Investigation into Chemist Warehouse Pricing

Related Stores

Chemist Warehouse

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  fruit on 20/05/2015 - 14:44

  Interesting, but it seems to be the way their system is setup as in the customer has to choose the correct item.

  6 pack = item
  1 pack = item.

  Kinda like if you did the same as Coles for soap it wouldn't apply a discount or am I missing something?

  • 

    Davo1111 on 20/05/2015 - 15:24

    The pack of soap at coles has a special bulk box, plus you're relying on yourself (not someone else) to select the right item.

    When i worked in liquor, if you said "i need 4*6 packs" or "i need 24 bottles of beer". I'd get a case, not individual bottles. (Unless there was a discount for 4 6 packs - in which case i'd still give you a slab, then put it through the till as 6 packs)

    • 

      fruit on 20/05/2015 - 15:46

      Oh, are we not talking about chemistwarehouse.com.au where you pick the [prescribed] items yourself?

      • 

        ssx on 20/05/2015 - 15:52

        +1

        No, the pharmacist does.
        And sometimes they tell you that the generic version of a medication is identical when it is not.

      • 

        Davo1111 on 20/05/2015 - 15:54

        yes, the brick and motar store

      • 

        KaTst3R on 20/05/2015 - 16:12

        @ssx:
        The pharmacist will never tell you the generic one is identical. They know better than to do that. They will say the generic one contains the the same active ingredient as the branded drug. But the rest of the filler ingredients are obviously different for every drug company. It is like Panadol and every other related drugs. The one common ingredient is paracetemol. The filler ingredients are mainly there to aid the delivery of the active ingredient (and make the tablet) which doesnt matter what it is unless it is toxic.

      • 

        ssx on 20/05/2015 - 16:19

        +1

        @KaTst3R:
        Actually yes, they are supposed to tell you what you have said.

        Maybe I had bad luck and was speaking to someone just helping out the pharmacist (it was super busy that day).

        Since then I've been twice as careful about ingredients

    • 

      altomic on 24/06/2015 - 18:21

      had a mate who worked at bottle shop in the late 90s

      every time someone came in to get a 6 pack he would take the customers cash eg. $15.

      he then waited until 4 people had come in a bought the same 6 pack and then ring it through on register as a slab e.g. $40, and pocket the difference.

      went well for a while until the manager caught on to his system and the police got involved.

• 

  ssx on 20/05/2015 - 15:30

  Wow, thanks for the info…I'll be doing this from now on!

  • 

    andy19363 on 20/05/2015 - 15:37

    I think that would depend on your doctor……

    • 

      ssx on 20/05/2015 - 15:39

      oh yeah, I know…but it's good to know that the options are there (if the doc is ok with it)

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  nerdycat on 20/05/2015 - 16:19

  thanks for the tip about regulation 24 will see if my doctor is willing to do it..

  With that new rule my chemist warehouse pharmacist said shes still give me my bulk discount as long as i left the rest of the script with them… it did add the annoying factor of having to go every 1.5 months to pick up medication…

  i like to keep a bit extra in supply as awhile back the manufacturer had issues and there was a drought in supply and I had to slowly ween down my medication as it was too dangerous to stop taking them cold turkey.

• 

  Shoppingisfun on 20/05/2015 - 16:38

  +6

  Reg 24 is designed for when there is a valid reason for wanting the whole prescription dispensed at once eg.going overseas. It is not meant to be used to get a discount.
  There are many reasons why it is not desirable to get 6 months of medications dispensed at once…
  For example…your Doctor may change your medication before the six months is up, excess medication lying around can potentially pose a danger of someone other than the patient getting hold of it (especially children), it could also pose a danger of deliberate overdose (especially antidepressants).
  There are good reasons why medications are dispensed in one month quantities.

  • 

    Davo1111 on 20/05/2015 - 16:43

    +3

    I agree, it depends on individual circumstances.

    There are good reasons why medications are dispensed in one month quantities.

    There are also good reasons to get meds in bulk.

• 

  eve on 20/05/2015 - 16:43

  +2

  "Regulation 24

  Under this regulation, original and repeat supplies of pharmaceutical benefits can be supplied at the one time if a medical practitioner, a midwife or a nurse practitioner is first satisfied that certain conditions apply, then endorses the PBS prescription 'Regulation 24'. RPBS prescriptions may be endorsed 'hardship conditions apply'.

  The medical practitioner, midwife or nurse practitioner must first be satisfied all the following conditions apply:

  the maximum PBS quantity is insufficient for the patient's treatment; AND
  the patient has a chronic illness or lives in a remote area where access to PBS supplies is limited; AND
  the patient would suffer great hardship trying to get the pharmaceutical benefit on separate occasions.
  Regulation 24 does not apply for supply of pharmaceutical benefits on optometrist prescriptions."

  http://www.pbs.gov.au/info/healthpro/explanatory-notes/secti…

• 

  H E B on 21/05/2015 - 07:36

  I've never bought in bulk at Chemist warehouse but have to say everytime I've purchased a single script their pricing has ALWAYS been cheaper.

  The other day I made a mistake of going to another discount chain and was really surprised a prescription they sold for $19, chemist warehouse only sold for $7.90.

  You could say in my moment of weakness after seeing a doctor (this other discount chain was attached to the doctor's) I just assumed there'd be little price difference.

  Point is for me personally, they their pricing is always cheaper and best of all a lot of their scripts you can check pricing online so if your local pharmacist can price match that can be a huge plus!!!

• 

  nikhi24 on 21/05/2015 - 09:01

  Seriously?? Chemist warehouse is the best. I work at another pharmacy and even with 20% discount it is still 70% cheaper at chemist warehouse. Where else can you get a prescription for the price the same as someone with a consession card. unless desperate I always go out of my way to go to there. Some people are never happy! I imagine when the rest of the community pharmacies close and they are the only ones standing they can up their prices and you could complain then but not now.

  • 

    Davo1111 on 21/05/2015 - 09:22

    you're completely right, i should just pay 35% more than their advertised price because it's cheap. /s

• 

  Brainwhacker on 21/05/2015 - 10:38

  In my experience not all their prices are cheaper. I was buying hayfever medication for my son and noted the price cheaper @ priceline by $10.00. The sales girl gave me a blank look when I told her this so I just walked over to Priceline on the opposite side. Also noted that chemist warehouse is discontinuing bulk quantities esp kids vitamins for eg Natures Way gummies - 120 pastiles $10.00 when on sale - no longer on shelves now. 60's on sale for $8.00, a bad deal compared to 120's. Suppose it about higher margins for CW.

• 

  Brucet on 09/06/2015 - 09:31

  Recently I purchased a pack of MOVICOL from my local chemist and its only cost around $15.
  From Chemist warehouse its cost $20.
  I suggest people should shop around before walk in Chemist warehouse.

• 

  chefdillu on 26/07/2015 - 15:34

  I am very sad to day that my local pharmacy Sydenham Pharmacy , 523 Melton Hwy Sydenham VIC 3037 is a rip off
  Most of their items are $ 5.00 more than the local Chemist Warehouse nearest which in St Albans

  I feel sad for the senior citizens who are ripped off as they are not net savy

  I would request every one to check the prices on their mobile for chemist warehouse and ask their local pharmacy to price match

  I have now Boycotted this Pharmacy totally:
  https://plus.google.com/109111178666598798367/about?gl=au&hl…

  • 

    MelBourne on 26/07/2015 - 17:06

    The independently owned pharmacies often can not match all the pricing in Chemist Warehouse.. Just ask them firmly if they can match the price, or just go to chemist warehouse. No need to boycott them..

