Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!
This is actually a non-venting post (so far, I haven't been to work yet..."What do you mean you're out of candy? It's Halloween!"), but I wanted to say "Happy Halloween" and ask if anybody was dressing this year and as what? Send pictures and I'll post the good ones. :)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Things to consider when you're at the drug store
A lot of people know that I work for a drug store chain. On a daily basis I get asked questions that either I can't answer, or the answer is so obvious I really just want to roll my eyes and walk away.
So....I present you a list of the most common questions/comments I get, and what I'm really thinmking (and it's quite possible this applies to every retail employee in every retail store).
"Oprah said this product is good for my illness"....Um, is Oprah your personal physician? I doubt it, so please don't take her word as fact. What works for Oprah (or any other celebrity) won't necessarily work for you. This goes the same for stuff you read in the newspaper (gotta love Dr. Gott) or in magazines. ALWAYS before trying something new, talk to your doctor first to make sure you actually NEED it, and that it won't interract with something you're already taking.
"Do you have any of this in the back?" ... never We don't have a back room big enough to have the entire store in back stock. Actually, stores keep very little backstock because it's a money loss to have it sit in storage. Unless it's a popular selling item, chances are pretty good that we will not have it. Also, the fact that we ordered it doesn't guarantee that we'll get it in. Any store's stock is dependent on a central warehouse, that may service hundreds of stores so it's very possible that even they will run out of an item if it becomes quickly popular.
"Can I have a raincheck?" ... most of the time, yes however a raincheck is only in case we're out of stock on a sale item. A lot of people ask for raincheck because we're out of the product they have a 25 cent off coupon for. Also, it's useless to get a raincheck on seasonal items, or items that are not sold in all locations. If the tiem never comes in, it's a wasted raincheck. Also, rainchecks do have restrictions. We don't really believe that you really need to have 20 bottles of ibuprofen for a dollar each, that's just being greedy (and we never order that large a quantity without a special order). Also, they do expire so don't get mad at us because you forgot about your raincheck and never got to use it.
"What should I take for.....(insert malady here)?" This is a question that really should be asked of a doctor or pharmacist. When I tell people this, they reply "oh they're busy", or "I dont' want to bother them"...well you need to bother them, because asking medical advice from the high school kid who's stocking cold medicine is just plain stupid. Floor people have no medical training and are not qualified to give medical advice, that's why we have a pharmacy. There are things to consider, such as the age of the patient, weight, other medications being taken, etc. that the stock clerk won't know. It's a HUGE liability on the store to have a sales clerk give out medical advice. Chances are pretty good you'll get the wrong information and it could be lethal. Best to get medical advice (and this includes what vitamin to take, what pain killer is better, even down to what to use for poison ivy) from a medical professional.
"Why haven't you gotten this in?" or "When will you get this in?" We really have no idea, but most of the time I'll make something up that sounds believable. We're told so little at store level, we're lucky we know the phone number and hours of operation! We know when our scheduled delivery days are, but we won't know what's in the delivery until it's delivered. So basically, we'll get it when we get it. As for why not, "manufacturer issues". ;)
So....I present you a list of the most common questions/comments I get, and what I'm really thinmking (and it's quite possible this applies to every retail employee in every retail store).
"Oprah said this product is good for my illness"....Um, is Oprah your personal physician? I doubt it, so please don't take her word as fact. What works for Oprah (or any other celebrity) won't necessarily work for you. This goes the same for stuff you read in the newspaper (gotta love Dr. Gott) or in magazines. ALWAYS before trying something new, talk to your doctor first to make sure you actually NEED it, and that it won't interract with something you're already taking.
"Do you have any of this in the back?" ... never We don't have a back room big enough to have the entire store in back stock. Actually, stores keep very little backstock because it's a money loss to have it sit in storage. Unless it's a popular selling item, chances are pretty good that we will not have it. Also, the fact that we ordered it doesn't guarantee that we'll get it in. Any store's stock is dependent on a central warehouse, that may service hundreds of stores so it's very possible that even they will run out of an item if it becomes quickly popular.
"Can I have a raincheck?" ... most of the time, yes however a raincheck is only in case we're out of stock on a sale item. A lot of people ask for raincheck because we're out of the product they have a 25 cent off coupon for. Also, it's useless to get a raincheck on seasonal items, or items that are not sold in all locations. If the tiem never comes in, it's a wasted raincheck. Also, rainchecks do have restrictions. We don't really believe that you really need to have 20 bottles of ibuprofen for a dollar each, that's just being greedy (and we never order that large a quantity without a special order). Also, they do expire so don't get mad at us because you forgot about your raincheck and never got to use it.
"What should I take for.....(insert malady here)?" This is a question that really should be asked of a doctor or pharmacist. When I tell people this, they reply "oh they're busy", or "I dont' want to bother them"...well you need to bother them, because asking medical advice from the high school kid who's stocking cold medicine is just plain stupid. Floor people have no medical training and are not qualified to give medical advice, that's why we have a pharmacy. There are things to consider, such as the age of the patient, weight, other medications being taken, etc. that the stock clerk won't know. It's a HUGE liability on the store to have a sales clerk give out medical advice. Chances are pretty good you'll get the wrong information and it could be lethal. Best to get medical advice (and this includes what vitamin to take, what pain killer is better, even down to what to use for poison ivy) from a medical professional.
"Why haven't you gotten this in?" or "When will you get this in?" We really have no idea, but most of the time I'll make something up that sounds believable. We're told so little at store level, we're lucky we know the phone number and hours of operation! We know when our scheduled delivery days are, but we won't know what's in the delivery until it's delivered. So basically, we'll get it when we get it. As for why not, "manufacturer issues". ;)
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