I always count the pills.

And the widgets. (And pretty much anything I buy “by the numbers.”) It’s not that I expect any problems, it’s just that I want to make sure I’m getting what I pay for when it comes to products bought in open bulk.

When it comes to medications, it seems there’s  a lot of miscalculation going on. After my mom received 25 percent fewer pills than should have been in a bottle recently, she warned everyone she knows. Several people e-mailed immediately to say they’ve had the same problem.

Meds cost big bucks. Per pill.

My old bank said “it’s only pennies” when I asked them to credit back interest they owed me because of a screw-up at their end. Yes, but they’re my pennies.

Add my pennies to your pennies and a whole lot more customers, and you can see how the dollars start to add up.

I don’t know how often it’s a quality control problem versus a deliberate strategy of spreading out the inventory. But I know as a business owner that I don’t want my customers asking that question.

Who’s counting the pills in your business?

Photo by Dominique Godbout (Flickr).