Like most Americans, I take an antidepressant. Been on the drug for a little more than 4 years. Nearly 2 years ago I decided I had recovered from my “situational depression” and wanted to discontinue the drug. My doctor said I must do it very, very slowly to avoid “terrible” side effects. OK, so I started by eliminating just one 10mg tablet a week. Now down to three 10mg tablets per week which means I only need 45 more tablets and I won’t need them anymore.
So, I called my pharmacist and asked for a refill of 45 tablets. I was told my insurance would only cover 30. That’s fine I told him. I’ll get 30 now and 15 next month. When I went to pay for the prescription the charge was $94! “$94,” I said. The last time I refilled the prescription the cost was $45. That’s a 109% increase! What happened? Well, said the pharmacist, the drug company is charging more for this drug. I guess so. I told him I couldn’t afford it.
I went home and called the mail-order company, Prescription Solutions, where I have been able to get a 90-day supply for $120 co-pay. I asked the clerk for 45 pills. She said the cost was $177!!! Oh, my god. I couldn’t believe it. That again was double the price I paid last fall a 195% increase. I asked her why and she said that the doctors who advise the insurance company, had reviewed this particular drug and moved it to a higher level, from tier 4 to tier 5 – but more than double the price? BTW my insurance premium for prescriptions also increased by 20% the beginning of this year. I was beside myself but felt I had no choice. I said ok and approved the order AND the charge – BIG mistake.
Buyer’s remorse: the next morning I thought I just cannot afford this drug so I called Prescription Solutions and told them to cancel the order. The clerk told me the drug had already been shipped. I groaned and asked what I could do. She said, “Refuse the package.” She then told me to call them back when I mailed the package to let them know the order was being returned. I thanked her and hung up. Big relief.
A few days later the package from Prescription Solutions arrived. I wrote “REFUSED” on the front with an indelible Sharpie pen and my husband took it to the post office. A day later I phoned Prescription Solutions to tell them the package was in the mail, just like the first clerk had directed. The second clerk seemed confused. She wasn’t sure what to do. She put my call on hold while she discussed the situation with a supervisor. When she came back to the phone, she told me I should have called for a “return tag.” She said the package would be received at the fulfillment center and they would automatically return it to me because it didn’t have a return tag. So, she told me to wait until the package came back and then phone Prescription Solutions again and they would issue me a return tag. Once I received the return tag I could return the package. I said, since getting through to a live customer representative took so long, couldn’t she just send out the return tag now? She said she would have to ask a supervisor.
I had now been on the phone for 20 minutes. When she returned to the line, she said she was transferring my call to a supervisor.
The supervisor came on the line and said, “When you ordered the medication did they tell you the cost?” I said, “Yes.” She then said, “And didn’t you approve the charge?” Her tone was very condescending and I don’t know if it was her tone or the fact that I had now been on the phone with them for 25 minutes but, I’m afraid I lost it. I said in a rather aggressive tone, “Are you blaming me? Are you finding my actions at fault?” I continued to tell her that I had done everything the reps told me to do. I called and asked if I could cancel the order and was told to refuse it and call when it was in the mail. When I called to say the package had been refused and returned, the representative told me I needed a call tag – so what was happening now? The supervisor said once the medication was shipped they could not accept it back. Period – NO RETURNS – NO EXCUSES – THE END! I got ANGRY – seeing red. In so many words – I can’t remember them now – I told her if they could not accept the unopened package back then why did two of their representatives tell me I could and how to do it. She kept insisting that I was mistaken – I really wanted to yell at her and call her names but I didn’t – my mother raised me better – no cussing!!! So I said, “If their policy was to absolutely NOT accept any returns, then why didn’t the first representative tell me? Why did the second one say I needed a return tag? As a supervisor it was her job to make sure the people she supervised were better trained.” I mean, really, what was going on? Was this some kind of a power play? I finished by telling her I planned to write to as many people I could to inform them of how she treated me. – Yeah – that showed her.
I also asked her to cancel the order for another prescription that I just placed. She kept saying, “You want me to cancel your prescription?” She said this at least twice. I said, “No, I want you to cancel the prescription and then I want you to tell me it’s been cancelled.” She put me on hold – for what seemed like another 5 minutes. When she finally returned to the call she still refused to say the words, your prescription has been cancelled. I was livid.
After the conversation with the supervisor, I stayed on line to take the company’s survey. Needless to say I gave the service very poor ratings. I only wish there would have been some way to let them know that the clerk who talked to me initially was very pleasant and tried her best and it was the supervisor who I felt was rude.
After hanging up I called back. Progressed through several minutes of computer generated questions and finally spoke to another representative. I told her I wanted to cancel the same prescription that I’d asked the supervisor to cancel. She said the order had already been emailed to the fulfillment center so she would have to email them and try to stop it from being shipped. From this
conversation I inferred that the supervisor had put me on hold, just to annoy me and had NOT cancelled the prescription as I’d asked. I thought she was being vindictive. I don’t know if that is true but I will never order another prescription from Prescription Solutions.
In retrospect, it has now been five days since this episode. I truly regret the way I talked. Throughout my whole life I’ve been working hard to learn to control my temper – to learn to deal with difficult situations without going berserk. I feel I failed
miserably. I should have answered her questions without getting emotional. I wonder now if in asking the questions she was simply trying to make sure that I understood their procedures. After all, they couldn’t be shipping out drugs and handling returns all the time – they’re not Nordstrom’s. If I remember correctly, I think she told me there is a law preventing the return of prescriptions – but if that is true then why did two customer service representatives tell me it was all right and how to do it?
LESSON: if you have a business, make sure your employees are trained to handle every situation. Last spring, I helped a client write the procedural manual for their company. We looked at every issue, every task and in so doing the company was awarded
certification from a national certifying organization whose logo they can add to their packaging and use to give them credibility in their marketing campaigns. Hopefully, in going through this process, their employees will fully understand how to handle situations like the one I endured above.
A request to you: If you like my writing, please order my book, Million Dollar Cup of Tea, from either my publisher, WBUSINESS BOOKS, or Amazon.com. Have a good day.
The hardest thing about retirement is not feeling “needed”