December 17, 2025 • 24 mins
The WWI Christmas Truce lasted 24 hours. The guns were put down and commaraderie and fellowship played out. Then, on christmas night all bets were off and fighting remumed. Can we learn from this to keep the merriment and respect going rather than the warring.
Sometimes customer service get to be that war. How we handle these interruptions, and snafus depends on us and our slant to keep the peace and remain PC.
Sometimes customer service get to be that war. How we handle these interruptions, and snafus depends on us and our slant to keep the peace and remain PC.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we're back on ARVID on the Swiss Radio show
with Ralph Nathan Elko. Ralph, we're talking about the Christmas
story and now you're gonna delve into.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
What I am fed up and I'm not gonna take
it anymore. Welcome back everybody. First, we just talked to
you about the Christmas truth, the Christmas of nineteen fourteen
and how two enemies stop and rejoice and share a holiday,
which is an example that yes, we can overcome our
(00:41):
differences if we communicate and have common positive thoughts. So
before I get into my tirade, first I want to
remind you I'm January thirty first. Now today's December twenty seventh,
so about four weeks from now, I'm January thirty first,
twenty twenty six since High Women Show, the annual Last
(01:02):
Saturday or January Annual Show for the High Women. It
will be at forty one forty five US one in
Fort Pierce, and you're going to have dozens of artists,
some original, not many left the original Highwaymen, second generation,
(01:25):
their kids, legacy artists that they trained, and Florida landscape artists.
You're going to have an array of colors and sizes
and prices. But what you're gonna have is one big,
beautiful party, and that's what the Highwaymen movement is all about.
So let's go back and you'll see where my consumer
tie raide is going to come in. So now this
(01:47):
is December thirteenth, two weeks ago. It's a Saturday, and
we have Michael EN's we being the Highwaymen Art Gallery
at eighteen seventy two Commerce Revenue in Via Beach. Michael
Ends is an artist, a Florida landscape artist who was
trained by Beanie Bechus, the mentor of the High Woman.
(02:12):
We had a crowd, but let me tell you what
kind of day it started. Usually when you have a show,
ten to three people show up here and there. But
between eleven fifteen, eleven thirty, about one thirty two o'clock
it is packed most of the time in most shows,
not just us ten o'clock. The first customer walks in.
(02:34):
It's an elderly man around my age. Watch what you're thinking, everybody,
But he's not happy. He's he looks like he's in
a bad mood. He's not grouchy, but just not smiling.
And I say hello, and I can he doesn't hear me.
So I realized he's already hearing. So I introduce myself.
(02:55):
He introduces himself, and I tell him that please walk around.
We don't push the sale. We want you to become
a member of our family. Look around, you have any
questions and and then so she says thank you. But
he's still grouchy looking. He's not happy. Now. We don't
know what he's gone through. You know, we never met
(03:17):
him before. So in my mind, I'm thinking about I'm
going to change that man. I'm going to make him smile.
I just have to figure out out. Unbeknownst to me,
Sheilah's witnessing this. Sheila, my art director, is there Saturdays,
and Sheila does the same thing. Anyway, So now he's
walking around and Sheila explains things to him and answers
(03:39):
his questions. He ended up buying a painting, but that's
not the point. But now he's smiling and he's communicating.
His eyes are lit up. They're not in anger, they're
smiling and happiness. So he buys his paintings and he leaves. Now,
remember everybody walks in fills out a raplica and that
(04:02):
raffle card at the end, one raffle winner will be
drawn from the drum. Well, lo and behold guess who
won the raffle?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Ah?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Wow, mister Bob, the grouch that became the smiler. And
I called personally. I left a message and two days later,
and this was Saturday, Monday, he calls me up. He says, Hi, Ralph,
this is Bob. You left me a message that I won.
And I said, yes, Bob, Sheila and I both remember
(04:33):
you and you made our day because we had a
good time and you walked out smiling so happy. Yes,
you won the raffle. And I met with him on
the front the following that week, the Friday, and he
was a happy man.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
No good for him.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, So why is Ralph having a tirade? Well, let
me tell you my tirade. My wife has hearing aids
hard a hearing. Sometimes it may be an advantage for me,
but she also has a liver problem. Says he's ill.
She's a very sick woman. I can accept that, then
we get around it. So I make an appointment at
(05:12):
our anti specialists in Fort Pierce in order for her
to check her ear hearing aids in her ears and
an appointment for me at two o'clock and two thirty
for me with my ear doctor. So five minutes after
our appointment, they call her in, which is wonderful, So
(05:33):
of course I go in with her. I'm wheeling her
wheelchair and the hearing aid doctor explains to Lynn, my wife,
that you know, before we can do anything with you
and the hearing aids, we need to have a hearing test,
but we didn't. It was a scheduled so we need
(05:53):
for you to come back again and we'll make an appointment.
