I'm with a patient, and Mary calls me out of the room.
Mary: "There's a lady on the phone, and she wants to be worked in today. I told her we don't have anything."
Dr. Grumpy: "So put her in for Friday. Don't we have an opening then?"
Mary: "Yes, but she's insisting on today. She says she's a close friend of your mother, and your mom told her that you'd get her in. That's why I'm checking with you."
Dr. Grumpy: "Mmmph. That's not something my mom would do..."
I walked over and grabbed Mary's phone.
Dr. Grumpy: "This is Dr. Grumpy. What's my mother's first name?"
Mrs. Reede: "Carol."
Dr. Grumpy: "Wrong."
Mrs. Reede: "Um, Susan?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Nope, thank you for playing."
I hung up.
Mary: "That was awesome."
That is hilarious! Did she really think she would get away with it!?! The nerve of some people. You should have said your mom was dead and unless she was beckoning from beyond the grave you were pretty sure it wasn't her. I have a weird sense of humor like that though and my mom really *is* dead. I hope she doesn't post a crappy review of your practice on doctor evaluation sites! Some people can be crazy.
ReplyDeletePatients will do anything to get a same day appt! Love your quick thinking. But that would never fly at my customer satisfaction focused group....walk ins? We see them. Sibs? Add 'em on. The louder you complain? The better service we give you.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! You do everything we wish we could get away with in our politically correct world. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteThat was really very clever of her, though I second the concern that she will post a negative review on you out of spite.
ReplyDeletei wanna play too!!!
ReplyDeleteumm... Amy? Becky? Catherine? Dawn? Eliza?
Bob!
ReplyDeleteGolda. Seriously, as another poster said, the nerve. Tho I am not surprised. You should hear PR people's pitches to get us to cover something,
ReplyDeleteI would guess "Mama Grumpy".
ReplyDeleteAnnette? Eleanor? Helga? Bertha?
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, I know. It's Mrs. Grumpy.
If you asked me why I'd refer to a friend as Mrs. instead of her real first name I'd just say we had a very formal friendship.
Judy? Kim? Lisa?
From my days working as a receptionist:
ReplyDelete"But I'm one of Dr. Zhivago's established patients!"
"So are the other 400 people in town. Suck it up, buttercup!"
Can I come and work for you? I'm a respiratory person, but I'd love a boss with your view of the world.
ReplyDeleteSalesmen like this tactic too. When my mother was working reception at the family company people would always swear they were best friends with the boss (my stepdad) or his father (who was long dead by that point). They were always infuriated when "some stupid secretary" wouldn't let them through to talk to their best buddy just because SHE'd never heard of them (or because they hadn't realized he was dead...)
ReplyDeleteCan she bake, can she brew, can she spin a skein, too? It's Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin is my name.
ReplyDelete