There have been many clients, not just recently, but in the past as well, express frustrations with wait times after check-in. And we do understand, your time is important, especially on these hot days, with kids on summer vacation and dogs panting and cats complaining about those darn carriers… That being said, we do our best to get you and your pet into a room as soon as possible, but there are other factors that can affect wait time.
Sometimes routine vaccine appointments don’t always stay routine appointments. We see dogs and cats with bad teeth, bad hearts, bad kidneys, and many other ailments that were unanticipated at the point of scheduling. Also, we do take urgent care, emergency, and euthanasia appointments for our clients, and depending on the case, these appointments may have to be moved up in line to be seen. It is frustrating, but if it was our own pets experiencing life threatening symptoms, we know we would want them seen as soon as possible.
The number of these urgent appointments increase with the temperatures outside. So what can we do?
- Our front desk staff should be informing clients checking in of an estimated wait time, and if they do not, you are welcome to ask. This has been stressed to every staff in the clinic–but be patient, as we are training new staff. Even for the old hats, old habits die hard.
- If your pet is here for a Vaccinations Only appointment, and you have no questions or concerns for the doctor, you may stress this upon check-in, as these may be vaccinations okay for technician to do.
- Likewise, if you are scheduled for a routine vaccine appointment, upon check-in, please let us know if you do have any questions or concerns for the doctor. Depending on the situation, there may be an Office Visit charge added to your appointment. When appointments are scheduled for Vaccinations Only, they are scheduled for an amount of time appropriate for Vaccinations Only.
- If you are unable to wait for a room any longer and must leave, please do your best to let staff know. We can hopefully reschedule your appointment for a better time. This will also keep staff from going outside to search for a pet that is no longer here.
Thank you for all of your patience!
