A Lesson in Customer Success

Why You Need a Guide for Managing Customer Complaints

Add bookmark

Philip Mandelbaum
04/01/2022

a hand petting a white cat under the chin

I warned them. I work for Customer Engagement Insider. And our principal analyst Brian Cantor told me I’m allowed to vent.

The first 10 or so articles/reports I’ve produced for CEI have focused on how better coordination among digital marketing, sales and customer support departments can create more successful organizations through customer success. Today, I’m sharing something personal that should serve as a cautionary tale for other businesses, large and small, about what not to do — especially with a high-value customer.

For background, my wife has long been a breeder. First, it was bulldogs. And now it’s minskin cats. For years, we’ve used Rhinebeck Animal Hospital in Rhinebeck, New York, to ensure the health of our breeding cats and kittens, as well as our pets. In total, we currently have 15 animals amongst us. There have been times we’ve had more than 30.

Needless to say, we’ve spent thousands and thousands of dollars at Rhinebeck Animal Hospital — on checkups, sick visits, vaccinations and booster shots, medications and even spays/neuters and surgeries.

So, when I received a letter in the mail stating that “the Rhinebeck Animal Hospital leadership team” had “concluded that we will no longer provide medical services to your pets, effective immediately,” I was shocked. And it’s not just because they’d forfeit all that future income.

A scan of a letter from Rhinebeck Animal Hospital to Philip and Elena Mandelbaum about removing their pets from the veterinary practice

In mid-March, we took a noticeably sick cat to Rhinebeck Animal Hospital for an appointment. I explained to the vet (who, fwiw, has an “interest in exotic companion animals”), that this breeding cat was lethargic and not eating, and that her fur and face were dulled. The doctor didn’t ask about the cat’s history, brushed off her physical appearance, and agreed to heed my request and do some bloodwork. During this visit, I also asked for a refill on an eye drop medication for another cat under our care, and he handed me… something.

On March 19, with our cat still starving and sleeping all day, we realized two things:

We never received any information about the first cat’s bloodwork
The medication we received for the second cat was completely wrong (not the same medication we’d originally been prescribed by another doctor from the same practice)

So, we sent an email. And they sent the bloodwork report. And it was bad. My wife’s not only a nurse, she was the valedictorian in her class (without studying!), runs an entire hospital department, and is back in school to earn her master’s degree — and she identified multiple areas of concern.

So, we sent another email. And this time we asked why, with elevated WBC and neutrophils, the doctor ignored the bloodwork and the cat’s clearly abnormal physical presentation, and did not prescribe antibiotics. We also asked why the very same doctor gave us the wrong medication. Rhinebeck Animal Hospital finally responded March 21, and told us to call them to schedule a conversation.

The following day, my wife spoke with Sandi, the hospital’s “client relationship manager,” and Louis, the hospital owner and administrator, explaining the other doctor’s errors. According to my wife, Sandi and Louis weren’t interested in her knowledge as a nurse or her from her decades of animal breeding. Bluntly, she was told that the doctor did the right thing. And, believe it or not, that we should bring the cat back in for another consult.

They were right. And so were we, first. Our cat was immediately rushed into surgery and spayed on the spot. And we were handed a bill for more than $1,000 for the procedure alone.

So I called Rhinebeck Animal Hospital and insisted they schedule an actual appointment for me to speak with them myself. On March 24, Sandi called me — and seemed willing to listen. Here’s what I told her:

We have been clients for years and have spent thousands of dollars at your practice
We had always previously been pleased with the service provided, and we are genuinely concerned about this one visit and this one doctor
I noticed something ‘off’ about Dr. Van Demark the moment he walked into the room (he looked at me, eyes glazed over and confused, and I had initially assumed it was a response to my being maskless when he first entered; I put the mask on right away)
We’ve been entrusted with our own cats since we started using your hospital, and you have always provided whatever medications we’ve requested — typically, without even seeing the animal
Since I presented the cat as looking and behaving abnormally, the doctor could’ve given us the right medication then and there
Once the doctor saw that the abnormal presentation was coupled with abnormal bloodwork, he certainly could have prescribed the right medication — but, instead, he didn’t even inform us that he had received the report back
The very same doctor gave me the wrong medication on the very same day for a different cat, indicating something was clearly not right on at least the day of the appointment
My wife focused on the medical aspects during your earlier conversation, and I’m going to talk about customer centricity and business success
Not only am I an expert in the field of customer experience, I literally write about bad and good customer support all the time
As clients for years, who’ve not only spent thousands already but who still have more than a dozen animals who will need ongoing care, it seems like we should be considered high-value customers
As high-value customers, we expect not to be charged more than $1,000 for a procedure only necessitated by a doctor’s error you refuse to acknowledge
I highly recommend you reconsider and, since my wife already paid the first half, remove the remaining balance owed — because, this way, I will feel like you value us as customers and care about the wellbeing of the patients you see as well as the people who care for them everyday

Sandi listened, and agreed to bring the conversation back to her compatriots. From the tenor of the call, I expected to hear from her again the following Monday. And to receive positive news. Instead, we received a letter today stating that because “you are both frustrated by your experiences… our relationship is not a good fit.”

So, I called again, and left three straight-to-the-point messages:

For Sandi and Louis — that they made a terrible business decision
For the doctor who didn’t care — that he nearly killed my cat and then lied about it
For Dr. Noah Schulman, a young vet, new to the practice, who shows genuine, heartfelt care for all of his patients and their owners, who spent time with us, and who prescribed appropriate medications that actually worked — that we really appreciated his help

Then, I got on my computer to write this before I lost any of the disappointment or resentment. Because this is how customers think and feel.

As I’ve said many times before, we want to feel respected, valued and appreciated. That is the key to customer success. And customer success is the key to ROI.

Yet, the team at Rhinebeck Animal Hospital either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care. And as a result, they lost 15 patients and all that associated revenue.

My wife and I will be switching practices. And perhaps Rhinebeck Animal Hospital will reconsider what could have been so easy, had they just listened to my advice or read my first exclusive report for CEI.

>>> Download Your Guide to Managing the Customer Complaint

In this report, I break down: