"Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Katie Tallett RVN MBVNA — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:01:05 GMT

yup, we'd make a fortune with that one!!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Mac Feather — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:08:43 GMT

Idiot tax- that made me chuckle!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Deemus — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:07:07 GMT

I have to admit that I've done that. We have a short emergency surgery on a Sun am. It's on the answerphone as emergency service. If noone's there after 10 mins or so, we shoot off home.

Guy comes in, banging on the door at 20 past the hour wanting an emergency rabbit teeth clip. Grrrr. I bit my tongue and told him sweetly "You're more than welcome to have your rabbit's teeth clipped but it comes with a £75 OOH fee as it's a Sunday"

His reply? "But you're here - how can it be OOH?"

Oh my friend, it is. And there's gonna be a £20 idiot tax too! Rabbit was fine, still eating etc, he decided against the bill and came in for his £4.50 teeth clip Monday morning,

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Vicky RVN — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:51:51 GMT

Would they have gone to Tescos and knocked there way around the building for some milk?! People do make me laugh. You could have sold it to them...with an ooh fee on top!!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Night — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:46:37 GMT

luckily our phones are transferred out to emergency staff at weekends but it still doesn't stop the clients.

One Saturday I was in looking after a Dachsie spine, all doors locked, the only suggestion that someone was in the practice was my car parked outside. I heard a banging noise and it worked its way around the practice. I was on the phone to the owners of the Dachsie at the time and when it finally reached the room I was in I looked out the window to see a man standing banging on the window. I pointed to the phone and put the blinds back at which point he started banging on the window again. Finishing the phone call I went to the locked front door and unlocked it to be asked if we were open, were we a vets and could he have some worming tablets please.......... erm...... yes locked doors mean we're open.

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

dinkyd — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:54:20 GMT

thats what makes them special

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Sally Howe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:07:25 GMT

I am sooooo glad I'm not the only one to get the out of hour nutter who has watched their animal ALL day and decide they need to be seen at "stupid O'clock"- Do these people only come out at night!!!! LOL

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

les punton — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:14:09 GMT

sorry to change the subject, but I LOVE this photo!!!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Katie Tallett RVN MBVNA — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:59:27 GMT

we do sunday am emergency surgery.....

me: good morning- emergency surgery

client: hi can i book an appt for my dog pls

me: of course, what seems to bet the prob

client: well he needs his booster

me: *sigh* well when would you like to come in (thinking she would say mon 4pm-done)

client: today

me: well it is sunday today so were are only open for an hour for emergencies

client: ok, sorry- how about next sunday

me: *BIG sigh* i'm sorry but we cannot do bst on a sunday. were are open sat and every night till 7.....

client: nope cant do those i work all week. will have to be a sunday. how about the one after next

me:

that was a looooong morning!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Vicky RVN — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:52:36 GMT

Hahaha that's a good one Fluffy, pay back time!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Laura Ringsell — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:48:12 GMT

Get your revenge.... I had someone wake me up at 3am to ask a question (allbeit drunken) about their insurance form...I eventually got rid of them and then phoned them back at 7am to make sure they were happy and didn't need any further advice...think they got the message! Use OOH Vets Now now and really pleased to not have to deal with the non-emergencies anymore...so frustrating

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Nick Shackleton — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:18:39 GMT

I remember one sunday afternoon I was just going out of the door after my shift and there were two old peeps in a car wiv a Dach, I thought oh great a bloody spine!!!!

They then said are you a vets???

Yeah kinda Im a nurse who works here, but we only deal wiv referrals

Oh do you do eyes??

Oh thats a shame we are meant to be going to brum tomorrow and thought if you did eyes we would save ourselves a trip (ermmmmm why not ask your et to go somewhere closer)

Some people really are crazy and have nothing better to do at weekends than bug us poor peeps who are working

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Maisy — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:14:44 GMT

Not a telephone call, but ages ago I was working a Sunday which was emergencies only. I was there just to see to inpatients, and the vet would come in if they needed to see someone. The doorbell rang and there was a lady waiting outside with her JRT. I asked her if she was waiting to see the vet and she replied that she was bringing her dog in to be spayed (it was about 2pm!) I explained we didn't book in routine ops on a Sunday and she looked at me strangely and replied 'well just as well its Monday isn't it?'

I told her it was Sunday and if we were going to be spaying her dog she would have needed to bring her in by 8.30am, not the afternoon! This conversation went on for about 10 minutes before I could finally convince her as to what day it was. Very, very strange! She did look sheepish when I saw her to admit the dog on Monday morning

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Saskia Quinn — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:02:51 GMT

Hello, do you have the number of the dog warden? (on a sat afternoon)

Hello, can I make an appt for my cat to have a booster? ('hello, emergency line?")

