Adam James
The following is the worst customer review we have received from our listing on Amazon followed by our response. We hope you find this helpful when making your purchasing decision!
Customer Review
We were looking to make a jump from our current pour through pill counter (Kirby), and purchased this to give it a try. We fill 300+ scripts a day in our pharmacy, and we have been using “pour-through” pill counters for in our pharmacy for over 20 years. We were excited to give this machine a try but we had to send it back after just a few hours of use for several reasons.
1. It does not count as fast as advertised. The 500 tablets per minute is only for very small tabs, I counted 300 HCTZ 12.5 mg capsules, and it took well over 1 minute.
2. There’s no cover over the pour tray, so some of the capsules were launched in the air and on to the pharmacy counter.
3. There’s a tab that must be adjusted for each individual drug. In order to get an accurate count, you have to adjust a small metal tab on the back of the counter. It was finicky and sharp, and I’m pretty sure my techs would never do that.
4. The trays were not high quality. They were see through, which was a nice feature, but the trays didn’t look very well finished. They also did not slide in and out of the slots very smoothly, and I was afraid that they would break or get jammed.
5. The trays are pretty small. There is no overflow sensor, so you have to watch to see when its full to pull them out, the machine doesn’t stop counting when it senses its full.
This might work well in an environment where there is minimal pill counting. but in a fast-paced retail environment, I’d recommend looking elsewhere.
*Edited to add* I will say that the return process was quick and hassle-free, and upon reading my review the vendor did contact me to discuss my issues with the machine. I do think it speaks volumes about a company to stand by their product. I’m adding a star to the review to reflect the optimal customer service.
Our Response…
Dear Customer,
Thank you very much for your detailed feedback. We appreciate hearing from our customers about their experience with our products both positive and negative. We are sorry that the Rx-4 did not suit your needs, but we are happy to hear that your overall experience with the return process was a positive one. Meanwhile, we would like to take this opportunity to address your specific concerns to provide additional information to prospective purchasers.
1. The counting speed of the unit does vary based upon the shape and size of the pill. Small, round pills are routinely counted at around 500 per minute. Conversely, large, elongated tablets and capsules can be slower. However, even at the slower speeds, the overall counting time is generally superior to counting by hand, and the accuracy rate of the machine is much higher.
2. Occasionally, the rotating turntable can “toss” a pill, however, this is typically a result of overloading the turntable. The fewer pills on the turntable, the less chance of this occurrence and the faster the machine will count. The open design enables the user to continuously add pills to the batch as they are being counted and dispensed.
3. Yes, the Rx-4 does require a slight adjustment when switching from capsules to flat tablets to eliminate tablets “piggybacking” on each other.
4. Based upon this review we will immediately address the cosmetics of the tray construction. Despite their appearance, the trays (as is the entire machine) are constructed of highly durable, FDA approved ABS plastic.
5. Yes, this is correct. The regular trays are designed for smaller quantities, generally under 100 at time. However, included with the Rx-4 is the Vial Drawer attachment that enables the user to dispense into any size of receptacle for direct vial filling, large quantity batches, and inventory counts.
Thank you again for your valuable feedback, and we do acknowledge that this unit can have its challenges for busy retail pharmacy environments filling 300+ scripts per day. However, for customers needing automated assistance for vial/bottle filling, pre-packaging, and counting inventories, we believe our product is an ideal solution for that.
– Rx Count Corporation
