"Poor service only if you managed to get through..."

Between the hours of 07:00 to 08:15 with a 45minutes break in between because I had to drive to work, I made 44 attempts to call the practice before I was finally connected. I had to physically press redial because when the line is busy, my call just got disconnected. When I finally got through, my call was THEN placed on hold in another queue waiting for someone to take my call.

When the receptionist did take my call, I was told all the appointments for the day had been taken and I will need to call back again tomorrow! I am not happy that it took so long to be connected and for her to tell me there are no more appointments and I cannot prebook an appointment.

I was quite exasperated by this point and I told her I am not prepared to go through the whole rigmarole again tomorrow morning only for her or some other receptionist to say all the appointments have been taken given the fact I have already tried to call the previous day. I was very cross with the fact that I already had to make alternative arrangements with my work in order to make those calls and to not even get an appointment is just a slap in the face.

When she quite reluctantly referred me on to another practice, it's not really the day or time I had hoped for but I felt like I had no choice but to take it because I obviously wasn't going to get anywhere.

If she hadn't been a receptionist for a GP practice, or she was working as a receptionist in a different sector, she can expect some to receive some stern feedback and disciplinary action. She clearly needs further training on telephone manners and customer service given she has none.