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Dove — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:20:55 GMT

My last emergency shift resulted in 2 people ringing the doorbell on a Saturday tea time because the door was locked, doorbell is next to sign with normal opening hours, on answering the door, both people asked 'Are you open?' One had a new pup and wanted to make an appointment and the other wanted to collect an insurance form.

My best 'emergency' phone call last week was 'I've been to my own vet this morning and been given lactlose for my cat, but when I've opened the bottle the lid and around the shoulders is sticky - it is ok to use?'

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Megan Whitehead — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:31:17 GMT

[quote user="Kimbo1985"]

Phone call one evening at 9pm:

Client: Hi I was just phohing for some advice

Me: Ok what seems to be the problem?

Client: Well I breed Shar pei's and one of my 6 week old puppies tried to bite me this morning and now won't stop growling at me, what should I do?

What I wanted to say: Urmm well for a start don't breed bloody shar pei's!!!

What I actually said: I'm sorry but this is an emergency line and I think you need to see a proper behaviour about this problem before you find it a home!

Why wait until 9pm at night for behaviour advice!!

[/quote]Oooh, but wouldn't it have been so satisfying to say what was really on your mind?? Plus, I couldn't agree more!

At our emergency service we had owners with a walk-in pts because the dog had bitten someone-- but it was only 8 weeks old!!!! I sent them with a puppy class flyer...Doh!

Meg

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Bethany Leonard - Williams RVN — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:53:40 GMT

ha ha the x-mas holidays must have that affect on people because i had someone come in at 10am during our boxing day emergency clinic to buy a worming tablet for his dog. his exact words were 'oh good i thought you might be open this morning'. the most astonishing thing was that the client didnt even live close to the surgery he had to drive a good 20 mins to get to us.

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Shane — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:32:28 GMT

I got a phone call one morning at about 4am, after a nice quiet evening with plenty of sleep, by a crazy woman who wanted me to come fetch a fox that had been hit by a car. I asked her if it was alive and she said "I should hope not, it's as flat as a pancake and been lying there for about a week being driven over by many cars"

Asked her why she was phoning me on an emergency line at 4am: "Oh I thought you might come fetch it now before I have to go to work and look at it one more time...."

AAArrgghhhh! some pet owners need to pass exams before being allowed pets!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Mark Walsh — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:27:29 GMT

Sometimes it's a relief to get a non urgent call at 3am even if it is something like wanting to book an appointment, rather that than a GDV, C section or poisoning. Loved the idea about the Basil Fawlty veterinary practice, you could have a hit tv show on your hands with an idea like that.

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Fiona Leathers — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:23:29 GMT

Sell it then give them a leaflet to read - job done!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

les punton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:07:14 GMT

xmas eve for frontline!!! because the family are coming round tomorrow - do I sell it and shut up or do I spend half an hour explaining 95% of the problem in environment and it wont be cleared in 24hrs? The human in me wants to do the quick sell, the nurse in me knows i've got to go through the facts!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

hissycat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:11:39 GMT

[quote user="Vicky C"]

[quote user="hissycat"]We aren't allowed to say 'emergency line' when we answer the phone[/quote]

Why not? Is it a decision by the powers that be? Not that many people listen when i say it...they say "oh, it isn't an emergency but...". I like the people who say "oh it's emergencies, sorry i'll call back later".

[/quote]

Yes, the 'powers that be' have spoken It has been that way since I started! not quite sure what the problem is with us saying it, but I tend to slip it in somewhere.. ..'appointment? well we do have a vet on call for EMERGENCIES'.. but I can book your vacc appointment for sometime in the week! Beats me how people don't have other stuff to do on their nights and weekends . Unless you're in a very busy job with no breaks i.e already working in a veterinary practice why not call at a more normal time..

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Mac Feather — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:30:39 GMT

[quote user="Frith"]

I remember one bank holiday, the telephone conversation went something like this:

Me: Hello emergency vet service, can I help?

Owner (I will now refer to as nobber): Can I see a vet today?

Me: Yes we have an emergency clinic this afternoon, or I can call the vet out if it is more urgent, what is the problem?

Nobber: Can I come this afternoon, I need to have my dogs claws clipped.

Me: I don’t think you understand, it is an “emergency” clinic.

Nobber: I don’t think “you” understand. I’ve just had a new wooden floor fitted, and he’s scratching it.

Me: Well that’s fine, but It’s going to cost about £70, with the out of hours fee.

Nobber: Have you got an appointment for Tuesday?

That’s what I thought.

[/quote]

That made me laugh, that is so familiar! And the description of 'nobber' is brillian!

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

Vicky RVN — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:46:49 GMT

[quote user="hissycat"]We aren't allowed to say 'emergency line' when we answer the phone[/quote]

Re: "Good morning/afternoon ... EMERGENCY service"...

loobylou — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:10:51 GMT

We're quite lucky that we have an answering service who 'screen' all our calls. Meanswe dont get stupid requests at stupid times!