I feel as though I should give a bit of background on Dr. Kinda Old. Dr. Old has been at this for 40+ years. Before you cringe, you should know Dr. Old is one of those perfect "been at this since the dawn of time" vets. He's been at this long enough to have seen it all a least twice, and practiced back in the day before diagnostic tests were the norm. As in, he will use a physical exam, history and his brain to make differentials unlike some new doctors who won't even hazzard a guess without a full blood panel, x-rays and an ultrasound. He strives to stay current, is an incredibly skilled surgeon but has the years to back it up. I'm so lucky to have this example as my mentor - and his following is pretty rabidly loyal. Clients who have been with him since the beginning, follow him no matter where he goes and, as such, sometimes place completely unreasonable expectations on his time.
Anyway, its 5:30pm, we close for business/appointments in an hour and Dr. Old is in a complicated surgery. Mrs. Entitled rings and our newest A. C. C. receptionist answers:
R-ACC: Awesome Critter Clinic, how can I help you?
Entitled: I need to speak with Kinda. Right away.
R-ACC: I'm sorry, he's unavailable. Can I please take a message.
Entitled: Oh, I see. You must be new. This is ENTITLED and I need to speak with Kinda RIGHT NOW!
R-ACC: I'm sorry, he's in the middle of a complicated surgery and I can't interrupt him. I'm happy to take a message.
Entitled: Listen Missy. My prized Cocka-Schnauza-Poo has been sick ALL DAY! I need Kinda to see him right away!! I'll hold while you go get him.
R-ACC looks up Mrs. Entitled's account and sees she owes us over $1700 in unpaid bills, and has been sent to collections. This, combined with her bad attitude, makes R-ACC more than reluctant to bother Dr. Old in surgery. However, she pops her head in. Dr. Old is, surprisingly, unwilling to leave surgery to talk on the phone. Nor is he willing to hang around an hour+ past closing to wait for this person to arrive.
R-ACC: Mrs Entitled, I'm sorry but Dr. Old is unable to leave his surgery, and he's unable to wait past closing for you to arrive. He has other obligations he must attend to.
Entitled: Well what am *I* supposed to do?!?!?!
R-ACC: I can give you numbers to local emergency clinics.
Entitled: I can't afford that!!!!
R-ACC: You could call around to clinics closer to you and see if they're open later.
Entitled: I can't afford those other places, they're way too expensive! I'm coming up there now. You'd better stay open and wait for me.
R-ACC: (in her head: apparently you can't afford us either, since you don't bother to pay your bills) Ma'am, I'm sorry, but we won't have a doctor here. Even if we received permission to stay open and wait for you, the best we could do is set your pet up in a kennel and monitor her overnight until the doctors arrive in the morning.
Entitled: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE A DOCTOR THERE OVERNIGHT? WHAT HAPPENS IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO MY DOG?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
R-ACC: Ma'am, that's what I'm trying to tell you. We don't have 24 hour coverage here. That's why I recommended an emergency room.
Entitled: Well, I can see you're just not willing to work with me here at all. I'm not coming, and I'm not going to an emergency center, those people are crooks. I will be calling to speak to Kinda about you in the morning, you will be fired after he hears about this. And if my dog dies tonight, that guilt is on your hands. <click>
Poor R-ACC. The abuse the ladies who answer our phone take is unbelievable. The next day, R-ACC was agonizing over calling Mrs Entitled to see how her dog was doing. But she didn't want to know if the dog had passed in the night. Horrible feeling, trying to help people who won't let you help them. And berate you in the process.
*I feel the need to point out that A. C. C. does not have 24 hour doctor/staff coverage BUT we have a wonderful relationship with the local ER. When we have critical patients, like the one who was in surgery when Mrs. Entitled called, we are luckily enough to be able to transfer them for around the clock care to our local ER. Its a win-win.
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