Osco Pharmacy Drive-Through

Have you had delays at the Woodstock Osco Pharmacy drive-through lane? You know, when you get stuck behind a customer whose order or questions are taking 5-10 minutes (or more)?

Monday night I went to Osco to pick up prescriptions and pulled up behind a woman in a minivan. OK, so I’m not picking on women and I’m not picking on minivans. Mid-evening is not exactly rush-hour at the pharmacy, but I could tell that the vehicle had not just pulled up.

After 2-3 minutes I heard the Osco pharmacy employee tell the driver that she (the employee) would have to call the doctor to clarify the dosage of the prescription. Bad news! How long will that take?

Fortunately, I could back out of the drive-through lane, and then I parked in the parking lot, walked into the store, walked back to the pharmacy and purchased the prescriptions. Before I left, I suggested to the employees on duty that they should tell customers with long delays to pull forward, park and come into the store. An employee told me that they had tried that but customers got mad. I said, “Well, I’m mad.” So they still have a mad customer, one way or the other.

I returned to my car and drove to where I could see the drive-through lane. Guess what? That same car was still there!

Tuesday morning I called Jewel-Osco headquarters and registered a complaint with the customer service rep. I suggested this is probably a global problem with all Osco drive-throughs and that an officer of the company should consider a policy to be followed by all pharmacies.

Then I called the Woodstock Osco Pharmacy and spoke with the pharmacy manager. When I explained my experience, she immediately agreed and said their employees are supposed to tell customers with delays to pull forward, so that other customers can be waited on!

Gee, imagine that! Osco already has that policy! Maybe there will be an improvement. What do I suggest? When you are unnecessarily delayed at the Osco pharmacy, tell the Manager about it. If the Manager doesn’t know, she can’t do anything about it.

Sometimes the Manager can’t do anything about it, even when he or she knows about it. Previously I have complained (for years) about the way in which pharmacy employees ignore waiting customers. They do a great job of keeping their heads down and not looking up to see how long the line of waiting customers is.

Banks train tellers to a “heads-up” policy; i.e., tellers are to look up and acknowledge waiting customers. Don’t ignore them. Work quickly to serve the customer in front of you, and then move that customer on. Don’t waste time chit-chatting or making plans for Sunday’s dinner with that customer.

I’m willing to wait patiently if the employees are working quickly to serve customers. What often happens? Another employee comes to help when there is a problem, and then there are TWO employees tied up with one customer. At that point, the first employee should move to a different window and begin helping other customers. There is no need for two employees to wait on one customer, when there are 2-3-4-5 customers waiting in line.

Slow Service at the Post Office

Friendly customer service is always appreciated, and service at the windows at the Woodstock Post Office is generally good. Slow, but good.

On Tuesday I stopped at the Post Office in mid-afternoon to mail a small envelope containing a dog tag I had made for a friend who is sailing from Connecticut to Florida with only his dog as “crew.” I was aboard “Dust in the Wind” in December and noticed that the lettering on Chubby’s tag was worn out and that the tag had the owner’s previous address on it but no phone number.

What does a dog tag weigh? And what does a dog tag in a small, padded mailer weigh? Less than an ounce.

I wanted to use the automated postage equipment in the lobby, but I wasn’t sure whether the size of the mailer might require the second ounce of postage ($0.17), for a total of $0.58, so I waited in line as the fourth or fifth customer.

And waited and waited and waited. Two postal clerks were working, and both had slow customers.

Why is it that customers step up to the counter without money out and ready? Do they think postage or mailing will be free? (Of course, I wonder the same thing at Jewel. Do customers expect groceries to be free, if they don’t get out cash, credit card or check?)

At the window I was surprised to learn that $1.13 postage was required, because my small, light, padded mailer was a “package.” But the long delay there was due to the equipment that totaled up my postage charge. The excuse? “The Post Office went with the low bidder.”

Great, just great. How much is labor expense is wasted, waiting for slow postal equipment? Where were the time-efficiency experts when the purchasing decision was made?

Should postal clerks be paid salaries, by the hour, or by the number of customers waited on? If there is no one waiting, sure, be friendly and take some extra time. When there are customers waiting, be friendly, but also be efficient. Move the customer aside while she puts everything back in her purse and gathers up her keys. Call the next customer, in order to help move the just-helped customer aside. The chatty customer is oblivious to the long line of customers waiting behind her.

All? (Always? Never?)

Is there any member of the law enforcement community who has spoken to Sheriff Keith Nygren who does NOT support Dan Regna?

Local radio aired paid political announcements on February 2 at 7:57AM and again at 8:20AM (and later) in which the sheriff stated that “all the men and women in the police community that I have spoken to” support Dan Regna. “All” is a pretty big word. Has not even one person told the sheriff that he supports Lou Bianchi?

