Mary: "Hi, this is Mary, from Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm just calling to remind you of your appointment tomorrow at 8:45."
Mrs. One: "It's on my calendar. I'm quite aware of it. I'm an adult, you know, and you don't need to bother me with such condescending behavior. Reminder calls are demeaning."
Mary: "Sorry."
_____________________________
Ms. Two: "Hello?"
Mary: "Hi, this is Mary, from Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm just calling to remind you of your appointment tomorrow at 2:30."
Ms. Two: "Great! I'll be there! Thank you!"
Mary: "See you then."
_____________________________
Mr. Three: "Hello?"
Mary: "Hi, this is Mary, from Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm just calling to remind you of your appointment tomorrow at 4:15."
Mr. Three: "It's about time."
Mary: "Excuse me?"
Mr. Three: "It's about time you called. I was wondering if you people were going to have the simple courtesy to do a reminder call."
Mary: "Okay, this is your reminder, and so we'll see you at..."
Mr. Three: "Customer service in medicine is obviously dead, or you would have called earlier."
16 comments:
Unbelievable. I'm sure I remember people being much more courteous and well mannered 20 years ago.
Or am I just being nostalgic, and 2/3 of people have always been rude and ungracious?
@Mal: It used to be much less socially acceptable to be rude in public. It was also considered a proper thing to discipline (not punitively punish) kids so they didn't grow up to entitled jerks.
I think another thing is that we hear about them more, due to the ease of communication. That feeds sites like clientsfromhell and Not Always Right, among others.
I love those reminder calls, even though I often let them go to voicemail. (Robot recordings, urgh.) I have a terrible memory for remembering some things, and I'd really rather not be stuck with the no-show fee. I have alerts on my phone calendar, but every bit helps!
Mary is awesome, Doc. Have we said that lately?
Sadly, 2 out of the 3 people above clearly thought Mary was being the rude one, and are out there complaining about her to their friends.
Mary needs yet another raise!!
I'm anxious to read tomorrow note on which one was the no-show...
MBee
"You cant please everyone, so ya gotta please youself"
I think I would make this transcript a sign in the waiting room. Maybe, it would help.
I'm old enough to regard reminder calls as an imposition on the doctor's staff, rather than on me. But I was raised Southern, and Military. My father used to say that if you are ten minutes early for an appointment, you are late.
For the patients that are rude to Mary who actually show up for their appointments, I'd have them referred to a proctologist to have their heads removed from their rectums; oh, and have a jar behind Mary's desk that you would drop some cash in every time she has to smile at these jerks.
Mrs number 1 of course is the one who also no-shows OR worse yet, calls the morning of and cancels!
@Shae...
Bazinga!!!!!! Yes!
I do telephone nursing. Of the 10 to 15 people I talk to in a given day, I might get a mean or crazy one once or twice a week.
When I get pulled to make reminder calls, probably half of the folks I talk to are mean or crazy. I hate it.
Oh Mary, I feel your pain, my dear.
@anon 2:03: That exact thing happened to me this am. Called ten minutes before his appointment saying he forgot, even though he was furious I dared call him yesterday with a reminder...
Maybe it's time to ask if they want a reminder call.
Personally, I don't really like them (in all probability the appointment has been looming prominently in my mind since I made it), but I've never been rude to the people (or machines!) that call and remind me.
Keep Ms. Two, let the other two go.
You need to buy Mary a new car as a bonus.
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