Kinda legal question.........

[Landseka]

Is there anyone here that has had any legal background? I don't like asking for freebies but just checking what to me is a clearcut ripoff.

Supposing one were to order a course of uncommon, hard to get drugs on prescription from a chemist, hypothetically of course.

The drugs arrive & and on collection one was charged 29 odd dollars for the 2 week supply.

Just prior to the supply running out, one re-ordered another 2 week supply.

Collect same & charged (hypothetically) 29 odd dollars again.

Re-order just before this supply runs out, go to collect the third supply and the hypothetical s%$t hits the hypothetical fan.

The chemist says that unbeknown to him there is no subsidy on these drugs and instead of 29 odd dollars a fortnight’s supply the price should have been $441.95 a fortnight. (hypothetically). "This is what you need to pay for the next lot and you owe us $883.90 (less the $58 odd already hypothetically paid) for the last two lots"

My argument would be that had I known the real price I never would have accepted the drugs in the first place.

Where would one (hypothetically) stand in this case?

The chemist has now sent an invoice for the outstanding amount.

Regards>
Neil.

[johnc]

I'd start by speaking to the quack to find out why you had a script for non PBS drugs to start with. Ultimately if they are not on the PBS who is at fault? I don't see why the pharmacy would be liable for the extra cost as it was simply filling an order, perhaps you should follow up the appropriate Government department.

You may be able to hold the chemist to the quoted price but is the amount worth the angst and the risk of a bad credit rating.

This is not advice, I think you need to do a fair bit of homework as to how the sytem works before you can begin to apportion blame.

John.

[Driver]

Neil

I'm not a lawyer but I think the chemist is flying a kite.

He advised you of the price at the time of the first and second sales. In good faith, you paid the price that you were asked to pay. He has now discovered that he should have asked you to pay more because there is no subsidy - something he assumed would apply. Too bad. His assumption was wrong. If you had known of the very much higher price at the time of the first two purchases, you would not have bought the drugs.

A contract requires three elements: offer, acceptance and consideration. In the case of a retail purchase, the offer is you offering to buy something; the acceptance is the retailer being prepared to supply and the consideration is the agreed amount of (usually) money that changes hands (ie, the price). All three elements have to be present or no contract exists. An agreed price is part of the contract.

I strongly recommend that you tell the chemist in no uncertain (but polite) terms that you will not be paying his invoice and then immediately take the invoice to the Small Claims Tribunal, making the case that the invoice should not have been issued and asking for an order that it be withdrawn. The Small Claims Tribunal is probably your least expensive option.

All this is entirely hypothetical, of course.

[joe greiner]

I agree thoroughly with Driver (including not a lawyer). The previous sales were complete at their time of transaction. The chemist can't re-write history. USA is somewhat more litigious than the rest of the "civilized" world, but if someone attempted to damage my credit rating with a bogus claim, I'd consider it defamation of character, which could invite a world of woe to the chemist.

There.:mad: That's my 1.5 cents worth.

Joe

[dazzler]

My 2c

Looks like they made a mistake thinking it was in the pbs and have charged you the small amount. Later they have found out its not so have asked for full payment.

Im sure there is a lot of legal argument that could go on but the bottom line is that the drugs cost x and thats what should be paid. Legally you might be right, ethically perhaps not. You obviously needed the medicine so I spose what its worth is what its worth.

Given the hypotheticalness of the story i imagine there is another side??

[joe greiner]

Bingo! "Hypothetical" indeed.

Joe

[kekemo]

Bugger cyber space. lost the message, not going to re do it all now
but 3 things

letter to chemist explaining your objection & refusal to pay, outline whole incident, plus fact your contacting & sending copies of your letter to 3 other sources,

a, the local polly's office they are really great, they will help you
b, the local newspaper as a warning to others outline stress & financial factors, you might even hear from a local lawyer, they love this stuff....
c, the medical board, they don't like these occurances either

remember polite all the time get more everything (help) with honey than vinigar

sorry the first email was really good, this is just quick outline, you can get the drift....Dont pay, your not at fault....could offer the product back, recycled of course...LOL

regards Kekemo

[bsrlee]

I - strongly - suggest you go down to the nearest local court and speak to the staff, ask to speak to the 'Chamber Magistrate' - at least that is what they were called in NSW - he is a sitting magistrate, and is required to give free legal advice to the public. Depending on cost cutting you may get his understudy, the Clerk of the Court. If you have a small or busy local court, you should ring ahead and make an appointment.

If the local is a very large court (or you happen to work in the CBD) then there is probably a 'pro-bono' solicitor (he's paid by the government and/or the Solicitor's board) and/or a full time 'Legal Aid' solicitor, all of who are free to you - as with all 'free' services, you may have to make an appointment.

The other people to speak to are your State Government consumer watchdog organisation - they keep changing the name to confuse people, in NSW it is current 'Fair Trading' - not quite as 'legal' as the magistrate or solicitor, but fairly reliable as the matter could end up in one of their tribunals.

Go to all the above.

You may be in a sticky place if the chemist concerned is your only available chemist, but he can get in a lot of trouble if he looses and tries to make things hard for you.

[kekemo]

forgot to say, contact your doctor thats really important, he would want to know....also
& have you considered this could be a scam......never know....thats why you have to follow up....invoicing after a sale.....never hear of that before....
Just offer the chemist 2 options........recind the invioce...or take the drugs back ( in recycled form)

The chemists actions are beyond rude....the ACC (Australias Consumers Commision) would be very interested too! Have any friendly lawyers on the woodforum...LOL
hope your ok
regards Kekemo

[Chesand]

The pharmacist has pointed out the true cost of the drugs for future supplies
but in the interests of goodwill could bear the cost of the 2 earlier supplies or at least offer to come to some agreement (perhaps half price) for them.
These expensive drugs can be a problem as to whether they are on NHS sometimes. It sounds like the pharmacist has assumed that they were on NHS and then had the script rejected by Medicare who pay for the balance of NHS scripts. Perhaps the script was written incorrectly, or the proper authority was not obtained by the Doctor.
DAMHIK

[Buzzer]

Hi,

In my opinion the chemist is out of line charging you more for what you have already paid for. Keep the receipts.

I would go back to the Doctor and he/she should sort it out for you, since it was their script of a none PBS item.

Cheers.

[ernknot]

This guy is sampling his own drugs. Tell him to get stuffed.

[bennylaird]

See Wongo and borrow some of his, may not fix the problem but you wont care

The red ones are better than the blue ones

[Bleedin Thumb]

1. It is illegal to profit from someone else's mistake so it could be argued that the Chemist has a case.
2. As Driver pointed out you had established a contract with the Chemist to supply the drug for a set price so you too could argue that the chemist has now breached that agreement by increasing the price well and truely above reasonable expectations.

This leaves you both in a stalemate position.


Just ignore his invoice as it will cost them at least $2000 in legals to get you into court and they wouldn't have buckleys of getting any money from you anyway.
So relax they are just trying it on.

Edit: Neil by looking at your avatar I suggest you stop taking those drugs and send what you have left over to my wife.

[silentC]

I can't believe that anyone here actually thinks the chemist has a case!!!

If you go to the supermarket and put something in your trolley that has the wrong price on it, they HAVE to sell it to you at that price. They can't later realise their mistake and send you an invoice for the difference! Come on, get real...