Pharmacy (undeclared consultation fee) - Is this legal?

anotherday1974

My elderly mother whilst on holiday became ill and she went to a local pharmacist for advice. The pharmacist gave advice and suggested two non-prescription products. She was charged £45 for the two fairly cheap products and she asked why so expensive. They said she had to pay for a consultation fee on top. This sounds very sharp practice and I wonder if they can legally do this? Surely my mum should have been told they charge an amount for the consultation before the consultation took place? I am sure she would have gone to a NHS walk-in centre if she had been told about the charge. I have never heard of a community pharmacist charging to give advice about their own products. It sounds very exploitative to me. Can I raise a complaint to the Community Pharmacist England Ombudsman or anything? Can pharmacists make such an verbally undisclosed charge? Thanks, Richard. 

la531983

She didnt stumble into a private pharmacy by mistake did she?  Which pharmacy was it?

user1977

Did she not have the option of walking out without paying? Sounds like she's a bit late to complain about it.

anotherday1974

la531983 said:

She didnt stumble into a private pharmacy by mistake did she?  Which pharmacy was it?

I have just gotten back from holiday and she told me the story. She was on holiday in Cornwall with my dad. 

She could have just walked out without paying and then buy the non-prescription items elsewhere I guess, but my mum was really unwell. They took advantage of her vulnerability. 

I have asked my mum for the receipt and I will contact them to complain. 

I really think I should complain to the Ombudsman also (www.cpe.org.uk). 

Is it illegal to add a fee that wasn't explicitly told about in advance? 

Aylesbury_Duck

anotherday1974 said:

la531983 said:

She didnt stumble into a private pharmacy by mistake did she?  Which pharmacy was it?

I have just gotten back from holiday and she told me the story. She was on holiday in Cornwall with my dad. 

She could have just walked out without paying and then buy the non-prescription items elsewhere I guess, but my mum was really unwell. They took advantage of her vulnerability. 

I have asked my mum for the receipt and I will contact them to complain. 

I really think I should complain to the Ombudsman also (www.cpe.org.uk). 

Is it illegal to add a fee that wasn't explicitly told about in advance? 

Are you sure that's what happened though?  An elderly lady, unwell and in a strange place.  It's plausible that her recollection of events is flawed.

Grumpy_chap

anotherday1974 said:

Is it illegal to add a fee that wasn't explicitly told about in advance? 

Was there a schedule of fees displayed?

user1977

anotherday1974 said:

la531983 said:

She didnt stumble into a private pharmacy by mistake did she?  Which pharmacy was it?

Is it illegal to add a fee that wasn't explicitly told about in advance? 

I don't see why it would be, if the customer agrees to pay it.

tightauldgit

anotherday1974 said:

My elderly mother whilst on holiday became ill and she went to a local pharmacist for advice. The pharmacist gave advice and suggested two non-prescription products. She was charged £45 for the two fairly cheap products and she asked why so expensive. They said she had to pay for a consultation fee on top. This sounds very sharp practice and I wonder if they can legally do this? Surely my mum should have been told they charge an amount for the consultation before the consultation took place? I am sure she would have gone to a NHS walk-in centre if she had been told about the charge. I have never heard of a community pharmacist charging to give advice about their own products. It sounds very exploitative to me. Can I raise a complaint to the Community Pharmacist England Ombudsman or anything? Can pharmacists make such an verbally undisclosed charge? Thanks, Richard. 

Was it definitely a standard OTC product you could buy off the shelf in Boots? If so then i can't see that there are any grounds to ask for a consultation fee.

If they are pharmacy only then I'm not sure that they can't charge something but certainly i'd have expected them to make that clear.

Of course it's possible they did and your mother missed it. So the other question would be what you can provide evidence of. 

Pollycat

anotherday1974 said:

My elderly mother whilst on holiday became ill and she went to a local pharmacist for advice. The pharmacist gave advice and suggested two non-prescription products. She was charged £45 for the two fairly cheap products and she asked why so expensive. They said she had to pay for a consultation fee on top. This sounds very sharp practice and I wonder if they can legally do this? Surely my mum should have been told they charge an amount for the consultation before the consultation took place? I am sure she would have gone to a NHS walk-in centre if she had been told about the charge. I have never heard of a community pharmacist charging to give advice about their own products. It sounds very exploitative to me. Can I raise a complaint to the Community Pharmacist England Ombudsman or anything? Can pharmacists make such an verbally undisclosed charge? Thanks, Richard. 

Does this exist?

Before complaining to the relevant ombudsman, you should have tried to resolve your complaint with the company.

But you need to be sure that you are getting the full story.

Your Mum may be different to mine, but her recollection could be very different to mine (and that was when she was in full mental health). We used to come home from health appointments and she would tell my sister what the doctor had said and he'd said nothing of the kind.

What was the name of the pharmacy?.

I would not complain to anyone unless you are 100% sure that what your Mum said happened did actually happen.

 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

For all contract types the price or how it is to be calculated must be given but for on-premises (which this was) it doesn't have to be written.

This would mean if they didn't mention the charges, they could simply say they did, also £45 (or whatever the fee was accounting for the cost of the products) is too small a figure to chase via small claims. 

If you wanted to chase this I think the pharmacy should have a complaints procedure, info  for aspects outside of consumer rights should be available on Google  

LightFlare

I would maybe just contact the Pharmacy in question and ask for clarification regarding the charge before going in all guns blazing