Mistaken identity at chemist - would you complain?

[wallpoppy]

Earlier today at Boots - took my hair products and chocolate to the counter so I could get a box of Nurofen+ and pay for it all together- the pharmacy assistant sort of looked at me for a moment and then said sorry, no, you were just in here yesterday for the same thing, I can't sell you any more.

I was definitely not in yesterday for the same thing, the last time I bought a box of Nurofen + was probably two years ago, if not longer. I actually joked at first- oh yeah I do have a chocolate addiction but I definitely wasn't in here yesterday- but she just said I'm really sorry, codeine is an addicting medicine and we have to be careful.

So I got serious and said "I understand, but you have mistaken me for someone else, I was not here yesterday and I haven't purchased this medication recently - I am very responsible, and I just take one or two doses once every few months when I have an extremely bad endo flare-up. Can I please complete my purchase?" and she sighed and looked over to the pharmacist, who had heard all the exchange. He was polite but said that he had to back up his staff and if she said she sold these to me yesterday then there was nothing he could do.

So I just huffed, said fine, she's completely mistaken but fine, and I paid for my other stuff and stopped at another Boots on the way home where I completed my drug purchase with no bother. But it was so embarrassing (other people standing around the whole time witnessed it). Should I complain? On one hand, it feels like a one-off weird experience that I should just forget about, but on the other hand I feel a bit hard done by! What would you do?

Really annoying, I know. But I expect the assistant was just following procedure, albeit a pain, when it wasn’t you buying the meds yesterday.

I have had this in the past too, GP told me to buy some feminax plus prior to a coil fitting, when I went to buy it whilst picking up the Mirena prescription, I was told they couldn’t sell me the feminax plus as I wasn’t buying it for period pain 😂 spoke to pharmacist, who agreed in the circumstances I could buy it.

My DS teacher, was also not served with ibuprofen, one day after school, as she didn’t have ID, whilst holding her car keys and teachers badge, when she queried it she was told she could have stolen those 😂 madness!

@ChloeHel if it needs a national database, then that's surely the answer? Why would it be a book at the counter, why not a spreadsheet on a computer?

You might not like the idea of the system changing, but it's evident the current system is flawed and easily manipulated. Hence why people are saying complain about the system, not the staff member.

"But we've always done it like this" isn't enough in H&S terms. This is no different.

Your GP was in the wrong there. It can only be legally sold for the licensed indication and needs to be prescribed otherwise.

we have a method of National tracking, it’s called a prescription and that is the other option. There’s no other way of recording a sale from multiple independent businesses and it’s really not feasible.
it’s been debated many times whether to move codeine back to prescription only, I’m sure everyone moaning would be much happier if that happened?

Ugh; I’m simply responding to PP’s who suggested ID and a name in a book.

It’s Neurofen Plus, which is ibuprofen and codeine. I don’t think there is a widely available generic version.

A pharmacy Advisor here maybe I can offer some insight. If you feel like the counter assistant was rude to you then absolutely make a complaint but reading this she followed the SOP's perfectly and even escalated it to the pharmacist. I'm sure it was embarrassing especially standing in line with customers behind you, I'm sorry.
HOWEVER I'm sure the counter assistant wasn't doing it to make you embarrassed we have strict SOP's we have to follow even for paracetamol. We can get in trouble if we don't follow the WHAM questioning our CARE questioning when doing a consultation with a customer. We have such a massive opioid crisis at the moment and as pharmacies we have a role to help with that. It was a case of mistaken identity I get that, but considering she probably sees many many repeat customers coming in daily for this type of opioid she needs to be vigilant ( like she was)

I get that you can go to a different pharmacy and get what you needed, we can't police everyone's actions, but as long as we follow the SOP's when your in our pharmacy we have done our job. I do agree we need more stringent processes like ID's and signatures etc but again this is floored. Many people don't have ID's and I've even had someone say they don't have a signature or refused to sign the back of a prescription.
Again I'm sorry you felt embarrassed if it helps the girl probably felt embarrassed refusing you! I get so nervous when I have to do that!

