Columnist Muriel Stevens: Shoppers thwarted by bankruptcy

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2001 | 8:51 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' shopping column appears Wednesdays. Her dining column appears Fridays. Reach her at 259-4080 or muriel@lasvegassun.com.

Except for the time spent in San Francisco, I haven't had much luck shopping.

First I got sandbagged by the bankruptcy mess at Wards when I was enticed by an ad that offered big savings on just what I wanted. Of course, I didn't know they were going under until after I'd made my costly purchase.

The bankruptcy was on the news that night.

Silly me. I thought that since I'd charged my purchase on my Wards card I was protected. Wrong. When the call came from the warehouse in Los Angeles that the merchandise was damaged and would not be delivered, but that it would be reordered and delivered at a later date, I thought everything would be OK.

Later that day there was another call from Los Angeles. The appliance company would not accept the order, so I was told to cancel the sale. I tried. I called and called, always getting a busy signal.

So I called Los Angeles and was told that because of the volume of calls the phones had been taken off the hook at all Wards stores and the only way to reach them was to go to the store, which I did.

The parking lot overflowed with cars. The store was impossible, jammed with customers seeking answers to their questions. For most there were no answers. For me it was worse. The salesman laughed when I told him my story, telling me that all accounts were now part of the bankruptcy court. Even for those, like me, who hadn't received any merchandise.

He offered to give me a merchandise voucher. He was serious. It was my turn to laugh.

When and if a bill does come I do not intend to pay it. I'm not in the habit of paying for things I never received. There are no papers stating I received the merchandise. I signed only the charge slip, not a delivery invoice, because nothing was delivered.

How will this dilemma be resolved? Who knows? I'll keep you informed.

Gouging at the pharmacy: If a doctor prescribes one pill to be taken prior to a simple medical test, will that one pill cost as much as a full prescription of 30?

The answer is shocking: Yes it will. When I arrived at Walgreens' drive-through window and learned one inexpensive pill would cost $7.99 I asked why. The answer was so ridiculous I refused to accept it or the pill. Later I phoned the pharmacy and spoke to the pharmacist. When I asked why one pill costs as much as a full prescription, his response was, "It's the way the computers are set up."

"You can't manually ring up one pill and charge what it should really cost?" I asked. "No," he said, "this is what we're required to do. This is what all pharmacies do."

Next I called Sav-On. The story was the same. Except this time I spoke to a pharmacy aide, not the pharmacist.

She spoke candidly and was able to answer most of my questions. I learned that if I had used my insurance to buy that one pill, the price would have been whatever I pay for a full prescription. In my case, more. So out of the goodness of their hearts, the pharmacies' charge for one name-brand pill is $7.99. The generic price: $6.99.

Of course, if your co-pay is less (mine isn't), charge it to your insurance.