Below, I'm going to post several different things that came to me via email or the CONTACT link. I'll lead with the user's name, and if you wish to reply to one, just reference that name....or don't...I don't care...

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Liz writes:    In the past few weeks, our pharmacy has started checking ID for controlled drugs, scanning in new Rx and scanning in hard copies.  All of a sudden, our workload has tripled, but our company is cutting tech help.  Is anyone else finding this hard to manage?

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Rodney writes:   I work as a reimbursement specialist at an LTC Pharmacy, and I'm writing to share an interesting exchange I've had with representatives at Prescription Solutions over the past few days.

I've had a few basic rejections which, were the representatives at Prescription Solutions even modestly intelligent by today's decidedly low standards, should have been able to resolve with much rapidity. Instead, I got stuck with slack-jawed yokels and embittered, defensive inner-city youth. They turned requests for overrides to simple rejections into drawn out, unintelligible arguments, and once they'd been cornered or otherwise became bored with the exchange, they hung up on me mid-sentence.

I may not be the bubbliest person in the world. On the contrary, I'm frank and to the point, but never did I become enraged, and never did I insult or otherwise disrespect the reps in any way. Prescription Solutions - hell, the insurance industry as a whole - has no shortage of stupid, rude, and disinterested people, but I've never had any with the gall to abruptly hang up on a service call. Now, over the past two days, it has happened to me four times.

Though I feel somewhat vindicated by the fact that return calls yielded exchanges with intelligent reps who applied the necessarily overrides with absolutely no hassle, I am perturbed by this sudden shoddy treatment. I know PS has seen extraordinarily long hold times as of late, what are the odds the reps have been granted free reign to terminate calls from "problem callers" (that is, of course, callers who question the rep's ill-informed initial judgment)?

Any thoughts? Similar experiences?

[TAestP's thoughts: I believe the reasoning behind this is, as always, money. When the question is, "Why?" most of the time, the answer is money. In this case, I'd bet if you timed your calls, you got hung up on at specific intervals....something like 3 minutes, 59 seconds. If the agents keep their calls (or a certain percentage) less than 4 minutes, they probably get higher ratings or a bonus at the end of the day. They may also have rewards/cut offs at 10 minutes or 15 minutes. Of course, the person could have just been an asshole, accidentally hung up, or hung up on you because they are lazy and/or didn't know the answer.]

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Lillian writes:     I found your blog a few days ago and I love it so far. From your posts, you seem to know a lot about retail pharmacy so I was wondering if you could answer a question for me: Is it true that the field is getting very saturated, very quickly?

A few of my professors warn us that it will be much harder to find a job in retail by the time we graduate (2016). And I've been hearing a lot of people saying that retail is going downhill.

I know there will be more competition for the jobs in several years because of there are more students going into pharmacy now. And I get the feeling that maybe one of my professors is exaggerating the situation to encourage us to go into other pharmacy fields. But do you think this saturation is something to be seriously be worried about?

For the record, I would try to go into retail no matter what the situation is...I just don't want to be completely caught off guard after graduation.

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Kristin Writes:
Dear TAestP,
I know someone who filled a Rx at a CVS.  The pharmacist later called and texted her saying "Remember me from CVS?  Would love to get coffee with you some time?--Weirdasspharmacist [sic] "  She responded that she wasn't interested. She didn't get any more fills there, but she was afraid of contacting his manager or pharmacy baord because CVS had her information on file and the pharmacist could look it up and perhaps do something scary like stalking.

TAestP, what would you recommend doing?

