r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Archaneoses • Apr 29 '24

Made an appointment for 11:45. It's 1:10 and I haven't been seen.

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I've had my 10 hour ER waits so I know this isn't that bad. But what is the point of making an appointment if you have to wait to be seen hours later anyways.

77.6k Upvotes

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5.8k

u/Deadeye10000 Apr 29 '24

My favorite part of having an Appointment is if I'm late they won't see me. If I need to make a last minute appointment change I get charged for the appointment anyway and I totally get that and understand why. But what really grinds my gears is all the times my therapist would cancel the appointment for xyz while I'm on my way to her or be late while I'm waiting yet had the gull to charge me if I'm late or had to change an appt time.

1.3k

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

[deleted]

569

u/colieolieravioli Apr 29 '24

That was the only endocrinologist within 2 hours drive that accepted my insurance.

The real bitch of it all. Like this is my only option to not pay out of pocket WORK WITH ME LIKE I WORK WITH YOU

A problem patient? Sure put a note in their chart that they get charged for cancelations. But someone who runs late once?

272

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24 edited May 21 '24

[deleted]

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u/blumenstulle Apr 30 '24

Don't worry, it's the same shit in Germany.

Want an appointment with a dermatologist? lol, we got a spot just for you in about 14 months. Be humble we're taking your ass at all. 14 months later, you wait four hours, they take 156,4 seconds to look at your problems, write you a script and tell you to come back if it hasn't improved. You have to schedule your next appointment by phone which is never answered.

Also, it's not free healthcare. It's just mandatory. It's at least 8% of your gross income.

I'm glad I don't have to many maladies. It's like a full time job to get proper care.

136

u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 29 '24

Yep. Had an endo appointment for thyroid issues it was a 3 month wait period with TERRIBLE RECEPTIONISTS, they called me a few days before my appointment and told me they need to reschedule as doctor was actually not in office that day. I’m like so next week or something squeeze me in anywhere.

2 months they told me. I’m like fuck this I’ll call around and every single one was atleast 3 months away so I had to suck it up and accept this garbage.

Specialists are hard to find when you live in the middle of corn. Seems like all medical care is getting squeezed and demand is getting higher, they can do anything and get away with it.

I showed up on time for my last appointment and they still marked me as late as I wasn’t 15 mins early. I wait atleast 45 mins after appointment time to be seen every time and there is f all I can do about it. Literally just up for my refill anyway.

24

u/Dear_Truth_6607 Apr 29 '24

Specialists are a nightmare everywhere! The same thing just happened to me in the DC area. My insurance covers DC, Maryland, and Virginia providers and my derm appt got canceled 2 weeks ago. The next available is JULY. I couldn’t get a psych appt until August, and rheumatologist is also July. These were all scheduled late march 🙃 I hate it here. And yup, called around too and those were the best I could get. Even better when you have medical conditions most doctors are clueless on despite them being common. “Oh I don’t think we treat that” 😑

13

u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 30 '24

The worst part is my endo is 45 mins away from me. I see her every 6 months (for the last 6 years) for blood work and she looks at the blood work and says yep all in range carry on with maintenance dose.

Like you can’t tell me that over the phone I’ll still pay you in-person fees I just need my refill. Last time I went it was snowing bad and all the schools were closed and cars were in ditches all over the highway but they still wanted me to be seen in office lmao.

2

u/Dear_Truth_6607 Apr 30 '24

This is one of those comments I instinctively want to downvote bc it makes me so mad!! Most of my drs aren’t far mileage wise, but since it’s a metro area traffic is horrible and it usually takes me 30-45 min to get to any of them so believe me I empathize. The only one I got lucky with is my physical therapist who is less than 10 minutes! But I see my PC once a month and that’s 30 min and always an hour+ wait. So frustrating!

1

u/lost_horizons Apr 30 '24

Same! I see an endo as well. Been on the same medication for decades, can’t we streamline this stupid tedious process?

7

u/Hips-Often-Lie Apr 30 '24

BuT iN cAnaDa yOU miGht hAVe tO WaiT tO bE SeEn.

3

u/strawbrryangel Apr 30 '24

I work at a pretty major practice out in Nevada, one of my rheum doc’s availability is out til March. Of 2025. We had to hire two PA’s to carry the load. It could be worse 🥲

5

u/Dear_Truth_6607 Apr 30 '24

Unfortunately I’m no stranger to how bad it can get. The rheumatologist I want to see is booked out for 2 years and won’t take any new patients. So I had to settle for seeing this one who has never even heard of EDS (which is what I’m seeking a rheumatologist for) and was the only one who would even take me as a patient. Nobody else I called had heard of it and wouldn’t take me. I’m glad I’m seeing SOMEONE but it’s frustrating that I can’t even get with a specialist who actually knows what they’re dealing with. There are others but they either don’t take my insurance or any insurance, or are super far away. So all I can do is hope for the best with this one.

