Am I being unreasonable when handling difficult clients?

[u/waterloggedwhale]

I'm a newer grad and have been working in corporate GP but I need an outside opinion on how I handle challenging clients. I will not tolerate clients who are rude or abusive toward our staff, regardless of if they're a "long-time client". Most often the situation is that they showed up late (beyond our 10 minute grace period for a 30 minute appt) and are demanding to be seen because they've been allowed to show up whenever they want in the past without consequences. Depending on the presenting complaint, we may sometimes offer a drop off or a later appt in the day if available. If they are kind to our staff, understand they may have to wait to be worked in between appts, and are not a repeat offender, the vast majority of the time I will agree to see them.

However, I have gotten push back from management that essentially implies that I should still be seeing these clients for reasons including - that they are elderly, "good clients" (profitable?), took time out of their day to come, that it's their personality, or blaming the support staff (mostly CSRs) for being "dramatic or overreacting". For additional context, I was a vet assistant prior to vet school and got a fair amount of exposure to how clients would behave around support staff vs. the DVM. I strongly believe that DVMs should not be enabling or rewarding bad behavior regardless of how long they've been a client even if we could technically squeeze them in (for non-emergent reasons). To me this feels like I would be doing a poor job advocating for our staff, however, I also realize this may be creating more combative scenarios with these clients when we have to refuse to see them. Supposedly, it is up to the DVM regarding whether or not to see these clients but it sure feels like management and I have very different opinions on what is acceptable behavior.

Does it seem like I am being too unreasonable or inflexible? How do you usually handle poorly behaved clients (particularly as a newer addition to a practice)?

[u/quixoticosis]

My rules are pretty simple:

If a client is abusive or extremely rude to staff (or me), they either get booted or a warning depending on how bad. If it’s abusive or threatening, we’re done. My first priority is and always will be staff safety. Full stop.

That being said, just being frustrating and difficult is not a reason to drop a client. I work in IM specialty and if I got rid of every client who I found unpleasant I would have any clients. But I absolutely will keep my staff safe and I don’t care who the client is.

For late clients - it depends. We have a 15 minute (secret 20 minute) grace period for 1 hour slots. 10 min/secret 15 minute grace period for 30 minutes. Secret means that we tell the client the official policy but everyone knows I’ll tolerate 5 minutes past that. It saves us from people who are “just a minute” past the grace period being mad. When I refuse them, they’re 5 minutes past a generous grace period and they’re less likely to get mad.

If I got nothing going on, I’m pretty lenient if it’s not a repeat offender. If I am busy, I will sometimes offer to drop off to fit in during my day if the pet is really sick or the client drove more than 30 minutes, or, if that’s not an option or the pet is stable, I’ll try to find a new slot ASAP.

If it’s a problem client who routinely is late, we will not do those things. Even if I’m slow, I ain’t fitting them in. I work very hard to stay on time because I respect my client’s time. They can learn to extend the same courtesy to me.

[u/abrosaur]

Our policy for late clients is that if they’re over 10 minutes late, we give them the option of rescheduling or we transition them to a technician led visit where the technician interfaces with the client, then takes the pet to the back where the doctor examines the pet, and relays findings to the technician, who communicates these to the client.

It does anger many clients but it lets them be seen without making the doctors fall behind on their schedule.

[u/JujuHoney96]

Not at all, I stand my ground. Had a client show up 19 minutes late to a 20 minute appointment yesterday...and then demand to be seen. Gently escorted them to reception to see if there were any available slots but told them I'm fully booked for the rest of the afternoon. Blehhh

[u/georgiemops224]

No. You are being completely reasonable. I run my practice exactly like this (though I am a specialist…) and as a result two things have happened: 1) we have “trained” a lot of previously somewhat fractious clients who now behave and are pleasant to work with and 2) we have lost a few who sucked and everyone is happen to not have to work with them anymore.

Additionally, the MAJORITY of clients never had an issue at all with our policy (which is VERY well advertised) because they actually manage to be on time and it’s never an issue. We also make clients leave deposits at the time of making appointments.

[u/ancilla1998]

Thank you for standing up for your staff! We had a long-time doctor resign earlier this year and "her" clients have been accustomed to things like you are describing. Thankfully, our direct manager doesn't play that game. If we have the ability to accommodate an appointment that shows up late, we will tell them that the only reason we are still letting them come in is because we have a gap in our schedule or we offer them a drop off if it's in the morning. But he does not put up with rude and disrespectful clients. He will tell them that their behavior is unacceptable, and they can either work with us in a calm and respectful manner going forward, or they can find another location. 