@SheWoreYellow
Boots sell a generic version 🙂
It’s ibuprofen and codeine. Your paying literally for the Nurofen plus name.

an awful lot of people seem to think that the refusal to sell restricted products is done purely because the people refusing to sell them are on a power trip

They are refusing because they have not been trained properly.

I'd be annoyed too OP. She was effectively accusing you of lying which isn't on.

I agree with the suggestion to tell them to look at their CCTV and prove I was in the day before. It was ok for the OP because she was able to go to a different pharmacy (though I am not sure how that actually helps anyone) but it wouldn't be so great if you lived rurally and only had one pharmacy to choose from locally.

As for an opoid crisis - I am not convinced about that. We have a chronic pain crisis, not enough pain clinics and even where they do exist, they seem to think that looking at beautiful flowers is enough to make the pain go away. No, what makes the pain go away is either fixing the problem, or pain relief.

It's no good blaming people for taking pain relief when they are in pain.

Anyway what are the actual rules? I can buy two packs of ibuprofen and/or paracetamol in one transaction - what is the actual rule for something with codeine? One purchase per week?

Not all branches, they are definitely harder to get.

I once had a pharmacist look at me with a kind of sneering face and rolling eyes say something along the lines of "you know you should be going to see your GP about your addiction to these", while continuing to sell me the codeine. I was had 3 other customers stood behind me who all heard her and I was so ashamed and mortified I just slinked off in tears. I get they have a job to do, but that could have been handled so very differently. I did have a problem at that time, but condescending remarks and shaming from "professionals" isn't going to turn someone's life around.

I possibly wouldn't bother, but I think its worthy of a complaint. The chemist made a mistake, accused you of lying and suggested implicitly that you have an addiction to painkillers. Thats quite serious. It might also be sexist, in not paying attention to what women look like and actually thinking they are all the same. Or maybe she has signs of delusional thinking? That could be quite serious.

I dread going to my local chemist and getting the woman behind the counter because she speaks in a ridiculously exaggerated "talking to the simple old dears" voice and asks the most inane questions, such as "have you had a nice day out today dear?" I'm not old. I've taken to saying things back like "Well, in the morning I assessed the complexities of a competition law matter and in the afternoon I ran a half marathon so just an easy day today", but it doesn't sink in.

I'm fed up of women being labelled addicts, timewasters, fantasists and so on just for seeking medical treatment. Men just aren't treated in this way. DH never gets asked any questions and get offered painkillers and sleeping pills without even asking (as he has a wrist injury at present).

if they are going to restrict purchases like that, why don't they make it over 18 only and ID, as with alcohol?

I’d complain about the public nature of the confrontation.

I completely get your frustration with the situation in general, and can also see how they might refuse to sell, even with the best of intentions and doing their job to the best of their ability.

There should, ideally, be a better system for identifying people. I don’t see this changing anytime soon. But a person could easily take you aside rather than do this in front of the queue.

YADNBU - this would have seriously peed me off!!

I would complain - I think it's worth it. Rather than being commendably vigilant, she was actually lazily unobservant and tactless and caused you to go out of your way to find medication to treat a painful condition.

Also, who wants to think they look exactly like someone else!

I had the same thing on-line; ordered 2 paracetamol, and it wouldn't let me add an ibuprofen. Crazy, as they're totally unrelated drugs. It's even suggested that you take them together!

If it isn’t in store where there is a pharmacy you are now only allowed to purchase two boxes. So either 2 of ibuprofen, 2 of paracetamol or 1 of each.

Again I'm sorry you felt embarrassed if it helps the girl probably felt embarrassed refusing you! I get so nervous when I have to do that!

However, the whole point of this thread is that the woman who "remembered" the OP buying the same medicine the day before was wrong. Being embarrassed by someone doing their job - correctly - is not the same as being embarrassed by a person who is in fact in the wrong themselves. It's a ridiculously flawed system to rely on staff to remember who they have sold things to.

What's wrong with that?