The sign does not lie

I have blogged over and over about my displeasure with Kaiser. I was so tired of the 30+ minute wait sometimes to get my allergy shot. I was tired of the downright rude nurses. I was tired of everything. I decided to file a complaint dealing with several of the issues. Poor customer service drives me crazy like no other.

I emailed the member's services department about 3 weeks ago. Within 24 hours I received a phone call from a pleasant woman who was sympathetic to my issue. She told me that she would forward the complaint to the head of the department and the nurse's supervisor. I said great. In the meantime I contacted the nurse's supervisor who told me this was not her issue and didn't know why I was emailing her. I forwarded that to member's services, and what was so lovely about it was that she did this on the Kaiser email system.

I receive a letter stating one of my claims- my objection to their wait time was rejected. They are still investigating the poor customer service complaint.

When i get to Kaiser tonight I check in and am helped within 4 minutes. I timed it. With this new system they have in place to get your shots that doesn't happen. I was pleasantly surprised. I think I made the nurse's supervisor mad last time that she told them to take me immediately. When she gave me her cell phone number in her email a few weeks back I promptly put it in my phone. I decided to call the woman the last time I got my shot and it was a 21 minute wait to get my shot with only 2 people ahead of me- both my mom and sister. I said that was unacceptable even by the calculations she gave me that they should be able to help 4 people every 20 minutes. I decided I would keep her number handy and just use it to inform her about my dissatisfaction anytime I'm sitting in the waiting room and the wait is over what she says it should be. I've had issues before with Kaiser and know persistence pays off. I am all about customer service and treating customers right- they haven't been. That pisses me off more than anything.

But back to tonight. I was helped within 4 minutes. Right after I received my shot the door to the other side of the clinic opened and the doctor, as well as the nurse's supervisor were there calling my name. I pretended to ignore them, then turned around. Both of them said they needed to talk to me privately. They told me how they were tired of my complaints because now they have a bad service record to deal with, but also their policies for things such as the wait for shots and the wait after your allergy shot had never changed. I told them both that I found it very unprofessional they cornered me so to speak like this and I would be contacting Kaiser further about this. Secondly, I could even prove to them about the wait time after the shot. I walked out of the doctor's office and picked up the damn sign which said only a 15 minute wait. She tried to tell me that was a mistake and it has always been a 30 minute wait. I said the sign does not lie. I repeated the sign does not lie. I told her that I have received the shots for 15 years and only in the past 2 years have you had to wait. She said that was not the case. I have a feeling the sign will be gone by next week. I said that my issue lied in that the nurses refuse to budge one bit if you come in 29 minutes after your shot and obviously now their signage is wrong. They will only see you 30-40 minutes after your shot. The greater issue was the wait time before and the wait time after- a weekly allergy shot can be a 2 hour trip. She said that I could leave after my shot, but I wouldn't get the full dose the next time. I am also taking my life into my own hands and I could die. I told her I'd take those risks. I'm daring.

I went back and waited in the waiting room. My mom was running late and so I actually had time to wait the 30 minutes today. When I went back to get my shot checked the nurses were extra friendly toward me. They know I complained, which is awkward, and I'm not really alright with the fact the nurse's supervisor and doctor told who filed the complaint- another issue I have. But I received a release form to not have to wait after allergy injections and my dosage would not be impacted.

Good.