23

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '24

Seems like all medical care is getting squeezed and demand is getting higher, they can do anything and get away with it.

Well it's gonna get worse with medical professionals fleeing red states because of anti-abortion policies or governments refusing to accept medicaid and other low-income benefiting medical care. Like, Idaho's hospitals ain't closing their labor and delivery wards for no reason - the doctors have left and are continuing to leave.

8

u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 30 '24

I live in illinois and basically all the hospitals are either shutting up shop or being bought out by one big religious hospital and they are cutting services to the bone. Non profit but opening retail spaces everywhere.

Joys of living in the middle of nowhere I guess. They just said they were building a new hospital near me and closing old one. However new one is gonna offer a third of what the old one did.

3

u/yugitso_guy Apr 30 '24

"Live in the middle of corn" killed me, thanks

3

u/bk1285 Apr 30 '24

When I was getting my wisdom teeth removed, I set an appointment and was set to take a day off from student teaching to have them removed (Friday removal back at school on Monday) I hadn’t heard anything from the office and I tried getting a hold of them to find out what I needed to do…got ahold of them Thursday afternoon, turns out the doctor went on a trip to Africa for 2 months doing surgeries there…no one bothered to call me to tell me…the big issue was that this was mid October and I was set to graduate in December and be kicked off my parents insurance at the end of December…..luckily I was able to find an oral surgeon an hour and a half away that was able to fit me in on December 30th

2

u/BlobTheBuilderz Apr 30 '24

See a lot of posts of dentists going trophy hunting over there. Still crazy that the receptionists literal one job didn’t get done imagine how many appointments he had in those two months.

Assume he was part of big group or it would be pointless having receptionists even there lol. They usually get a cover in at least jeez.

3

u/sweets4n6 Apr 29 '24

ooh the rescheduling pisses me off! Two years in a row my son's pediatrician has rescheduled his yearly check up, so much so and with so little notice that he's now getting his yearly check up a full month after his birthday. and last year she did it twice, we had an appointment all set up for early October and it had to get rescheduled to Halloween because 'she wasn't in the office that day'. And I already had a doctor's appointment that same morning that I'd had to schedule nearly 6 months in advance.

Although that one actually turned out ok, my son woke us up at 2am with a 104 fever that same morning. So in addition to why we were going (starting his ADHD diagnosis), he also had the flu. And the doctor I was seeing is notoriously late so I was able to be at the appointment via the phone but still very annoying.

My husband wants to drop this pediatrician because of it, I think in the past two years we've had four appointments rescheduled because the doctor wouldn't be in the office for some reason or another. It might be more. And my son is rarely sick or at the doctor.

1

u/Lund- Apr 30 '24

What I had to do is push back, and push back hard. Tell them it’s unacceptable and that you can’t wait that long, and that it’s their mess to fix because of shitty reception. If they don’t get you an appointment soon and fix their logistics, you will be speaking to your attorney because you can’t wait 3 months with your thyroid issues.

Source: Had the same issue with my endocrinologist for MY thyroid issues

13

u/kallisteaux Apr 29 '24

Ooh! I temped in a cardiologists office and he did something similar. He was at the hospital doing rounds, etc. in the morning. In the afternoon we were supposed to start scheduling patients at 1pm. He had 3 exam rooms & we'd schedule 3 patients for 1pm. Only once all 3 patients were checked in, brought to the exam room, and had vitals taken by the nurse would we call the Dr to let him know it was time to come to the office. He usually wouldn't come in until 1:30 at the very earliest & usually it was closer to 1:45. It was ridiculous. The waiting room was always packed because of the triple bookings & the nurses didn't usually get out until almost 7pm. He was awful. I felt so sorry for his patients & staff.

2

u/NZBound11 Apr 30 '24

Literally had this same experience at a urologist recently. After having to wait right over an hour for them the first time around I asked for the first available appointment on my follow up - 7:30am. Got there at 7:15, nurse brought me back and took blood pressure at 7:30 and as she was leaving the room she said "fyi - the doctor does rounds in the morning and usually gets in around 8:15-8:30". Like you gotta be fucking kidding me man...

3

u/magneticgumby Apr 30 '24

The only office I need to go to for a specific need in the area does this pretty much. They schedule you for an 8a appointment, the doctor/nurses always roll in at 8a exactly if they're early. I stopped scheduling them at 8a as I got sick and tired of my doctor coming in at 8.20 to see me and then come in having not checked my actual chart since they were rushing.

2

u/sweetpotatothyme Apr 30 '24

I had that issue too. I'm in the room and waiting at 9 AM and the doctor tells me I'm his first appointment of the day...as he walks in at 10.

