I have been mad as hell since Saturday. It all started at my child’s soccer game. I went there straight from work and got there about 15 minutes early. By the time the whistle blew to start the game, I had to use the bathroom-badly. I asked my boyfriend where the bathroom was and he said he thought it was near the entrance. He was wrong. The game was held at a school. It was Saturday. There weren’t any bathrooms open. Not even a Port-A-John which I would have reduced myself to using at that point. Since I was almost to the parking lot, I decided to get in my car and drive in search of a bathroom. I stopped at a local pharmacy, CVS, to use their bathroom but was told they didn’t have a public bathroom. What? I may or may not have dropped a few expletives as I was leaving. The next choice was Dairy Queen-someplace I view as dirty and therefore, never go. Desperate times, desperate measures. I went there and to was pleasantly surprised to find one very clean bathroom. I went back to the soccer field and was briefed by my boyfriend about the score. Then he turns to me and asks if I found the bathroom. I turned to him and asked him if he really thought I’d found a bathroom at the school and oh, by the way, did you happen to notice I was gone for fifteen minutes? Uh-hum…anyway, moving on.
When we got home that night, we discovered our heater was out. I realize that I live in Az and it was only about 65 degrees out but I’m a desert rat through and through and it was cold. Plus, in my defense, our house is 25 years old and there is a 10 degree drop in temperature from one side of the house to the other. Oh, and that drop happens to be on the side of the house that all the bedrooms are on. My boyfriend called the on call maintenance person twice before we got a call back from her. She had him try a few different things like check the breaker and make sure the heater was actually in the ‘ON’ position. Still, no heat. She told him she would send someone out first thing on Sunday. Sunday afternoon arrived and still no heat and no call from her. After two calls she finally called back to say there was not a heater guy available. She was lying. She’s just lazy. I’m sure she was sitting there in her Lazy Boy kicking back a few beers while watching the game. So sorry to have interrupted you, bitch. Heater guy didn’t show up until today. So glad a blizzard didn’t hit us in the meantime. Neither her boss nor her boss’s boss will return my call. I’ve had issues with this maintenance lady before. Just to put a little humor into this whole house situation, today I get a letter from the real estate management company advises us that for a $25 rent increase, we can renew our lease at the end of December. Really? In this economy and with so many houses vacant in Az they have the cajones to try and raise our rent? Hell to the no. We’ll be moving at the end of January. Hey, if you have a truck and like to life heavy objects you’re welcome to join us.
I work at a call center and this years schedule has me working weekends. As a courtesy to the person I’m relieving, I can plug in ten minutes early, get the briefing of what’s going on and let the person leave. Sunday, I put my stuff down at t6:30 a the station I was assigned to work. A woman who has worked there many years but who I don’t really know other than the fact that I’ve heard she’s bat shit crazy, is the person I’m suppose to relief. She asks me if I’m her relief. I answer yes. Then she says, “Let me just say this: if you are not plugged in by 7:00 I’m going to kick your ass.” And this grown woman was serious. I replied, “I can take you, bring it on.” She reiterated,”I will kick your ass,” to which I again replied, “I can take you.” and walked away. I didn’t realize I was back in junior high school. When I came to sign in at 6:59 and a half minutes (yes, I purposely didn’t plug in early. I’m evil like that), her other personality kicked in and she was all apologetic and embarrassed. As well she should be.
Yesterday, I had an appointment with a new Neurologist. I was told when I made the appointment that I would be seeing two doctors in one visit. One for migraines and the other for TMJ-all for one co-pay. When the doctor came into the room, she informed me that I would only be seeing the migraine specialist that day as a TMJ specialist required a separate appointment. When I questioned her about what I was told when I made the appointment, she told me I needed to call my insurance company and find out if treatment for TMJ was covered. I told her it would have been wonderful if the person who made the appointment would have told me that so I could have called for that information beforehand. She said it wouldn’t have mattered because I wouldn’t have seen both doctors in one visit anyway. To say I was getting agitated would be down playing the situation. After she asked me several different questions, she left the room for about twenty minutes. She returned with another doctor who asked the same questions and did the same ‘is your right side as strong as your left side’ tests. All I really wanted from these people was a prescription for Imitrex in pill form because the nasal spray was making my bladder hurt afterwards. By the time I left, they gave me that prescription plus one I didn’t want for anti-inflammatory’s, wanted me to have an X-ray of my neck (that’s where the headaches usually begin) and wanted me to go to the physical therapist that worked in their office. All sounded pretty good to me. What didn’t sound good to me was when the doctor said she could shoot Lidocaine into my shoulders to dull the pain. I told her I’d have to think about/research/no way in hell and get back to her. Then came checkout time. I inquired to the lady behind the counter about why I was told I was to have a double appointment and only got one. She him-hawed around and even went to ask the first doctor I saw, then came back and told me to call my insurance for prior authorization for TMJ and gave me a small piece of paper with numbers and letters on it that my insurance company was suppose to translate into whether or not they covered it. She gave me directions to a place nearby to have my X-rays taken. Then came the physical therapist. I was told yet one more time that I would have to call my insurance company and get prior authorization because she didn’t do just any type of PT. Oh no, she did Craniosacral Therapy and I would be required to pay a $35 co-pay each time. I left the office really pissed. The only good that came from that appointment was that I got a prescription for my migraine medications. Which leads me to my next experience.