Words like “all”, “always” and “never” are suspect in many statements, because the case is likely that, by nature, what follows is probably not to be true.

Should cop organizations and heads of law enforcement agencies come out for one candidate or another? Is it desperation that has resulted in their level of support in this year’s primary race? Just what is the desperation all about?

It’s all over today but the shouting. Bianchi got more votes in the primary than Regna. What kind of working relationship with the sheriff’s department now have with the state’s attorney’s office? Have bridges been burned?

If it had been a fair fight, there probably wouldn’t be hard feelings. Everybody has an opinion; right? But in an ugly contest, there will be lingering hard feelings.

County Offices to be Closed???

What in the world do we have for County Government officials? This morning’s Northwest Herald carried an article that a decision was made yesterday to close County offices today (Wednesday) because of the weather forecast. Whatever happened to employees leaving early to arrive at work on time, or making whatever effort was necessary to get to work, even if late?

People who live in areas that normally experience winter weather need to be prepared physically and mentally to drive their cars in inclement weather and to have their vehicles equipped and serviced, so that they can be operated safely in snow. Is that asking too much? Well, maybe it is.

When I don’t work, I don’t get paid.

Maybe all employees should be treated the same way. If an employee wants to take a Snow Day, then s/he can do so – without pay. Then we’d see how many employees make it in to work!

What will employees do on their weather-related day off? How many will head to Wilmot for skiing? Oh, the roads were really bad. Really?

And how many will make it out to Bennigan’s on the far side of Crystal Lake for lunch? Or to the mall for shopping?

February Coffee with the Chief

Go Directly to Jail . . .

Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. OK, just kidding.

On February 11 you can go directly to jail – in the company of a Woodstock Police officer, AND you can leave when you are ready. And you can have coffee with Chief of Police Robert Lowen – and enjoy some treats prepared by Mrs. Lowen.

February’s Coffee with the Chief will feature a unique opportunity to tour the Woodstock Police Department. See the Communications Center (you heard about this in January, if you attended last month’s Coffee), the Records Department, second floor administration offices and, conditions permitting, the jail.

This monthly event will be held on Monday, February 11th, from 7:00-8:30PM.

In addition to the tour of the Department, you’ll have an opportunity to express your concerns about any matters that you’d like the police to know about – traffic problems, noise from neighbors, students loitering in your neighborhood on school days, bad checks in your business, etc.

Questions before Monday? Call the Chief’s administrative assistant, Tamara Reed at 815-338-6787.

County Roads Closing

An announcement was just made at the Woodstock Library that the County is closing County highways. What in the world is going on around here???

If a vehicle is not equipped for inclement weather, it should not be on the roads. If the driver can't handle snow, he shouldn't be on the roads.

But for the County to close the highways? No. NO. Triple-NO!!!

Sure, the roads are slick. So what? It's winter in northern Illinois. This is not Palm Beach!

If you are irate about the decision to close County highways at 12:23PM, call the County Administrator Peter Austin. Oh, wait. You can't do that. County offices are closed today.

Early Spring is the Forecast

The crowd gathered in the Woodstock Square this morning seemed smaller than usual, and they were quieter than in previous years. In past years they have almost approached raucous, but today they were more subdued. Snow had been cleared from the sidewalks in the Square, and the crowd overflowed the cleared areas and moved closer for a better look, as Woodstock Willie emerged, “reluctantly” as the proclamation reads, and did not see his shadow – forecasting an early spring in our area. Don’t we just hope?

Willie did almost make his escape, while his handler was showing him to the crowd after the prognostication. During one photo op the handler leaned over the railing from the gazebo and held Willie close to a family group posed for a picture. That was about the best, up-close look the crowd got of Willie.

As in previous years the media totally disregarded the public at the moment of the prognostication and surrounded Willie, standing between Willie and the crowd gathered for the event, so that the “common folks” gathered for the event got only a good look at the backsides of the photographers. Somebody on the Groundhog Committee needs to explain to the photogs that the event is for the people who are gathered, not for them. They should be welcome to get their shots for the news, but not at the expense of the crowd gathered.

I’ve observed this in past years, and it has gone unchecked by the Committee. Do they notice? Do they care?

Several years ago I founded the Woodstock Chapter of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The original idea was to create a social organization in Woodstock that would meet at various times during the year for networking opportunities, whether business or social. One year the banner of the Chapter was on display at Studio 2015 and another year at Tip Top Bistro. A few gatherings were announced, including at Sub-Zero. Heck, maybe I’m bad luck for businesses. Two of them have closed, and the third has moved off the Square.