[TAestP's thoughts: If this is true, it is creepy as hell. You are right that CVS would have the info, and he would have access to it. But, he's already pretty much risked his license by doing this -- taking it from creepy to full on stalking would definitely result in a meeting with his state's Board of Pharmacy. If he is not the pharmacy manager at that location, I would call and speak with the pharmacy manager about the incident. Tell her it made you (or her) uncomfortable and that you would like the manager to give your information to their district manager so he/she can call you at their earliest convenience. Then discuss the matter with the DM. I'd be almost anything this would squash absolutely any issue -- cause that DM does NOT want you making a formal complaint with the board. If he is the manager at that store, call a nearby store's pharmacy manager and do the exact same thing. If this does not get you to an ends that you are happy with -- or you get blown off at any level -- google the state's board of pharmacy. One call to them with an accusation like this would definitely result in an investigation and something would be done. Tell your friend I'm sorry my text creeped her out -- she's not gonna like the photos I'm sending tonight....just kidding of course.....:-D]

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Mike writes:   so...i witnessed a patient ingest 90mg of methadone...the patient's prescribed dose was 40mg...i gave him the wrong bottle

i'm getting kicked out of pharmacy school 4 months before graduation...what do i do now?  should i submit my resume to the nearest McDonald's?

[TAestP's Thoughts: Either this is untrue and you're trying to waste my time, you're just a general dumb ass,  or you have done a ton of other stupid bullshit.  Regardless of what anyone may think, there is only one person responsible for what pill goes out the door and into the hands of a patient -- the pharmacist on duty. I don't care if the technician accidentally typed in Oxycodone instead of Omnicef for an infant, I still believe the ultimate responsibility should lay on the pharmacist that verified the prescription. (intentional bullshit and other types of lying and deceit aside -- I'm talking about true accidents by ancillary staff not caught by the pharmacist)   However, it does sound like you are in some other kind of facility or setting. Since you witnessed the patient do it -- not sure what that means as a patient should never be handed a pill by pharmacy staff to take -- that changes the role from dispensing to administering which we cannot do (in terms of pills).

If the school threw you out, and this is a true story, you're probably fucked. Sorry dude. I guess you could appeal and plead to the school, but that's the thing with private universities, they can do whatever the hell they want whenever the hell they want. Other than that, see if another school will take you or get a lawyer....or get a job and good luck paying back all those loans....]

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That'll do for now....check back for the next post coming soon....

-=+=-

"REFILL TOO SOON," GUYS. That means, in pharmacy lingo, your insurance will not pay for your prescription until the resubmit date. One late night at the pharmacy, which by the way is in the ghetto, a woman comes in to refill her son’s prescription. As I processed the prescription I explained to her that it is a REFILL TOO SOON and the insurance wouldn’t pay for the refill until tomorrow morning. She obviously wouldn’t accept that answer and went into a rant against me (a technician), the pharmacist working with me, and our drug store. As I recall it went something like this:

“My baby needs his medication! He is sick! He needs it NOW!!!!! You stupid white bitch you had better fill my prescription or im going to kick your ass! Her's too. That other bitch pharmacist! What you think yous better than me? I want it now! Ima get me suma that shit now and my momma gon' pay for it! Make it now! Get it ready, Bitch!”

I looked at her, looked at the pharmacist, and explained to the woman that if she would WAIT ONE MORE DAY [less than 18 hours, actually], the prescription wouldn’t have copay because this woman was on state assisted insurance.

I told her that the medication would be $45 and if she wanted it, she could pay for it, but that amount wouldn’t be refunded the next day. Her response, although not responsive to the information, went something like this:

“What you think I’m broke, bitch? I can’t pay for my babay's medicine? Fuck you ima just buy it ima just buy it you can’t tell me what to do, this my babay, THIS MY BABY AND HE NEEDS HIS MEDICINE NOW GET IT READY DUMB BITCH.”

You're not broke? Oh, okay. Then I guess you’re just one of those lazy folks who doesn’t work and just expects the government to pay for your prescriptions. I can safely assume you are probably on food stamps too? Welfare? You're yelling at me, and I am partially paying for your prescription by paying taxes? I have no choice but to have my tax dollars used to pay for “your babay's medicine,” and I have no choice but to abide by your every wish and want because 'the customer is always right,' right? So, I swallowed my insults, and I bottled my anger, and filled the prescription.

