Chemist gave me the wrong canesten, who is to blame

[Dontfeedthemaftermidnight]

Rushing around with young dd yesterday late afternoon and nipped to the chemist to get her medicine and some Canesten for me as I’ve been itchy down below and suspect thrush. I got called to the counter with a young, not friendly guy, who seemed to be training a young woman. I asked for the medicine for Dd and the canesten, paid etc whilst dd was whinging for things. We drove home and I noticed when I got in that he’d given me a box ot Canesten for toes/feet. It was too late to go back so I texted to ask dh to pick up from a different chemist near his work on the way back.
Today i took the box back with the receipt, all
unopened and explained it to the same guy on the counter, all a bit embarrassing talking in front of others about vaginal thrush!
He was pretty rude to me, no apology at all and really quite put out about me requesting a refund, saying they don’t usually allow it. He had an awful manner, no please or thank you and actually made me feel quite embarrassed
Who was in the wrong here?

Chemist is in the wrong. I'd expect him to know there's more than one type of Canestan and establish which one you need. I only know of it as a thrush treatment so it wouldn't have crossed my mind to check if I had been given the wrong product.

I have suffered with thrush and always asked for a thrush tablet, never been any confusion it’s not vaginal. He was wrong to assume!

did you say you needed it for thrush?

What did you ask for the first time? If you just asked for "canesten" then it's on you to check what you were given. It's just a brand name you need to be more specific. If you asked for "canesten cream for thrush" and were given something else, that's on them.

Chemist is in the wrong. I work at a pharmacy and I always discreetly question what the customer is wanting to treat and make it very clear the difference between the 1% and 2% clomitrazole cream. The 2% being for vaginal thrush only. If I had made that mistake I would be apologising and refunding the money.

@Dampfnudeln Yes, exactly the same for me, I had no idea it was used for certain things

The chemist was wrong. I hope you got a refund.

@givemushypeasachance Is it up to me though or them to ask what it’s to treat if there are different things, I had no idea it treats other things

@ButterCrackers I got the refund…but reluctantly and no apology or smile etc, just very rude

This assumes chemist knowledge on the part of the customer. It’s up to the professional to ask what type of Canesten.

you didn’t clarify
he made an assumption

🤷 both have fault in this

it’s abundantly clear from the packaging op

I thought the caneston for feet could be used externally to relieve itchiness but not internally so if you just mentioned itching that could be where the mistake came in.

@MyOpalViewer It was once I got it out at home, yes, I didnt think to take it out of the bag to check at the chemist, same with my dds medicine. I just saw the box with Canesten on it

Did you just ask for the brand? Rather than tell him it's for thrush? You should have been specific in what you asked for and checked it at the till when purchasing it, at least you know for next time!

I just asked for Canesten as I thought it was only for vaginal thrush

do you concede that you should

1. clarified what you wanted
2. looked at product before purchasing

and

he should have asked

so fault on both sides

People saying that you should have checked may be unaware that pharmacy only medicines are only allowed to be sold if the pharmacist is happy that it is an appropriate product for the person in question. They should be asking questions about its use to determine this. Many don't. It is not the customer's responsibility to make sure the pharmacist is doing their job properly.

Isn't it available off the shelf though?

It isn’t a pharmacy only medicine though and the man who served her very likely isn’t a pharmacist, or medically trained at all even if he just works on the till.

You can add it to your online order

You can use the 1% to relieve external itching due to thrush

Totally missing the point of the thread but Canesten is really expensive, Boots do their own brand of both the oral tablet and the cream/pessary which is much cheaper.

I was also going to say this, if you buy the generic cream it’s cheaper, just not the brand name and is the same thing.

The pharmacist is the professional here. If there’s more than one type they should clarify, not just pick one up at random.