Features of a good waiting process
Managing service operations has become very important in attracting and retaining customers as can be evidenced at Dr. X’s health care facility. Although client F was dissatisfied with the treatment she received at the facility, there are still some good features of the waiting process evident in the case study. First, the management employs a receptionist to receive customers and give them directions on what to do. She offers relevant information to customers and helps customers to book appointments with Dr. X. The receptionist is also responsible for rescheduling appointments while clients wait for Dr. X at the waiting room. Secondly, the management provides a waiting room and seats for clients to relax while waiting for services. The room is described as comfortable, has attractive artwork decorations and trailing plants resting on a shelf. This makes patients and other clients visiting this facility to feel relaxed. The waiting room is cool and clients can even read various literature materials as they wait to receive services. This makes Mrs. F to be calm and wait patiently for her turn to be served.
Features of bad waiting process at the facility
The most evident bad feature is the poor treatment of clients attending the facility. First, the receptionist does not welcome clients and ignores their presence. The receptionist does not acknowledge the presence of Mrs. F and does not even bother to ask why she has come at the facility or whether she has an appointment, or not.
Secondly, the receptionist and other staff in the examination rooms do not explain to Mrs. F and other clients how long they have had to wait to be attended to. They do not also update them on any changes regarding their schedule or the availability of Dr. X. Mrs. F sat at the facility’s waiting room for 40 minutes before she finally decided to ask why she was not being attended to. This is despite the fact that she had come earlier than the time scheduled for the appointment. Mrs. F receives her first attention an hour after her arrival, but is again forced to wait in vain for about two hours without receiving any attention.
Thirdly, the receptionist has a bad attitude towards customers and is not polite at all. She answers clients’ coldly and sometimes, rudely. This same attitude is also manifested by the other staff in the facility. For example, Mrs. F notes that Ms. SP2 replied to her rudely and later commands her to wait. This means that the staff at Dr. X’s facility lack courtesy and do not believe that the facility’s clients deserve to be accorded the highest level of priority.
Finally, the waiting process is characterized by preferential treatment of clients. The receptionist and Ms. SP2 give Jack the first priority to meet Dr. X even though he arrived after Mrs. F. This is real favoritism since all those whose names appeared ahead of Mrs. F had been cancelled, meaning that Jack did not have an earlier appointment; he was only lucky to know the staff at the facility. Jack is received warmly by the receptionist and Ms. SP2, and is not given any time limit for staying with Dr. X to allow for other to be attended to also.
How customers can respond when dissatisfied with the services received
Customers have a right to express their dissatisfaction with services offered to them in a constructive way. They also have a right to seek redress or to ask for improvement of services. Customers can write a formal letter to the manager of the organization or facility explaining the poor treatment received from the organization’s staff or services, as Mrs. F did to Dr. X. The letter can either be written to seek appropriate response from the management or to make them understand the treatment their customers receive, and the real situation as regards customers-staff relationship in the organization. Customers are major stakeholders in any organization (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011, 74), and therefore have the right to complain over poor services. This letter can be sent to the management through the organization’s official post office or it can be inserted in the organization’s suggestion/complaint box (Royal Mail Group Ltd 2011).
Customers can also seek an appointment with the management/complaint’s committee or the organization’s administrator to discuss their dissatisfaction with the services received from the organization (Investors in People 2011). The customer can also call the organization’s management or administrator to report the incidence. This offers the customer a direct opportunity to meet the organization’s management and explain the particular issues he or she is dissatisfied with.
Customers can also visit the organization’s website and post their complaints or suggestions on it (Michalowicz 2011). Some organizations have interactive websites where customers can interact with the management and seek redress to their issues.
Reference List
Fitzsimmons, J. A., & Fitzsimmons, M. J., 2011, Service management: Operations, strategy, information technology, 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 74.
Investors in People, 2011, Complaints procedure. [Online]. Web.
Michalowicz, M., 2011, How to handle unhappy customers. [Online]. Web.
Royal Mail Group Ltd, 2011, Not happy with our service? [Online]. Web.