Poor service — with a smile

Most Kaiser Permanente employees I've dealt with are competent and friendly. And I once assumed someone read all the customer service surveys they send out.

Doubts began to nag a couple of months ago after I requested a follow-up call at the end of one of those surveys. No one ever called.

Those doubts accelerated recently upon a rare trip to the Honolulu pharmacy for an emergency refill. I was told, on a quiet weekday evening, it would take about an hour to fill my request. When an hour and a quarter passed without my name being posted for pick-up, I returned to the desk where the clerk cheerfully went to the shelf and fetched my prescription.

My astonishment at having had to wait longer than necessary was met with the explanation that refill pick-ups are not posted to the board.

It's bad enough that I was not given that information up front. It's worse to design a system that requires people to periodically pester the pharmacy clerks to find out if their orders are ready.

Building a reputation for good customer service is hard. Fair or not, losing one is easy.

Stephanie Kendrick
skendrick@starbulletin.com