Poor customer service by professionals, health insights and positive thinking.

Yesterday I wrote a post about being gracious and commented on the poor attitude of the computer games salesperson.

Today I will be telling you about a very poor recent experience with a sales assistant who was actually an educated professional – in this case a Pharmacist (Chemist). I will also provide some health insights and an interesting twist on positive thinking.

I received the following quote in an email newsletter 2 days ago – after they key events described in this post. I read it with a smile – you will understand why as you read on…

“A wise man should consider that health is the greatest
of human blessings, and learn how by his own
thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.”
— Hippocrates: Ancient Greek physician, known as the “father of medicine”

On Monday morning last – a week ago – I washed my hair with a well known anti dandruff shampoo. Ugh you say. I say yes; on both counts – about the dandruff and the shampoo. I have been using this brand of anti dandruff shampoo on and off since my teens, however had planned* that this would be my last bottle because I am switching to an organic based anti dandruff shampoo. (*Some might see another side to this aspect ;-))

On Monday evening I noticed an itch behind both ears.

Tuesday morning I had some small red itchy patches on one finger on each hand. Initially I thought it was some kind of skin infection/fungus or similar and applied some Lamisil which I had in the fridge. Besides being a treatment for certain infections, Lamisil also helps relieve itching. As the day wore on more red patches appeared on my hands. As things got worse into Tuesday evening my wife commented that she thought it was likely to be an allergic reaction to the anti dandruff shampoo I was using, and that allergies can sometimes appear out of the blue, even when something did not previously cause an allergy. We were careful to evaluate and eliminate any other possibilities; of which there were none because I had not changed anything in my diet or lifestyle etc. Everything else I had used or eaten in the time frame appeared benign.

On Wednesday morning I awoke with even more itchy red patches on my hands – these were also moderately painful and I noticed that they tended to appear or get worse after pressure was applied to the skin just by normal daily activity.

As a prearranged doctor’s appointment about another routine matter was scheduled for Friday I decided to pay a visit to the Pharmacy/Chemist on Wednesday instead of trying to bring forward the visit to my doctor (Physician). Here in Australia, qualified Pharmacists are allowed to dispense some medical advice which can be very helpful for minor complaints. I attended the Pharmacy where I usually go for urgent things or prescriptions (for run of the mill and non urgent items I shop online). I have a practice of patronising businesses where I get really good service and when I discovered that the owner (normal Pharmacist) was on holiday I had no reason to suspect that the substitute Pharmacist was anything less than first rate (all the other ordinary sales assistants at this store are very good and generally better than elsewhere).

The substitute Pharmacist listened to my account of my skin problem, viewed the state of my hands, and in response to my request for suggestions as to what I might need commented that I should purchase a non soap based hand cleanser and some Sigmacort 1% steroid cream for my hands. Sigmacort 1% is available without a Doctor’s prescription/script here in Australia but has to be sold with the approval of a Pharmacist.

I left the store with the cream and hand wash.

As Wednesday progressed the red patches got worse, despite applying Sigmacort. Because one side effect of Sigmacort can be redness, irritation etc I decided not to apply it on Thursday. My hands continued to get worse, though the itching subsided after I did some limited spiritual stuff. On Thursday evening hives appeared on my stomach and face near my eyes.

At 4 am on Friday morning I was awakened by terrible itching on both hands – it was so bad I decided to use Sigmacort. Within half an hour the itching subsided and I was able to get back to sleep.

On Friday afternoon I visited my Doctor and she advised me that I needed Claratyne (Claratin in USA) which is an anti-histamine. The Doctor explained that the product was available from Pharmacies without a prescription.

Once I started taking Claratyne my symptoms improved markedly.

Why is this relevant? Because the Claratyne is available in a Pharmacy without a Doctor’s prescription (though sale does require approval of a Pharmacist). The Pharmacist I spoke with on Wednesday was aware of my view that I was suffering from an allergy – Claratyne, along with other anti-histamines, is a well known anti allergy medication. I could have bought the Claratyne on Wednesday had I known it would likely help. I did not know, however the Pharmacist would have done. I do not see her omission as a simple mistake either – from my subsequent research into the situation it is clear her omission was not reasonable and therefore not the kind of mistake one overlooks.

Simply speaking; I had two unnecessary days of suffering and inconvenience because I was unfortunate enough to speak with a fifth rate Pharmacist who demonstrated either a lack of concern or interest in her work and customers, or simple gross incompetence. During my visit I was very polite to her and there was nothing about my demeanor or behavior that would have given offence.

When the owner of the business returns from holiday I will inform him of the situation. The reason is not to get revenge or anything negative – what concerns me is that an idiot like that could do or omit something that has very serious consequences for someone else (I will NEVER deal with her again). What happened to me is not a big deal and in any case I turned it into a positive, as I will relate later in this article.

A key lesson (which I already knew) is that one has to be very careful when dealing with apparent professionals or educated people. Just because they are qualified does not mean that they are any good, or that they care about you. Don’t be sucked in by titles, badges, white coats or certificates. What really matters is the kind of person they are, their experience and their results. I tried to eliminate the potential problem by only dealing with a top notch Pharmacy/Chemist – unfortunately I got caught out because of a poor choice of substitute by the business owner (which of course reflects on him I know).

Because the Pharmacy concerned has made what I consider to be a one off mistake (they have been excellent over a long period of time and in various situations) I will not name them here. Perhaps the woman who “helped” me was all they could get at this time of year (holidays in Australia) – one thing is for sure – she definitely came from the bottom of the barrel!

Anyway, I hope you get something out of my experience. Remember that people you hire represent you and are in some respects an extension of you. Whenever I come across poor staff I always blame management – bad hires, poor training, staff abuse etc. Morale flows down from the top too.

Moving on now to some positive aspects of my experience….

The itching and pain was very unpleasant. I turned it into a positive because I thought about how people with arthritis must feel, people with burns or other painful and/or itchy hand conditions. I knew my problem would pass, however for many people their situation would not improve. I became even more thankful for good health. I thought about how much better off I was compared to many people.

Another thing I did was to utilize the stressors – the itching and pain – to facilitate some special emotional and psychic healing modalities. The stressors enabled me to more easily access certain areas of my psyche – some of the unhealed damaged areas were closer to the surface. I grew in resilience and the ability to be happy no matter what.

Now I have few symptoms, I look back and say that the overall effect was good. I gained more than I lost. And not only that, when readers are helped or inspired by what I write then even more good will come out of the situation.

I expect you can now see why I smiled when I received the newsletter containing the above quote by Hippocrates, after I had been through the most significant parts of the experience.