But I can still clean check your hearing aid make
sure they're functioning okay, which they did. And then but
ten minutes into that appointment, a staff member walks into
the office, knocks on the knocks on the door, and
the ear doctor calls us, says, come on in and uh.
(06:15):
The staff member says, it's mister Oco here, and I said, yeah,
I'm here for two thirty for doctor such and such.
He says, you'll be in room two and uh. The
hearing aid doctor for Lynn says we'll have him there
within a couple of minutes. Two thirty three, the hearing
doctor is taking me wheeling my wife in, going to
(06:36):
around the hall to room two, but it's locked. There's
a patient in there. So I we're asked to lynn
and I she's in a wheelchair, to go wait in
the hall and the waiting area. Okay, no problem. I
can understand that waited about ten fifteen minutes and they
call me in. But it's freezing in the lobby and
(06:58):
it's beautiful outside. My wife says, do me a favor
before you go in. Can you put me in the
patio outside it's warm and I wait for you there.
So with a wheelchair, I take her out and that
she's out there alone and comfortable. Now I'm in the
my ear doctor's office, and uh, storry if it's a
(07:19):
long story, but this is the story what's happened to
me in the last few weeks. So the staff member
comes in, takes my vitals, and she says doctor such
and such will be there in a few moments and
leaves me. And I said, okay, now this is around
my appointments two thirty. Now you're going around between quarter
two and ten to three. No problem, I you know,
(07:42):
curtsy to wait. Well three o'clock it is three oh five,
and I'm thinking myself. My wife is outside. She's alone.
She's probably hungry by now, because my plan was we
go to the ear doctors and now go to feed
her lunch and get her go back home because she
doesn't go out much. I was going to make a
special day for the holiday for her three point fifteen,
(08:07):
and it was there. I'm sitting there with my fingers,
twiddling my fingers. At three seventeen, I get up. I say,
I've had it. I'm not gonna take it anymore. I
walk out of the doctor office, cross the hallway, going
to the waiting area, go to the receptionist. There are
two people at the reception desk and say excuse me
(08:29):
if you don't mind, And to the receptionist says, I
tell my name is Ralph Oco. I've been I had
such a such an appointment. It's now at two thirty.
It's now three twenty. I've been waiting at that doctor's
office and I'm not waiting any longer. We're leaving Heaven.
Nice holiday. And I walked out, got my wife, took
(08:50):
her to the car, and lind says, Ralph, take me home.
I'm tired. I don't feel good. When I get home,
I go get me a dinner and a bring it
home and refeed, they never even called me to find
out as a follow up they if they would, if
the staff member would have come into the where I
(09:10):
was waiting and say, I'm sorry, the doctor has an emergency.
Uh he's a little late forgive me, I would have
accepted it, because if I am an emergency, I want
to be attended to immediately. No courtesy, And I told
my wife I'm not going back there again. Excuse me.
A couple of days later, I go to Vero Beach.
(09:34):
I make a couple of phone calls and gave referrals
as to who people go to in Vero Beach for
e M. T ear nose throat. And I go there,
Absolutely a beautiful place. And I get the receptionist smiling
when I walk in, and I tell him my name
is I was referred to by a couple of your patients,
(09:56):
and I'd like to be a new patient for you.
What do I need to do? And they asked for
my insurance, They asked, you know, they gave me an appointment.
They printed out a pre uh you know, new new
patient forms uh literally with my name in information on it,
made the appointment and it was just lovely So I
(10:18):
got home that day and I told my wife and
she thought about it. I guess because after the weekend,
she says, Ralph, I don't want to go back to
the other doctor in Fort Pierce either. I don't like
the way they treated us. I don't like the way
they had me come back a second time for the
hearing test. And do you know why the reason they
didn't schedule the hearing test, Cindy, Now, why because in
(10:41):
the two and a half years, because Lynn was sick,
we hadn't been there. They transferred, they had a new
company come in with software company for the computers, and
they had not transferred all the records.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
The new they lost and they.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Had that whoever made when I made the appointment, they
would have said you need a hearing test, and I
would have scheduled it before seeing the hearing doctor on
the same day. And the doctor that I went to originally,
and I'd been there for fifteen years, never seen anybody else,
he had retired and the practice was sold to another company.
