Affinity
Well-Known Member
Donator
Full Member
- Messages
- 6,948
- Reaction score
- 1,062
With regulations like these, who needs dentists?
sounds like the kind of guy i never want the displeasure of working for. i'd tell him firmly where to shove his 24 hour case.No it's not a joke. And in Australia dental technicians don't even have registration, so anyone can do it basically. There are no rules about lab sheets, but yes I normally would not proceed without knowing all the details.
Not that it has anything to do with my original question but this incident occurred at Christmas time. The dentist gave me 24 hours to deliver this case starting at lunchtime. It was not booked in and he gave me two other cases as well, also not booked in. I had other work to finish so when I got to the point of needing to 'have a conversation with him', it was 2am. It never even occurred to me that it might not be a PFM, as we had discussed several cases but I was not aware that he had said anything about this one. I didn't notice there was no shade until I went to put the opaquer on. Every time I ring and ask for the shade he says the same thing (C3) because he can't remember himself.
I'm not stupid, I was tired and under extreme pressure. He was pushing hard and there were only a couple of days left to go. He cracked the ****s because I charged him full fee for both the PFM and the subsequent FGC I had to make. I busted my arse to get all the work completed and was not responsible for the lack of information. He said he told me that it was a FGC but I thought he was referring to another case (which was) and he said I should have recognised that it was, by the appearance of the preparation. Which I think is absolute garbage and the biggest joke coming from someone who's work is so **** that it all looks the same. There you go, now you have the whole story.
You don't get the pleasure of speaking directly to them. You get the nasal call from the " office manager".sounds like the kind of guy i never want the displeasure of working for. i'd tell him firmly where to shove his 24 hour case.
if that ever happens i will refuse it. one unit is not worth this kind of hassle.
It's never just one job though is it? It could be a client who is worth a lot of money, but they are just hard to work for. The key is to find the right place to draw the line. In this case, this is probably it!if that ever happens i will refuse it. one unit is not worth this kind of hassle.
Thanks everyone for your input. Although not many people actually answered my question. LOL. But it has been a good discussion and reminder that there are things I could do to prevent this happening to me again. !
I agreei think if you do what sasha hein tells you ,it might be time to consider a different profession . sasha couldnt make a go of it in australia but many have from all over the world , just being a good tech doesnt mean you are good at business .no one is going to bow down to anyones greatness and just give you money in this world.i have seen many good techs try and open labs in other countries and they dont succeed because they forget that country already has great techs with a better understanding of the lay of the land.
@olwyn
What did end up happening with this one? Did you get a response finally or just wing it?
Hi. I was working through the night with this and other cases. I did a PFM using the same shade he always asks for . There was no shade but neither was there on another of his cases I had at the same time. ( I rang and confirmed that one because there was time to do so) It never once occurred to me it might be a FGC. I did the remake in FGC because the patient wouldn't accept the PFM. I charged him for the remake as well because it was his error and I had worked so hard to try and meet his demands. He questioned the fee, so I reduced the lab fee by half, still charging for the alloy. He paid it but after January I haven't seen another job from him. So I guess he wasn't prepared to accept responsibility and has gone elsewhere. I need the work but I won't be disrespected. I already provide exceptional service and meet unreasonable demands on a regular basis. I told him he was obliged to provide a lab sheet for every case and that we had already done a previous remake a year ago for the same reason. He said that wasn't very often as though it was okay if I incurred such losses if it was only occasionally. I found that very insulting so I don't regret my choices in this case. If I'd had more time I would have communicated fully prior to starting the job, but I would have had to ring him in the middle of the night or not meet finish time. It is a country practice that he commutes to part time and I cannot just pop in there.
Thanks for your interest everyone. It hasn't been a happy outcome, but I feel that I was in an unwinnable situation given the time restraints. I put myself on the line to try and meet the deadline and I lost. Boohoo, we've all been there.