Rewind to almost a year ago when I broke my foot. I went to the podiatrist, was treated, had physical therapy and, in April, was released on my own recognisance. "Call me if you have any problems with your foot," she says. Okay. All good.
Yesterday, while napping at home, my wife was rudely awoken by the sound of the telephone. It was one of the pesky, but helpful, reminder calls from a doctor's office.
This call is to remind [JON MEYER] that he as an appointment with [DR. BROWN] at 11:00am tomorrow, December 31st.
There is apparently more to the call, but my wife is still half asleep. She calls me, gets mad at me because a phone call for me woke her up, and tells me about the call. Unfortunately, I do not see a Dr. Brown AND there is no shortage of them in the Tri-State area. Eventually, my wife settles down and calls back to give me the caller ID number. It is the office of my podiatrist who is NOT Dr. Brown. There is, however, a Dr. B[something] kind of sounds like Brown.
So, I called the office and this is how it played out:
Dr's Office: Good afternoon, Foot Care Center of Cincinnati.
Me: Hi, my name is Jon Meyer and I am a patient of Dr. [Podiatrist's Name]. I recieved a confirmation call for an appointment with a Dr. B[something], but I am not a patient of his. I last saw a doctor from your office in April and had no reason to schedule a follow up.
Dr's Office: Date of birth.
Me: My date of birth is 5/**/**
Dr's Office: You have an appointment with Dr. B[something] at 11:00am tomorrow.
Me: I apologize for any confusion, but I did not schedule an appointment tomorrow with that doctor, or any doctor for that matter.
Dr's Office: Are you Jon Meyer?
Me: Yes, I am.
Dr's Office: And you didn't make an appointment for tomorrow.
Me: No, I did not.
Dr's Office: Well, did you see a doctor in April about your foot?
Me: Yes, I did.
Dr's Office: Well, this is your follow-up.
Me: Well, I didn't schedule a follow-up. Was it scheduled that same day in April?
Dr's Office: No sir, it was scheduled for tomorrow.
Me: Sorry. I meant was the appointment made on that same day.
Dr's Office: I am showing that it was made on December 22nd.
Me: Than I definately know that it wasn't me. I didn't call to make an appointment. Someone else with a similar name must have.
Dr's Office: Would you like to cancel your appointment?
Me: Yes, but...
Dr's Office: We have a $25 fee if you cancel your appointment less than 24 hours before the scheduled time.
Me: I understand, but I didn't make the appointment.
Dr's Office: Well, who did make the appointment?
Me: I don't know. Maybe someone named John Mayer or Jan Meijer? Could someone like that have made an appointment?
Dr's Office: Sir, I am not allowed to discuss other patients with you. It is none of your business.
Me: Wow. Okay. Maybe you should decide at the office if you want to keep it open for the person that really made the appointment or if you want to cancel it. Either way, I am not going to have to pay a cancellation penalty because it is not my appointment.
Dr's Office: I will ask if I can waive the penalty.
Me: What? Okay, thanks. Good luck.
[END CALL]
Seriously...this lady was wacko. I'm noticing that little by little that the professionalism and courtesy of most Healthcare professionals, specifically those that assist the providers themselves, is going away. The people that schedule appointments are very discourteous and most other non-nurse or non-doctor personnel just seem...jaded. Maybe someone can explain it to me, but I think that it is inexcusable. When you are in that position, at LEAST half of your job is Customer Service. Deal.
WAL-MART
Amy, Sam and I went to Wal-mart last night to return some gifts. They were likely bought somewhere else, but seriously...you know that Wal-mart sells the stuff. Everything that we had to return WAS sold there, so we were fine. What I did like is how they handle the return preparation now.
When you walk in the door, there is a person there that scans the items, prints off a sticker with a barcode and price, and points you to the line. So, when you get to the register to return the items, they just scan the sticker and you're on your way. Way convenient and no guess work. The refund comes in the form of a gift card (Happy Birthday to my special someone), but that is fine since, as I said, they stuff probably came from another store.