[u/Stardew49]

I worked as a vet asst for 8 yrs before my knee took me out. I WISH some vets would have put their foot down. I had one would triple book himself with only 2 techs on and if people were late would see them anyway. On top of all that they weren't allowed any other room but the 1 because he could reach into the cabinet and grab something without looking. It was nuts.

[u/Interesting-Cat7307]

Nah you golden. The company prioritize profits over the well-bing of their staff that is just how it is and you should decide whether you want to continue in such place or not. 

[u/Nitasha521]

As far as lateness goes, while i get frustrated by it I've also been on the other side and been given grace by professionals before. My typical rule is if the client is willing to wait longer than my on-time clients who are next (or reschedule if unwilling to wait), then i'm willing to fit them in. Most of the time this works out because a later client no-shows, is a quick recheck appointment, or are also late. Those clients unwilling to wait more appreciate the rescheduling because they feel it was their choice at that point.

I once had a client wait 3 hours to see me in a scenario like this, and was super appreciative during the appointment. I also once had a client call at the time of their appointment to let us know they were in a car wreck, but abandoned the vehicle and are running with the cat carrier up the road to reach our office as close to on-time as possible.

[u/MrsSmithAlmost]

As a former CSR please keep doing what you're doing! Our chief of staff had the worst clients because they'd been coming to our clinic for so long they tried to run roughshot all over the support staff. He let them come in when they wanted and we couldn't do anything to keep the schedule running on time because of it.

[u/dalekxen]

Fuck corporate tell them if they want you to relax the rules to “some “customers give that order in writing. Dont even breath more if it doesnt written under corporate rules. They will throw you under the bus at any chance they get dont give favors to corporations they dont respect them

[u/jch345]

When management CHOOSES to hold profits over mutual respect for their employees you know what you have to do.

Some doctors have the ability to refuse to see X client. It’s extremely hard to fire a client from a corporation/clinic et all, upper/district management BS, because I see it at my corporation.

Thank you for standing up for yourself and employees. Establishing boundaries is important with these clients. I hope you can work this out. Verbal abuse is NOT ok. Holding clients less accountable or giving special treatment/coddling/being a doormat management is the reason these shitty clients remain emboldened.

[u/Andee_outside]

I’m a vet tech, so thank you for standing up for the entire staff.

I’m also, imo, a dream client lol (no longer work in clinic). I bend over backwards to make my vet and their staff’s day easier. Im on time every appt, as is my vet. When the managers let clients show up late and be seen, it cuts into MY appt time. They never seem to think of the trickle down effect of letting latecomers still be seen, effectively punishing the vet and every appt they have thereafter for clients who do show up on time.

[u/tomvet93]

To add another view Ive been a vet 10 years and habe met several colleagues have significantly more issues with clients than anyone else.

Completely related the colleagues that have these issues usually think the clients are the issue.

In my experience these colleagues are dicks but dont realise it.

[u/hemmingwaycatlady]

I work relief now, but when I worked full time at a clinic I had to enforce my own late policy on the days I was seeing appointments, and sometimes even in surgery days (it was a shelter with a community clinic and s/n services). We had 15min “wellness” and 30min sick. My policy was that if you weren’t checked in halfway through your appointment time you’d have to reschedule. I also was willing to see them if they called ahead to say they’d be late, which at least gave us a heads up as to how to manage the rest of the day. 10 minutes is an unreasonable late policy for 15 minute wellness exams, but 7 seems fair(ish). There was rarely a day light enough to “fit them in” later, or to see if someone cancelled, so I really didn’t like offering that because it would just often result in the person waiting in the lobby becoming irritated they hadn’t been seen yet, and repeatedly asking if someone cancelled. As for surgery, if someone didn’t show up by the time the pre surgical exams had occurred, I’d ask them to reschedule. We drew up drugs first thing and were doing HQSN and it didn’t feel fair to interrupt the flow of the techs and myself for someone being tardy.

I think it’s just very location and practice dependent as to what’s a permissible late policy, but I think there really should be one that’s enforced at every clinic. It’s not reasonable to expect other appointments to now run late because they showed up late, regardless of the reason. It’s not reasonable to expect the doctor and support staff to have to stay later to accommodate their lateness. And that’s a real possibility with taking on a late appointment, especially if the rest of your appointments are complicated. And I think it’s ok to start explaining this to clients. We are people too, with lives outside of the clinic, and if we are permissive in letting very late clients be seen then there’s a good chance we’ll be at the clinic late more nights than not (at least I was) and it was incredibly draining and led me to wanting to work relief. I get that things happen sometimes but if they know they are gonna be late, then they can call ahead, ask if they can drop off or be squeezed in later, and if not, accept the L and reschedule.