By this time, her mom (the "babay's" grandma) came to the counter and apologized profusely with the accurate explanation that woman was mentally retarded. MENTALLY RETARDED. And she has children? What the fuck. You can draw your own conclusions on that one. And by the way, after all that, she didn’t, or better yet, her mom didn’t buy the medication because she, having some sense about her, WANTED TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. By the way, the drug was for SEASONAL ALLERGIES. Not seizures, not juvenile diabetes, not horrible psoriasis, not dangerous asthma, not epi or glucagon. SEASONAL ALLERGIES. Couldn't wait 18 hours, and *I'm* the dumb bitch.

-=+=-

Do you want to submit a guest post [since I don't post nearly enough]? Type it up and email it to me via the same contact page. Also, let me know if you want your name/email address shared publicly, what POLL question you would like to accompany it (if any), and anything else you think is important. Guest Posts will be edited for grammar and spelling. I may also add emphasis, clarification, funny links, or other silly stuff [I might remove inappropriate stuff as well]. I will NOT alter the content/message of your post.

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"I was wondering, if I brought a list of my medicines up here, could you tell me how much each of them would cost?"

"Are you on file here? And do you have insurance?"

"I've never been here before, but I have Paid insurance."

"Well then, unfortunately, I cannot. Your best be would be to look on the back of your card and call the Member Services or Customer Service number listed there. They can tell you exactly how much each prescription will cost. All I can give you here is the cash price which doesn't do you any good when your insurance will foot the bill in most cases."

"I don't understand. Can't you just put it in the computer and see?"   [Gotta love that all-powerful, "computer" that does all and knows all!]

"That's not how it works. If I had valid prescriptions on file for each one, I certainly could just push a button or two and tell you, but you aren't on file here. So, I can't do anything to help you. If you'd rather bring me a stack of prescriptions I can get you prices then..."

"Well. That doesn't make any sense. I've got a list at home with all the prices on it. Why can't you just tell me what they cost? You're a pharmacist!"

"Wait. You have a list of all the medicines, what they cost, and you want ME to tell you what they cost? You want me to tell you what that list already says?"

"Noooo....well, not exactly. You see, at the last pharmacy I went to they gave me special prices on some medicines. Not the expensive ones. They ran those [the expensive ones] on my insurance, but there were some that were cheaper if they didn't use my insurance."

"Are you talking about the '$4 list' generics?"

"Yeah! That's it. How much are those here?

"Well, they are $4...we honor that program. Unfortunately, I don't have them all memorized, but if you bring in what you got, I can figure it all out."

"Well, I've got a list of the ones that are $4 at Wal-Mart at home. Don't you have that list?"

"Wait. You have the list of what your prescriptions cost on your insurance at home. You ALSO  have the list of ALL the $4 prescriptions at home. But, you want to bring me a list of your prescriptions. You want me to look at those two lists that you have at home in your possession and tell you what those lists, that you have in your possession, say. And you want me to compare those two numbers and tell you which is cheaper."

"Exactly. Which is cheaper HERE..."

"Really? ..........[Long Pause of disbelief].......... Sure...bring everything you have to me...I've got nothing better to do. I'll show you how to do one and we'll see if you can get it from there....If not, I'll get you a quote."

What he got from our conversation: That nice pharmacist will put my prescriptions in the computer and tell me what they cost if I bring him a list.

Additionally, he had the plastic device jammed into a Aerochamber in reverse -- so if you somehow were able to dispense a dose, it would spray upwards rather than into the chamber.

Now, I can see how one could say that this is merely a failure on the part of the pharmacist to effectively counsel on proper use of the inhaler...and you're probably partially right. In all likelihood, when he picked this up for his child, we BOTH assumed that a grown man would have sense enough to either use an inhaler with aerochamber or read one of the three separate inserts / literature that were purposefully put into the patient's bag. The assumption was proven incorrect. This patient was obviously too intelligent to be bothered with reading those stupid papers that patient's so often vehemently deny and exclaim, "throw all that crap away I've got tons of it at home," only to attempt to jam a square peg in a round hole and break the entire contraption. Wow...just wow...

