Real-Life Decision Making
You're an optician working in a small community optical shop. While
you're the newest optician to join the shop, you're doing very well.
After only a year working there, you've already established a good reputation
among your co-workers, supervisors and clientele for being careful and courteous.
Right now, however, you're not feeling so confident. You're standing
behind the counter looking at a very angry client. Two weeks ago, you filled
his new prescription for glasses and he's had headaches and eyestrain
ever since. He tells you he's been wearing glasses for 20 years and filling
his prescriptions at your establishment for a quarter of that time. He has
never had this much trouble. He blames you for the problem and tells you to
fix your error and give him the prescription his optometrist ordered.
It's a difficult situation and you're going to have to think
fast to resolve it. There are really only three ways to go about it.
Send the man on his way, telling him to give the glasses a few more days.
Often it takes a while for patients to adjust to a new prescription.
You could apologize profusely and tell the client you'll ensure the
lenses are replaced that afternoon according to his doctor's specifications.
You might be a good optician, but you're still new to the job and could
easily have made a mistake.
Or you might tell the client you want to check his optometrist's prescription
and send him to your staff optometrist. The problems the client is describing
might be the product of a major mistake in the prescription.