Comedy of errors, or, my day so far

9am this morning I called the pharmacy, and told them of their error. The customer service representative said she'd speak to the pharmacist and call me right back about shipping replacement patches.

10 am rolls around and I then spoke to the nurse at Big Clinic, who had kindly called me back, and she confirmed that I did the right thing by putting all four teeny patches on at once. She was going to fax me a new prescription but given that it sounded like the pharmacy were going to send me a replacement, I said not to bother.

11am and I was still waiting for my right back phone call. Nothing. So I went to the dentist to get some dental work done. And the pharmacy called at 11.30 while I was sitting around waiting for the novocaine to fully work, so I answered it, and had a slurred conversation with the customer service rep, who told me that I'd have to pay full price for the repeat prescription, because I'd used the patches they sent me. Uh, well, see I had to use them, I said, because I needed the medication. And I had to use them all because YOU sent me the wrong dose. "No, no" she says "I mean, if you'd checked the prescription when it was sent to you, instead of waiting until you were about to use it, you would have noticed it was wrong, and could have sent the box back unopened". Umm, so, it was YOUR error, and you want me to pay? Is that what you're saying? We went back and forwards for a while, until I convinced her that I did check the prescription when I received it, but the prescription label and the patient information sheet being correct kind of threw me, and that I didn't realize I was expected to be a CSI-style investigator to spot an error that their double checking didn't pick up. She said she'd wait until the pharmacists changed shifts and ask the next guy.

Noon. Lunchtime. Spotting. Start freaking out that my period is going to show today, and everything is going to go to pieces after all.

We get to 3pm, and I realize my knickers have stuck to one of the patches, which I later discovered has rolled itself up into a little ball and is not giving me any estrogen at all. My knickers are presumably nicely estrogened up, but that's not exactly helpful. Obviously my butt is not as big as I thought it was, because who'd have thought there wasn't enough real estate for four patches to coexist happily? I unrolled the patch, which took forever, as that thing did not want to unravel, and taped it back onto my arse with bandaids. And who knows if it is now in fact providing any estrogen at all. But the good news is, no more spotting.

So, cut to 4pm. Next guy pharmacist has obviously shown up for work. The customer service rep calls me and says that next guy pharmacist agrees with me that I shouldn't have to pay for the estrogen patches. Finally, someone with some common sense! However, overnight shipping is going to be $15. What??? I pointed out that if they hadn't made the mistake, I wouldn't need overnight shipping, and that they normally don't charge for overnight shipping. But I guess they don't charge for overnight shipping when you're spending several hundred or thousand dollars, and ain't going to cut you any slack at all when it's their own dime. Gee, thanks guys. Thanks for the fabulous customer service and making me want to use you forever more. I sighed and agreed, as I just wanted the damn things to show up, and it was after all going to be cheaper than going to my local CVS for the patches. I am clearly lame and not good at arguing my case.

I wonder what else can go wrong? Oh, and my cheek has swollen up from the dental work, so now I look like half a chipmunk. Nice.