I'm done with Boots (the shop)

[Tempertamtrum]

Ahhh, annoying lunchtime visit to Boots. Told prescription would be five minutes. So I tried to find No7 Gradual Face Tan - couldn't find it and No7 assistant would not help because No7 self tan not next to her.

Went back to Pharmacy - stood there for extra ten minutes asked pharmacist twice (who was VERY BUSY stood in front of my bagged and ready order) who said wait due to needing signature - so told her will come back tomorrow.

Pharmacist then said she would need to put note on ticket - I asked why not just sign it? Which she did!

This isn't the first time such weirdness has happened to me in Boots - all other Chemists I've used are not so odd. I have repeat prescription so regularly use (mainly friendly in store) Pharmacies without any bother.

Anyone else have such annoying encounters in these places?

I love that you put (the shop) as who the he’ll could be done with Boots (the footwear)

My nearest massive Tesco pharmacy bit is a nightmare. Won’t go there anymore. Went twice, 6 months apart, just to see if there was any improvement from the first time! Nope. Not a jot. They never check if they have my medication in stock before taking payment, so both times I’ve paid, only to be told they don’t have enough and to come back and collect the rest the next day or go somewhere else.. cue faffing around with refund onto my card cos not convenient for me to to just pop back a day or so later!! Does my tits right in!

MrsSmile - I did wear knee boots today and am now done with them until Autumn - spring sprung here today. Do have a lovely boots collection.

Is sad to see it's not just the Boots in our town that's awful - so many other chemists are brilliant.

I did want to email them but couldn't find email address for store on website.

YANBU. I have had a number of occasions where I have taken prescriptions into Boots, and they have said it will be 10-15 minutes... So I go off and get a few other bits that I need, and pop back 20 minutes later. Only to be told the pharmacist has gone off for lunch, or on a break, or he is in the 'consultation room' with someone, doing a 'medicine review' that sometimes takes 15 minutes!

And although my meds are sitting there in a little basket, (having been pulled off the shelves by the pharmacy assistant,) I can't take it, as it needs to be 'signed off' by the pharmacist - whatever that fucking means!

Why he didn't do that before he fucked off into the little room for the medicine review just eludes me. So I stand there and wait like a muppet for at LEAST 10 minutes, just for the pharmacist to come out and look at my 2 prescription items for 3 seconds, squiggle a line on the box, and say 'Mrs DD?......' 'Can you confirm your address......?'

I hate that too. Every fucker in the pharmacy knowing my sodding address! WHY do they do that WHY?! All they need to read out is your bloody name. The chances of someone with your exact name being in the same pharmacy as you, at the same time, waiting for a prescription, is virtually zero. And in the extremely unlikely event of that happening, you would spot it immediately, as soon as you looked in the bag!

And as I am quite rural, I cannot go to anywhere else, because the Boots pharmacy is the only pharmacy in our little market town. (The next closest pharmacy is 15 miles away!)

In addition to the above, 3 times out of 4, there is something they don't have in, and they have to order it in, so I have to go back!!!

The staff are fairly OK in the Boots my local market town, but in the Boots in my closest big town (15 miles from me,) they are awful. Unhelpful, and miserable. On the occasions I have gone there, I have actually stood there for 5 minutes before being acknowledged. I wonder sometimes if I'm invisible.

Many, many posters on here complaining and saying they have had many bad experiences with Boots pharmacy. All these people cannot be wrong.

I try to avoid Boots these days and go to Superdrug if possible. Non repeat prescriptions take ages as they are always understaffed. It got taken over by private equity people and they treat the staff like crap now. I'd rather give my money to Superdrug and they have some really good products.

@DD43 When I worked in Boots the pharmacist once called out "Mrs Xxxx", a woman waiting looked up, said "Yes", came to the counter, took the bag as he repeated the name again, then returned a few minutes later to complain angrily he had given her someone else's tablets. Her name was nothing like Xxxx and she argued for some time that he was irresponsible, dangerous, etc despite the fact she had agreed the name twice
...and that is why they always confirm the address too. It's insurance against the stupid

DD43 Do you not realise how much pharmacists actually have to do? It doesn’t matter if your prescription is sitting there, you cannot have it until the pharmacist has checked that it is exactly what it says it is (right medicine as well as correct dosage) both inside and outside of the box.

It is vitally important these checks are carried out to ensure no harm comes from possibly giving out the wrong medicine.

And as for your address, they do that again for your safety - another check you’re the right person because it is crucial they don’t get that wrong.

Pharmacists have a very stressful and busy job. You shouldn’t be a dick about actions that are carried out to protect you.

I've gone off my particular Boots after getting a lecture about self-medicating for the wrong reasons when buying anti-histamins. It's a small town, and they know my usual medications of course, so know I have mental health issues. Why this makes them think I can't also have hay fever, I don't understand. I don't buy them in excess, and it's obviously hay fever season. I get that they need to take into account that people misuse medication, but the assumption and the way the staff talked to me have really put me off going there again.

The Boots in our town is rubbish too - I used to use it as it's the only one within easy walking distance but the service is so awful.
I've been a pharmacy assistant when I was a student so I know how they work and they don't have to be that slow!
I now go to a lovely Lloyds that's open 8am-10pm always has a pharmacist in at lunchtime and never keeps me waiting. They provide a really good service, even though they are a chain.

I am a dreaded counter assistant - I am so glad I work in a friendly local independent pharmacy - there are 8 staff in total (4 in at any time) - one a pharmacist, 2 dispensers and one counter staff.