(11:17):
The practice was a local, family oriented practice and it
became one of a chain, a core number.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
I knew it was going to be corporate when you
said that, So the thing. The moral of that story,
in my opinion is, Ralph, so you did the right
thing by asking for referrals to some other place, and
then you frequent that place and give them kudos and
just let the other fall by the way, sim correct,
that's just leave it.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
They don't know except they know I'm going to cancel
the one appointment they're made for my wife.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I wouldn't even worry about to cancel the appointment and
walk away from it.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I couldn't. All I did was I was very courteous
about it. I didn't yellow scream, but I said it
just like I'm talking to you and the audience, the
patient's waiting in the way to the area. Face on
one man it jogged dropped, like how dare you leave
a doctor's office? Well, watch I did. The point I'm
saying to you is I've had it. I'm eighty, I'm
(12:09):
going to be eighty one next month, and I don't
want to take this lack of service that we deserve
as consumers another one. So we're going to have the
party at the Uh oh, hey, I'm this. I could
go on for two hours with my list, so I
cut everything real short. We're going to take a short break.
(12:30):
When we come back, I'll tell you about the cheese
and the fruit trap platters. We'll be right back everybody.
I've had it and I'm not gonna take it.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I'm doctor Tim. I needus at Treasure Coast Dermatology. At
Treasure Coast Dermatology, we believe in the prevention and early
detection of skin cancer. We are medical doctors and we
focus on the medical aspects of dermatology. You don't need
a sales pitch for botox, collagen or wrinkle creams. You
needed a doctor that cares about you and the health
of your skin. We feel by not trying to do
(13:02):
too much, we can do more for our patients.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Call Tolfree eight seven seven eight seven zero RM. That's
eight seven seven eight seven zero three three seven six.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Meet Norma Howell, patient of Florida I Institute. My sight
to me is top priority because you lose your sight,
you lose all of your independence, and so with me,
it was scary. After meeting doctor Schuemate, I had a joy.
I knew I was going to be okay. My life
is just one hundred plus percent. Are you ready to
(13:35):
experience truly exceptional patient?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Care Florida I Institute.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Hey, did you hear the latest about our Florida High Woman?
No what, there's a new High Woman art gallery in
Vero Beach. Really where eighteen seventy two Commerce seven you wow?
When's it open? Seven days a week called nine five
four five five seven six two two six, or an
appointment any time? No kidding, Just call for your appointment
(14:04):
ninety five four five five seven six two two six
and then go to eighteen seventy two Commerce having you Wow,
that's good news. A member of the text trading community,
Your I text dollars are welcome. Want to remove itexs.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
And welcome back to our veterans ice radio show, Ralph.
It doesn't seem like it's the end of the year.
It seems very solemn for this, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
The year went by so long? I know everybody out there,
this is the song you should always remember when you're
a little upset, think about the good days, the good things.
And that's As consumers, we have choices, and most people
but good, most service people, most providers are good. The
problem is we only highlight the bad because that's what
(15:06):
we remember. So I'm going to have a High Woman's
show with Michael Ann's the artist. So I want to
order a cheese platter and a fruit platter. So I
decided that instead of going to my traditional every day
grocery store chain, I will go to a higher end store.
(15:26):
So I go there Miracle Mile, and they tell me
to order of the TELI section that's at the front desk.
So I go back. There's a line. I'm wait, finally
I want to I get to I'm the next one
and I said, can I help you? And I said, yeah,
I'd like to order two trays. You can't do that
(15:47):
in person, you got to go online. Said I can't
order it the person. She says, no, well, it's not
what she said that I didn't like. It's how she
said it. And I said thank you, goodbye, and I
walked out. I drove to my regular every day grocery chain,
(16:08):
ordered it eleven o'clock in the morning on Friday and
seven thirty on Saturday morning. My two trays were waiting
and they were hit. People loved them. You see, you
have alternatives, you have choices. I was at a coffee
shop a few maybe two months ago. I'm getting my
drink and a customer comes back and say excuse me,
(16:32):
and she says to my staff and they gave me
the wrong drink. The staff member in the back making
all the drinks here's it turns around and said, if
you don't like it, go elsewhere, and she did. The
point I'm saying is we have alternatives. We can adjust
(16:52):
to the maybe neutralize or just leave or what's the
other alternatives? Indy, well, not in game and just walk
away and do what? Leave bad reviews?
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, just leave a bad review. I mean that's what
people do. I mean, I don't know how valid some
of that stuff is. I wonder myself, but you know,
people given good or bad or you know whatever. But
you have alternatives rather than engage into some kind of
argument and you don't win, You're not gonna win.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
How about the doctor officers or insurance companies not calling
back when they said they would. How about appointments canceled
on you and you were notified. How About you have
appointments for service people and they don't show up and
they don't call or text saying will be late. How
about restaurants delivering the wrong food, not cook right, or
(17:43):
you have to wait even though you had a reservation.