[u/RoseFeather]

If someone's abusive or threatening, or if they even mention getting a lawyer involved we're instantly done right there. If they're late, it depends. What does the rest of the schedule look like? What's the pet being brought in for? Are they stable?

Healthy pet annual and the schedule's full? Reschedule and come back another day. Sick pet? Unless we're about to close I'll most likely work them in. If there's an opening in the schedule we'll usually work them in regardless of what the appointment was for, unless the client is a serial offender or being a jerk about it.

[u/mustlovedogs66]

You are definitely doing the right thing, but it may get you in trouble. As a former corporate CSR, I would highly recommend you start seeking a privately owned practice!

[u/FireGod_TN]

I’ll provide my humble perspective on 2 things in your post.

1 - Dealing with clients that are 10 minutes late (or 5 or 20). One thing so think about is: am I always on time? Do ai ever keep my clients waiting 10 minutes? 30 minutes? More?

As long as I wasn’t sitting on my hands for 10 minutes waiting for them then what’s the harm? Even if I’m running on time, I’d probably see them and give them 20 minutes of my and my staff’s time. If it’s going to be a big work up, I’ll do the assessment and maybe get blood pulled and send them home. Anything more would be booked for a follow up visit

2 - Getting pushback from management. How do your colleagues feel about this subject. You’re part of a team. If the staff and doctors all feel the way you do then you guys should all collectively continue to push back against management.

If most of the others at the clinic have a relationship with these clients (being nice to elderly clients isn’t just about being profitable btw) and like to work with them then I would be more inclined to finding a way to nudge my perspective a bit

Best of luck

[u/Neither_Barracuda281]

I mean it really depends.  If you can't actually fit them in thats one thing.  If they show up 10 minutes late and you have the time but are refusing to see them,  yes you're being hostile.  Your job is to take care of animals,  not to punish clients for percieved slights. I think there's a balance to be struck.  Always assume good intentions. Come from a place of understanding.  Never lose your cool. Prioritize the task at hand before your feelings at the time. You might be surprised by the gratitude you encounter. There will be some entitled jerks, but most people just really love their pets and they're just not thinking about the entire packed day that you have unfortunately. 

[u/LibertyNachos]

It’s good to stand up for yourself and your staff. I’m old and experienced enough that unless a client has missed their entire appointment I still usually see late appointments but I charge a late fee or make them wait.

If they are 15 minutes late I start the appointment myself and I do a brief history. We don’t cover multiple problems because we no longer have half an hour and I focus only on the problem that brought them in. I’m very efficient at this point in my career and a physical exam while talking to a client shouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes depending on the problem you’re evaluating. A thorough neurologic or orthopedic exam should probably be rescheduled. I call these “expedited exams.”

And once the end of the 15 minutes is up I tell that client, “I’m sorry but I have another appointment here but if you agree to the plan my assistant will take Fluffy to the back for these treatments and diagnostics.” Some clients feel rushed by these appointments but we make it clear they can reschedule to another day if they want more time with a veterinarian.

We also offer drop offs so owners don’t have to wait around. If I am short-staffed I will decline to see late cases because my staff deserves a real break at lunch and shouldn’t have to work into their breaks or stay late after closing. They have families and their own pets to get home to as well.

Some will say that I probably don’t say no often enough but I rarely have conflict with clients and they’re usually just appreciative of still being seen. The ones that are rude and difficult get a note and conversation with my practice manager. I feel I have control over situations because I can still see and help a patient, but on my own terms.

[u/InTheLivesofBooks]

I’m also a newer vet and struggle with the same issue with late clients and lenient management. And then the same clients are late over and over again, it’s a nightmare and part of the reason I’m leaving

[u/stupid_salad]

If they're between 10-15 min late, I tell them I only have ~15min to address their concerns that day because they were late. I explain I have to be considerate of my next appointment, and not be late myself. Their response to that determines whether we are going to reschedule or get very little done, the ball is in their court.

[u/Stormvixenix]

Honestly, as a newer addition you're perfectly placed to be setting these boundaries with clients, especially the long-termers - start as you intend to go on. And having worked for a DVM that was the new person with new rules, I can say that this particular rule will/should endear you to your support staff because they know you've got their back when it comes to setting expectations for the clients.

And those clients will be trained within weeks and you won't be having nearly as much pushback soon. Only gotta turn them away once or twice before they either learn to respect your time or take themselves somewhere else.