Local pharmacy

[Sagitar]

I received a letter this morning from an on-line pharmacy trying to persuade me to sign on for their service. I assume that it has been widely distributed in the town and I can believe that some will find its message beguiling.

It doesn't do anything for me that I don't already get or have available from the local surgery and Cheesemans so it's not difficult for me to ignore it. But others may find the decision more difficult.

I think it is very important that we continue to support our local retailers, including the pharmacy. I guess that the dispensing of prescriptions is a significant part of their cashflow. I would not like to lose our local facility but it could easily happen if we don't support them.

[mickmc]

Presumably you have never bought anything on line that you could have bought locally and that you never buy anything in a supermarket that you can buy in a local shop ? - if you haven't then well done you !

[Sagitar]

Presumably you have never bought anything on line that you could have bought locally and that you never buy anything in a supermarket that you can buy in a local shop ? - if you haven't then well done you !

I hope I don't have to be perfect to qualify to make a comment.

I'm not trying to play "holier than thou" nor to be some sort of "smart arse". However, I am very aware of the extent to which the availability of bits and pieces that I used to buy from local shops has declined and if it's my fault I'd like to try to correct it.

If you have an advice on how I can do that, I'll gladly listen.

[RegChihuahua]

I like Cheesemans they are always helpful. Pharmacy2U has been going for a while now, but I guess their VC owners are putting more money in to get rid of the competition (like Uber) until they can jack the prices up.

[mickmc]

Sagitar
I was not trying to make out you were guilty of anything - sorry if it came over like that. The truth is that we are all guilty of destroying the High Street because I'm guessing that we all shop on line - I know I do , I suppose a possible answer is that we all stop doing so and go to our local shops and ask them to get the product in stock so we can buy it from them - is that going to happen? I remember my wife trying to do her bit and went to buy a book from the now closed book shop ( I can not remember it's name) , she asked for a particular title she was after but the shop did not stock it and the solution offered from the staff was that they could order it from Amazon and she could go and collect it from the shop.
People on this very site were saddened when the banks closed but how many of them now use a mobile phone to do most of their financial stuff and if we become a cashless society - as it is predicted - then the cash machines will also vanish.
It is a very sad fact that the internet has given with one hand and taken away with the other but as you know we can not uninvent things. I genuinely think that the world was better place before the internet and I for one will keep using Cheesemans .
Cheers

[Sagitar]

Thanks Mick - the retail purchasing system is very complex and it may be that we oldies just have to recognise that times are a changing. I do buy stuff from the internet, mainly photographic and electronic/communications kit, but we always try to buy locally first even for these two areas. Last December I bought a new lens (quite an expensive one) from the photo shop in Flitwick. But they just happen to stock my brand and the manufacturer's depot is in Bedford. I suspect that they keep going from their print sales rather than over the counter hardware sales and they have a good internet presence.
I could give you lots of examples that parallel your book shop experience, even a similar one at Cheesemans, but I'll keep trying.

[CraftsbyCarolyn]

Yes we have had it, but continue to use cheesemans. I assume if you can't collect from Cheesemans they will deliver, not tested that service yet.

[SCRABBLER]

Their service, C.C., is excellent. Take it from one that knows.
Unfortunately, time waits for no one, and I now find it impossible to shop quite the same I was able to some years ago.
So I am one who is very grateful for on-line shopping which enables me to acquire items from a shop that I now could not hope to get to,
especially if it is in the middle of Bedford.