The Domino family: They call the pharmacy, and despite the fact they can use the automated system to put in the their Rx number OR use the Internet, they just HAVE to talk to a pharmacy staff member and give us the Rx numbers over the phone. This is time consuming. That's WHY we have the automated systems. It's FOR YOU and FOR ME.
So after going through all that for their three family members, the Dominoes show up, ALWAYS, during the busiest part of the day. ALWAYS. And Mrs. Domino, no matter how many people are in line behind her, no matter how busy we look... she's going to write a damn check EVERY SINGLE TIME. In 1970 it wasn't a big deal. In today's world that's a lifetime!
as a check writer, I gotta say - not your business how they pay. Sure, if they wait until the bill is totaled before even looking in a purse/pocket for a checkbook, then you might have grounds for complaint. It IS polite to be ready when the total is presented. However, simply taking a couple of minutes longer (and the new chip cards take longer too. Will you be writing about those?), well complaining about that just makes YOU look petty. Is that REALLY the worst part of your day?
ReplyDeleteIt makes me laugh when the register basically processes it as a debit-like transaction anyways, voids the check and I end up handing it back to the person along with a receipt for them to sign.
ReplyDelete"Don't you need the check?"
nope, processed like a debit card
"But, I wrote you a check?"
(goodness gracious) yes, but the information has been transmitted to your bank as if you had used your debit card, hence the slip you are signing.
"I don't get it. Did you steal my personal information?"
omgomgomgomgomg
@Anonymous 6:54a
ReplyDeleteIt is extraordinarily annoying when you waste everyone else's time when using a debit card and writing a check are essentially the same now.
Basically, you are saying your time is more valuable than everyone else's and that you don't care if you tie up a register for a few minutes when you could've been done in seconds.
Remember, you are wasting the time of the poor technician and/or pharmacist that has to stand there while you fumble around with your check.
And while I'm at it, yes the chip reader is annoying as well but if you understand the increased security behind it, I'm all for it.
When I shop at non-chain stores, I ask the proprietor (if he's waiting on me) whether he'd rather I use a debit card or write a check (assuming he does not process a check as if it were a debit card). Many are grateful that I ask, because they don't pay a processing fee on a check. (Just like all those people anxious to acquire "rewards" don't understand that merchants are paying extra to give you those rewards.) You obviously wouldn't care what processing fee your pharmacy pays. But don't villify all check-writing as a waste of time. Some of us prefer to take checks that we can walk to the bank without paying a fee.
ReplyDeleteA lot of older people (like my mother) use checks. Sometimes my mother will write the check for $10.00 over the amount so she can get cash back. My mother does not trust debit cards and she does not have one. She's 80, give her a break. Yes, I understand it's annoying but I'm sure when you're 80 you'll do some things they way you did them in 2017 and time will have moved on and the people waiting on you will find what you are doing annoying.
ReplyDeleteIt is extraordinarily annoying when you waste everyone else's time when using a debit card and writing a check are essentially the same now.
ReplyDeleteDid you miss the part where I said a check writer should be ready to pay? You are assuming I am "fumbling" with the check. If the check writer is ready, we're talking a difference of a few seconds per transaction A.FEW.TIMES.A.DAY (because really, how many times are you having to pay for something per day? Three? Four? even five?) What will you be doing with all those extra seconds you've saved because now you don't have to wait for check writers?
Seriously, all the problems in the world right now, and THIS is what upsets you?
And as for "making the technician wait", they get paid for serving the customer. THAT IS THEIR VERY JOB. Having to stand at the counter for a few seconds longer than a non-chip debit card transaction won't be changing wait times at the pharmacy. And people say that liberals are the crybabies... Sounds like the whiny entitled attitude is on both sides of the aisle.
Anon 10:10 again. I do confess that I am petty enough that I will now be *enjoying* ruining the days of ALL the people in line behind me because they had to wait a weeeeeeeeee bit longer. I don't think I am more important than other people. Similarly, they are not important enough that they get to dictate how I manage my money. Consider using all that extra time you're stuck in line (oh, the HUMANITY!) to contemplate WHY your life is so sad that you care THAT much HOW other people pay their bills. At least they ARE paying those bills with their own money. After all, I could be using...welfare...
ReplyDelete@anon 10:19
ReplyDeleteThank you for proving my point.
Having to deal with entitled folks like you is a big reason why those of us in retail pharmacy die just a little bit on the inside every, single, day.
Sigh...
May I help who's next?
Going by this apparently my pharmacy will just be a bitch fest about me. I have to use relay to make calls so when I have to talk to the pharmacy, the relay takes about three time as long as a regular call (just the nature of the beast). Then, sometimes I'm out and I need to get a refill and the website isn't working from my phone so I have to call to refill my meds. If I try to use the automatic, I may have to phone into the system 5 or 6 times for one medication. This is because the relay operators are not familiar with the system and they mess it up, so they will dial in, mess up, hang up, redial, advance to the next option in the phone tree, ad nauseam. At that point I just call and give the Rx number to the pharmacy staff.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, no, my pharmacy doesn't bitch because they know it doesn't work well and I am doing what I can with the tools available to me. Like much of life, they just deal with it and move on.