Me: “How can I help you?”
Caller: “Is this a joke?”
Me: “Pardon me?”
Caller: “Your company just did some landscaping for us and the dirt that you put in is dirty.”
Me: “I’m sorry?”
Caller: “The dirt is dirty.”
Me: “Is there trash or rocks in the dirt?”
Caller: “No, the dirt is just really dirty.”
Me: “So you want us to come out and replace the dirty dirt with clean dirt?”
Caller: “Yes, and I need it done as soon as possible. I don’t want it to make the rest of my dirt dirty too.”
(I work at an asthma and allergy specialists office, and a mom called me 5 minutes to 5:00 pm on a Friday. We were getting ready to close for the weekend.)
Me: “Thank you for calling ****, my name is ****, how can I help you?”
Caller: “Yes, I need to bring my son in…”
Me: “Ma’am, we close our office at 5:00pm, and we don’t work weekends. Would you like to talk to the nurse?”
Caller: “No, he needs to see a doctor right now!”
Me: “Well, we have our doctor on call – you’re more than welcome to call him. He can answer your questions and help with anything–”
Caller: “Do you speak English?! I just told you that my son needs to be seen right now! He’s had this cough since Monday, and he hasn’t been breathing right since he got it!”
Me: “Well, it seems that if he’s been that bad since Monday, you would have brought him in then to be seen, or even Tuesday, and not wait until the weekend to call…”
Caller: “I was really busy this week! I had an appointment at the salon almost every day after work to get my hair done, my nails…. I just didn’t have time! I have time today because the stylist just called me; she had an emergency and had to re-schedule.”
Me: “Ma’am, right now our office is closed. Please take your son to the emergency room, as it seems like he needs to be seen immediately to have that cough taken care of.”
Caller: *very agitated* “If I take him to the ER, that’s a $100.00 copay! That would eat into my salon funds!”
Me: “…”