How about when you're calling one, two, three, and four,
choose which one who you're going to talk to, But
the choices don't give you a choice of speaking to
a human being, which just happened to me on a
forty dollars bill invoice. They send me an invoice, but
(18:05):
they don't say for what is it for? Con repairs?
For a doctor? And I couldn't get anybody to speak
to You know what I did? I wrote on the invoice.
I couldn't reach a representative. Who are you representing? What's
this forty dollars invoice for? I signed it, dated it,
made a copy for me, put the entire letter with
the invoice in their return envelope, and I mailed it
(18:27):
to them. That's my way of dealing with it.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Sometimes that might be the only option.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
How about service and maintenance agreements? They tell you what
they're going to do, They take your money, and then
go get lost because you're not going to get what
you want. Your insurance company, when's the last time they
paid a claim immediately? What did you do about it?
How about what we needed of receipts, of reports or
(18:57):
records and photos? When I go to the Vero Beach
Cleveland Clinic Hospital. I need records. They have a waiting
for me when I go there. That service. I went
to ABC Printing Kat the service writer was sick. I success.
I said, listen, one of the old fashioned doctor Ralph
(19:18):
medicine is do you have a heating pad? He says, yes,
go home tonight. They put a heating pad on your
chest because it will reduce the inflammation, it will break
up the phlem and you'll be able to breathe better.
The next morning, I get a call from kt Hi Ralph.
I'm only calling to thank you. I did what you
told me, and I feel so much better. I eliminated
(19:41):
flem and I'm clearer. Thank you so much. How about
that for consideration, when's the last time any of us
called to say thank you? But the first ones to
complain a bit about something when I'm not happy about
and we have every right to be not happy about.
Can you remember anything, Cindy that while I'm going on
(20:01):
my little tirade in a hopefully political correct way.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Well, I just think every instance has got You have
to figure out what the choices are. You know, do
you pipe up? Do you what do you do.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
If the employee the staff member, whoever's taking care of
you having a bad day. Do you think that you're
going to be able to influence that person to change them?
Probably not?
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Well, sometimes you can less but.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
You could try. But do you want to and do
you have That's take the.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Time, right, That's what I'm saying. Yeah, you have the
choice too. I mean you're part of the conversation too.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I'm the customer. Yeah, but people walk into my gallery,
I walk theme to my family. I want them to
be happy and walking out smiling if they're buy a
paid or not. My job is to make my customer happy.
You can try, Sometimes you just can't. But overall, yes,
(20:53):
you can take that one step back. But you have
to understand the other problem. All the cups that you
go to, they hire, but the level of sometimes not
available of what they're looking for in choices of hiring.
So now, as an employer, would you rather be shorthanded
(21:14):
or wrong handed? I don't know the answer. Short handed
customer is going to wait wrong handed. I gave you
some examples of how wrong handed creates a problem and
they lose customers. I can't tell you the answer for
other people, but I am not going to take it anymore.
Now if I find a situation where I can diffuse it,
(21:35):
like somebody if they say something like that I would
have at the coffee shop. Why would you say that
to me? I was just mentioning that I got the
wrong thing. I just what I paid for. Would I've
diffused it if that was the other customer? I don't know. Yeah,
you know, but when there's a public involved, people are
very funny and sometimes the best thing to do is
what And one of my dear friends always says, you know, Ralph,
(21:58):
I've seen your situation. You just look at somebody that
you turn around the walk away. That's childish, Ralph. And
I said, no, it's mature, because it'd be childish if
I stayed and I gave you my mouthful, and then
we'll be forever sorry what I said. You can't take
it back. So I'd rather look childish not saying it
and not doing it than childish saying it, doing it
(22:23):
and being sorry. I want to give you a phone number,
please write it down eight six six nine six six
seven two two six stayed a Florida Consumer Complaint Division
Jame up flying Opmyer is the uh UH director contact person.
(22:48):
Well he's in charge of the consumer complaints of the UH.
He's the Attorney General's office. He is the Attorney General.
Eight six six ninety six six seven two. Everybody out there,
hope you'll forgive me. I try to be as politically
correct and brief. But you have a writer as a consumer. Yeah,
(23:10):
you do, you do, and you have choices. You do,
think about your choice and then make your decisions. A
very healthy, happy new Year to you, your family, everybody
around us, and a joyous, healthy, happy new Year to
the entire world. And learn from the Christmas Shruth of
nineteen fourteen. And thank you everybody for being a part
(23:34):
of our veterans voice.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Ring Yes absolutely. Captain James E.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Farney Navy, John Leland Kalmach.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Navy, Frank Kleinsman, Army Korea.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Robert Natupski Air Force, and Commander Jerry W. Loui Lewis, Navy,
and all of our other fallen heroes. God bless you,
Thank you for your service. We so proudly salute you.
