Outrageous price difference on medication

Dubl07

15 x 400mg Flagyl tablets (antibiotics)

23rd January, Sam McCauley, Glasthule - €6.15
7th February, another pharmacy in South Dublin - €10.50

That's a 70% price discrepancy. The difference was so startling that I queried the price. The pharmacist told me the Jan prescription must have been for the 200mg version.

Nuh-uh. I'm returning the tablets tomorrow and want my money back.

edited to add
8th February, price-check in Cornelscourt - €5.80

TheVoodoo

I don't think that a cheaper price elsewhere is really grounds for getting your money back, best advice is just not go back there in the future.

Dubl07

Had it been a euro or two in the difference, perhaps that's what I would have done.

Maybe I'm partly seething over the banks and Irish people shrugging their shoulders yet again but we get ripped off so much because we allow it.

sundodger5

did you get the same brand in both shops?

thecommander

Dubl07 wrote: »

because we allow it.

You allowed it by purchasing them. They're under no obligation to refund you because you didn't shop around.

Dubl07

sundodger5 wrote: »

did you get the same brand in both shops?

Identical, Sundodger.

Dubl07

thecommander wrote: »

You allowed it by purchasing them. They're under no obligation to refund you because you didn't shop around.

That's a fair point but they shouldn't be inflating their prices either.

TheVoodoo

I guess in some ways though you could compare it to the local corner shop vs MNC chain? Some will have a greater buying power, and higher turnover meaning the prices will be lower. Some will have the drugs premade, others will have to make there and then, etc.

sundodger5

just had a look at the price difference between the 200mg and the 400mg and it is about 50% based on oct 2010 prices. So maybe the second pharmacy are correct. might be worth checking out before heading in for a showdown.

thecommander

Dubl07 wrote: »

That's a fair point but they shouldn't be inflating their prices either.

One has it cheaper than the other. That's the way business works.

Do you go back to Tesco with milk when you find it cheaper in Lidl?

docmol

A pharmacist will never restock drugs, in case they've been tampered with. If you return them all he can do is destroy them. I can't see him refunding you tbh.

Dubl07

thecommander wrote: »

One has it cheaper than the other. That's the way business works.

Do you go back to Tesco with milk when you find it cheaper in Lidl?

I can see the price on the shelf when I'm buying something in Lidl or Tesco and make my mind up accordingly. With prescription medication, you only get told the price at the till. Is that sufficiently transparent?

A person at a pharmacy counter seeking prescription medication is either an unwell individual or has been asked by someone else to buy it for them. Price probably isn't as much an issue to the person purchasing as speed of treatment but it feels to me that such a large percentage difference in terms of price is unfair to patients, customers and ultimately the state as it will likely be claimed against Drugs Refund or Income Tax. Isn't the price charged to the state by pharmacies for medical card drugs set by the state? Why should the price to private individuals be permitted to vary so drastically?

galwayjohn89

Dubl07 wrote: »

I can see the price on the shelf when I'm buying something in Lidl or Tesco and make my mind up accordingly. With prescription medication, you only get told the price at the till. Is that sufficiently transparent?

A person at a pharmacy counter seeking prescription medication is either an unwell individual or has been asked by someone else to buy it for them. Price probably isn't as much an issue to the person purchasing as speed of treatment but it feels to me that such a large percentage difference in terms of price is unfair to patients, customers and ultimately the state as it will likely be claimed against Drugs Refund or Income Tax. Isn't the price charged to the state by pharmacies for medical card drugs set by the state? Why should the price to private individuals be permitted to vary so drastically?

I've never had any problems asking for the price before getting a prescription filled. Shops can offer to sell stuff at whatever price they want. No one forced you to buy it at that price.

Dubl07

Vuzuggu wrote: »

I've never had any problems asking for the price before getting a prescription filled. Shops can offer to sell stuff at whatever price they want. No one forced you to buy it at that price.

To continue the Tesco analogy, if there were no prices on the shelves, one would either need a personal assistant to trail around the supermarket with a bar-code reader for every shopping trip or would need to fill one's trolley and have each item scanned and accepted/rejected at the till. Fair enough, no-one forced me to buy it but I was buying it for someone else and when I queried the price, a rational (if subsequently untrue) explanation was given.

I accept at this stage that I'm unlikely to get my money back. I'm still annoyed.

galwayjohn89

Dubl07 wrote: »

To continue the Tesco analogy, if there were no prices on the shelves, one would either need a personal assistant to trail around the supermarket with a bar-code reader for every shopping trip or would need to fill one's trolley and have each item scanned and accepted/rejected at the till. Fair enough, no-one forced me to buy it but I was buying it for someone else and when I queried the price, a rational (if subsequently untrue) explanation was given.

I accept at this stage that I'm unlikely to get my money back. I'm still annoyed.

There's a difference though, at Tesco you walk around and each item is priced (as required by law) but due to the nature of medication, you cannot walk around and pick you own. All the other stuff in the pharmacy should be priced & labeled. I suppose, they could print out every medication & dosage combination and have a booklet on the counter with all the prices, but its far easier & more practical to just ask.

Dubl07

On returning to the pharmacy, it turns out that their computer has been playing up and the price was incorrect. €5 was refunded with their apologies.

RainyDay

Dubl07 wrote: »

On returning to the pharmacy, it turns out that their computer has been playing up and the price was incorrect. €5 was refunded with their apologies.

I wonder how many other customers were affected by the computer 'playing up' and how many other refunds they've issued?

dublin99

I filled two identical precriptions last week. A pharmacy in Bray town charged €19.50. A South Dublin pharmacy, Bradleys, on Lower Kilmacud Road, three days later, charged over €27, nearly 40% more for an identical packet of 6 capsules.

Most people who are sick and have just been to their GP will not be inclined to shop around for their medication. I think there should be a thread to tell people about these rip-off pharmacies so that other consumers can be aware!

L1011

For "computer playing up" read "hadn't been bothered to run a price update disk". Dispensing systems don't error like that.