Detour to Customer Service

 I have not posted for a couple of weeks due to some emergency surgery.  I started Sunday afternoon after lunch with some stomach discomfort.  It did not worsen until after dinner.  The stomach pain rapidly increased.  I got to the point where I could not control the pain.  I did a quick check of my pulse and blood pressure and decided it was imperative that I get to the hospital.  Thankfully my heart checked out ok, I was not having a heart attack.  The pain was more in the abdomen and not in the upper chest.  I went through several tests and it was determined that my gallbladder was the cause of the pain.  This all started around eight PM Sunday night and the testing was finished sometime around midnight.  The pain medication I was given made it difficult to remember specific times and associated events.  The worst test was a 2-hour MRI where I had to remain as still as possible for the entire time.  I spent the next 6-7 hours in the ER trying to sleep and first thing in the morning I was whisked to OR to have my gallbladder removed.  Once the surgery was completed I was admitted to the hospital and was home by Wednesday afternoon.

How do I go from emergency surgery to customer service.  With my warped mind it is not too difficult.  I googled "What is customer Service" and got the following answer;

"the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use their products or services"

Not too insightful.  Maybe I should have googled "What is good customer service".

I define good customer service as successfully managing the series of mini transactions to complete the overall transactions.  As a simple example a meal from a world class chef could be ruined by poor wait staff.  Or think of a trip to Walmart; one would normally expect to find the items they would wish to purchase at a reasonable price and be able to proceed to checkout and move on to other daily tasks.  Customer service in the latter example involves very little direct company/customer interaction.  The shelves should be properly stocked the aisles clean and clear and the check out stands in good working order (self check is the norm these days).  If the shelves are bare or the checkout stands not working correctly (or not enough of them)  we would identify the customer service as poor.

So why am I talking about customer service.  I am a grumpy retired guy so what else to write about.  It is 2 transactions that occurred the week of my surgery.  One was the surgery and the other was working with the foundation company working on our house.  Both involve technologies that I am not trained in.  I am not a surgeon nor a structural engineer.  Both involve a fair bit of money.  Both require a significant amount of money and I have to rely on the expertise of others to understand the work and process. 

Starting with our house's foundation.  The engineer showed up on time, The entire process was explained first before any work was done.  There were several individual steps within the process and to date all of them were started and finished when they said they would.  Much of the work has involved detailed measurement equipment,  The major work will be done in a couple of weeks.  Each of these "mini transactions" were managed to our satisfaction.  Up until now I would consider this good customer service.  The work has yet to be completed.  I cannot give a total thumb's up as yet.

Before getting into the surgery part of this analysis I have to say that my overall treatment at the hospital was excellent.  I was treated with kindness and care by all members of the hospital staff.  My stay there could not have been better.  I talked with the anesthetists and finally with the surgeon.  After this surgery began and I was out cold.  I woke up with incisions in my abdomen.  The surgeon came by and muttered a few words.  All I remember is him saying that my gallbladder was quite gangrenous.

I have not seen or heard from him since then.  I am pretty sure my surgery was done well.  I am not bleeding, I do not hear any surgical instruments  rattling around in my stomach.  It is the "mini transaction" of any type of follow up.  I have called several times and left messages.  I even have the hospital calling me asking if I have followed up from the surgeon.  When I followed up from my GP he called the surgeon.  I then got a call back but was told that the surgeon follows up 3 - 4 weeks after surgery.  I asked if I could make an appointment and I was that the doctor does not take appointments.  A single 'mini transaction" that affects the entire transaction.  In the end poor customer transaction.