Bad Experience w/MyReceptionist

[Allie Jane ~]

I felt that it was my duty to put a posting out there about the answering service "My Receptionist".

In theory, it's an amazing idea and could be an incredible asset to individual therapists and larger studio's/spa's alike. Unfortunately, this company just doen't work for YOU. The telephone answerer's are rude, short with clients and constantly giving wrong information to your clients!

I have used this service for over a year, we started as one room studio and grew into a spa. In that time, I experienced the following by using this service:

- CONTINUOUS DOUBLE BOOKINGS- even after going through the entire set-up process step by step with their General Manager

- RUDE "RECEPTIONISTS" - I continually recieved complaints from clients for how they were treated on the phone. I ordered recordings of the conversations that confirmed my clients were treated poorly and all the General Manager would say is, "Hey, everybody has a bad day..."

- OVER-RIDE MY PROMGRAMMING - You set up all the parameters for this service, so technically, they shouldn't be able to double book appointments, schedule you for your days off, or book same day appoinments if you have that feature disabled. WRONG! On more than one occasion all of these things happened to me! As a direct result of their receptionists over-riding my programming!

- CAN NOT HANDLE SPECIALS OR DISCOUNTS - Yes, again, there's space to proram it all in, but the "receptionists" don't actually LOOK at that info. So if a client would call and inquire about a promotion I was running, the "receptionists" would just say they had no clue or that my promotion didn't exsist!

- "RECEPTIONIST" DON'T ACTUALLY LOOK AT YOUR INFO - What I mean by this goes back to pure chaos if you have a special promotion, but even WORSE, as we grew, we changed locations. I fully updated my MyReceptionist information, but still, when clients called, clients were given directions to my old location or give old information, just because the "receptionists" were familiar with my account, there was never any attempt to have the receptionists refamiliarize themselves, even after a complaint was made to management.

- HOLD - Probably the least concerning, but the most frustrating for my clients. When your calls get forwarded to their answer center, they have automatic answering when they are busy. Sounds nice, but I had clients report being on hold for 10 minutes before a person ever came on the line to take their call! I know this was the case because I would call in myself just to monitor the service and it happened to me too! Worse during busy seasons like Christmas, but could happen any day, any time!

Anyway, I could go on forever. But what I want to be heard loud and clear here is this:

MYRECEPTIONIST WILL COST YOU CLIENTS!
These "receptionists" and this company doesn't care about you or your business and it shows, especially to your clients, and that costs us our business, our income and our future success.

They are very expensive and just not worth your precious dollars. I have since switched to appointment-plus.com and an answering machine. About $100/mo less expensive and allows me to give my clients the service I want them to get!

BUYER BEWARE OF MYRECEPTIONIST!

:?

 

[Shallow Abyss]

My Receptionist Response

It should be made known that My Receptionist has helped hundreds of members of the alternative healthcare industry grow their practices into highly successful businesses.

We take great pride in our service and realize that just like any business problems can arise. When they do, we always respond in a timely and professional manner.

We invite anyone who questions the quality of our service to contact us. We can arrange for you to speak with any one of our clients who are more then satisfied with our service.

My Receptionist
http://www.myreceptionist.com

 

[Wonder]

I looked into MR just before I lucked into my great relationship with spa Boom. I hesitated to sign their terms of agreement & contract because it basically stated that if (and they named all the instances) anything went wrong, they weren't liable. To me, in a nutshell, that's saying, "Here, pay me this amount for this promise, but I am not liable in any way if I don't keep my promise." The guy I spoke to (Norm, I think) was very nice himself, but he did say that they were in the process of reworking those contracts, but in the meantime can they sign me up? Nope.

I only have reception presence from 9AM-12NN Monday through Saturday. At this point, I can't afford more, but also can't wait until I can!!! My real, human, warm receptionists DO KNOW all the quirks & details of our businesses. When they are unavailable, my voice mail picks up, letting the caller know that we'll return their call, but that our website has an online appointment request feature and secure purchasing for instant gift certificates (Spa Boom stuff). I feel like while we're in this growing seforum.xxxe, and limited, at least I have my bases covered. It is very rare when we get complaints from our clients at all, especially over receptionist concerns.

