Something interesting happened to me today. A business told me they cared more about taking money off me than they did about me. Nothing unusual there, big businesses do this all the time; utility companies, banks, insurance companies, etc. And I would be shocked to get any other treatment from a government body such as my local council.

But this was none of those, it was a small business, just the owner and 3 members of staff, it was my dentist, Webb Dental Practice  in Dawley. Can’t get a much more personal service than that, this guy puts his fingers in my mouth. In some ways I was shocked, in others it just highlighted how easy it is to give better customer service than a competitor.

I had an appointment scheduled for last week which I ended up not being able to make but didn’t call to cancel, so I have to pay £20 for the missed appointment, pretty standard practice I think. I had another appointment scheduled for 3:50pm today. At about 9:20am the receptionist calls me to ask if they can bring the appointment forward to 10:00am. I was in the middle of something when she called, and it is about a 15 min drive to get there, so it was not ideal, but I said I might be able to make it if it helped them out.

She explained that the dentist had a long way to travel home to a rural area so she was trying to fill the gaps in his morning schedule by bringing his afternoon appointments forward, then he could leave early and avoid travelling in the snow in the rush hour. I said ok, I’ll be there for 10. The receptionist then pointed out that I had missed an appointment a few days ago and I’d need to pay the £20 before he would see me.

I thought to myself, here I am doing them a favour; maybe they will do me one in return. I explained that I understood it was my fault that I missed the last appointment, and as per their terms I owed them £20. But as I was doing them a favour, perhaps they would waive the charge this one time. The receptionist said she could not authorise that, so I said, “no problem, I’d prefer to keep my 3:50pm appointment”.

The receptionist told me I’d still have to pay the £20 either way, which I knew, but I reminded her that I was the paying customer, and I was prepared to do them a favour yet they could not do the same for me. She said she saw my point and would put this to her boss (the dentist) and call me back.

30 seconds later and she is on the phone saying the 10am slot has now been filled, there were no more appointments for today and the dentist was leaving early so was cancelling my 3:50 appointment. Now the point is, there is only one receptionist so there is no way the appointment could have been filled, and there is nothing that winds me up more than being lied to by people I give money to.

Bare in mind that I had 4 appointments scheduled to have work done, so this is not just a £12 check up, this is a dentist equivalent of a big framed print order. And me being me, (stubborn as hell) I told them they could cancel all my appointments and send me the bill for the £20. The receptionist said “ok, if that is what you want to do”, which is what I expected.

So what is the lesson here? That I’m so tight with my money that I’ll jump at any opportunity to get out of paying someone what I owe them? That might be true, but it is not the point I’m making here. There are about 10 dentists within 5 miles of my home, and one of them does not want me as a client, he just wants my money. He wants it so much he will “cut off his nose to spite his face” to get it. He blew a lifetime of money for the sake of £20. Like me, he was stubborn, but the big difference is, I was the one handing over the money. The bit that really sticks in my gut is, they called asking for a favour, but were not willing to do one in return. All they wanted to do was the bare minimum.

When the bill comes I’ll get around to paying it, once the final notice court summons threat letter arrives. Chances are it will cost them nearly £20 to collect the money. And I’ll pay by cheque to make sure he has to pay bank charges on it too.

Now to many of you I may be sounding a little petty. To some of you I probably sound a little childish. And you are right. But there are millions of people like me, who wont settle for “the bare minimum” when it comes to customer service. I don’t care that “to the letter of the law” they are in the right, I care that they don’t care. I may be a stubborn jack ass, but I’m also looking for a new dentist.

If they had gone the extra mile on this occasion, over the lifetime of our relationship this guy would have taken £100s if not £1000s from me. Instead I’ll be telling everyone I know this story, and over time it may get a little distorted.

Do you have customers like me? I’d bet that you do, and when they come to light, you will have to decide how to handle the situation. I see loads of photographers websites stating “great customer service”. The claim is meaningless. Each customer decides whether you have delivered great service, and to each customer “great service” will mean something different. It means whatever they want it to mean. Today, for me, it meant having the decency to return a favour when asking for one.