Except for one thing. We had a client drop off a horse last night. The horse is coming in for two weeks of training. There are set hours for pick up and delivery of animals. The barn has a schedule, we are expected to stick to it as are the clients. My boss is out of town but did call me to let me know that a client would be dropping off a horse just outside of working hours. Fine, not a problem, I've checked in animals before. The client called and I asked her to call when she was about 10 minutes away from the barn. This would give me time to get from the house, to the barn and to turn on some lights. I was assured that she would arrive no later than 6:45 PM. Since the other staff would be gone for the day, I would do the check in. I had a stall all ready and check in paperwork had been faxed to the office (vet records, emergency contact information). All that needed to be done was to walk the horse off the trailer, give it a check to make sure it traveled OK, put on a blanket for the night, put it in the stall, give it a carrot and a pat and turn off the barn lights.
Seven o'clock came and went, no client. Silly me, I forgot to get her phone number! The client calls at 8 PM saying "she got a late start" and would be there by 8:00/8:15 at the latest. It would have been nice if she had called. I put my dinner on hold and did not eat until almost 8:45 by the time I got the animal in, settled and the owner sent back on it's way. The owner wanted to "hang out" for a while to make sure the horse was "OK". I said that the barn was closed, that I had to get back to the house and that the horse would be fine. I all but dragged this owner out of the barn. I hate it when the owners get "separation anxiety". The owner also called at 7:30 AM to check up on the horse. Thank goodness one of the weekend staff picked up the phone and said it was fine.
6:45 AM came way too early this am. By 8:45 PM most nights at the barn, I'm getting ready to put on my jammies and get to bed. Yeah, I'm whining, but the reason the facility has set hours is so that the staff gets a proper break. I did my first formal complaint to my boss and said it's one thing to take a late arrival, it's another to have to baby sit an owner way past my working hours who arrives almost two hours late with nary a phone call.
3 comments:
I know exactly what you mean. You have to focus on being somewhere for someone else, and they don't pull through with their end. I just found your blog, and feel really motivated by your courage. Thanks for sharing!
Amen! I work at a credit union and it amazes me the number of clients who don't respect the working hours. I don't mind being their my 10 hours a day (we work 4 10-hour days) to help them out, but I have a life and a family to get to as well. It really bothers me when people wait until the last five minutes of the day to come in and get things taken care of. Now, during the week, I give people some slack - they're working too. But, on Saturday's we're open until 4 om - later than any other bank or credit union in town. So, I have no pity for people who finally drag themselves down to the bank at 4:15 and want to come in and make a deposit/withdrawal/ etc. Sorry, but I've got plans. You know we close at 4 pm...get there beforehand, it's not hard.
Anyway, you handled that very well! I might not have been so nice about it if it was 8:45 pm and s/he finally showed up!
Great discription of things.
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