Finally, this gentleman was mad at ME for not repairing the inhaler OR replacing the inhaler at my cost. I got him an override for an early refill (the TIME spent was my cost...right?). As he left he asked "when the boss was gonna be back." I, of course, don't do well with this comment because it's a slap in the face and passive aggressive. Just tell me what your fucking problem is and assume I have sense enough to come to a reasonable end-game.

Prior to this I took the time to look up the number to GSK for him to call and see a coupon or refund for the product he obviously broke. He was mad about it still, and his only concern was "What if I pay for this one, get it home, and it don't work neither?" -- Well, considering you broke the first one, I'd say the likelihood of you breaking another is rather high considering you still haven't opened up to me trying to show you how to effectively use it...Alas, you have more copies of the literature (illustrated ones this time -- for the kids!). If you don't break this one and it "still don't work" -- it's STILL NOT MY FAULT.

I'm sorry, I don't service inhalers. No pharmacy does. If it doesn't work, it's the manufacturer's fault. If you don't know how to use it -- that's my fault. I've done what I can to help on that front. You're gonna have to be a big boy and make a phone call for the rest -- rather than "gimme gimme gimme gimme..." like usual...

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My name is Steve Moore and I am an independent pharmacy owner from New York.  I am wondering if you would consider sharing your thoughts on the following topic, one I think that most pharmacists would be interested in.

When it comes to business side of our profession, most pharmacists don't have a clue as to what is going on.  As an owner, it affects me more than most, and I don't comprehend all of the complexities.  After speaking to some other pharmacists in my area, I came to realize that they are under the impression that mail order pharmacies were simply discount pharmacies, that mail order just filled prescriptions at a lower price than retail pharmacies.  That may or not be true, the larger issue is that mail order pharmacies are able to offer deeply discounted medications because they are purchasing medication a better price than retail pharmacies.  PHARMA grants them a special class of trade (COT).  I attempted to find a law/rule/etc that grants mail order pharmacies these special buying privileges as a different COT and was unable to do so.  I wrote to consulting companies and wholesalers and I was told that there is no such list.  If there is no government approved or provided COT list, what makes mail order special other than the fact that PHARMA says so?

My question is, if mail order can do it, why can't community pharmacy designate itself as a special COT?  Mail order promotes safety and accuracy, we have a robots and workflow too.  We can fill antibiotics and pain meds, mail order cannot.  We can deliver meds the same day, mail order cannot.  Mail order simply cannot meet 100% of our pharmaceutical needs.  If any group deserves a price break from PHARMA, shouldn't it be the group that can meet more needs?

There is a federal law known as the Robinson-Patman Act which specifically prohibits companies from selling the same products to competitors at different prices (order of magnitude wise).  Exemptions to this act exist to allow nonprofits (such as hospitals) to purchase medication for their own use at a discounted price.  In addition to the hospital COT, there is a 340b class (for now), a long term care class, and depending upon who you ask, anywhere from 7 - 23 classes.  The one constant is that the retail pharmacy COT pays the most for medications.  COT designations have been challenged in the past but were usually lost on the basis of own use.  That meaning, the nonprofit was purchasing medications to use for its patients/employees/etc and was not in competition with retail pharmacies.  Mail order pharmacies are for profit and are clearly competing with retail pharmacies, so in my mind a Robinson-Patman exemption should not apply.  I understand supply and demand and that some people can pay more than others for the same product, but we are not talking about a few bucks here and there, rather exponential differences.  The local hospital pays about $9 for 100 tablets of brand name Coumadin, what does the price sticker on the bottle in your store read?

The fact that mail order pharmacies are buying  medications at a lower price than retail pharmacies has an impact on every pharmacist filling 90 day prescriptions at retail for mail order rates.  I am not saying that if reimbursement improves, working conditions will improve, but it can't hurt to make pharmacists aware of what is going on.  I have contacted our trade associations and industry publications but am also reaching out to bloggers such as yourself.  If you feel that this may be something you would like to blog or post about, I can provide some links and references.

