Hope You Get Good Reception
Employees, Jerk, Lazy/Unhelpful, Medical Office, Reception, UK | Healthy | July 24, 2018
(My GP surgery usually has a two- to three-week wait for non-urgent appointments, but also has a limited number of on-the-day appointments available on a first-come-first-served basis. As these go very quickly, most people phone as soon as the surgery opens, so the phone lines are usually busy. I live close to the surgery, so I walk in just as it opens. One receptionist is on the phone, the other calls me forward.)
Me: “Hi, can I make an appointment today to see a doctor?”
Receptionist: “You have to phone for an on-the-day appointment.”
Me: “I… have to call? I can’t make one right here?”
Receptionist: “No, you have to phone.”
Me: “Why can’t I make one now?”
Receptionist: *glaring* “You have to phone. You can’t just walk in and book it.”
Me: “What’s the difference?”
Receptionist: “You have to phone.”
Me: “Okaaaay…”
(I step literally two steps away from the desk, pull out my mobile, and dial the surgery. Nobody else is waiting, so the receptionist is now free to answer the phones. Glaring at me the entire time, she answers the phone… to me.)
Receptionist: “[Surgery], how can I help?”
Me: “I’d like to make an appointment today, please.”
(The other receptionist had finished her call at this point, and just sat there open-mouthed looking backwards and forwards between us as I made an appointment, over the phone, with the receptionist sitting right in front of me.)
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