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How to wind up a customer !


Frederick
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Wife this morning off to dentist for hygienist appointment...4 car pile up on bend outside village due to ice and snow. road block. Phoned cancelled cant get there reply "We will make another appointment but you have to pay £20 for not attending today will put the bill in the post "
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Quite frankly, I'd tell them to stick their bill up their ***, and if they persist in being cretinous, that I'd report them to the BDA (or whatever their professional association is).  I'm quite sure that your intentions were along these lines anyway.

Of course it's difficult for the likes of dentists with people frivolously missing appointments, but it's not as though you didn't make contact.  Sounds like an over-zealous / daft receptionist though.

Try my 'never-fails-to-get-them-on-my-side' approach, with the line "Me customer, you overhead." [6]

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I think that Monday was a special case. Nevertheless, one of my daughter's colleagues lost £130 of her earnings because of failed appointments. Not easy when you are self-employed which many hygienists are. People making phone calls to cancel, while polite, is no recompense. Perhaps they should employ more draconian receptionists.

Hoddy

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Frederick, in this case I would refuse to pay.

Just been to hospital this morning for a physio appointment. Hospital is the other end of town and up a steep hill so I phoned first to see whether they had staff there. No answer, so I left a message, they phoned back and said my physio was there so to go if I could manage to get there. I walked some of the way, then there was a bus so I caught that then walked the rest. I used my Nordic walking poles which were a great help and actually arrived only 10 minutes late.

My physio said that staff who live a distance away and can't get to their usual hospital are advised to report to their nearest one and help out where they can.

I do some freelance  work and should be working nr. Brighton tomorrow. I have phoned and asked to postpone the day as I do not want to be out driving on icy roads. The organiser sounded quite put out.  I won't get paid but do not want to put myself at risk for something that can be re-arranged.

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Yes...receptionists.trained by Gengis Khan most of them ....Today on the Isle of Wight all out patients clinics appointments were cancelled due to weather conditions by the general hospital.so many would have turned up just to be told to go home as the staff were not there ...Information passed via Solent Radio so if you were not tuned to them you would have a wasted journey in time and fuel...they wont compensate the patients though !
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[quote user="Frederick"]Wife this morning off to dentist for hygienist appointment...4 car pile up on bend outside village due to ice and snow. road block. Phoned cancelled cant get there reply "We will make another appointment but you have to pay £20 for not attending today will put the bill in the post "[/quote]

Just a thought Frederick. Was the requirement to pay for a missed appointment when a telephone call has been made, brought to your wife's attention when she first visited this hygienist?

I don't mean merely displayed some where on the premises. I they weren't then I'd point that out when refusing to pay and vote with my feet.

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Hi Benjamin........I think its just accepted that if you dont attend for an appointment then the charge is put on......I think its been that way for quite a while I can understand why they do it to stop the suns out I am playing golf guys who may duck out of attending ...Cut off from the place by accidents and a blizzard was a harsh decision though .....oh well thats life !
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i was once billed for cancelling an appointment with a dentist. No problem. It was about 8 months later when they rang and said they needed to cancel as the dentist was going to be late. I posted a bill to them for my time. The subsequent discussions over the telephone resulted in my £16 being returned to me by cheque, and pretty much an agreement that we would treat each other with a little more respect in future. Result
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