Thanks for your time.

In chemistry, many compounds are composed of isomers. Isomers have the same molecular formula but are structurally different. Basically, they are shaped a little different. Sometimes, the isomers have the same results in the body. Other times, the isomers of a compound have different effects altogether. Still yet, some isomers cause side effects and the other isomer gives us the intended result (or one isomer is active and the other is completely inert). All compounds are either levorotatory or dextrorotatory (Called l-DRUG or d-DRUG *or*  (-)-DRUG and (+)-DRUG, respectively). Levo compounds rotate polarized light (in a polarimeter) counterclockwise and dextro compounds rotate the same light clockwise.

I'm not going to get into the difference between constitutional and spatial isomers, cis/trans isomers, or R and S notation. Mostly because I will get out of my realm of knowledge quite quickly.

Most drugs out on the market are racemic mixtures. This means that they are combinations of d- and l- isomer. Most drug companies have fucked the common man by doing some shady shit (thereby pulling the wool over everyone's eyes).

Citalopram (Celexa) is a racemic mixture. Only the Dextro isomer is active. It was a heavily used drug indicated for major depression, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Forest spent millions ensuring that every doctor had a big breasted woman peddling the drug to them praising it. It *was* the best available. Until the patent ran out. Then, it was no longer good enough. Now, the inactive isomer has been removed. Escitalopram (Lexapro) is now the best drug available if you ask the crooks at Forest. It is also indicated for depression, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

Here's some more (all with the exact same story -- new drug is "better"):
Venlafaxine (Effexor)  ====>  Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) -- Wyeth
Loratadine (Claritin) ====> Desloratadine (Clarinex) -- Schering
Cetirizine (Zyrtec) ====> Levocetirizine (Xyzal) -- Pfizer for Zyrtec/Sanofi for Xyzal
Omeprazole (Prilosec) ====> Esomeprazole (Nexium) -- Astrazeneca
Methylphenidate (Ritalin, et al) ====> Dexmethylphenidate (Focalin) -- Novartis
Dexchlorpheniramine, Dexbrompheniramine =
Chlorpheniramine, Brompheniramine -- Various Manufacturers
Albuterol (Proair, Ventolin, Proventil) = Levalbuterol (Xopenex) -- Various/Sepracor
Imipramine (Tofranil) = Desipramine (Norpramin) -- Different Manufacturers
Nortriptyline (Pamelor) = Protriptyline (Vivactil) -- Different Manufacturers

In every case where the same company is involved in the new drug, no improvements were made. Of course, the manufacturers would lead the unwitting MDs to believe that side effects were cut down, efficacy was increased, and the old drug causes users to grow an extra appendage on their neck. So, "everyone needs to be switch NOW! In fact, here's a stack of preprinted prescriptions for you to sign and hand out to your patients."

I say fuck that. No one ever asks me about these new drugs, well, now I'm saying it. All this shit does is cause more work for me. How, you ask? Has anyone out there ever gotten a Xyzal to go through? Hell no you haven't. Why not? It's too fucking expensive because the same drug is now available OVER THE COUNTER. So, I have to call the MD and have them get a PA. Then, some nurse wastes time calling the insurance company. Then, the patient has to pay a $45 copayment for a drug available on aisle 9 for $5.99/15 tablets. These drug companies are out of control -- as profit margin continues to shrink and edge closer and closer to 2%, these fucking guys are finding new ways to nickle and dime us indirectly. The time wasted, along with the crap repayment from this drug of equal efficacy, is merely another way to bone us.

Make a stand with me. You get a script called in or brought in for these damn drugs, call the doctor. Get it changed. They don't answer or you leave a message, change it anyway. Make it a "fill--call." If they say no, call the doctor a stupid motherfucker then overlook it. He'll never notice or know.

He's too busy with his head buried in some drug rep's tits pushing the new DRUG OF CHOICE FOR GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER -- levoparoxetine or desmethylfluoxetine or some other bullshit.

