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I'm curious to hear from people who are happy with the services in their city / town / area (and if you don't mind sharing where that is, at least generally). I'm thinking especially of the nuts and bolts of daily life:
primary care physician
dentist
car mechanics
veterinarian(s) and other pet services (daycare / boarding)
attitude or demeanor of staff in all sort of stores (grocery stores, post offices, dry cleaners, pharmacies)
In our area, neighbors and even strangers on the street are generally friendly. But we're noticing more and more that many service providers ... just aren't. And in the medical / dental arena especially, it seems like responsiveness and even competence in scheduling and billing is getting worse and worse, to the point where it has become really awful.
So, we're curious whether there are areas of the country where people are still treating customers and clients well and efficiently. Or are we all just experiencing a phase when there is too much stress, and the pace is too fast, to provide decent, courteous service?
primary care physician - Very happy with her. She is personable, actually takes her time and listens to us. Same thing with the specialists we have been to.
dentist - Young guy who took over the practice when the older partner retired. Extremely pleasant (one of his staff described him as a great combination of professional and a bit goofy and fun) and his staff is great
car mechanics - We have been going to the local Goodyear dealer. They have been fine and were more than fair on working on us with an issue with my 2004 Mazda MPV
veterinarian(s) and other pet services (daycare / boarding) - Vet was extremely understanding when our cat became ill with bone cancer and had to be put to sleep. Very nice local lady comes by to care for our cats when we are traveling
attitude or demeanor of staff in all sort of stores (grocery stores, post offices, dry cleaners, pharmacies) -
grocery store - We usually go on the same day and we go to the same cashier who is usually there. We have got so that we talk a bit while she is checking us out. So we have found out a bit about her life and she has found out a bit about us. Other employees there have also come to know us and are always pleasant and helpful
post office - The small local post office is close to a one person operation. And she is just as pleasant as can be
pharmacies - My wife goes to CVS and they know her by name and are really nice and helpful. I had to switch to Walgreen for this year and have no complaints whatsoever
As you can tell, we are really happy with the people here
1. primary care physician: great, but he retired this year.
2. dentist: superb and is 40 miles away but worth it.
3. car mechanics: adequate and affordable.
4. veterinarian(s): my wife's "boyfriend" is our vet.
5. attitude or demeanor of staff in all sort of stores: yes ma'am and no sir. polite to a fault.
I'm curious to hear from people who are happy with the services in their city / town / area (and if you don't mind sharing where that is, at least generally). I'm thinking especially of the nuts and bolts of daily life:
primary care physician
dentist
car mechanics
veterinarian(s) and other pet services (daycare / boarding)
attitude or demeanor of staff in all sort of stores (grocery stores, post offices, dry cleaners, pharmacies)
In our area, neighbors and even strangers on the street are generally friendly. But we're noticing more and more that many service providers ... just aren't. And in the medical / dental arena especially, it seems like responsiveness and even competence in scheduling and billing is getting worse and worse, to the point where it has become really awful.
So, we're curious whether there are areas of the country where people are still treating customers and clients well and efficiently. Or are we all just experiencing a phase when there is too much stress, and the pace is too fast, to provide decent, courteous service?
No, you're right. It's awful everywhere. I live in Silicon Valley and unless you are wealthy and have rich people insurance and money to pay out of pocket, you will experience terrible healthcare, etc.
I believe this is a nation-wide problem. Everything is about profits.
That said, I'm not for a government-only health plan becauss I now have Medi-Cal, which is California's version of Medicaid and it's god-awful. I understand that Medicare is much better. But, I really don't want the option of being able to pay out of pocket if I want to - for something not covered by my insurance.
Bottom line to your question - even in the very rich Silicon Valley area - it's all about profit over anything else.
Destin is largely a tourist destination for a million, but, only boasts a resident population of about 40,000. As a result, we've got a plethora of tourist-related services/amenities, but, somewhat nominal (local) healthcare and other resident-oriented services.
car mechanics - dealership charges $150 an hour for labor but found a local mechanic that I'm happy with
veterinarian(s) and other pet services (daycare / boarding) - my vet is amazing, even made my dog his own web page with listed checkups and shot history
attitude or demeanor of staff in all sort of stores (grocery stores, post offices, dry cleaners, pharmacies) - where I did live, they sucked, rude, unfriendly, now here in a small town everyone is very nice
“primary care physician
dentist
car mechanics
veterinarian(s) and other pet services (daycare / boarding)
attitude or demeanor of staff in all sort of stores (grocery stores, post offices, dry cleaners, pharmacies)”
1. Docs are Kaiser. Super happy.
2. Dentist local neighborhood. Very happy.
3. Car mechanic. Sad face. Awesome place closed one month ago.
4. Vet makes house calls. She came today. Very happy.
5. Attitude ranges from poor to fabulous. I really don’t care all that much about this.
6. Real estate taxes include:
Trash pickup
Street sweeping
Fire and police
Parks
Libraries
For 0.5% of market value we get competent services. Happy.
7. Water company does a good job and has a long term plan for lead pipe replacement.
I was stationed in a small Oklahoma town in 2000 or so.
I loved it there. All the services i used were excellent. The vet and the pup groomers were the best. The car dealerships were awesome. I bought a couple of cars there. Even the military services were great. A lot of people hated the primary doctor at the base clinic, but that guy basically saved my life and career! He never smiled, but i didn't care - lol.
The standard in rural Alabama when you go to a store, doctor, etc., is for the person you interact with to ask: "How are you?" and the usual response required is "Fine, and you?" If you drive a truck, farm vehicle, or other intentional vehicle then other drivers of the same will give a "farmer's wave." Drivers of cars are not expected to do so.
Primary care doc is fine, most others are as well. Staff is great.
Dentist is an older one who is careful and the staff are great.
I chose my mechanic after watching him comp his labor to an elderly widow and only charge his cost on parts.
Post office - great, know the carrier on a first name basis. Pharmacy, fine, they work to push the doc into changing prescriptions to the lowest cost ones.
Like any area, there are service providers to avoid. Had to dump a couple of docs and nurse practitioners, avoid car dealerships, and a couple places where repairs took forever. In sparsely populated areas, most everyone knows everyone and their reputation.
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