If you make an appointment with a doctor, how much time has to pass before you start getting upset that the meeting hasn’t started?
Do the rules change for other professionals? If you are meeting with an attorney or an accountant, are you less forgiving if the meeting does not start on time?
Very little. I’ve walked out on all sorts at 10 minutes. Professional or not they’re all in customer service fields - even if most don’t want to be reminded of it - and there’s no reason to tolerate bad service there more than I would in a store or a restaurant.
Which is why I tell clients that they can come to my office at a certain time, I don’t say I will meet them at that time. Usually, I will ask an assistant or junior counsel to meet them if I am too busy at the time and only once free will I talk to them.
I am a lawyer.
I am a veterinarian, and I rarely make anyone wait beyond 10 minutes. I will at least check in with them, to let them know if I am delayed by an unexpected emergency or an appointment that runs long. My front desk staff is also very good about letting people know if we are backed up. It frustrates me beyond belief when my physician counterparts don’t do the same. Just having someone check in and tell me I have not been forgotten would go a long way at the doctor’s office.
Ten minutes, two times. I’ll give one Mulligan. Second time, I find a new doctor.
If it’s a surgeon, and I need to schedule surgery, I’ll wait a looonnng time.
Wow. I must be very patient since I’ll wait as long as it takes. I have waited for my doctor for over an hour before. I bring my tablet with me, and I just sit and read. It truly doesn’t bother me. I am also the type who would sit through 2 green lights, and never honk my horn at the first car.
I’m a very laid back person, and I really I don’t let things bother me.
Depends. I know that physicians have emergencies, so I’ll cut them slack. But if it’s an ongoing thing, I’ll complain to the office manager. If it’s still a problem, I’ll find a new doctor.
I once billed a physician after waiting for four hours to see him. It was utterly ridiculous. I would’ve left, but I was sick as a dog and not up to going to the ER. Also, I think I was on an HMO at the time and would’ve needed his ok to go to the ER. It was the 90s.
When I had a lawyer, I used to see him as the last appointment of the day, then we’d get drinks.
If the doctor is treating someone for an emergency - something urgent, then no problem waiting.
But if I am having to wait because the person prior to me was late, then I will get ticked! I have walked out after waiting 45 minutes in such situations.
And if I always have to wait a long time for a doctor (they can’t get their scheduling down), then I will find another doctor.
Wouldn’t you be billed for a missed appointment with an additional fee?
I only care if I have another appointment scheduled afterwards, or if I’ve got to get back to work. But I usually schedule my appointments so that I can accommodate all matters of lateness. I’ve learned that rarely do doctors stick to appointment times.
I mean, if the professional is always punctual, that’s certainly a plus. But if they aren’t, that wouldn’t be a sufficient reason to fire them.
About 15-20 minutes. This also means that, if someone leads me into a room and leaves me to stare at the walls for 15-20 minutes, I’ll walk out. I haven’t had anyone try to bill me for it yet. If they did, I’d certainly never see that person again.
I have a serious eye problem and my eye surgeon is the best around. So what am I to do? The first time I had an appointment with him, his appointment secretary told me to expect to wait three hours. I asked her what would happen if I came three hours late? Then he won’t see you. And indeed I waited three hours, but I had been warned. The flip side is that will schedule surgery in a day if he thinks it necessary. And once I was sent to his fellow (that’s someone getting specialized training after completing a residency in the field) and the big cabbage himself (his name is the Russian word for cabbage, so we call him that0 came by in 10 minutes and gave me the laser treatment I needed instantly. So you pays your money and takes your choice.
I no longer have to wait to see my GP, but I used to. The other side of that coin was that if you had some acute, he would always find a way to squeeze you. Now he is winding down his practice. Even though he practices only 3 1/2 days a week, there is always room in his schedule.
My wife’s gynecologist is generally pretty punctual–unless there is a delivery.
After 15 minutes I get annoyed, but I wouldn’t leave unless they were 30 minutes late. I haven’t been made to wait more than 30 minutes for 20 or 25 years. When I was a kid my mother used to take me to an ENT doctor who averaged more than an hour late. I still don’t know why she put up with it. It’s not like he was the only ENT specialist around.
When I was in social work, I had a client who, once you got to know him, was a pretty decent guy. But he did not suffer fools. One time I took him to an 11:00 doctor’s appointment. At 11:01 he muttered some profanities about the doctor, said he was leaving, and demanded that I take him home; I told him I’d do no such thing.
He took the bus.
I have a really good answer to the OP’s question, but I have other forums to check out first.
Hang around for a bit and I’ll post my response.
My eye specialist is often late, by an hour (or 2, or 3). I just expect that, and make sure I bring sufficient reading material with me. I could be seen immediately, if I wanted to take the 7am appointment. But I’m retired; I’d rather sleep in and wait longer in the waiting room.
Once, his staff announced that he had been called to emergency eye surgery in the hospital next door, and wouldn’t be done till that evening, so we all had to reschedule. I was already in the chair & prepped for surgery, but I didn’t object (much) – If I had an emergency, I’d certainly want the doctor to put me in front of the regularly scheduled appointments.
Now this seems unreasonable (or wildly egotistical).
Once I was running late, and called the doctors office (a half-hour away) only a few minutes before mys scheduled time, to tell them I was just leaving and I’d get there as soon as I could. His nurse said no problem – they were running about 45 minutes late, so don’t rush. That seems perfectly reasonable.
Ask your doctor’s staff if you can check in by phone, to avoid that 3 hours wasted in his waiting room.
It really depends. The only doctor I see on anything like a regular basis is my gyno and sometimes he’s running late (understandably) because he had to run out to deliver a baby.
I’ll wait over half a day if I need to. Whenever I have a doctor’s appointment I schedule the day off. I find it relaxing to wait at a doctor’s office, especially sitting alone in the exam room. I think it’s a matter of not having any obligations myself in that situation. I can sit back and read a book or play a game on my tablet knowing that I don’t have any other expectations on my time. As soon as the appointment is over, I feel my previous obligations coming back again. In other words, it’s one of the few situations I feel I can truly relax.
How did you “bill” the physician?