All kidding aside, it was 9pm. It was an odd assortment of customers. We sat across from a black man and woman. It was her birthday. Our waiter was amazing. He was polite, quick, and always around when he needed to be. Anyway, it was the lady's birthday - she was rewarded with a free daiquiri for her achievements.

As our wonderful waiter was serving us our salads and asking us if we needed anything else, our neighbor across the aisle decided that he needed my waiter's attention more than I did. I guess he didn't notice the fact that I had a male waiter, while his server was most definitely a female. Nonetheless, he let out a resounding, "Excuse me!" while a salad was being placed before me. In pure Angriest-Pharmacist fashion, the waiter ignored the man like he was a fart in the wind. After we were tended to, the waiter's response was perfect. He acknowledged the man (barely), told him to wait just a second as he returned the "serving table" to the back, and walked away. He never returned -- however their waitress came by a few moments later. I found this absolutely hilarious.

Finally, they brought out our main course. I proceeded to chow down on my feast before me. As most may know, there is some splatter involved with food that lives in water. You break a hard shell to get to the sweet, succulent, heroin-like substance within. I'm also a very, very, very messy eater. I got a little on me...and my date. She was not as amused as I was.

Our neighbors thought my entire meal was quite funny. They giggled and laughed. Hell, I think they pointed. It was pretty fucking irritating. I'm not sure why someone would spend more time watching someone else eat than staring at their own food and their own wife's tits. I hope they enjoyed my dinner - I did.

Moral: Keep your eyes on your own fucking plate.
Tip on $50 check? $15 for service. $5 for ignoring rude ass people.

• Environmental pollution
• Genetic manipulation
• Accumulating excessive wealth
• Inflicting poverty
• Drug trafficking and consumption
• Morally debatable experiments

Let's talk about them for a second. Environmental pollution -- new age sinning created just for those of us in the 21st century. Gideon's Bibles anyone? What about making birth control "wrong" as the church has done? Doesn't that contribute to overcrowding and pollution? Sure it does. I wonder if burning witches contributed any to the greenhouse effect? Heck, it could be the cause! Witches in the atmosphere could be what Al Gore is trying to expose here...

Genetic manipulation -- this is a load of bullshit. I wonder if monoclonal antibodies fit in here? What about the cancer that God allowed someone to get? It's a manipulation of a gene. Is someone that gets cancer a sinner - or is just the cancer going to hell? What about the delicious corn I had for dinner last night? It was manipulated to grow bigger, faster, and more delicious. Is the corn a sinner, or am I a sinner for eating it?

Accumulating excessive wealth -- wow. "Don't get money, but if you have it, go ahead and give 10% to the church and we'll absolve you." Holy shit - what if someone wins a lottery? What about a high stakes bingo game? -- that the church held? Michael Jordan is a sinner for being loaded - just because we paid him to put a ball through a hoop...What about Bill and Melinda Gates -- arguably the most generous donators of all time (Microsoft stuff withstanding). What about me? I make a healthy wage - some would call it excessive. It's obviously more than I need because others have less and do fine. Of course, we knew I was going to hell. I wonder what the GDP of Vatican City is...

Inflicting poverty -- I'm not even going to list the number of people this makes a sinner...including the church. Of course, they've helped billions...but how many fathers died in the Crusades (any of them) leaving wife and son in poverty and/or servitude? What about me - having to charge hundreds of dollars to a patient for lifesaving therapy? Or the drug company charging my wholesaler an arm an a leg for that drug? Or even the PBMs gobbling up all the profits from every direction and, in a way, making us all just a little bit poorer?

Drug trafficking and consumption -- I looked this one up for clarification. It includes consuming any drug that has a mind altering affect. You've got to be fucking kidding me? Not only is every person in America a sinner, I am the Harbringer of Death. Alcohol, caffeine, Xanax, opiates, Barbiturates -- if it breaks the blood-brain-barriers, the Vatican says, "NO!" And trafficking? Again - talk about pointing a finger directly at me...SHIT! Next point - let's make alcohol a sin, but continue to gobble it up during service, at the beer wagon during the school carnival, and any other time we see fit. It's only a sin if you drink more than the Catholics do...if you drink less than they do, you are a pussy.

