The last few weeks I've been getting into fisticuffs.
Not with Matt. Not with the smalls. Not with anyone I know. It's been fraught with fisticuffs with medical receptionists.
My usual medical practice has been choc-a-block so I've taken almost any appointment I can get. But I'm always greeted with attitude on the phone.
And when I needed another appointment urgently, they couldn't get me in, so I tried another place. And I was greeted with 'tude yet again. It's rife. Attitude is breeding like bacteria in an agar dish.
I managed to sweet talk them into an appointment, got a referral, and then today I went to find the referral and couldn't find it. I'd conveniently filed it away somewhere 'special'.
So I rang the receptionist and asked if she could fax a copy to me (or heck welcome to 2011, you could always email it to me). Her response?
"Did you forget it or leave it at home?"
"Yes, I can't find it in my handbag and need it for this afternoon."
"Fine - well it will cost you $7.50."
And thanks for the inquisition.
Then Matt called me and told me he'd found it. So I rang her back and told her I didn't need it anymore and she hung up on me.
Then Matt called me again and told me he'd found the wrong one. So I rang her again, apologised profusely and said that I did actually need it, to which she responded, "Are you serious?" before hanging up.
Charmed I'm sure.
The thing is, the GPs are almost always charming. Lovely. Charismatic.
Their receptionists? Notsomuch. They're like the door bitches of doctors.
And that receptionist - she still didn't send through the referral.
Do you ever find yourself duking it out to get a doctor's appointment?
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6 comments:
wow some people are so rude!
i don't understand why some people work in the industries they are in if they are so obviously miserable in them.
hope it all works out in the end for you!
Ha! I have always pondered this anomaly. What gives? Librarians and Uni Student Centre people are the same. Why the tude dude? It's hardly the world's worst job. Maybe it's time to take a stand. Non?
Ugh yes, I can never get in anywhere and the receptionists are always rude... You know another place where the receptionists are rude? Real estate agencies.
Try living in a small town. I lived in Charters Towers for a year back in the 90's. Now "Charlie's Trousers" as it's affectionately known, is a great country town in North Queensland but trying to make a doctor's appointment was impossible. You needed the gift of prophecy in knowing when you might get sick because if you needed to see a doctor on the day you were actually sick, or even make an appointment for the next day, you were screwed. The Switch Bitches would often greet me with the line "Are you a patient here?" If I didn't need to make any kind of appointment so badly I would have answered, "Well I would be if I could just get a damn appointment!" I'm hearing you!
delusions of grandeur? importance by association? its like small dogs vs. big dogs, the small ones (who didn't do medicine) yap the loudest, while the big dogs have nothing to prove.
I get the "Are you a patient here?" question ALL. THE. TIME!
I was a patient BEFORE the receptionist was B.O.R.N!!!
Main skill required for a receptionist job?? No brains and tude!! Lots of tude.
Mind you the girls at my specialist are AWESOME!! Nothing is too much trouble for them. Need more like that.
Lush :)
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