AIBU to complain after rude treatment at Boots over medication?

Fairly typical for Boots, though.

I think what the OP did was funnier.

It sounds like both parties are poor communicators. But that aside, no staff member should be shouting at customers across the shop.

I once had a Boots counter assistant have an extremely loud convo with the pharmacist about my Vagifem prescription. I asked her if she’d like to go to the door and shout it to the entire high street just to make sure that everyone knew.

It sounds very unprofessional of her not to apologise when corrected and to shout across the store at you.

I have my own Boots horror stories, it's why I stopped doing repeat prescriptions with them. When I was recovering from emergency c section I was in a bad way. The queue was long and slow, and I was trying to get painkillers. A lovely older lady in front of me in the queue could see I was pale with pain, and offered to let me go in front. I thanked her profusely. Then at my turn, the person serving took in my age and made a judgement saying to me "Can you wait, let's serve this lady first" and invited the older lady up. I just stood back, emotional as hell, bleeding through my dressing, standing up in pain, feeling like the whole world was out to get me. I'm sure she felt she was being really kind, but it was pretty ignorant to make any assumptions about the health of anyone collecting prescriptions, and triaging them without any medical knowledge and based purely on age.

That's not on. Even if you didn't feel able to challenge it at the time you could still have complained.

They were talking about me. I just wanted to get out of there. I was embarrassed.

One of my experiences was when something was missing from my prescription. I checked whilst I was there because they had done it before. I said to the assistant could she recheck my prescription and she just said No and walked away!
Another time I was waiting for my prescription to be ready and the assistant said the pharmacist was checking them and she'd put them in a bag. The pharmacist came along, checked all 2 items (!), picked up a bag, then the assistant shouted that a rep was here. The pharmacist put my meds and the bag down, came over to the counter where the rep and I were, had a lengthy chat about a new treatment for nits, then wandered off somewhere. I asked the assistant for my meds and she said Oh she's just popping them in a bag!
Eventually the pharmacist came back and gave me my meds. I told her how long I'd waited and how she'd just left my meds while she talked to the rep. No apology, she just looked at me and shrugged. That was the last time I used Boots.

So what were they saying? If they were discussing confidential patient information you shouldn't have been able to hear that and I hope you reported it. If they were discussing TV programmes or something it doesn't matter. If you couldn't hear what they were discussing it's not your business.

Do you mean Evana? Tranexamic acid is a Prescription Only Medicine so she was right.

I think they have delusions of grandeur being employed by a large firm. No sensitivity at all. She was gossiping away with her colleague in the dispensing area too. I could hear them while I was waiting. I just think that if they behave that way at work, are they gossiping with their friends?

But at this point the OP was apparently telling the woman's colleague that she'd been rude.

What the OP is point blank refusing to tell us is what the woman said that was apparently rude 🤦‍♀️

Not quite, but similar. I was mortified.

So you perceived her as rude, got annoyed (but not rude-in your opinion!) told her colleague I’m guessing loud enough that she could get the jist of what you were saying/doing…and she got annoyed back. I think you need to step back and look at what you perceive as rude!

now…was it annoying that she couldn’t help you and figure out what you needed and how to get it for you, yes of course. But I think you are blowing it all out of proportion tbh

Surely shouting at a customer across a store, "You'd better not be talking about me" is rude?

Sounds pretty rude and unprofessional to me.

This.

I’ve witnessed something similar in my local branch of Boots, the staff there are mostly extremely rude, it’s as if it’s the culture within that store. I tried to complain but got nowhere, I’ve voted with my feet and taken my custom to Superdrug.

I’ve also had dreadful service from Boots and will never use their pharmacy. I’ve also had someone who shouted loudly as if to perform in front of the queue when they didn’t want to give me something. I think it’s disgraceful!

Maybe she needed all that medication for herself and was narked because you wanted some…….🤔🤔

No doubt she breached her terms of employment shouting at you across the shop. It’s abusive and unprofessional.

I hope she profusely apologises to you if you ever venture in there again. Also hope you have alternative chemists where they treat customers with respect.

Agree.
They ask a thousand questions just to sell you paracetamol.

I can get paracetamol in my online Tesco's order FGS.

I had such terrible service from Boots as my designated pharmacy that I'd never use them again for a prescription.

Sounds like she was embarrassed & angry that she didn’t know it wasn’t prescription only and a customer had to tell her lol and took it out on you

Yup
She seems a right jumped up madam on a power play towards OP
OP shouldn't have to explain.. ship assistant should know her role

It’s not rude for her to tell you that you can’t buy a prescription only medicine.

It was rude for her to shout at you across the shop.

How rude, depends on what you said to her colleague?