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It seems a day doesn't go by that I don't ask
myself "Whatever happened to customer service?" During the winter holidays
when telephone, Internet, and store traffic was at an all-time high, a
drop-off in customer service may be unacceptable, but it is understandable.
What is troublesome is that this nation has come to accept the deteriorating
level of customer service throughout the year.
The other day I went online to conduct some
business. The web site was down, with no explanation of when it was expected
to be back up. I made a call to a technical support line and was put on hold
"due to heavy call volume." Ok, it's possible there were a large number of
people calling at the same time, but I called this number several times day
and night for a few days and always got the same message, which called into
question the automated "heavy call volume" message. In any event, I bit the
bullet and finally connected. I waited almost 15 minutes, after punching too
many buttons, so that my call "could be routed to the right department."
Finally, a technician came on the line and did his best to answer my
questions. It was obvious from our conversation that he did not have the
answers or knowledge base I was looking for. I don't need the president of a
company to answer the phone and take care of my problems, but is it asking too
much to have at least someone who has in-depth knowledge of the product in
question? He was very polite and did his best to help me, but sadly, I ended
the phone call as frustrated as when it began. And forget about any kind of
customer service in the vast majority of retail stores today. I've come across
way too many disgruntled employees lately.
Now it could be that these were isolated
incidents; but I don't think so. This was not the first call I've made to a
customer service call center, nor the first time I've gone online to carry out
a business transaction. And it certainly wasn't my first time in a retail
store. While there are still many companies that do an excellent job of
providing customer service, it is my experience that they generally tend to
charge more for their products and services. The real question here is should
anyone have to pay more for customer service? It appears that in today's
economic climate, not only has it become an acceptable practice to charge for
those services, Americans are already doing it.
In my opinion, one of the last surviving bastions
of customer service is retail pharmacy, but unfortunately that too is quickly
eroding. In the past, I have spent a great deal of time writing about patient
counseling by pharmacists and I will continue to do so because I believe
counseling is an integral part of a pharmacist's professional obligation. I
have also advocated that pharmacists get paid for their counseling services.
Some say I am blowing smoke in the wind and beating a dead horse. Others agree
with me. Whatever your position, I believe customer service continues to
separate the mediocre health care professionals from the ones that really
stand out. Unfortunately, overworked and professionally unfulfilled
pharmacists make for lousy customer service representatives. While it is true
that the current shortage of pharmacists may be blamed on the escalation of
new stores and, in some cases, deplorable retail working conditions, another
reason is pharmacy students looking to enter retail are not being satisfied
professionally. It is time for owners, managers, and third-party prescription
programs to start paying pharmacists for their knowledge and not for the
number of prescriptions they fill. Let's continue to keep customer service
alive in retail pharmacy.
Harold E. Cohen, R.Ph.
Editor-In-Chief
To comment on this article, contact
editor@uspharmacist.com.
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