Morally debatable experiments -- Whoa. Think about all the pertinent medical research that won't get done now because some zealot sitting on an IRB will read too much into this, consider risks more than benefits, or just not even listen at all (as Christians are so good at doing). Now, I'm not defending research that consists of "let's stop this heparin drip and see how long it takes a clot to develop in various patients" -- I'm defending research that I don't understand, know that's going on, or may/may not involve some part of a zygote (don't even type the fucking word fetus on my website - I'll snap. Fetus = 8 weeks+ Which is why I could care less about dispensing Plan B...) Regardless -- this is going harm medical advancement for the years to come. I wonder if this refers to private bedroom experimentation between the sexes? I mean, come on...we've all *ahem* Nevermind. Let's just say that this may be targeting certain sexual preferences...not like the church would ever do that....would they?

Overall, I feel cheated that I have more ways to sin and find my way into Hell than those born in the 19th century. Why do those horse riding fools have a better chance than me of getting into heaven? Bogus. More importantly, can I get any ex post facto leniency here? Doubtful. I've got all kinds of purgatory headed my way -- don't I?

NOTE: Before commenting, read the URL of this website.
NOTE 2: If you post one fucking word about the prescence or absence of an almighty, I will be the one doing the smiting. I'm not looking for theological discussion on this site. I just merely wanted to bitch a little about these new rules some people have to play by that don't make and damn sense, are somewhat hypocritical, and don't apply to me cause I don't give a rat's ass.

Thundercats are go...

Anyway - I logged all of these emails where I posed as Hawaiian native, pharmacist John McLovin...and I demanded they refer to me only as McLovin' -- Eventually, 'another man' got involved -- HE WAS A LAWYER! WOW!

I compiled the correspondence in a word document which I converted to a PDF. I strongly suggest everyone download and read this file. It's both informative, educational, and absolutely HILARIOUS.

DOWNLOAD PDF Screwin With Spammers

It's a long read - I'd say skim their crap and focus on my replies.
Nothing has been edited -- their grammar, spacing, anything! They really are retarded!

"Okay, that will be $96.12 - You can swipe your card right there..."
"I'm going to use my debit card..."
[swipe]
"It says 'Card Issuer Denied The Charge'."
"What that's crazy. That account has over twenty thousand dollars in it..."

Yeah fucking right. My checking account has, at its HIGHEST one-tenth of that amount. How did you get all that money? And, more importantly, why would it say no for a measly $96.12? I'll tell you why - you don't have that much money and you're embarrassed. It's okay. I'm 100 thousand dollars in debt - The vast majority of my money is gone immediately after my direct deposit hits the bank. Don't lie about it. [I know, that's fucking harsh - forgive me]

Then there's my favorite...they guy that's Credit Card gets denied and he was hoping his deposit got applied already so he's back below his credit limit. That's fine - I played those games before...in college! But, once you're an adult it's time to grow up, and put away childish things...

People! Stop living outside your means. Credit card companies FEED on that idea nowadays. They want you to spend, spend, spend, and then live the rest of your life paying on the interest and not the actual debt. You're screwed. You're spinning your tires in a rut you'll never get out of.

Credit cards are for large purchases (and emergencies) only - something you don't have the cash on hand to buy but have the assets available TO BUY. Pay the bill as soon as it comes in and don't let the interest every acrue a dime on you...They get you buy offering ZERO PERCENT INTEREST UNTIL 2009! WOO HOO! So, you can rack up 5 grand on the card in the mean time, not pay a dime, and get your sigmoid pounded when it hits you in a few years. Don't be fooled...Transfering the balance may work - but it will catch up with you!

Of course that'll never work - otherwise Visa, Mastercard, and AMEX wouldn't exist. They'd be out of business.