(24:17):
You're in our hearts forever. Rest in peace, Rest in
peace forever. Happy New Year.
And we're back on ARVID on the Swiss Radio show
with Ralph Nathan Elko. Ralph, we're talking about the Christmas
story and now you're gonna delve into.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
What I am fed up and I'm not gonna take
it anymore. Welcome back everybody. First, we just talked to
you about the Christmas truth, the Christmas of nineteen fourteen
and how two enemies stop and rejoice and share a holiday,
which is an example that yes, we can overcome our
(00:41):
differences if we communicate and have common positive thoughts. So
before I get into my tirade, first I want to
remind you I'm January thirty first. Now today's December twenty seventh,
so about four weeks from now, I'm January thirty first,
twenty twenty six since High Women Show, the annual Last
(01:02):
Saturday or January Annual Show for the High Women. It
will be at forty one forty five US one in
Fort Pierce, and you're going to have dozens of artists,
some original, not many left the original Highwaymen, second generation,
(01:25):
their kids, legacy artists that they trained, and Florida landscape artists.
You're going to have an array of colors and sizes
and prices. But what you're gonna have is one big,
beautiful party, and that's what the Highwaymen movement is all about.
So let's go back and you'll see where my consumer
tie raide is going to come in. So now this
(01:47):
is December thirteenth, two weeks ago. It's a Saturday, and
we have Michael EN's we being the Highwaymen Art Gallery
at eighteen seventy two Commerce Revenue in Via Beach. Michael
Ends is an artist, a Florida landscape artist who was
trained by Beanie Bechus, the mentor of the High Woman.
(02:12):
We had a crowd, but let me tell you what
kind of day it started. Usually when you have a show,
ten to three people show up here and there. But
between eleven fifteen, eleven thirty, about one thirty two o'clock
it is packed most of the time in most shows,
not just us ten o'clock. The first customer walks in.
(02:34):
It's an elderly man around my age. Watch what you're thinking, everybody,
But he's not happy. He's he looks like he's in
a bad mood. He's not grouchy, but just not smiling.
And I say hello, and I can he doesn't hear me.
So I realized he's already hearing. So I introduce myself.
(02:55):
He introduces himself, and I tell him that please walk around.
We don't push the sale. We want you to become
a member of our family. Look around, you have any
questions and and then so she says thank you. But
he's still grouchy looking. He's not happy. Now. We don't
know what he's gone through. You know, we never met
(03:17):
him before. So in my mind, I'm thinking about I'm
going to change that man. I'm going to make him smile.
I just have to figure out out. Unbeknownst to me,
Sheilah's witnessing this. Sheila, my art director, is there Saturdays,
and Sheila does the same thing. Anyway, So now he's
walking around and Sheila explains things to him and answers
(03:39):
his questions. He ended up buying a painting, but that's
not the point. But now he's smiling and he's communicating.
His eyes are lit up. They're not in anger, they're
smiling and happiness. So he buys his paintings and he leaves. Now,
remember everybody walks in fills out a raplica and that
(04:02):
raffle card at the end, one raffle winner will be
drawn from the drum. Well, lo and behold guess who
won the raffle?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Ah?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Wow, mister Bob, the grouch that became the smiler. And
I called personally. I left a message and two days later,
and this was Saturday, Monday, he calls me up. He says, Hi, Ralph,
this is Bob. You left me a message that I won.
And I said, yes, Bob, Sheila and I both remember
(04:33):
you and you made our day because we had a
good time and you walked out smiling so happy. Yes,
you won the raffle. And I met with him on
the front the following that week, the Friday, and he
was a happy man.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
No good for him.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, So why is Ralph having a tirade? Well, let
me tell you my tirade. My wife has hearing aids
hard a hearing. Sometimes it may be an advantage for me,
but she also has a liver problem. Says he's ill.
She's a very sick woman. I can accept that, then
we get around it. So I make an appointment at
(05:12):
our anti specialists in Fort Pierce in order for her
to check her ear hearing aids in her ears and
an appointment for me at two o'clock and two thirty
for me with my ear doctor. So five minutes after
our appointment, they call her in, which is wonderful, So
(05:33):
of course I go in with her. I'm wheeling her
wheelchair and the hearing aid doctor explains to Lynn, my wife,
that you know, before we can do anything with you
and the hearing aids, we need to have a hearing test,
but we didn't. It was a scheduled so we need
(05:53):
for you to come back again and we'll make an appointment.
