Unfiltered Story #308378

I work as a veterinarian technician at a local clinic. I sometimes help the staff up front with phone calls. Clinics all over are all experiencing difficulties in scheduling due to COVID. Everyone decided to go out and get a “pandemic pet”, and there is a shortage in staff available to work. Our wait time for new clients is 4-5 weeks so that we can accommodate our established clients first. This is a common practice with many clinics in our area that has been recently enforced. We are so booked up that we don’t have any time slots available until then anyway. If it is an urgent case, we may open up a slot sooner to accommodate, but routine wellness and vaccines have been booked out for over a month.

While some clients understand, others have turned down right nasty.

A client who we have not seen before called because her dog hurt her leg. We were not able to get her in and encouraged her to call urgent care so that she may be seen sooner. She then yelled at us that if her dog’s leg was broken, it wasn’t her fault, or her dog’s fault, it was our fault. Then she swore at us and hung up.

A new client called to book an appointment the next day for a health certificate for an apartment application. We were unable to book her due to us being double booked. She then got very angry and yelled that she has called five different clinics and that each one has told her the same thing, and that she doesn’t understand how we can run a business this way and hangs up. (We can run one well if we are booked out for over a month).

Another client wanted us to express her dogs anal glands. You know the drill: double booked, not urgent. The client screamed at us that was inhumane, and it was against her human rights, her dog’s rights, and against her couch.

These are just a few examples, but there are loads more. We have been yelled and screamed at, cursed at, threatened, and one poor tech was semi-stalked by a disgruntled client (she kept showing up when the tech was working and backed off after being told the police would intervene). We are understaffed, overworked, and are doing our best but times are hard for everyone. Please be patient, book your routine appointments early and know that we love your pet as much as you love your pet, we just can’t see them all.