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the very smiley receptionist
The other day I was making a follow up appointment at my dermatologist and it went like this…
“Does Friday, June 19th at 9 am work for you?” the receptionist asks.
“Yes, I can do that,” as I write it down in my appointment book.
But the receptionist doesn’t reciprocate. She writes down nothing. She types nothing into the computer. She just smiles.
So I reconfirm.
“So we are all set for June 19th at 9 am?” I ask, my eyes pleading for her to make note of this somewhere, on a random scrap of paper, on her hand, ANYWHERE.
She just smiles and nods.
“Yes, we’ll see you then.”
I left unsettled.
The experience reminded me of one of those waitresses who writes nothing down. The whole time you’re ordering your egg white omelette with artichokes instead of peppers and hot sauce on the side, you know there is no way she is ever going to remember the order. Never mind that you also want water, with no ice. I mean, that’s just a crazy dream.
And if the omelette, by some miracle of God, comes exactly the way you ordered it, your stress over the situation has completely numbed your appetite anyway.
And there’s no way you’re getting the water.
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When something like that happens to me I then end up ringing up the day before to check the appointment is for real.
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I’ve had so many bad experiences with schedulers…I always call to follow up!
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So I’ll meet you at 9:15 or so on the 19th, for coffee? (Since they won’t know you’re coming, might as well have a backup plan.)
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I have had people tell me their name and two seconds later I have no idea what it is
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Do follow up call….say was it 9 or 9:15??
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I like the follow up call idea!
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i’m that person who makes the appointments for her patients without writing anything down…i’ll take note here that that makes some people crazy. (=
enjoy your long weekend!
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I used to be a badass waitress who would remember the whole table’s orders; just like that.
I didn’t have kids then, though. Now I’m lucky if I remember pants on my way out of the house.
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miraculously we’ve had servers get our non penned orders right. But she didn’t write the appointment? There is no way she is mentally juggling the entire schedule… perhaps she just wanted you to think she was- and after you left she scrambled to enter it…
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Strange isn’t it. I was one of those waitresses – but I always got it right – like the other commenter BEFORE kids…
I too would follow up…I don’t how she could possible manage that one! Unless she already plugged you in and just hoped it would work.
I also the back up plan for coffee! Wish I lived closer!
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And I’m the bad patient who agrees to an appointment, takes the reminder card, and promptly loses it, thus forgetting the appointment. Thank goodness my doctor’s office does confirmation calls the day before.
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Bet she’d already entered the appointment into the computer before you even had the conversation… I’ve seen that done where offices know my schedule fairly well.
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I would leave the house without my head if I didn’t have a sticky note to remind myself to bring it…
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or a glass full of ice arrives…
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I always do the follow-up phone call. Because I’ve been in the receptionist position before and I don’t trust them to remember all that crap.
I mean, I couldn’t do it, and obviously I’m superwoman. So. Yeah.
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Much like Sarah, I always follow up because unless they give me one of those reminder cards, I never know if it’s REALLY in their system. But then, I’m obsessive like that.
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CALL THEM. Call to say that YOU want to be sure you wrote the day/time down properly.
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oh, the same thing happened to Ana recently and, guess what?
I’m going to the next appt. Can’t wait to meet Miss laconic receptionist.
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oh, i have witnessed the ice with no water – and I respect it!!! Today I actually asked the waiter to write my order on his pad – he asked if his blackberry would suffice – I gave him a big tip!!!
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Hey kelsey,I’m back from my NYC trip and I had a great time. A few mishaps on the subway, but nothing too major. Thanks for the encouragement,
E.
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She probably didn’t want to minimize Facebook on her computer while you were there. They all think they’re smart enough to remember to enter it into the scheduler later…BUT THEY AREN’T!
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Well? Did you call them to see if they really had it in the books? I’m curious.
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So funny, but in her defense, I was an amazing cocktail waitress once upon a time – eight, nine drinks in my head, no problem.
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The waitress, I get – she only has to remember until she gets back to the kitchen. The receptionist? Unless she has a photographic memory and can keep months worth of appointments in her head, she needs to get herself a pen.
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that place needs a new receptionist!
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I love what Cate said! My memory has definitely gotten worse since having a kid. But yeah, at least write it down on an appointment card or something….
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I’m sure that she was carving the date and time with her nails on her thigh.
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I found myself hysterical. I’ve obviously experienced this myself. Thank you for being the person who has made me laugh the hardest so far today.
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