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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Boots shouldn't charge me.

251 replies

Lagoonablue · 13/07/2015 22:20

Shopping after school and my 5 yr old falls heavily on his knees. He is crying and knees are bleeding and dirty. We are 15 min walk from home. I am next to Boots. I go in with my hysterical 5 yr old and ask if they can help. A pharmacist hands me a pack of antiseptic wipes and some wound dressing. I clean him up and then she says £4.99 please.

I pay for the wipes but not the dressing as I haven't used it. Left feeling a bit miffed. Surely they had the odd wipe knocking about and do wouldn't use the opportunity to sell me a product! I went there as it was the nearest place and kind of made . sense. However I bet if I went in any other shop they might have helped out by using their own first aid kit or something,

It's not about the money but feel it wasn't very sympathetic

OP posts:
Enchufla · 14/07/2015 08:12

Boots may have been uncharitable. Understandable since theyre not a charity. Not sure why a cut knee needed all this fuss and drama

Florrieboo · 14/07/2015 08:13

There is no "should have" it is ambiguous, maybe the person she spoke to doesn't have children and just thought she wanted to buy something to clean the cut. That is a very logical conclusion. Perhaps if it was a mum working there she might have though differently and acted in a different way.

Hellionsitem2 · 14/07/2015 08:17

Boots will have a standard procedure that staff should adhere to.

Hellionsitem2 · 14/07/2015 08:19

It's irrelevant who served OP. It should have been treated like a minor first aid incident and the normal procedure followed

firesidechat · 14/07/2015 08:19

I'm honestly not saying this in a judgy way, but it wouldn't occur to me to ask for help with a scraped knee. If I didn't have any tissues or wipes with me I would gone into the Boots and bought the cheapest I could find. It would feel a bit weird asking for staff to help me with a relatively minor injury. It's my job, not theirs.

sweetgrape · 14/07/2015 08:20

YANBU, though it doesn't surprise me, we live in a greedy world unfortunately, and it's times like this that make me despair. Yes Boots are a business but they really do show them selves in a bad light by being so mean and opportunist. You could just as easy been next to Next or New look. You'd still have popped into to ask for a bit of help. Just because Boots sell these products doesn't mean they should charge you. What if you didn't have any money on you. Somehow I don't think they'd want the bad publicity of taking you to court. It's nothing like having a sudden headache and expecting to get aspirin for free. It was a sudden emergency involving a small child. Most big stores have a fully trained first aider who attend to customers for free, but if they don't they certainly don't charge for a very small bit of basic first aid.

Florrieboo · 14/07/2015 08:21

There would be a procedure for injuries that occur in the store, not for people who come in off the street bleeding.
I also would not ask for help if one of my children cut their knee, I would buy what I needed and get on with it.

bruffin · 14/07/2015 08:22

I wouldnt have expected it for free, I would have just gone in and bought some plasters and wipes or taken him to the nearest toilet and washed it off in there.

SoupDragon · 14/07/2015 08:23

it wouldn't occur to me to ask for help with a scraped knee. If I didn't have any tissues or wipes with me I would gone into the Boots and bought the cheapest I could find.

I agree. If they offered to help from their first aid kit, lovely, but I would have gone in there intending to purchase what I needed having thought how lucky it was to have happened near somewhere selling everything I needed.

Original poster
Lagoonablue · 14/07/2015 08:24

Read the thread. There wasn't a toilet nearby.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 14/07/2015 08:26

But there were shops you could have just gone in, purchased some tissues and cleaned it up. No need for fuss, no need to expect a shop to do anything surely?

Binkybix · 14/07/2015 08:27

I don't think I would ask for help for a scraped knee either - just would have bought some tissues or whatever and got on with it. If the assistant was of the same mindset I can see why they would have done what they did.

RufusTheReindeer · 14/07/2015 08:27

I dont think you were being unreasonable if you just wanted help cleaning him up, cold water on a towel would have done

If you trotted in there demanding free first aid supplies then that's different

But from what you've said you didn't do that so YANBU

I went to Marwell Zoo, ds1 ripped a bit of skin from his finger I was worried about germs so I asked at the shop if I could buy some plasters, they didn't sell them, next thing I know two paramedics arrive on a golf buggy, fully loaded and give him a plaster. Most embarrassing Blush

RattleAndRoll · 14/07/2015 08:27

I work in a shop with first aid kits. If anyone comes up and says I'm bleeding, have you got a plaster/wipe etc we get them one. Or a tissue. Or a chair and a drink of water if they're feeling faint etc. The first aid kits we have are for anybody that needs them. Where's people compassion / care? Customer service even? It was an accident, they needed help & attention not forced sales.

