Does your vet do confirmation calls?

[Gena]

Mine doesn't, neither do my doctors, dentist or hair lady. It would take 2-3 hours a day to make all the confirmation calls, even if 80% of the people just said "Ok." There are always a few that would take 20 minutes of your time rescheduling or just yakking. I'd much rather the vet save the payroll and pass those savings on to me.

[MafiaPrincess]

Dentist reminds..
Dr does not..
None of the 3 vets I've used do
Hair salon does not..
None of the 6 training places I've been to do..
Dog's chiro does not..

[CaliTerp07]

Thank goodness for my day planner. Between work events, school, appointments, get togethers, volunteer events, birthdays...if I didn't write it all down, I'd go batty.

[xpaeanx]

Originally Posted by Gena

Mine doesn't, neither do my doctors, dentist or hair lady. It would take 2-3 hours a day to make all the confirmation calls, even if 80% of the people just said "Ok." There are always a few that would take 20 minutes of your time rescheduling or just yakking. I'd much rather the vet save the payroll and pass those savings on to me.

well actually, the "2-3" hours are done by people you're already paying. When I worked at a vet, I was paid to be there from 8-6 to answer the phone, check people in, clean the front area, & feed the fosters. in between that time is when I made all the conf calls... they would be paying me to be there no matter what.

I never "yaked" with people, but I did reschedule a lot... and in the long run it actually saved money calling because then instead of having people not show up and empty spaces we either reminded the person to come or they called to reschedule, so they were back on the books and we were able to put someone else in their place... same goes for the office I'm in now.

I'm actually REALLY surprised so many places don't confirm their appts!

[Gena]

Originally Posted by xpaeanx

well actually, the "2-3" hours are done by people you're already paying. When I worked at a vet, I was paid to be there from 8-6 to answer the phone, check people in, clean the front area, & feed the fosters. in between that time is when I made all the conf calls... they would be paying me to be there no matter what.

I never "yaked" with people, but I did reschedule a lot... and in the long run it actually saved money calling because then instead of having people not show up and empty spaces we either reminded the person to come or they called to reschedule, so they were back on the books and we were able to put someone else in their place... same goes for the office I'm in now.

I'm actually REALLY surprised so many places don't confirm their appts!

Re-reading what I wrote and I sound snotty. I didn't intend to. My retail background is showing. I know that it takes almost an hour for me to call 15 or 20 people with late film pick ups. I could be doing other, more immediately productive things. My vet's office usually only has one receptionist on duty plus a tech or two...they run very slim. Having that receptionist call all the appointments for the next day would slow her down in check in/out, getting flea meds/wormers and other semi-otc stuff. For her to be able to call, they'd have to have another person up there with her. I'm thankful that they run as slim as they do on payroll as I know it is reflected in their prices. Of course, if care was not as good due to slim payroll, that'd be a different story.

[PoodleMommy]

I prefer places that do call and remind me but I dont make a decision about whether I will use a place based on that.

If they dont give me a reminder card, I write myself a reminder and stick it in my wallet.

My old groomer did not make calls, which was bad because I schedule those appts 6 weeks early... my new groomer does which I like.

[xpaeanx]

Originally Posted by PoodleMommy

I prefer places that do call and remind me but I dont make a decision about whether I will use a place based on that.

If they dont give me a reminder card, I write myself a reminder and stick it in my wallet.

My old groomer did not make calls, which was bad because I schedule those appts 6 weeks early... my new groomer does which I like.

The appt I made was just under 6 weeks out... and as I said, I did give myself a reminder but that didn't work. As for writting a reminder and sticking it in my wallet... that wouldn't work either. I never look in there, ever.

If I was able to make my appts within a week or two, I'm good... it's the ones that are really far in advance... and I'm constantly on the go... but everything I do is habitual... I actually forgot my birthday was comming until the day before when someone wished me a happy b-day and I was like "what are you talking about?"

If I have to make appts 6 weeks out, then I need a reminder call. And if they care about people not showing up(which charging them an office visit sounds liek they do) then I feel they need to confirm the calls. If they don't care, then don't confirm.

ETA: I should also add that they do have a list of people they call to remind them to come in. Knowing it's so far out, I actually asked them to call me and to put me on that list of people who do get called and they refused to do that... that doesn't give me the best feeling of how they are in general. To me it says "if you need extra help on something, we don't really give." And I'm not really sure that's the person I want being my regular go-to vet.

[Laurelin]

mine does, sometimes annoyingly so. We got a call about 9 months after Nikki had died that she was due her shots.

[MafiaPrincess]

I carry my day planner everywhere. Make Moo a chiro appt 5 weeks from now.. I write it in and don't take a card. I write everything in it really. Use it mainly for the monthly calenders than the daily pages.

[xpaeanx]

I tried that... but when you're writting the same thing over and over again for months on end, you kind of forget it.

Seriously, this is probably the first appt I've had to make that far out in advance in over a year.

Most things I can make with in the week, or they're habitual things....