This call takes place about 5 minutes after I leave:
Staff: Hello, how may I help you?
Client: I need to talk to the doctor right now.
Staff: She’s left for the day, how can I help you?
Client: Can I have her cell phone number?
Staff: I’m afraid not, is there something I can help you with?
Client: She gave my dog some medicine two weeks ago and it’s not working. The dog is still itchy.
(Staff looks up the client: This person had come in one month ago, using a “free wellness exam” certificate in order to get her puppy with hardly any hair left evaluated. The dog looked suspiciously like it had a Demodex infection- a mite common to puppies. The owner declined a skin scrape to diagnose the mites, injections to help with the itching, and mite medicine, taking only a week’s worth of antibiotics. Staff reads notes to client, including “strongly advise skin scrape for mites”.)
Staff: We can get you in first thing tomorrow, will that work?
Client: NO! She needs to call something in RIGHT NOW!
Staff: I’m afraid I can’t reach her right now. Would you like the number for the emergency clinic?
Client: Can they call something in for me?
Staff: Without you going in?
Client: Yes.
Staff: I highly doubt it.
*dial tone as client hangs up*
I wish stupid people weren’t allowed to have pets.
Amen!
“Stupid people should not be allowed to have pets” — I think that is a keeper!
Dr. V! I was in your Flickr a while back and you had a picture of an ADORABLE dog in your clinic who was a black lab/basset mix. I can’t find it any more! I know this is sort of bizarre, but if you happen to know where it is would you mind linking me? I wanted to show it to a friend of mine. I’ve never seen a dog more up her alley in my life.
I think it was in my twit pics- http://twitpic.com/photos/pawcurious
You are amazing. thank you. No wonder I couldn’t find it! Not that I minded an excuse to look at so many pics of Brody…
I always feel like my entire staff is being a giant shield in front of me when they protect me like that! Love it!
I think they all realize the dire consequences of doing such a thing to me. 😉 lol My boss has given her cell out on occasion, but I never, ever have.
Very, VERY rarely do I give out my personal information to clients. Fear of things like this are also the reason I don’t facebook, twitter, or myspace. I love people like this client, BTW. Had a vomiting puppy come in last night, owners declined x-rays, an ear cytology and meds for the otitis I diagnosed in the one ear and took her home on the good ol’ vomiting shotgun: injectable pepcid, anzemet and SQ fluids. Os were pissed they’d just had to shell out like $150 for diagnosis and treatment of scabies on this pup at their regular vet. Oh, and they had recently switched her cold-turkey from the science diet the shelter had been feeding to Bil-Jac. Shudder.
this makes me not miss working there!
Did you ever? 😉
Poor puppy! a month of misery, and the owner still won’t do what needs to be done. Kudo’s to your staff for deflecting that 1/2 hour waste of your time conversation!