TheTravellingLemon · 14/07/2015 08:27

Lagoonablue your thread is making me sad. I can't believe so many people would not want to help a bleeding 5 year old.

I assure you I am neither a charity nor a NHS walk in centre, but I would help a crying child if it were in my power because I am, you know, human.

AnnoyedParent22 · 14/07/2015 08:29

I actually think it is irrelevant whether OP was being entitled or not, or whether she could or should have just dealt with a scraped knee by herself.

The reality is that the OP entered a Boots store with a small child who was crying, distressed and bleeding. In the interests of good PR Boots staff should have been able to a] obtain some wipes and a couple of plasters from their first aid box or b] had the authority to take these items from the shelf and use them to assist the OPs child.

Other posters are saying that John Lewis and Waitrose would have taken this approach so why not Boots?

Agree it's very different to having some random adult enter Boots and ask for a paracetamol as they have a headache. A line has to be drawn obviously but I don't think a small crying child is the place to draw this line, particularly when positive feeling and PR can be gained through Boots staff being able to show compassion and caring for their customers or potential customers.

bruffin · 14/07/2015 08:31

Boots often have toilets or baby changing rooms.

However I still wouldnt have asked for help for a scraped knee, just bought the bits i needed.
. When I did have a really bad emergency Macdonalds were brilliant. DS had a febrile convulsion in the men's toilet (I was in the ladies next door and heard a bang) He managed to do himself all sorts of damage as well as being unconscious still. The manager was only young but took my dd then 6 aside and fed her icecream while the amubulance was coming.

lilacblossomtime · 14/07/2015 08:31

This reminded me of Open all hours. Its what Arkwright would have done.

Florrieboo · 14/07/2015 08:34

If I saw the OP on the street I would have offered her one of my tissues (or wipes) and a plaster because I carry such things on me all the time. I could also offer a small bag of jellies or a random collection of My little pony and Star Wars toys to play with. I even have antibacterial spray!

Original poster
Lagoonablue · 14/07/2015 08:35

Actually just remembered my mum fell outside of BHS a couple of years ago and they took her inside, gave her a drink of water and a plaster and a new pair of tights because she ripped hers!

OP posts:
AnnoyedParent22 · 14/07/2015 08:36

YY lilac!

Great show btw Grin

PurpleHairAndPearls · 14/07/2015 08:39

From your wording above, i would have thought you were asking to purchase, not as a favour, because you didn't say please Grin

It's nice when people are compassionate and kind so I can see where you're coming from, but I honestly would have believed you were just asking to buy them not for first aid help, it's a scraped knee, only a very minor injury really. Although your DS probably didn't think that!

My DS fell over in a car park of a stately home once, he has SN and was very upset as his knee was bleeding. The car park attendant saw him sitting on the boot of the car while we were trying to console him and clean him up, went into the shop, bought him a chocolate Easter egg out of his own money, and came over and gave it to him. He refused to be paid back and was so kind.

I do think if you can be kind you should, but I wouldn't expect to walk into a shop and be given something for free from their stock. If you had gone in and said "do you have a first aider to help me please" it would be different, although I would think you were being a bit OTT for a scraped knee!

Binkybix · 14/07/2015 08:40

I assure you I am neither a charity nor a NHS walk in centre, but I would help a crying child if it were in my power because I am, you know, human

Yes, I would personally help too, but given the circumstances I can see why the people working in the shop thought the OP wanted to buy stuff.

Kamden · 14/07/2015 08:46

You obviously don't think YABU but I'm curious, do you think the sales assistant had the authority to give away free stock? Why didn't you ask for the manager if you wanted it free?

Alanna1 · 14/07/2015 08:49

Well, there's a scheme called pharmacy first. Have a look and see if it applies in your area. Its about getting people to use chemists over GPs for minor things and they can give stuff free (if the recipient is entitled to free prescriptions). So actually, I'm not sure OP should have been charged. I've been given free conjunctivitis drops and free ibuprofen and free eparderm. Etc.