I dropped off the prescription at Walgreen’s yesterday afternoon and told the faceless pharmacy tech at the drive thru window I would need the script tomorrow morning. This morning, I dropped my son off at school and drove to Walgreen’s. I went inside to pick up my meds because I had other things to buy. I was told by the lady at the pharmacy that my medication wasn’t in stock but would be coming in by truck in 2-3 hours. I asked her why I wasn’t informed of this. The response from this 20 something-I-should-be-working-at-McDonald’s-because-I-have-no-customer-service-skills was ‘gee, the techs try and call but you, know, there’s like so much to do and so much going on that we can’t like, always call everyone’. My response was, why not? My time is just as valuable as their time and as the customer, even more so. I explained that it’s not easy to come back two and three times to pick up medications and a simple automated phone call would have saved me the bother. Her response was similar to Dora the Explorer stare after she asks what your favorite part of the program was and waits for your answer. Sort of a blinking eyed robot stare. I said seriously, I should have been advised of the hold up and left. I go home and watch a movie (Bridesmaid’s-2 thumbs up btw). At 1:30 I call the pharmacy’s automated line and find out that my prescription is ready. What a surprise, I never got a phone call. I wait for the message to repeat itself, push the button for the pharmacy, and ask to speak to the manager. I barely get half way through the saga that has become my life when he cuts me off and asks me what my name is. I said, “I wasn’t finished talking to you but if giving you my name will somehow make you listen then it’s Renae.” He couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t being called when the prescription was ready either and like any good task master (read:man who hears a woman with a problem automatically assumes he’s being told about it because he must fix it), advised me he would put in a slip to have my account looked at. I said, so that’s it? You’ve totally breezed over how rude your employee was to me, all you’re going to do is send some slip in? What about her lack of customer service, don’t you feel that needs to be addressed? His response told me everything I needed to know; “I’ve put the slip in and hopefully that takes care of the issue.” I’m irritated and by this time I’m working on a pretty good headache. I drove back to the pharmacy to get my meds. There was someone in one lane when I got there so I drove into the other lane. That person finished and drove off and the car behind them drove up to the window. Guess who was the next person to be waited on? Oh yes, the car that hadn’t been waiting as long as I have. I pushed the Call button and the pharmacist answered me back. I asked if the lane I was in was open. “Yes,” he answered, “I’ll be right with you.” Blood pressure skyrocketing I say “I want to know why you waited on the other lady first when I was clearly here first waiting?” The faceless tech in the drive thru answered “because I was on the phone and he was helping me.” WTF? I drove out of the drive thru and pranced my unhappy ass to the pharmacy in the back of the store. I asked to speak to the manager whom I was on a first name basis with now. I told him my complaint. Afterwards, another employee said “If I may interject, the other pharmacist was on the phone and I went over to help with the drive thru so I just took the next person.” I asked the manager, “Why didn’t he ask who was next instead of assuming it was the car closest to the window? I had been waiting over five minutes.” “Your name?” For the love of all things holy and pure! I gave him my name and he looked me up in the computer. I told him that I’d just spoken to him on the phone. No recognition whatsoever. He asked how he could help me. I told him I wanted what I came there for- my prescription. He went into the back to some mysterious place for quite a few minutes longer than I know it should have taken him. When he comes out, he provides me with…my actual prescription…not my meds. I was l-i-v-i-d. “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “No, you said you wanted your prescription, here it is.” I asked him for his bosses name and number. He refused and told me to call 1-800-Walgreens. I also asked for the name of the employee that was over in a corner with the guy from the drive thru giggling at how cute they were to and how fun it was to work in a place that lacked total customer service skills and a place in which their boss promoted such behavior. Surprisingly, he gave her name to me. I turned to leave and as I was walking away I heard the manager yell ‘Thank you!” I turned and walked back and said. “Excuse me? Did you have something else to say to me?” He told me he didn’t say anything. I wanted to tell him that if he didn’t shut the hell up I was going to kick his ass but I restrained myself. I was on the phone with 1-800-Walgreen’s before I even left the store. That’s the corporate number he gave me which means I should hear from the district office next week. Calling corporate, according to the angel who listened to me bitch and moan on the other end of the phone, means that a complaint is written up and placed in his personnel file permanently. The manager would have been better off giving me his boss’ name and number. Who’s giggling now, asshole?
After that good time, I get a call from my boyfriend asking me how my day was. I proceed to unload on him-the girl should be working at McDonald’s, the manager never once addressed the rudeness/stupidity/lack of customer service skills of his employees, gave me the actual script back because he was oh-so-cute to his employees by doing so. What was his immediate reply? When you write the letter to corporate, be sure and include just the facts. Leave out your opinions or they won’t take you for being more than and angry customer. WTF? Him too? He and I have had this discussion before. When I’m venting I’m doing just that. I just want to be heard and understood and perhaps cuddled. I don’t need him to fix things, I just need him to listen. Why can’t guys get that? I abruptly told him I had to go and hung up. A part of me feels badly for doing so but another part of me hopes he’ll put some thought into it and figure out where he went wrong. Yeah…..
In conclusion here’s what I’ve decided: reference neuro, I’m not going back. I’m going to make an appointment with my internist, get another script (after all of that the doctor wrote the script for only 9 pills), ask for and X-ray of my neck and back and also for PT on my neck and back at the place where I’m already getting PT done and don’t have to pay a co-pay each time I go. As far as, my bat shit crazy co-worker, I’m going to act like that never happened because she did apologize after all, but I will be watching her. You always have to keep your eye on the crazies. As for the pharmacy, I’m not going back as pharmacies are a dime a dozen here in Az. I already got it filled elsewhere in under a half an hour. As far as my boyfriend goes? We’ll have the talk again. My weekend is now over. At this point, going back to work and dealing with the public will almost be a pleasure.
Ms. Peebody 