JS Tip 108: From the Customer Service Workshops: “Confirm Your Appointment or Else!”

Our friend Cory Fryling from Wells Fargo describes a pattern he’s seeing in customer service.

Our questions for you:

1.   Is the pattern good customer service?

2.   If not, what should the service provider (in this case, the dentist) do?

Here’s Cory—

I make an appointment with my dentist. Then, a day or two before my appointment, someone from that office calls me to confirm—except not merely to remind me, but to have me prove that I'm planning to come by calling them back (if I wasn't able to answer and their call went to voicemail).

If I don't call them back within a matter of hours, they keep calling me and leaving messages until I finally do, regardless of how busy I may be that day.

I asked the scheduling staff what would happen if I didn't call to confirm. They said they'd cancel my appointment. When I asked the dumb question of why they needed me to call to confirm, they said, “Well how else are we going to know that you're going to come?”

What do you think? Is this good customer service? (Requiring a customer to confirm an appointment?) If it’s not, what should the dentist’s office do?

Let us know what you think.

And keep asking questions and making suggestions. We love this stuff.

Next week: Your responses to these questions.