Sorry you experienced all that, but it stinks to be where the buck stops when services like MR can't hold up their end of the bargain. Yuck. I heard that the original MT who started that company sold it to a large corporation (or larger, I should say), so the original care & attention is probably not the same.

Jill/sagetherapist

 

[ms manners]

My Receptionist Response

It should be made known that My Receptionist has helped hundreds of members of the alternative healthcare industry grow their practices into highly successful businesses.

We take great pride in our service and realize that just like any business problems can arise. When they do, we always respond in a timely and professional manner.

We invite anyone who questions the quality of our service to contact us. We can arrange for you to speak with any one of our clients who are more then satisfied with our service.

My Receptionist
http://www.myreceptionist.com

I'm sorry, but that's the typical company line. Might as well have been a form letter. The post sounded like when certain websites want to "customize/enhance your experience". BS. They want to track your moves! This post seemed to me to be about as (un)genuine.

 

[dalehughes3]

Nothing against MyReceptionist in general but I have to say as a client I absolutely HATE getting an answering service! My GYN has an answering service that won't even take messages or appointments, just direct you to call back when the lunch break is over "which is usually 1:00 or sometimes 1:15." Huh? Can't you just have them call me back when they return from the lunch break? Egads! I refuse to work with answering services -- I once called a contractor to inquire about an estimate for a project on our home. The answering service couldn't even tell me when my call might be returned, wasn't sure if they were working that day or not. I just moved on to the next contractor on the list, not worth my time.

Okay, sorry for the vent. I just wanted to add my 2 cents in case someone was considering hiring an answering service. As a client it sucks, it might work nicely for the practitioner but only you and your staff can provide the quality needed in a phone conversation. First impressions really do count! Even if it's just a lovely answering message for your machine.

 

[Priscilla]

My Receptionist Response

It should be made known that....

My Receptionist, it's not saying much for yourself to say that you take such great pride in treating your own clients so poorly....

 

[*:]$un$hine[:*%]

My Receptionist and beyond...

I have read all these postings, including the lengthy one by artofmassage and I'd like to add my comments and suggestions:

First, I completely empathize with each one of you who have had bad experiences with My Receptionist. I, too, had my own story to tell - and it was similar to artofmassage.

However, since then, I have had the opportunity to work directly with Norm - who has been nothing but kind and considerate to me. He listened to my complaints of my previous trial (um...bad trial, I might add) of their company and asked what he could do for me if I would come back. We negotiated our terms and came to an agreement. I personally know that Norm - new to My Receptionist - is doing his best to understand the nature of our business. He consults on a regular basis with Cherie Sohnen-Moe and other business-guru's in our field to find out the best way to serve our needs.

The worse thing to happen to our profession isn't My Receptionist. The worse thing to happen to the field of massage therapy is the trade-school industry producing massage programs for a quick buck...and the 18 year olds who attend these schools.

You should save your energy bashing a company that is, like all of us, a work in progress, and worry more about the quality of touch that is being taught to our future practitioners. Take your negativity for a vendor and go directly to the source. You would want a client who was unhappy with your service to do the same for you. If you are not contributing to the solution...you are part of the problem. I encourage you to become a leader in the industry by working with the vendors on ways they can make it better for all of us. Ten years ago, there were no business forms, no brochures, no gift certificates and no online warehouses full of massage supplies in which to purchase what we need to market our companies. And, ten years from now - online appointment scheduling and virtual receptionists will be making money for sole proprietors and independent contractors. But, that can't happen until we work together as partners.

My Receptionist is a work in progress and Norm will be the first to admit that the company isn't perfect. Heck, as a customer, I'll even admit they aren't perfect. But they have improved over the last three years and for some of us...it is a very valuable service we offer our clients. I have picked up again with MR and while my customers use the online appt. scheduler more than the voice system - in a pinch (like when my brother died tragically), I use them to help me out. I don't mind having the fantastic system that allows my customers an alternative to online scheduling, my voice mail or no answer.

Judge not, lest ye be judged. Norm Green isn't My Receptionist and the personal attack of his character is unprofessional and disheartening. We should worry, as a group, more about the therapists who aren't returning phone calls and being financially unethical (like not paying bills and not claiming gratuities on their taxes) than spending the time to bash someone we have never even met.

Bottom line: Companies can improve. My Receptionist can improve, your day spa and my massage therapy and consulting business could all use a little improvement. Let's consider that.

