Thursday, January 17, 2008

How to lose a customer in 30 minutes

I woke up at 6am this morning so I could make an eye doctor’s appointment at 7am. It was the worst visit I ever had.

She is a new eye doctor. She was very quick and to the point. Questions were fired off at machine gun speed. I didn’t mind this because we are both busy and intelligent people. We can carry on a conversation at lightning speed and save us both some time.

Then she asked me about my contacts her predecessor recommended. I like them but they are not perfect. Ok. She could recommend something. However, they no longer do this for free. For a recommendation and free sample it will be $50, and then $25 per visit when she reassesses them OR I get my contacts from her and both fees will be waived.

I understand. She’s got to make money. I decided to get my contacts from her.

This is where it got bad. She brought in a pair of contacts for me to try. Without asking she starts to put them in for me and NOT with a gentle touch. It was uncomfortable. I said it felt like there is something in my right eye. Without warning she pokes one finger into my eyes and moved the contacts. I don’t even feel comfortable doing that to my own eyes!!!

This didn’t help. My eye starts tearing up. She was visibly getting impatient and tries to move my contact again. Well, I was prepared and stopped her and took it out myself. She said it might be a reaction to the solution – I think it was a reaction to her rough handling with my eye.

Then she gave me my free sample with the prescription and other information blacked out! Well, that was the last straw. Who does she think I am? Guess who just lost a costumer. Probably more than one because now she has an unsatisfied customer who is relating the experience to everyone she knows.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow that sounds like a terrible experience! i've never heard of an optometrist charging someone for contact lens recommendations, that's ridiculous! what about the $75 fee they charge for the checkup?!? are you in calgary? if so i have the awesomest eye doctor there, depending on what part of the city you're willing to go to.

Anonymous said...

To be truthful, I don't like any of my doctors. It's like they've lost any human touch. So cold...

Esme said...

centsprout,
Thanks for the offer. But I have eye check ups once every two years so I shouldn't need one for awhile. Since I'm no longer going to this one I will be getting my contacts from clearlycontacts.ca.

Mariam,
For me it it depends on the doctor.

hey check out your doctors on ratemds.com and see what other people say about them.