We close for lunch. We have to - because if we didn't we'd have the same number of customers coming in and be unable to do anything but sell shampoo to them. The pharmacist needs a break - as does the whole team - we are open 9 til 6.

During lunchtime - the pharmacist (who owns the business) goes to get something to eat - on the way she goes to pick up controlled drug prescriptions from the local GP (cannot be done on the electronic prescription service, so provided as a convenience to customers) she will also drop off a huge bag of prescriptions to the local care home.

Closing for lunch may well pee off customers, may well mean we have less customers, but being as we are so busy all the rest of the time, and they all seem happy with the service provided, I think we can take the hit.

(especially since actual customers through the door form a small percentage of our customer base)

I was using their repeat prescription service. My doctors practice is in the same complex as Boots but it was easier for them to just order the repeats. Except it wasn't. My medication would run out on a Friday (which their system knew) but they wouldn't ever have my repeats ready until the Saturday afternoon or Sunday (as they didn't keep one of the medications in stock, it had to be ordered in each time). I got sick of it, I want my medication BEFORE it runs out, not a day or 2 later, especially when it's supposed to be taken at the same time each day and shouldn't miss a dose. Now I get my repeat requests done at the doctors the week before and make sure I have my meds in plenty of time.

I won’t go to a boots pharmacy since I went to get the morning after pill as a young teen and they refused to give it to me, or let me pay for it even. Didn’t give a reason, just sneered ‘we can’t do that for you today’. I went to Superdrug crying the next morning just before the 72 hour cut off and the pharmacist there took pity on me and even shut the shop to give it to me as she was the only member of staff in that morning. Luckily our local independent pharmacy is great, and they are more than helpful. There is nothing in boots that I can’t get elsewhere, they lost a customer by treating me so appallingly as a young and vulnerable person.

In my experience, size/location of Boots made no difference.

In my huge, city centre store, there are no pharmacists on before 9.30, between 12 and 1.30 or after 5.30. Thank God there are other options.

In the small market town Boots where my folks live, the pharmacy hours are even shorter and a prescription sent direct by the surgery takes 5 working days to be filled. I was also refused a tube of Canasten by them. I was 40 at the time and unwell so looked 50 - there's no way I could be queried on age and I couldn't get a clear reason for refusal.

Until you have said, in desperation, 'I'm buying it because I've got galloping Thrush. Why else would I want it?' in front of a queue of naice ladies with wicker baskets, you haven't lived.

That's shocking - I use Rowlands because it's next door to my GP, and they will fill an electronic prescription straight away.

I used to work in Boots and I will freely admit that some stores are better than others.

However, just a few points:

• the pharmacist takes a break as they are legally required to. You have to take a break at least every 6 hours. Would you prefer them to work when they are exhausted and therefore can make mistakes which could kill someone?

• when the pharmacist isn't present in the area of the dispensary (they should be able to see the counter), medicines with a P on them can't be sold (including large packs of paracetamol etc) or prescriptions given out

• I'm sure a lot of branches are short staffed. Blame the living/ minimum wage.
• Rates of pay across the high street are pretty similar now which makes recruitment and retention more difficult. Plus people want shops to open longer hours and this also has an impact on attracting staff. Its incredibly difficult for anyone with children to work in retail for example.

When I worked there, many shops were fill with sales assistants that started their when they were 16 and worked through to retirement. The reality of the labour market just isn't like that anymore.

• 'Can you confirm your address......?'

I hate that too. Every fucker in the pharmacy knowing my sodding address! WHY do they do that WHY?! *

To check that they are giving the medicines to the right person! I can't believe you even have to ask that.

I absolutley agree that pharmacists need breaks and understand the checking procedures. Pharmacists are incredibly knowledgeable and, when I'm an in-patient, the hospital pharmacists have caught some real prescribing blunders.

This is is why I'm only criticising Boots. My local independent pharmacists are a group who all trained/graduated together and they stagger shifts and have part timers to provide an 8-11 service six days a week and a 10-4 service on a Sunday.

Boots understaff regularly and would, I'm pretty sure, like to pay pharmacists NMW if they could get away with it.

I was also refused a tube of Canasten by them. I was 40 at the time and unwell so looked 50 - there's no way I could be queried on age

perhaps you looked 60... sorry... it is not licensed for sale to over 60 without referral by a doctor.

"Women over 60, or under 16 – vaginal thrush is rarer in this group of women and the doctor should be consulted to exclude other possible causes before thrush is diagnosed. " (our counter assistant training says it in black and white)

Boots pharmacy is awful and always slow I never use them

I work in a surgery and they send delivery drivers to pick up prescriptions they haven't ordered. Order too early. Don't send delivery drivers to pick up scripts then try to order the next month when script still in surgery. Shambles. Even the delivery drivers roll their eyes.

I've just been to boots. The regular pharmacist and staff are great. But today was a new dispensary assistant and locum pharmacist. My item was ready but son's was not (left prescriptions yesterday morning). Then he told me they'd ordered the wrong item for my son while waving the correct item round in his hand. Cue a lot of flapping with bits of paper. Flimsy carrier bag split - with three glass bottles of liquid medicine in - so I asked for another and the new assistant wanted me to pay...carriers for prescription medicines are exempt from charges. Grrr

My daughter went to pick her contraceptive pill up once. They had given her a box of the pill and a box of HRT!! Good job she asked me (I'm a GP) The pharmacist who I know well professionally was horrified. They are very unreliable.

@troysmammy we have the same problems