"Absolutely shocking receptionists"

I called to see if I could register with this practice having first checked my home fell within their practice boundary advertised on their website.

The receptionist answered my call quickly and said I wouldn't be able to transfer from a neighbouring practice. I was surprised to hear this and she gave no further details to enlighten me, just sticking me straight on hold. She then asked where I lived, I said my road name and she said that they didn't cover my road. I patiently explained their policy and boundary map showed they did. The receptionist put me on hold a total of eight times while passing me around to various colleagues who said my address didn't fall within the boundary.

They pulled the document up themselves, and still said my address wasn't in the boundary. I couldn't believe it at this point.

They eventually came back from another hold - why continuous holds? Were they being rude about me to each other? Finally they said 'if you want to register you can fill in a form.'

At this stage I thought - you've got to be kidding me, I'm better off where I am! I said 'you got it wrong, can you acknowledge that and apologise?' She said 'sorry no, I won't be apologising, we have emergencies here to deal with, write an email or something.'

It certainly wasn't my fault these unprofessional, grumpy bureaucrats kept me on the phone for a full 11 minutes while they insistently told me I was wrong, and I resent the insinuation that applying to be in their surgery was taking them away from 'important emergencies.'

I'm sure the environment they are working in is chaotic and difficult but that's no reason to be so stubbornly unpleasant and rude. To refuse to admit you're wrong is a devastating character flaw - and just pathetic in the workplace.

I wonder how someone less stern than I would manage in the face of such Kafkaesque approaches...! If you do choose to use this surgery - good luck and I wish you much persistence and patience, you'll need it!