appointment | Piss and Moan

Clueless Chris

Posted on April 18, 2022 by backuphill

It’s interesting that there are people doing jobs for others and they have no actual idea what the person they are working for does. A while back I mentioned that I was having “retirement envy” and that I was starting to wonder how I was doing on progression towards that goal (an evaluation) and possibly planning for the future. I have an acquaintance/ friend that I have known for a long time and it was my understanding that he did financial planning, as well as insurance sales.

Well, I called and booked an appointment and talked with whomever was answering phones, a guy named Chris. He didn’t get a lot of info from me (didn’t even ask my last name) and didn’t really even ask what it was that I wanted to meet about. I let him know with the initial phone call I was looking at financial planning for retirement. He booked the appointment.

I got a call today to confirm the appointment and when I confirmed that I would be there, I again mentioned that I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to bring to the appointment. He said he would find out because he wasn’t sure. He called back and told me to bring documentation for insurance comparison. I let him know that isn’t what I was coming in for. That I wanted financial planning. I asked if I had misunderstood what services were being offered. Again, he didn’t know and was going to ask his boss.

Huh.

You would think that if you work there you would have some understanding of what your boss does and what services are offered.

Needless to say, the first impression of the office person isn’t a good one. Clueless Chris may be hurting the business if the communication is this clumsy about what services are offered by the office he works in.

I have a feeling the meeting this afternoon is going to get cancelled as I am not exactly looking for insurance (well, maybe some additional life insurance, but that isn’t high priority) at this point.

“Back order”

Posted on January 4, 2022 by backuphill

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Took my car in for service today. It was actually needed before the long drive over the holiday, but timing just didn’t work well. Before I left for vacation, I set up the appointment for when I got back. That works out to just about two weeks before the the appointment.

The appointment is the scheduled 45k mile checkup. This is the one recommended by the manufacturer. So I expected, given the lead time, that there would be no issues in completing the work needed for this appointment. As a business, I expected they would have all the stuff they needed for the appointment lined up before the appointment. That would be good customer service – so that it is all done in one trip.

I guess I expected too much.

They don’t have the air filter needed for my car. This is the dealership, mind you.

It’s the whole, “We’re having a hard time getting parts” and “Everything is back ordered” and “Come back another day and we can just slap that thing in” and “We’ll have it by 3:00 (later) today.”

So now I need to make a second trip over here because you didn’t check to see if you had all the parts needed for this very specific check up?

That’s not good customer service.

Good grief.

Anyone else experienced this whole “back order/supply chain” excuse lately? That seems to be a pretty standard answer when a business can’t delivery on the services they are selling. Is this REALLY that bad of an issue or are businesses just using it as crutch?

Kind of like the whole “national coin shortage”? There is’t one really. Business seems pretty normal to me.

Am I being unreasonable? Should I give grace for something like this when there was time to prepare or give me a head’s up before the appointment?

Doctor doctor

Posted on October 18, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

Is it getting near impossible to get good service at a doctor’s office any more?

I was reminiscing the other day about how when you used to go to the doctor that they would actually spend some time with you and actually show concern for you, not just your physical self but for other aspects of your life.

Those times are gone. Long gone.

Now, when you go to the doctor, you barely get 10 minutes with the doc and you only get “one thing at a time.” In other words, if I am visiting the doctor for one physical ailment I can’t also mention a different ailment. I am told that I will have to make another appointment for that. Really?

Heaven forbid that I take more time than my allotted 10 minutes!

Doctor’s offices have become all about production rather than quality and patients are feeling the effects. Its all about “How many patients can I see in a day?” rather than “I am going to do the best job possible for my patients so their care and health comes first.”

A relative recently visited the doc and was going because they were pretty sure they had a sinus infection but also something else is going on internally, like in the stomach or kidney area. Unsure of what is going on in one area but pretty positive in another, they hoped they could have both addressed in the same visit. At first they were told that another appointment would be needed. When it was brought up again with the nurse, the response was “I’ll see if the doctor has time.” The doctor “made time” and broke their policy to talk about the second issue without a second visit…only to have my relative go back to the doctor two days later because the second issue is getting worse.

Is that really care? Is that really best healthcare we can get? “If there is time…” ” I am not supposed to do this…” “We’ll try and squeeze you in…” Whatever.

Your life, your well-being, your health is at risk because our doctors (maybe not them, but whoever is making the money and holding the docs hostage) can’t time time to actually provide you with the care you need.

I am not really sure what the answer is, but I certainly know what the answer isn’t. It’s not the kind of care we are getting now.

“The good ol’ days” really were better when it comes to doctor office visits. Let’s put some personal level of care back into “healthcare.”

Do you miss the “Good ol’ days” of healthcare too?