 

[Pompal 09.]

YOu are saying not to judge but did you not in your post make a remark about the"18 year olds" in massage school?? To me that is judging them. Someone's age has nothing to do with their work or work ethic. In massage school the "18 year old" male that worked on me was more professional than the 54 year old male ever was.

I know off topic but I had to make that comment.

 

[powder junkie]

My Receptionist and beyond...

I personally know that Norm - new to My Receptionist - is doing his best to understand the nature of our business. He consults on a regular basis with Cherie Sohnen-Moe and other business-guru's in our field to find out the best way to serve our needs.

that someone who would have significant influence over my business, has to "do his best to understand the nature of my business", is quite scary.

good luck norm, you're going to need it.

 

[Buffy]

I don't think it was a personal attack. Getrelaxed, you may be very happy with this company in spite of your problems, good for you! But this is a place to offer our own opinions and vent, if we need too. That was artofmassage's experience and she/he (?) felt the need to share. In the original post it seemed to me that artofmassage had made several attempts to get things back on track with this company with no good outcome. I feel that the original post was my in good taste and with good intentions. Thank you artofmassage!

Steph!

 

[fire f]

My Receptionist

I am possible "The original" client of My Receptionist. My friend Rachel started the service maybe 13 years ago or so, I have seen it and helped it change over the years. The company that currently owns My Receptionist is not a "huge corporation" it is a small company in the town where I practice, I drive over there occasionally to talk to Jeff and Norm or to do other business. The people who work there are friendly, hard working small town folk, many of them are college students paying their way through college.

I have had lunch with Norm and Jeff to let them know about our profession. Norm and Jeff are not massage therapist and do not claim to be, therefore they do need to learn about our profession as any service would, if they were massage therapsit they would not be running an answering service.

The service is run by humans and staffed by humans, therefore sometimes mistakes do occur, however the only way you can have a double booking is if you yourself forget to enter an appointment in the computer, there is no tother way this can occur.

As far as being put on hold, this does happen, but it would also happen if you were answering your own phone, they can not possibly have enough people sitting there so this would never occur. If you have aclient that finds this particularily troublesome, give them your direct line or use the online scheduling.

I could not function without the service, I depend on it totally, Yes sometimes I have problems but the fact is people never tell you when something worked really well for them, only when it did not.

having a staff person sit in my office 40 hours a week would easily cost me $400 or more per week. My Receptionist costs me on average $250 per month and they answer the phone 24/7.

I wjpoleheartedly endorse My Receptionist as a service for massage therapists.

 

[Soul to Squeeze]

Just a reminder to please keep things on a professional level. If you have a problem with a particular post, please notify myself or another moderator.

Don't forget, we are all entitled to express our opinions.

Thank you

Jennifer Evans (aka Talenyn)
Moderator

 

[Pompal 09.]

My Receptionist and beyond...

I have read all these postings, including the lengthy one by artofmassage and I'd like to add my comments and suggestions:.

Firts, I have never spoken with anyone by the name of Norm. All of my bad experiences have come from Jeff or one of assistants.

Please understand that I am not trying to expel negative energy and bash My Receptionist. My purpose in this posting was to warn other MT's trying to make a living that their dollars would be better spent on a different route. I certainly wish this information would have been available to me when I was making my decision!

Finally, I couldn't agree more about the quality of MT"s being produced these days. As such, I have recently applied to become an MT instructor. If I can't stop the trend of the "quick career" perhaps I can make a difference in the quality of "professional" they are pumping out...

 

[teapot91]

My Receptionist

Artofmassage, I couldn't agree with you more. I have seen - because I am an massage school instructor - the difference in professionalism in the last few years. What was once a viable career, offering healing and physical relief from pain, is now becoming a major trade profession. There's is nothing we can do to stop the momentum of this field...except to be mentors and to drive our students and new colleagues in a positive direction.

I congratulate you on your professionalism and apologize for if it sounded as though I was correcting you. I was not...in fact, I've had my own poor experiences with MR. My point is, we need to help them make their product better so that single, sole proprietors can continue to thrive financially without the headaches of hiring unnecessary staff. So far, a single therapist has few options: Most often, hiring a receptionist or an answering machine (voice mail) when it comes to getting our phones answered. Can My Receptionist get better? Absolutely.

