I'm absolutely speechless with anger. I wrote a couple of posts ago about the dental surgery giving me the wrong time for an appointment over the telephone and when I turned up an hour late they treated me as if I was in the wrong and I had to make another appointment for the Friday of the same week. Yesterday I received a letter from them telling me that they had considered my case!!!! and that this time I wouldn't be struck off their list but that if I failed to turn up for an appointment again I most certainly would be, and that I was to make an appointment immediately for a check up.
WHAT???
a) I didn't not turn up, I turned up at the time they told me - not my fault if they had made an error and I turned up an hour late.
b) I made another appointment on the day, went to that appointment, and paid in full.
c) I've been with them for 10 years and never not turned up for an appointment.
d) I've just realised that they must have thought I was telling lies about why I was late. (I think this hurts the most)
I just had to get this off my chest. Writing it down here has stopped me sending them a really strong letter - which would, I suppose, give them even more grounds for taking me off their list.
Where has trust, politeness, consideration and customer care gone? I can see that loyalty and a good attendance record in the past don't stand for anything nowadays. You are only as good as your last breath; what went before means nothing to them.
Now my anger has subsided I find their attitude rather sad and a sign of the intolerance in the society we live in today. It's actually quite worrying isn't it?
Yes Rosie that is worrying. To think that in this age of computers we have more communication than we ever thought possible, but less relationship with the people we rub shoulders with each day. I hope it was a form letter, and if it was, you could maybe speak to the Dentist about the effect that this practice has. If it was written specifically for you, that is quite unbelievable. Make sure you do something enjoyable just for you today.
ReplyDeletehi lois, yes I think it was a standard letter - but curt and uncaring nontheless - I know they have lots of people just not turn up to appointments and they have to do something about it - but it is hurtful to receive it - especially as I didn't deserve it. I think it could be toned down in a more sympathetic manner.
ReplyDeleteWrite a letter to the practice manager (if there is one) with a copy to your dentist and say it liked you've told it in this blog, including the hurt. Whoever did this to you to get themselves out of a hole of their making will do it again to some other poor soul.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar thing happen to me a couple of years ago. In my case I had 'phoned to cancel an appointment and got another one at the same time. They sent me a snotty letter about not attending the cancelled appointment demanding a non-cancellation fee and threatening me with removal from their list if it happened again. I went in the practice with the letter and a written reply. I asked for the manager and spoke to her. She told me it was nearly always the client's fault, so they assumed that was the case with me and asked me if I was sure about my facts.
Then I sweetly asked, how in the absence of seeing my dentist did I have an appointment booked for the following week? I did all this with a smile on my face and in my normal voice. Everyone in the waiting could hear her apologise to me. They've been fine since and always double-check future appointments with me. So, Ros, don't let them get away with it. Think of the next poor soul who will be on the receiving end of their sloppiness.