A Reefer's Girlfriend
Active Member
Ok guys, I have a problem that needs some outside of the box thinking, although I may be grasping at straws here. I'm a receptionist at a pretty busy veterinary practice in California. I recently took a call from a regular client whose four year old mastiff had passed away suddenly at home. He wanted the pet privately cremated, and I asked if he wanted a paw print done as well (our cremation company offers a white ceramic disc on a stand that has an impression of the pet's paw print and their name in a color of the client's choosing). He did, and I noted it in the computer. So he brings the dog in and lets me know at that point that he actually wants three paw prints done. Ok fine, noted for the techs. This is where things start to go wrong.
The ashes arrived a few days ago, sans paw prints. This is not a good sign. So we called the company, and it appears that the tech who filled out the tag for the remains accidentally marked for no paw prints to be done. Obviously the dog has been cremated at this point, so we're kind of screwed on that front. However, we have a backup plan. We almost always have an ink and paper paw print done in house that we send out in a sympathy card, written by the pet's regular doctor, or at least the one they've seen most recently. So with this in mind, our office manager calls the owner and tells them about the error, but that we can have that ink paw print laser etched into a wooden plaque (actually looks pretty classy and has saved us once or twice when the cremation company has messed up and missed a paw print). However, the client says there is no paw print in the card.
It turns out that the vet, for reasons I cannot wrap my brain around, decided that since the client was getting three paw prints, there wasn't a need to send the paper one. And now the client knows that that was screwed up too. They are, understandably, furious. Their daughter is devastated - she was going to get a tattoo done of the paw print (and the ink stamp one would have been ideal for that, even over the ceramic ones which lose detail in the clay and glazing).
It gets worse. I was the one balancing money on the day our manager called this client and gave them the news, and I noticed that a refund had been noted for them in the computer, but there was no receipt to match. The credit card terminals confirmed that it hadn’t been done. She was gone for the day, but she often writes down credit card info for charges or refunds in her office and then gives it to me to run, so I e-mailed her and asked if she had meant to do it and forgot while talking to the client. Her response? “You are correct. Put a note that when he comes in that we need to refund him.” Ok, so it looks like we’ll need to refund this client when he picks up the ashes. No problem. The husband and wife came in last night, and were very intent on telling me how upset they were. I get it. I was furious for them and told them so. It shouldn’t have happened. I let them talk at me for a while about the incompetence of it, knowing they need to blow off steam. I can’t blame them.
So then I ask for the credit card info to refund them, and I’m told that the manager already did it. This clashes with the info she gave me, but they are insistent and because so much has been said about incompetence already, I let them know I will look into it and send them on their way. I ask the manager, and it turns out she accidentally threw away their credit card info. I’m yelled at for not knowing that based on her e-mail. So now, I have to call them on Monday (because our manager is too busy being a counselor in our kids vet summer camp all next week) and tell them this. Her solution was to just send them a refund check in the mail. I don’t see that going over well. She’s basically washed her hands of the situation.
Honestly, I can’t think of anything else to do for these clients, but I feel pretty shocked that no one else seems to be looking into how to make this better. I have even called the landfill asking if there is any chance in the world that trash might still be accessible so I could dig and look for the paw print (there isn’t - it’s been too long and too buried). I am serious, I want to help these clients. Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do to help make this better?
TL;DR: Tech screwed up and marked a deceased pet as getting no ceramic paw prints when a client requested three. Pet has been cremated. Doctor screwed up and discarded the ink and paper copy since the client was getting three ceramic prints. Manager screwed up and threw out the credit card info before refunding the client and expects me to fix it. Clients are understandably upset, and daughter is devastated - she wanted a tattoo of that paw print. What can I do at this point to even try and make things a little more right for this owner?
The ashes arrived a few days ago, sans paw prints. This is not a good sign. So we called the company, and it appears that the tech who filled out the tag for the remains accidentally marked for no paw prints to be done. Obviously the dog has been cremated at this point, so we're kind of screwed on that front. However, we have a backup plan. We almost always have an ink and paper paw print done in house that we send out in a sympathy card, written by the pet's regular doctor, or at least the one they've seen most recently. So with this in mind, our office manager calls the owner and tells them about the error, but that we can have that ink paw print laser etched into a wooden plaque (actually looks pretty classy and has saved us once or twice when the cremation company has messed up and missed a paw print). However, the client says there is no paw print in the card.
It turns out that the vet, for reasons I cannot wrap my brain around, decided that since the client was getting three paw prints, there wasn't a need to send the paper one. And now the client knows that that was screwed up too. They are, understandably, furious. Their daughter is devastated - she was going to get a tattoo done of the paw print (and the ink stamp one would have been ideal for that, even over the ceramic ones which lose detail in the clay and glazing).
It gets worse. I was the one balancing money on the day our manager called this client and gave them the news, and I noticed that a refund had been noted for them in the computer, but there was no receipt to match. The credit card terminals confirmed that it hadn’t been done. She was gone for the day, but she often writes down credit card info for charges or refunds in her office and then gives it to me to run, so I e-mailed her and asked if she had meant to do it and forgot while talking to the client. Her response? “You are correct. Put a note that when he comes in that we need to refund him.” Ok, so it looks like we’ll need to refund this client when he picks up the ashes. No problem. The husband and wife came in last night, and were very intent on telling me how upset they were. I get it. I was furious for them and told them so. It shouldn’t have happened. I let them talk at me for a while about the incompetence of it, knowing they need to blow off steam. I can’t blame them.
So then I ask for the credit card info to refund them, and I’m told that the manager already did it. This clashes with the info she gave me, but they are insistent and because so much has been said about incompetence already, I let them know I will look into it and send them on their way. I ask the manager, and it turns out she accidentally threw away their credit card info. I’m yelled at for not knowing that based on her e-mail. So now, I have to call them on Monday (because our manager is too busy being a counselor in our kids vet summer camp all next week) and tell them this. Her solution was to just send them a refund check in the mail. I don’t see that going over well. She’s basically washed her hands of the situation.
Honestly, I can’t think of anything else to do for these clients, but I feel pretty shocked that no one else seems to be looking into how to make this better. I have even called the landfill asking if there is any chance in the world that trash might still be accessible so I could dig and look for the paw print (there isn’t - it’s been too long and too buried). I am serious, I want to help these clients. Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do to help make this better?
TL;DR: Tech screwed up and marked a deceased pet as getting no ceramic paw prints when a client requested three. Pet has been cremated. Doctor screwed up and discarded the ink and paper copy since the client was getting three ceramic prints. Manager screwed up and threw out the credit card info before refunding the client and expects me to fix it. Clients are understandably upset, and daughter is devastated - she wanted a tattoo of that paw print. What can I do at this point to even try and make things a little more right for this owner?
