| rev:text
| - I was sorely disappointed with my service in dealing with Dr. Judy Sturm's staff. I'm sure Dr. Strum herself is quite lovely, I had been referred to her by a client of mine, and a current patient of hers. Sadly, I didn't get so far as even stepping one foot into this business.
I booked an appointment online with the handy website contact feature. I corresponded with a very nice staff member, Chari, who helped explain the two types of appointment I could set up; a full dental screening or a dental cleaning. She was prompt and informative.
I was contacted 4 days before my appointment with a confirmation email which asked me to call or email in response. I did not reply immediately thinking I could leave it until the weekend (2 days before my appointment) when I was done my work week and had time to confirm. The next day, I just happened to check my phone mid-day at work and noticed 2-3 new emails and 2-3 new missed calls, from this email. Thinking this very odd, I check the emails. I found a string of emails from a frantic sounding Kelly who explained that they had contacted me numerous times and that I needed to confirm my appointment by a certain time (which gave me an hour from the email being sent). She mentioned that she didn't know if I would be in town for the appointment hence if I didn't confirm, they needed to cancel the appointment. The subsequent email, an hour later:
"...We have tried numerous times to confirm your reserved time
for Monday but we still have not heard from you.
I'm sorry but I do have to cancel this appointment as I'm not sure
your in town...."
They cancelled my appointment because I did not confirm it in the timeline they requested. Now, being someone who works in a medical office, I know how important it can be to confirm appointments. Afterall, if someone books and then doesn't show up, they just wasted the time of the entire staff not to mention, they prevented another sick patient from being seen at that time.
After reading this last email, I was fuming and here is why:
1.) I was not told at any point in time that there was a required confirmation time frame or risk a cancellation on their part.
2.) The appointment I had made 10 days earlier, was cancelled. I don't have a lot of free time on my hands, I frequently work 11 hour days.
3.) I don't know why this person used the reason of my "'being out of town"' as a justification to cancel the appointment I made. This was completely made up.
I promptly emailed back and expressed my utter disappointment, pointed out my list of grievances and asked that the Manager email me ( I don't answer my phone when I'm at work, don't have voice mail.). I got an email back from Chari, the original person with whom I booked the appointment:
"Good morning X, My sincere apologies that we had to cancel your appointment. We make every effort to confirm your times slot, especially since it was 1 14 hour appointment. I will definitely make every effort for this not to happen in the future. God, you do work a lot of hours!!!
I will do my best to accommodate you. I have a time to-morrowat 9:45 or Wed at 2:45. Could any of these times work for you? Otherwise , Please tell me what might work and I will do my best to accommodate you......Chari"
As you can see, I was met with apologies for the cancellation and , for what I assume was the mistake on their part, though not clearly stated. The time slots she offered meant my missing work and her attempt to do her best to accommodate irked me. I don't think one should "do their best" when they are in error, one should just "do". In customer service this is called "going above and beyond." Instead, this feels impersonal.
When reading this, I was disappointed that they were trying to rebook me before having the Manager contact me. In my anger, I wrote back a one line reply " I will not be rebooking with your office" and was met was no contest. , Not realizing until today when I looked it up myself on their website, that I was in contact with the Manager. Chari was the person with whom I booked but who a no point in time introduced herself as such. So while I waited patiently for this to be dealt with by management in an above and beyond manner, I heard nothing back and felt the matter unresolved.
Granted, others will read this and come to a very different conclusion about my experience, I would just like to point out that I too do the same job these women do and so my standards are from the standpoint of an insider. It is my opinion (please feel free to form your own) that the customer service from the front desk staff is severely lacking. As the main point of contact at a medical office, this failure to communicate with the client (me) is a huge detriment and ultimately reflects poorly on the business and business owners.
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