Is The "Customer Always Right"?

I have been a veterinary receptionist for about 4-1/2 years now. It was a career change for me, but I have always had a job where I dealt with customers. Customer service ("with a smile") is crucial in any business-in fact at my first employer, we were taught that "the customer is always right". It was the mantra we lived by-without the customer, there would be no business, so we made them happy at all costs. But is the customer always right? How much can be tolerated before you can say "Enough!"?

I drive 695 at 7am every morning from Cockeysville to Catonsville. Traffic is horrible every day. You get used to it and allow time. I could scream when a client is making an appointment and doesn't want the 8:30, the 8:50 or even the 9:10 because "it's too early, I don't want to be in the traffic". Stop whining! We do it every day-you will only have to do it once!

I am checking a client out and our vet has requested a follow up visit in 4 weeks. This requires me to negotiate a date that is available and suitable to the client. How is it possible to do this while the client is standing there talking on her cell phone, with no intention of hanging up? Last week, I had to talk "over" the conversation she was having, had to select a date for the client and hope that she heard me when she said that's fine and flew out the door, still talking on her cell. She will be the first one to show up late or not show at all next time.

Then there is the client who has a recheck appointment which has a 20 minute time slot allowed. She arrives in the parking lot 5 minutes after her appointment time and then proceeds to rearrange her purse (or make a cell call, put on makeup etc) and finally walks in the door halfway through her allocated time. How fair is this to the next client, who happens to be on time, but will be seen late now because of her?

My boss has a call-in hour every morning before appointments. It is 7:30-8:30am. There is no charge for this service. Established clients are encouraged to call in to speak directly to the vet with updates or questions, as an alternative to playing phone tag during the day relaying questions from me to the vet and back. I can't tell you how many people complain that they just can't call then, they aren't up that early.... please! This is just one time to get up early-can't they appreciate that they are getting access to the vet at no charge and don't have to go through the receptionist to talk to him directly?

I love new clients who go to the trouble to make the appointment, we mail out our paperwork (a 2 page questionnaire to fill out ahead of time) and they show up with it still in the unopened envelope!! So the first ten minutes of a $195 initial appointment is spent filling this out instead of with the vet.

I really love the no-shows! They are so considerate of others-probably many of the same folks who cut me off on 695 in the mornings. How hard would it be to make a one minute phone call to cancel so that someone on the wait list can be gotten in sooner? Well, just to be fair, we keep track of no-shows and two times is the charm. That client will have to prepay for the next visit-it is non-refundable if they fail to show up.

Many of our animals are on allergy shots. Most of our clients are careful and diligent in giving these injections at home on schedule. (They are taught how to do this by our techs). There are some who must know more than the vet and decide on their own to alter the shot schedule by changing the dose or the frequency-sometimes to save money ( "stretching out the shots" to avoid having to get refills as often), sometimes just because they "forget" or for some reason can't keep to a schedule. These folks must think we are dense! We know how long a 10cc vial of allergy serum will last at a given dose and frequency! You wouldn't believe the stories I hear when I question a client about the dosing when it is obvious that it is being refilled many months later than it should have been. Some insist they are on schedule -like the one last week who was supposed to be doing a 0.5cc injection every week and had gotten a 10cc vial 9 months ago, still with several doses left in it. That vial should have lasted 20 weeks, not 36 weeks! When confronted, she finally admitted to "maybe missing a few doses here and there". Come on, people! You are injecting something into your dog that it is allergic to! Don't you think it would be prudent to follow the schedule that a board-certified veterinarian with over 25 years experience has given you?

Many of our animals are allergic to foods. In order to control the allergy, an allergy food diet must be strict. Don't spend a fortune to come in and be asked to feed a strict diet for 2 months and then say that you cannot avoid giving your dog pieces of bacon, spaghetti, cheese, treats, table scraps, eggs, pork chops and the like! You can't avoid this? What, does your dog have the ability to open the fridge and get what he wants? Who is in charge here?

If your pet is on a long-term medicine, couldn't you take 5 minutes and learn the name of it? When you call in for a refill, please don't ask for the "little green pills that Fluffy takes". If you ask for it by name, I will be impressed that you care enough about your pet's care to have learned that medicine's name!

The internet! A client spends an average of $600 for a first visit to our office. The client's regular veterinarian has enough trust in my boss to refer his valued clients to us. But there is always that pet owner who upon leaving our office rushes home to do her own "research" on the internet. Forget that half the stuff on there is from questionable sources, or may be accurate but outdated. One of the phrases that I hate is "I read it on the internet"!

I could go on and on...
---clients do not follow specific medication directions, then complain that the pet is not improving
---clients who bring in their dogs off-leash and watch them as they relieve themselves on our lobby floor
---clients who leave the exam room to use the restroom and leave their anxious dog in there to claw frantically on the door, leaving huge marks on the door
---clients who allow their dogs to poop on the parking lot/sidewalk and don't have the courtesy of cleaning it up, or at least telling us so we can clean it up
---clients who are not forthcoming about their aggressive dog-PLEASE don't let us find out the hard way that your dog has to be muzzled to have its feet or ears examined!
---clients who are asked to make an appointment within two weeks (before a medicine runs out) and they say they will call back....they wait two weeks, the meds need a refill and now our appointment slots are full for two weeks out. They proceed to complain loudly that either they have to have the refill NOW, or we have to find some way to fit them into a full schedule NOW. Hey, it's not our fault they waited til the last minute to call back.

So, is the customer always right? I bite my lip, give them a big smile, take their money and thank them for coming in. After they're gone I go out back and scream.
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