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  sandman28 on 13/08/2015 - 23:41

  Dave, the reason it comes up as so much more expensive is due to the way the dispensing software is setup to work (by the software companies and the PBS online team). It's not an evil plan to sting people for more money. The software by default will run it through as pbs pricing (aka the 6*6.81 to use your example), only if the script is changed to 'private' (aka non government subsidised) will the software calculate the correct (lower) price for you. The problem with reg 24 is that it will not always be cheaper than having it dispensed normally. Considering most dispensaries will have in excess of 1000 product lines for (usually) one pharmacist to manage/dispense they aren't going to recall every price for every sku and their relevant bulk prices off the top of their head. Instead they will go off the calculation done by the software. Unless someone asks to have it done as a private often they wont realise that it is cheaper dispensed that way, they aren't actively thinking gee I'm going to charge you extra. The prices are also set remotely from a head office server and 'pushed' out to the dispensary computers, the pharmacists (in big chain stores anyway) don't ever set the prices themselves.

  So asking for Reg 24 isn't the easiest way to do it, ask for scripts to be dispensed as a 'private' script. There is no point getting Reg 24 from your doctor if you ask for private pricing as Reg 24 only applies to PBS scripts.

  Hope that helps clear up your misunderstandings of how medication pricing structures work. Maybe ask a impartial third party in the industry next time to make sure your assertions are correct instead of just shooting off on a public forum implying that something untoward is occurring. Not all of us are trying to screw you for that extra dollar, most of us go into health just to try to heal people.

  :)

  Disclaimer: I don't work for Chemist Warehouse or its affiliates, just in the industry

  • 

    Davo1111 on 14/08/2015 - 00:13

    I think the chemists should be more open with the pricing, or the pharmacist should tell you what is actually cheaper. If I go to the private scripts are cheaper, then they should ask "is it okay if i put it through as a private script, because it will be $x cheaper for you"

    For example when i worked in liquor, when someone bought 3-4 6 packs of beer, i mentioned it would be cheaper if i put it through as a case.

    • 

      sandman28 on 14/08/2015 - 01:01

      +1

      Sorry Dave, I don't think I made it super clear in my roundabout wording above. The pharmacist's don't know that its necessarily going to be cheaper doing it one way or the other, that is until they've tried entering it both ways into the dispensary software. It's just the way the software works with pricing, to double dispense every script to see if it's cheaper one way or another will just serve to increase wait times for the customers. They will remember a few select lines that they've found are much cheaper doing it a certain way, however trying to remember every price combination for different dispensing quantities and different pbs claim levels is never going to happen. You're asking them to memorise over 1000 sku's, and then to memorise the multiple permutations of that. Then the pricing changes generally monthly so you're expecting them to remember everything all over again with new prices. The software doesn't come up with both automatically, instead they have to manually type it in separately to have the price appear. Nobody is being closed about pricing, the fact that most brand chains have their prices on their websites is evidence enough that they are letting their customers know what they charge and making it easier for you to shop around as needed. Much better than making you go into a store to find out a price and then have decide to either try somewhere else and wait the time it took for you to get served or just accept the price. They don't try and hide it from you that one way is cheaper or not, they just genuinely won't know unless they've tried it. Further complicating it is the fact that private scripts aren't always cheaper depending on the medication and also on if people have a health care card/DVA card. Also getting it as a private script doesn't count towards your safety net for the year, which can mean that you miss out on hitting the cap and getting cheaper scripts towards the end of the year on the safety net (cheaper at the time vs cheaper overall).

      There are a few combinations that we've memorised as being cheaper and so when scripts come through we manually override it to be private pricing, but that's the point, we have to remember and manually intervene, it doesn't come up automatically for me to choose an option for you. So if people don't know or are in 'peak-hour' mode they aren't going to sit there trying multiple combinations just to get one customer (you) a cheaper price on every one of your scripts and then hold up every other customer waiting in the line (and then take into account if you're likely to hit the safety net and if it'll be cheaper overall to do it as pbs scripts). You're essentially expecting to get rock bottom prices but still expecting them to do all the homework (and extra) for you. You can't get both in any retail sector (inc pharmacy), it's either a) cheap because of reduced labour costs or b) more expensive due to higher customer interaction and higher labour costs.

      If you want anyone to blame for it blame the clunky windows 95-ilk software designers. Most of the plebs you see working in a dispensary (esp in large chain stores) are not owners of the business they just work there.