But I can still clean check your hearing aid make
sure they're functioning okay, which they did. And then but
ten minutes into that appointment, a staff member walks into
the office, knocks on the knocks on the door, and
the ear doctor calls us, says, come on in and uh.
(06:15):
The staff member says, it's mister Oco here, and I said, yeah,
I'm here for two thirty for doctor such and such.
He says, you'll be in room two and uh. The
hearing aid doctor for Lynn says we'll have him there
within a couple of minutes. Two thirty three, the hearing
doctor is taking me wheeling my wife in, going to
(06:36):
around the hall to room two, but it's locked. There's
a patient in there. So I we're asked to lynn
and I she's in a wheelchair, to go wait in
the hall and the waiting area. Okay, no problem. I
can understand that waited about ten fifteen minutes and they
call me in. But it's freezing in the lobby and
(06:58):
it's beautiful outside. My wife says, do me a favor
before you go in. Can you put me in the
patio outside it's warm and I wait for you there.
So with a wheelchair, I take her out and that
she's out there alone and comfortable. Now I'm in the
my ear doctor's office, and uh, storry if it's a
(07:19):
long story, but this is the story what's happened to
me in the last few weeks. So the staff member
comes in, takes my vitals, and she says doctor such
and such will be there in a few moments and
leaves me. And I said, okay, now this is around
my appointments two thirty. Now you're going around between quarter
two and ten to three. No problem, I you know,
(07:42):
curtsy to wait. Well three o'clock it is three oh five,
and I'm thinking myself. My wife is outside. She's alone.
She's probably hungry by now, because my plan was we
go to the ear doctors and now go to feed
her lunch and get her go back home because she
doesn't go out much. I was going to make a
special day for the holiday for her three point fifteen,
(08:07):
and it was there. I'm sitting there with my fingers,
twiddling my fingers. At three seventeen, I get up. I say,
I've had it. I'm not gonna take it anymore. I
walk out of the doctor office, cross the hallway, going
to the waiting area, go to the receptionist. There are
two people at the reception desk and say excuse me
(08:29):
if you don't mind, And to the receptionist says, I
tell my name is Ralph Oco. I've been I had
such a such an appointment. It's now at two thirty.
It's now three twenty. I've been waiting at that doctor's
office and I'm not waiting any longer. We're leaving Heaven.
Nice holiday. And I walked out, got my wife, took
(08:50):
her to the car, and lind says, Ralph, take me home.
I'm tired. I don't feel good. When I get home,
I go get me a dinner and a bring it
home and refeed, they never even called me to find
out as a follow up they if they would, if
the staff member would have come into the where I
(09:10):
was waiting and say, I'm sorry, the doctor has an emergency.
Uh he's a little late forgive me, I would have
accepted it, because if I am an emergency, I want
to be attended to immediately. No courtesy, And I told
my wife I'm not going back there again. Excuse me.
A couple of days later, I go to Vero Beach.
(09:34):
I make a couple of phone calls and gave referrals
as to who people go to in Vero Beach for
e M. T ear nose throat. And I go there,
Absolutely a beautiful place. And I get the receptionist smiling
when I walk in, and I tell him my name
is I was referred to by a couple of your patients,
(09:56):
and I'd like to be a new patient for you.
What do I need to do? And they asked for
my insurance, They asked, you know, they gave me an appointment.
They printed out a pre uh you know, new new
patient forms uh literally with my name in information on it,
made the appointment and it was just lovely So I
(10:18):
got home that day and I told my wife and
she thought about it. I guess because after the weekend,
she says, Ralph, I don't want to go back to
the other doctor in Fort Pierce either. I don't like
the way they treated us. I don't like the way
they had me come back a second time for the
hearing test. And do you know why the reason they
didn't schedule the hearing test, Cindy, Now, why because in
(10:41):
the two and a half years, because Lynn was sick,
we hadn't been there. They transferred, they had a new
company come in with software company for the computers, and
they had not transferred all the records.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
The new they lost and they.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Had that whoever made when I made the appointment, they
would have said you need a hearing test, and I
would have scheduled it before seeing the hearing doctor on
the same day. And the doctor that I went to originally,
and I'd been there for fifteen years, never seen anybody else,
he had retired and the practice was sold to another company.
