, a pharmacist may tell a customer point-blank that the pharmacy doesn’t carry it. A customer would likely leave the pharmacy disappointed.

However, I am not one of those who would leave the pharmacy even after hearing ‘No’ from a pharmacist about the availability of an item being sought. Because a pharmacist, being a human with even the sharpest of brains, is not likely to know about the availability of all possible products a pharmacy carries. I would go and look around the shelf where items closely similar or substitutes are placed (as pharmacies usually place such similar items together on a shelf). There’s a good chance that a customer would find the desired item, and if not, may then peacefully go to another pharmacy.

My three personal experiences

I write this note after confronting this situation – a pharmacist telling me ‘No’ about the availability of a product and I find it stacked on one of the shelves – at three well-reputed and large pharmacies. To protect their identities, let me refer to these pharmacies as X, Y, and Z— all located in Orleans, Ontario, Canada.

(1) I went to Pharmacy X and asked the pharmacist if the pharmacy sold Lidocaine, a deep pain relief cream. The pharmacist replied, ‘No’ and added that the store carried other creams, though, to cure pain. I was directed to the shelf containing such creams. Once there, I looked closely at all the bottles and tubes of cream used as pain relievers. Lo and behold! I found a box with a black top with the words “DEEP RELIEF” and on the red and black front, “LIDOCAINE.” With a sigh of relief, I picked up the box and showed it to the pharmacist, not to embarrass but to advise the latter not to mislead the next customer looking for Lidocaine. The store did sell it. With a wry smile, the pharmacist looked at me and apologized for misleading me.

(2) I visited Pharmacy Y, looking for Amosan – an oral antiseptic rinse to relieve the dental irritation and swelling of gums. I couldn’t find it on the shelf displaying other dental products. I asked the pharmacist on duty if the store carried that product. He replied in the affirmative and looked at the shelf inside the pharmacy. He kept looking from shelf to shelf and after about five minutes, turned around to tell me that the product was usually kept on one of these shelves. Since he couldn’t find it, he conclusively told me that the item was likely out of stock at the moment. He apologized for making me wait for the product.

I left the pharmacist’s counter and started to walk back to the aisle displaying dental products to check it more closely this time. Gosh! There was no need to even go there because right after a few steps from the counter, I found several packages of Amosan on a temporarily built shelf just close to eight inches above the floor. I am sure the pharmacist would have seen these packages from his location if he had seriously tried. I simply bent down and picked a package without embarrassing the pharmacist and paid for it with other items I had purchased at the store.

(3) The experience at Pharmacy Z was more intriguing. This was not a pharmacy that dispensed medicines but a store that sold health or age-related aids and accessories like canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and bed supports – to name a few. I had been to this store to buy a cane and a walker as I needed support to walk after breaking my lower spine.

After exchanging the customary greetings, I asked the sales rep if the store carried a bottle or jug that hospitals use to collect pee from male patients. She replied, “No, we don’t sell this item.” I couldn’t believe that a store wouldn’t sell such a commonly used item. I asked her again, explaining this time what nurses provide to male patients to pee if the latter were not allowed to move out of bed. She vehemently repeated, “No, we don’t have it.” Finally, I asked her if she knew any other shop in the area that sold this item. She replied, “I don’t know.”

I looked at the sales rep in total disbelief and then walked away from her chair. Since I had been to the store, I was familiar with its setup, especially its left corner, which had multiple aids and accessories on display. I closely looked at all the boxes stacked in that corner and found a box whose front panel showed a picture of a bottle with the caption, “Men’s Urinal.” Aha! That’s precisely what I was looking for.

I picked up that package. On my way to the cash counter, I waved this package to the sales rep to show her that I got what I wanted. Coincidently, she was on the phone, so I didn’t have a chance to give her some advice about not saying ‘No’ to a customer without properly checking an item’s availability in the store. Since a customer goes to a store with a high expectation to get a product, no sales rep should ever turn away anyone with a frivolous ‘No’ response. This not only causes disappointment to a customer but also a loss of revenue to a store.

Conclusion

This note is strictly written to advise consumers not to accept ‘No’ as a response from a pharmacist or a sales rep about the availability of a non-prescriptive item. As human beings, these people can’t keep track of what is and is not available in the store. Instead of turning away disappointedly, a consumer should look around closely and may find the desired item. A pharmacist, on the other hand, does the best professionally to cater the prescription.

Keywords: Pharmacist; Pharmacy; Recall memory; Prescription fill up; Frivolous response; Disappointed customer.