Do you think you would have the time to work a little with Norm and Jeff to make their service better? I was very specific with Norm. I said "I'm not ready to come back until these problems are fixed." When he assured me that they were fixed, I said "I'll come back for a trial, but I want the free trial period because I don't want to dump my money into something that still isn't solid." He agreed. And, he's aware that I will pull my business away again without a moments hesitation if I'm not happy. The thing is, I'm still willing to help out - even if I don't pay them - to work out the kinks.

I remember my last conversation with the guy who was in Norm's position before and it ended with this statement: "You better hope to h...I don't decide to open an answering service for massage professionals because My Receptionist will be out of business so fast, you won't know what hit you." Now...was I professional? No. Was I angry? ABSOLUTELY. The difference was....he didn't care. I truly believe that Norm is concerned with making MR financially lucrative...but even more concerned with making sure we have a useful, affordable service that helps us realize our financial goals as well.

It was nice 'posting' with you.

 

[man of steel]

My Receptionist

I have had lunch with Norm and Jeff to let them know about our profession. Norm and Jeff are not massage therapist and do not claim to be, therefore they do need to learn about our profession as any service would, if they were massage therapsit they would not be running an answering service.

funny, in the massage business, this is like offering services outside the scope of practice. i don't think i'd pay for this service. again, i wish them luck and hope their "learning curve" is a short one.

 

[Owais Memon]

I don't think it's any different than managers of massage clinics or spas who know nothing about massage.

 

[THE REAL DEAL SEX APPEAL]

I am new here today, and I stumbled across this post. I have to make a few comments on behalf of my own Experiences with Myreceptionist.

Let me first preface this with a little background. I have a 3 therapist practice and we see over 130 patients a month. I have been using My Receptionist for over 3 years now.

My experiences with this company have been above reproach. They have done nothing but GET me patients. My phone is answered 24/7 with a live person to the tune of 170 calls per month and they have never double-booked me, ever. In fact, I never answer the phone myself, because my schedule is booked over 5 weeks in advance and I don't have time too. Do I think this service is worth the money? YOU BET!

Don't get me wrong, I have had a few minor problems with call hold time, but they don't charge you for that time, and I had them put a very nice message on there saying "Hello and thank you for calling U-Knead-Me Massage Services, please hold and someone will be right with you" then, within a minute they are.

As far as having a "real" receptionist, I think all small therapy clinics will say the same thing- we can't afford this. Paying over $1000 per month to only have a person at the phone for say 30 hours a week is ludicrous. I'd be happy to pay only for the minutes that I use for the month.

My MyReceptionist account already has a schedule from appointments-plus, and my patients can make their own appointments on my website or call 24/7. What a deal.

If you are looking for an option for a professional service to answer your phone while you are doing what you do best, then I would definitely give these guys a try!

From a personal, patient's perspective, (I have over 1000 patients who will also attest to this) I would much rather get a person who can schedule my appointment than an answering machine. I NEVER leave a message on a machine because I have found that most massage professionals will not return your call in a timely manner. We are simply too busy. For those inquiries that the receptionists cannot answer, they forward the customer's information to you to look at. I usually have one of my therapists give them a call back, but we have only about one of these types of calls per week.

I have also spent many hours with the supervisor on the phone and via email over the last 3 months to help them increase their service levels. I have to agree with getrelaxed

My point is, we need to help them make their product better so that single, sole proprietors can continue to thrive financially without the headaches of hiring unnecessary staff. So far, a single therapist has few options: Most often, hiring a receptionist or an answering machine (voice mail) when it comes to getting our phones answered. Can My Receptionist get better? Absolutely.

For now, there is nothing better out there. If there is, please let me know, I'm a business owner...

MyReceptionist, keep up the good work!

Regards,
Mike/ukneadme

 

[Dana Laz]

I don't think it's any different than managers of massage clinics or spas who know nothing about massage.

my point exactly

 

[JerseyGirl]

I think it is very interesting that there are posts from 3 people that obviously registered just to reply to this thread. Sort of reminds me of last October and a post of my own. Hmmmmmmm anyone smell fish?

 

[Dark Mistress]

YOu know I was thinking the same exact thing.
That it was strange that all of a sudden a bunch of new people joined and all of them just so happen to use this company

I smell fish as well.