(11:17):
The practice was a local, family oriented practice and it
became one of a chain, a core number.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
I knew it was going to be corporate when you
said that, So the thing. The moral of that story,
in my opinion is, Ralph, so you did the right
thing by asking for referrals to some other place, and
then you frequent that place and give them kudos and
just let the other fall by the way, sim correct,
that's just leave it.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
They don't know except they know I'm going to cancel
the one appointment they're made for my wife.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I wouldn't even worry about to cancel the appointment and
walk away from it.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I couldn't. All I did was I was very courteous
about it. I didn't yellow scream, but I said it
just like I'm talking to you and the audience, the
patient's waiting in the way to the area. Face on
one man it jogged dropped, like how dare you leave
a doctor's office? Well, watch I did. The point I'm
saying to you is I've had it. I'm eighty, I'm
(12:09):
going to be eighty one next month, and I don't
want to take this lack of service that we deserve
as consumers another one. So we're going to have the
party at the Uh oh, hey, I'm this. I could
go on for two hours with my list, so I
cut everything real short. We're going to take a short break.
(12:30):
When we come back, I'll tell you about the cheese
and the fruit trap platters. We'll be right back everybody.
I've had it and I'm not gonna take it.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I'm doctor Tim. I needus at Treasure Coast Dermatology. At
Treasure Coast Dermatology, we believe in the prevention and early
detection of skin cancer. We are medical doctors and we
focus on the medical aspects of dermatology. You don't need
a sales pitch for botox, collagen or wrinkle creams. You
needed a doctor that cares about you and the health
of your skin. We feel by not trying to do
(13:02):
too much, we can do more for our patients.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Call Tolfree eight seven seven eight seven zero RM. That's
eight seven seven eight seven zero three three seven six.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Meet Norma Howell, patient of Florida I Institute. My sight
to me is top priority because you lose your sight,
you lose all of your independence, and so with me,
it was scary. After meeting doctor Schuemate, I had a joy.
I knew I was going to be okay. My life
is just one hundred plus percent. Are you ready to
(13:35):
experience truly exceptional patient?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Care Florida I Institute.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Hey, did you hear the latest about our Florida High Woman?
No what, there's a new High Woman art gallery in
Vero Beach. Really where eighteen seventy two Commerce seven you wow?
When's it open? Seven days a week called nine five
four five five seven six two two six, or an
appointment any time? No kidding, Just call for your appointment
(14:04):
ninety five four five five seven six two two six
and then go to eighteen seventy two Commerce having you Wow,
that's good news. A member of the text trading community,
Your I text dollars are welcome. Want to remove itexs.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
And welcome back to our veterans ice radio show, Ralph.
It doesn't seem like it's the end of the year.
It seems very solemn for this, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
The year went by so long? I know everybody out there,
this is the song you should always remember when you're
a little upset, think about the good days, the good things.
And that's As consumers, we have choices, and most people
but good, most service people, most providers are good. The
problem is we only highlight the bad because that's what
(15:06):
we remember. So I'm going to have a High Woman's
show with Michael Ann's the artist. So I want to
order a cheese platter and a fruit platter. So I
decided that instead of going to my traditional every day
grocery store chain, I will go to a higher end store.
(15:26):
So I go there Miracle Mile, and they tell me
to order of the TELI section that's at the front desk.
So I go back. There's a line. I'm wait, finally
I want to I get to I'm the next one
and I said, can I help you? And I said, yeah,
I'd like to order two trays. You can't do that
(15:47):
in person, you got to go online. Said I can't
order it the person. She says, no, well, it's not
what she said that I didn't like. It's how she
said it. And I said thank you, goodbye, and I
walked out. I drove to my regular every day grocery chain,
(16:08):
ordered it eleven o'clock in the morning on Friday and
seven thirty on Saturday morning. My two trays were waiting
and they were hit. People loved them. You see, you
have alternatives, you have choices. I was at a coffee
shop a few maybe two months ago. I'm getting my
drink and a customer comes back and say excuse me,
(16:32):
and she says to my staff and they gave me
the wrong drink. The staff member in the back making
all the drinks here's it turns around and said, if
you don't like it, go elsewhere, and she did. The
point I'm saying is we have alternatives. We can adjust
(16:52):
to the maybe neutralize or just leave or what's the
other alternatives? Indy, well, not in game and just walk
away and do what? Leave bad reviews?
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, just leave a bad review. I mean that's what
people do. I mean, I don't know how valid some
of that stuff is. I wonder myself, but you know,
people given good or bad or you know whatever. But
you have alternatives rather than engage into some kind of
argument and you don't win, You're not gonna win.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
How about the doctor officers or insurance companies not calling
back when they said they would. How about appointments canceled
on you and you were notified. How About you have
appointments for service people and they don't show up and
they don't call or text saying will be late. How
about restaurants delivering the wrong food, not cook right, or
(17:43):
you have to wait even though you had a reservation.
How about when you're calling one, two, three, and four,
choose which one who you're going to talk to, But
the choices don't give you a choice of speaking to
a human being, which just happened to me on a
forty dollars bill invoice. They send me an invoice, but
(18:05):
they don't say for what is it for? Con repairs?
