"Appalling receptionist"

Monday: After an injury, I call for appointment. Don’t get through. Fill in online form for sick note. Message says turn around is 3 working days. (Fair enough)

Call reception on Monday afternoon to make sure this has been received. Told the turn around is usually 48 hours, so should be ready by Wednesday. (Fine)

Call reception on Wednesday afternoon to be told it wasn’t ready but should be by tomorrow. (No worries)

Call reception on Thursday and speak to someone who sounds very helpful, telling me I’m fifth in the queue, she expects it to be dealt with by end of her shift and she takes my email to forward it to me. (Great! At last we’re getting somewhere.)

Call reception Friday morning to be told it was unlikely the sick note would be with me today and the previous person had got it wrong (not ideal)

Call reception Friday afternoon to be told a doctor would be calling me on Tuesday. This person was thereafter offended and annoyed by me daring to question why it would take six working days to arrange for a sick note to be signed off. She thought it appropriate to talk over me, interrupt me, patronise me and show not a scintilla of care or patience. (Absolutely ridiculous)

So it’s not completely because of the long wait. Everyone is aware how stretched things are, but customer service (which is essentially a receptionist’s job) should be at least 7/10, maybe 6/10 on a bad day. If the final receptionist I spoke to worked for a company, I wouldn’t use that company again. She was literally a 3/10 at best. Getting defensive like that over what was a fair question, was disgraceful, unprofessional and puts the surgery in a bad light.