Some Plugs In Appreciation

Thought I'd give some local businesses a plug here since I've had good dealings with them in the past and just recently. Funny how they're both in Friendly Henderson Center, but I guess it shouldn't be a surprise since I live near there.

First hat tip goes to Finnegan and Nason Auto Supply on the corner of Henderson and F Streets.

I actually don't go there all that often if only because I don't buy auto parts that often. But, when I have, I'm impressed with the staff's friendly and helpful manners. Yesterday was a good illustration of it:

Went in last week to buy a pair of split ring pliers. They had one in stock but, for reasons I won't go into here, I didn't buy it. Went in the next day to buy the tool and someone else had already bought it. They ordered another one for me and said it should be in on Tuesday.

Went in yesterday and it wasn't in its spot on the rack. Asked about it. They checked the computer and said it should be in store. They looked but couldn't find it. The sales guy finally gives up but tells me he has a pair in the back room I can borrow and brings them out to me. He doesn't even know my name but loans them to me anyway.

I went home and took care of what I needed them for and took the pliers back telling him I'll buy the other pair when they find them.

That wasn't the first time they've done something they didn't have to do.

One time I went in there with a problem with the ball on my trailer hitch- the exact nature of which I can't recall right now. I didn't even end up buying anything. The sales dude just tells me to hold on and takes my hitch ball back into the back room and runs a grinder brush over the threads of the trailer hitch ball for me and fixed the problem. No charge and no sale.

What a bunch of guys!

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Henderson Center Pharmacy ( I guess it's Redwood Pharmacy now) gets my next hat tip. I started going to them years ago after I got diagnosed with high blood pressure and finally had to buy a prescription.

I started going there because when the P.A. at North Coast Family Practice wanted to know where I'd like my prescription sent, I wasn't sure what to tell him. I suggested maybe Rite- Aid or Longs since, being chain stores, they'd probably have the lowest prices. The P.A. had a nurse call and check. Nope. Henderson Center Pharmacy had the lowest price for what I needed so Henderson Center Pharmacy it was.

Been going there for years now. Last week I went there and came away pretty happy with them.

I went in to pick up a prescription for the wife. One prescription was for a magnesium supplement. Went to pay the cashier and she told me insurance wouldn't cover the magnesium as it was available over the counter (OTC). She then told me that it would be around $20.00 for the bottle but I could get a considerable discount by buying it OTC without having the pharmacist "fill the prescription".

I'd read of this before. When a pharmacist fills a prescription they charge for it even if you could grab it off the shelf yourself. I remember when I'd first heard of this I began noticing the pharmacist going out on the floor and taking cough syrup, or some such, off the shelf and adding it to the bag with the rest of the prescription. I wondered back then how much extra was being charged for that. Over time I'd forgotten about it.

Anyway, the gal asked if I wanted to cancel that purchase and grab my own bottle off the shelf. For some reason she couldn't just cancel the deal and sell me the one she already had in the bag. I canceled it and she even went out to the supplements shelf to find the magnesium for me. She couldn't find the particular brand we wanted, probably because the one we already had was a higher dose than commonly sold. She told me she'd order it for me and it should be in the store the next day.

Came back the next day and the magnesium was there. Same brand they had the day before for half the price. I paid around $10.00 instead of the $20.00 I would have if I'd had the prescription filled for me. What a deal. The neat thing is, the cashier was the one that saved me the money. I wouldn't have thought of it on my own.

Kudos to Henderson Center Pharmacy in Friendly Henderson Center.

Feel free to plug one of your favorite businesses in the Comments section.