For a doctor? And I couldn't get anybody to speak
to You know what I did? I wrote on the invoice.
I couldn't reach a representative. Who are you representing? What's
this forty dollars invoice for? I signed it, dated it,
made a copy for me, put the entire letter with
the invoice in their return envelope, and I mailed it
(18:27):
to them. That's my way of dealing with it.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Sometimes that might be the only option.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
How about service and maintenance agreements? They tell you what
they're going to do, They take your money, and then
go get lost because you're not going to get what
you want. Your insurance company, when's the last time they
paid a claim immediately? What did you do about it?
How about what we needed of receipts, of reports or
(18:57):
records and photos? When I go to the Vero Beach
Cleveland Clinic Hospital. I need records. They have a waiting
for me when I go there. That service. I went
to ABC Printing Kat the service writer was sick. I success.
I said, listen, one of the old fashioned doctor Ralph
(19:18):
medicine is do you have a heating pad? He says, yes,
go home tonight. They put a heating pad on your
chest because it will reduce the inflammation, it will break
up the phlem and you'll be able to breathe better.
The next morning, I get a call from kt Hi Ralph.
I'm only calling to thank you. I did what you
told me, and I feel so much better. I eliminated
(19:41):
flem and I'm clearer. Thank you so much. How about
that for consideration, when's the last time any of us
called to say thank you? But the first ones to
complain a bit about something when I'm not happy about
and we have every right to be not happy about.
Can you remember anything, Cindy that while I'm going on
(20:01):
my little tirade in a hopefully political correct way.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Well, I just think every instance has got You have
to figure out what the choices are. You know, do
you pipe up? Do you what do you do.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
If the employee the staff member, whoever's taking care of
you having a bad day. Do you think that you're
going to be able to influence that person to change them?
Probably not?
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Well, sometimes you can less but.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
You could try. But do you want to and do
you have That's take the.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Time, right, That's what I'm saying. Yeah, you have the
choice too. I mean you're part of the conversation too.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I'm the customer. Yeah, but people walk into my gallery,
I walk theme to my family. I want them to
be happy and walking out smiling if they're buy a
paid or not. My job is to make my customer happy.
You can try, Sometimes you just can't. But overall, yes,
(20:53):
you can take that one step back. But you have
to understand the other problem. All the cups that you
go to, they hire, but the level of sometimes not
available of what they're looking for in choices of hiring.
So now, as an employer, would you rather be shorthanded
(21:14):
or wrong handed? I don't know the answer. Short handed
customer is going to wait wrong handed. I gave you
some examples of how wrong handed creates a problem and
they lose customers. I can't tell you the answer for
other people, but I am not going to take it anymore.
Now if I find a situation where I can diffuse it,
(21:35):
like somebody if they say something like that I would
have at the coffee shop. Why would you say that
to me? I was just mentioning that I got the
wrong thing. I just what I paid for. Would I've
diffused it if that was the other customer? I don't know. Yeah,
you know, but when there's a public involved, people are
very funny and sometimes the best thing to do is
what And one of my dear friends always says, you know, Ralph,
(21:58):
I've seen your situation. You just look at somebody that
you turn around the walk away. That's childish, Ralph. And
I said, no, it's mature, because it'd be childish if
I stayed and I gave you my mouthful, and then
we'll be forever sorry what I said. You can't take
it back. So I'd rather look childish not saying it
and not doing it than childish saying it, doing it
(22:23):
and being sorry. I want to give you a phone number,
please write it down eight six six nine six six
seven two two six stayed a Florida Consumer Complaint Division
Jame up flying Opmyer is the uh UH director contact person.
(22:48):
Well he's in charge of the consumer complaints of the UH.
He's the Attorney General's office. He is the Attorney General.
Eight six six ninety six six seven two. Everybody out there,
hope you'll forgive me. I try to be as politically
correct and brief. But you have a writer as a consumer. Yeah,
(23:10):
you do, you do, and you have choices. You do,
think about your choice and then make your decisions. A
very healthy, happy new Year to you, your family, everybody
around us, and a joyous, healthy, happy new Year to
the entire world. And learn from the Christmas Shruth of
nineteen fourteen. And thank you everybody for being a part
(23:34):
of our veterans voice.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Ring Yes absolutely. Captain James E.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Farney Navy, John Leland Kalmach.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Navy, Frank Kleinsman, Army Korea.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Robert Natupski Air Force, and Commander Jerry W. Loui Lewis, Navy,
and all of our other fallen heroes. God bless you,
Thank you for your service. We so proudly salute you.
(24:17):
You're in our hearts forever. Rest in peace, Rest in
peace forever. Happy New Year.
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