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Customers wrongly order contact lens boxes and return them for replacement ( daily disposables or monthlies ). For example, they wrongly order clariti one day instead of clariti multifocals. I'm afraid , what if they have just opened the box, tried a lens and found out that they ordered the wrong, swiftly close the pack, sealed with some glue and returned. Isn't this possible? How do we find out if they do this?
Did they order from you?
Yes.
If it was an office error I would make make it right for the customer. If it was not and let's say for example that they brought in an outside rx and you just filled what they had then that is on them. I feel like information is missing from the original post but also I could have Friday brain.
I'm confused. If they order from you, then you should have the rx to verify that it is correct. The only thing a patient might do as a mistake is order the incorrect amount. Our system has the order and invoice linked with the rx so it's not possible to order the wrong thing unless you are ordering it incorrectly with the CL company itself. Our order prints and then we go to the CL website to place the order. In that way, one could possible mess up but ordering the wrong lenses but then that would be the office error and not that of the patient. As far as a patient sealing a box closed after being opened, I'm sure it's been done but fortunately I have never in 30 years had that happen.
Well, I understand the confusion. Pardon me I haven't described the whole scenario. The place I practice have an online store where patients/customers order their lenses. It's not biggie but we get orders sometimes . We cannot call and confirm every order and Rx during busy times so the office process the order as they receive. Couple of days back we got an order for multifocal contact lenses. We processed the order as we received, and got them delivered to customer. Today , she called and complained that she mistakingly order multifocals (!) instead of regular one-day lenses. She briefly mentioned the lenses were blurred at the bigining , but later she claimed she didn't open the packages at all and wanted them get replaced. I am pretty much sure that she opened a pack and used at least a pair but might have sealed the pack. She's been a regular customer for us for a while and now kinda confused what to do.
Since you are responsible for verifying a patient’s Rx, lens type, brand and expiration prior to dispense, I would say it’s your companies liability, even if she opened them.
Thanks. I think that's what we miss out in the dispense process- the verification. Thanks for pointing out.
Yup, I can see where the confusion is. That being said, there needs to be some kind of correction done with your online store. If a patient orders the wrong lens, they might even be charged the incorrect amount. Refunds and recharges could be a nightmare. And Rx's should always be verified BEFORE ordering, you have to make the time (I know...easy to say). The problem is that even if you caught it when the lenses came in and before notification, you wasted time and money on reorders and returns and shipping. Sounds like the process needs a good looking over. As far as this specific case... office is at fault for not verifying so I would say, just take care of the patient and deal with the loss of a box or two if you have to . Stinks, but sometimes that's the way it is. I worked for an older OD who used to say "that's the cost of tuition!" Anytime someone would make a mistake that costs money. And it's a good way to think of it...unless the costs were crazy. Fortunately we never had a crazy "tuition" cost.
ALWAYS take care of the customer in situations like this. They can go anywhere to get contacts and probably for a lesser cost, if you don't have good customer service with them you have nothing to offer.
Reach out to your Cooper Vision Rep and see if they will help you out. Sometimes they will be nice and take care of something like this if it is a one off situation. I definitely agree with @mervinek that there needs to be something in place so things are ordered correctly and this kind of thing is a very rare occurrence.