I had a Doctor's appointment first thing this morning.  I had a raging headache, so even the smallest thing, especially noise, was causing additional stress and frustration levels for me. As we (my wife went with me) were sitting there, once of the Medical Assistants and one of the Receptionists were arguing about what I can only assume was an issue with one of them. From what I could tell the MA was telling the receptionist that she had messed up and that it had lead to a problem with a patient.  I think that the receptionist had caused the patient to wait an extra long period of time while at the clinic. Sadly, they were arguing about this out in the open and it sounded as if the receptionist was making up excuses as to why it wasn't her fault.  From my perspective it's tough to judge who, if anyone, was at fault because I was simply a patient (customer) there, but I can tell you that after hearing them argue the way that they were, I have less confidence in the office staff at this particular clinic. Combine that with the fact that I only started going to this clinic in the last couple of years and have not real tie to it, it will make me think twice about going back.  For the moment, I'll consider this the "First Strike".  I'll likely be going back a few times over the next little while, so let's hope that they don't get the second and third strike anytime soon. In this economy, any business is at risk and Customer Service is always a must.  How difficult would it have been to have held the conversation until another time or to have gone into a different area of the office?  My guess is that it would have been quite simple and it would have certainly been more professional.