I had an extremely disappointing experience with Tia today, and it ultimately led me to cancel my membership.
Earlier this week, I scheduled my annual preventive exam for July 7 at 1:40 p.m. at the Playa Vista location. After booking, I received both a confirmation email and text message confirming my appointment.
Today, I arrived on time for my appointment only to be told by the receptionist that my appointment had been canceled. I was understandably confused, as I had never canceled my appointment and had not received any notification by phone, text, or email indicating that it had been canceled or rescheduled. I showed the receptionist my appointment confirmation, and she searched through my chart for any documentation explaining why the appointment had been canceled. She was unable to find any explanation.
While I was standing at the front desk trying to understand what had happened, I overheard that another woman in the waiting room had been given my appointment time. I then watched her get called back for what should have been my appointment. That was incredibly frustrating and upsetting to witness. There was still no explanation as to why my confirmed appointment had been canceled and reassigned.
The receptionist asked whether I had called to cancel my appointment, and I explained that I had not. Had I canceled, I obviously would not have been standing at the front desk expecting to be checked in. She apologized and acknowledged that she was just as confused by the situation. Unfortunately, she informed me there were no remaining appointments at the Playa Vista location for the rest of the week.
After I asked whether there were any nearby openings, she found an appointment at the Culver City location for 2:10 p.m. Since it was only about 1:45 p.m. and Culver City is a short drive from Playa Vista, I was happy to take that appointment.
However, before the appointment could be booked, another receptionist (with glasses), who had not acknowledged or greeted me when I arrived, called a different patient to the front desk. I then watched her offer that patient the exact same 2:10 p.m. appointment at the Culver City location that had just been offered to me. She proceeded to book it for that patient while I was still standing there discussing it with the first receptionist.
At that point, two appointments had effectively been taken from me in the span of a single visit. First, my originally confirmed appointment was somehow canceled and given to someone else without my knowledge. Then, the alternative appointment that had just been offered to me was given to another patient before it could even be scheduled.
I found this to be incredibly unprofessional, disrespectful, and dismissive. The lack of consideration for a patient whose situation was entirely outside of her control was unacceptable. While I sincerely hope this experience had nothing to do with race, I cannot ignore how it felt. There was no legitimate explanation for why my confirmed appointment disappeared, I was ignored by one receptionist upon arrival, and then I watched the receptionist knowingly give away the replacement appointment that had just been offered to me while I was still standing there. Regardless of the intent, the overall experience left me feeling overlooked and treated unfairly.
The only solution ultimately offered was to schedule an appointment the following week because there was no sooner availability. Unfortunately, that was not a reasonable solution. I scheduled today's appointment because I am overdue for my annual preventive exam, which is required in order to renew my medication. My prescription also runs out this week. I was also advised to schedule a virtual visit, but that would not have addressed my need for an in person preventive exam. It would have required me to pay for an additional appointment while still needing to schedule and pay for the preventive exam afterward.
This entire situation could have been avoided had my confirmed appointment been honored or, at the very least, had there been a reasonable effort to prioritize resolving an error that was not of my making.
Because of this experience, I have lost confidence in Tia's scheduling process and patient care. I have canceled my membership and will be seeking care elsewhere. read more