When an Apology isn't really an Apology
My son Danny had his cast removed the other day.
He broke his wrist on June 30th in a freak bicycle riding accident. He says his chain came loose. I prefer that he was helping an elderly woman cross the street when the accident occurred.
He doesn’t really like that story.
Anyway, the other day at pediatric orthopedist’s office, we waited about 90 minutes for an X-ray and a little sawing here or there. I have to admit that the wait grated on me a bit.
Not because I’m impatient – which I am, but because every time we go to this office we wait at least 60 minutes. Often, we wait longer. (With 3 boys, we’ve been to this doctor many times!)
After the cast was safely removed (and after they had moved the saw away from Danny), I mentioned the excessive wait to the doctor.
I was very nice about it. "We love the care we’re receiving here and we have questions about how long we customarily wait for treatment to begin after our appointment time."
With this – I recounted the past history of long waits.
To her credit – the doctor was nice as she laid out every excuse in the book. Apparently a couple of the appointments before ours were trickier. Both involved upcoming surgeries and one case involved a special needs child.
She had to spend more time with those families.
I understand how that can happen. I was mostly just venting – which is usually all people want to do when they express their frustration.
Unfortunately, the one thing she forgot to do was apologize and that’s a problem in my book.
When pressed – customer service providers (yes, the doctor qualifies) should apologize. Without the apology, the excuses ring hollow, leaving the other person with two memories. 1) the long wait and 2) the excuses.
When situations don’t go as planned, remember to apologize. Allow venting, acknowledge the frustration and remember to apologize.
There may be good reasons for the inevitable ups and downs in service settings. A solid, heart-felt apology goes along way towards keeping customers and keeping them happy.
That’s just the way it works.
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