CU Classic - RPA’s ‘new and improved’ maternity booking process: comically redundant, impossible to complete

Letters of praise for RPA's genius new maternity booking system. ©

Before I even became pregnant with my second child, I assumed that I would have my next baby at Royal Prince Alfred hospital, where my son, Patrick, was born last year. The doctors, nurses, and staff at the hospital had treated me kindly and – most importantly – responded quickly and with empathy and skill to the emergency birth it turned out to be. While the accommodation afterwards wasn’t exactly ‘five-star hotel’ (think school cafeteria and you can picture the food), it had been perfectly comfortable, and the midwives supportive and helpful.

So once this pregnancy was confirmed, I told my obstetrician I wanted to go back to RPA. “They’ve got a new booking process,” he told me. This should have rung alarm bells, but blithely I thought “How bad could it be?”

It turns out: very, very bad. So bad, in fact, that after weeks of trying to complete the booking process, I’ve given up and chosen another hospital.

What’s wrong with the booking process at RPA? Two big things:

First, the process itself is comically redundant. To begin with, you must call to book an appointment to come in and book! Then, after you have booked (and booked), a few weeks’ later (at 20 weeks’ gestation), you must call the number again to confirm your booking. Surely the first and second bookings would be sufficient to indicate your intent to have your baby there?

Secondly, and, even more frustratingly, the first step is impossible to complete! The booking number (the one used to book to book, remember?) is only available 2-4pm on weekdays. Hmm.... not good customer service even on the face of it. Worse, though, is that line for this number is always engaged, presumably because it is only available two hours a day, and takes both the booking and confirmation calls. And no, there is no automated call queuing, or even voicemail. (Who knew I would ever be eager to hear the cheerful robotic tones of a recorded message)?

I tried to call the number many times on several days over three weeks, with no luck. I even, one day, decided to resort to the well-known crazy girlfriend approach of ringing continuously...which, sadly, failed me (as it did in my past, but that’s a different story). I finally had to accept (like with a bad boyfriend), that it was hopeless: even if I managed to get through and book (to book), I would still be doomed to ringing that number again in a few short weeks.

So, with the clock ticking towards the end of my first trimester, I finally decided to pull the plug and booked in at Prince of Wales Private. What a difference! First, I called a number which, although not answered, allowed me to leave a message. Then, to my shock, someone called me back less than 10 minutes later. After a short conversation, she got my email address and sent me all the forms. Once I returned them (also by email), I received a confirmation of my booking less than 12 hours later. And all without having to come in... let alone call to book to come in.

While I am pleased that I have managed to secure a place to have a baby (definitely a positive – I’m not one for home birth), I still feel frustrated and angry – that powerless rage of beat-down customers the world over. Why does RPA make it so complicated? I was a satisfied customer and wanted to give them my money. And it’s inefficient from their point of view too – all the phone calls, visits, etc. have got to be more costly for them than the way it’s done at Prince of Wales (or was done at RPA before). And even if they are in the situation where there is too much demand, why not just tell people that they’re fully booked, rather than torturing them with a busy signal? As with so much bad customer service, it’s bad not only for customers, but for the business itself, in both the short- and the long-term.

I’ve achieved a victory (of sorts), with a maternity booking in what looks to be a good hospital, and, with the help of Customer Underground – and a letter to RPA – I’m starting to blow off the head of steam I’d worked up. But I still haven’t been able to let go of my defeat in another dimension: the victory this has handed to my Eastern Suburbs-centric friends.

Update: I sent a letter, very similar to the above story, to RPA, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a prompt, personal letter back, apologizing for my experience and noting that they are taking steps to improve the booking process. While I withhold my judgement on whether progress has been made, I’m favourably impressed with their response to me. I’ll have to keep it in mind should we decide to brave having a third child in the future...