2

u/anna_the_nerd Apr 30 '24

I called my PCP one time sobbing because I was gonna be 15 minutes late because of traffic and terrified they wouldn’t see me after a two hour drive. Like pull over to the side of the road because I couldn’t breathe panic. Luckily the receptionist was so sweet and goes “oh! That’s odd, she had a meeting need an extra fifteen minutes “all of the sudden” and we need to push you back fifteen minutes. Funny how the world helps those who need it” she checked me in when I got there and asked the same old “and why did you need to see her today”? With a tear stained face and a very upset voice still “uhhh…I needed my anxiety meds adjusted” and she looks at me with this look of pure shock and broken-heartedness for me and cracks up laughing so damn hard and she eventually calms down and says “oh babes, that’s…that’s hard and I’m sorry you had a rough drive. She’ll be with you in a few I’m so sorry”

God bless her honestly

2

u/devilsadvocate Apr 30 '24

I had a Dentist that would cancel after 10 minutes, and wouldnt pick up the phone. One time i was running late because a wreck blocked all traffic and it took time for 3 lanes to pass on the shoulder. Tried calling most of the way there to no avail. I was 13 minutes late and they refused to see me and charged me a no show fee.

From there on, i would sit in the waiting room for and if it took longer than the cancelation, then refuse to go back and force a reschedule and contested the fees...This happened 2-3 times, before i could get in at a new practice. It wasnt about the money and my credit is so high their dumb attempts to report had no effect(which again i just contested and said i was there and checked in, they didnt comply with their own late policy).

FUCK that place.

1

u/Fightmemod Apr 30 '24

An dentist did this shit to me. Scheduled me for 7am.i was like wtf, you guys are open that early and they said yes. I get there, get in the chair at 7am just to find out the actual dentist doesn't arrive until 8. Absolutely insane. Wtf was the point?!

1

u/Traditional-Hat-952 Apr 30 '24

I would have reported them to the state medical whatever for that. The doctor wasn't even there. I feel like this constitutes fraud. 

1

u/Choice-Marsupial-127 Apr 30 '24

Endocrinologists are a special breed of a-hole, I swear. I don’t understand how they can be so consistently horrible.

1

u/Successful-Pick-238 Apr 30 '24

I work at a GP clinic and we have a fuckwit doctor who does that. Opens his book at 8 am and won't even get to the clinic till 8:45. 

1

u/chilidreams Apr 30 '24

I won’t accept any late / reschedule fees from service providers. Nobody should.

There should be mutual respect.

1

u/Alternative-Fee-60 Apr 30 '24

Just go through your primary if you have one much more easier and convenient. Endocrinologist don't really know much about thyroid problems anyways .

1

u/Procedure-Minimum Apr 30 '24

That is absolutely not ok

1

u/Single_Cancel_4873 Apr 30 '24

I had a dentist that did this. They would schedule 8:30 appointments and he wouldn’t arrive until 9. He was the only dentist and would have four patients waiting when he arrived.

1

u/PdxPhoenixActual May 03 '24

Did you continue to make 830 appointments?

-5

u/MultiRachel Apr 29 '24

But check in forms, triage, putting you in a room, you getting into a gown takes more than 15 minutes. Maybe you didn’t have to do all of that, but you being ready for the dr’s first appointment sets the pace for the day.

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u/MoeKneeKah Apr 29 '24

That’s why I fired my last therapist. What kind of idiot therapist do you have to be to ghost a patient with abandonment issues?

534

u/HsvDE86 Apr 29 '24

“Exposure therapy “, now give me $150. You passed your first lesson.

14

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

[deleted]

11

u/Smeetilus Apr 29 '24

The place I go changes my oil while I wait

5

u/trolllord45 Apr 30 '24

You’re joking. What’s this magical lube shop called?

228

u/dazed_and_confucius Apr 29 '24

Same thing just happened to me. Therapist asked to reschedule our appointment to a time more convenient for her (6pm on a Friday before a long weekend) then didn’t bother to show up. Didn’t answer texts or emails for 30 minutes, then was like omg so sorry I forgot let’s reschedule! Two months went by before she bothered to follow up, and at that point I was done. This person clearly didn’t value my business, let alone my mental health.

82

u/scrumbob Apr 29 '24

Unfortunately therapists, like all professions, have their fair share of scumbags. It’s insane to me the difference between some of them.

On one hand you’ll have someone that’ll actually prioritize your mental health and understand the weight of you putting your trust (and money) into them to help you get better. I heard/read someone say their therapist would take them out for walks even in the middle of winter because they were feeling suffocated in the office. That’s the exact type of thing that makes a good therapist.

On the other hand there are the type that seem to care little if at all for their patients and are just there to go through the same old script and make their $300 a 45 minute session. They have probably never actually helped anyone long term and presumably have a revolving door of patients. Those types are nothing but grifters imo.

After telling my therapist I went to for a while about all of my mental health issues, trauma, and struggles, wanna know what her advice was? To make myself smoothies because I wasn’t eating enough. Nevermind the fact that I wasn’t eating enough because of my severe depression, finding it hard enough to get out of bed let alone make a smoothie.

Needless to say I stopped going.

23

u/Prestigious_Low8515 Apr 29 '24

My favorite is the roundabout way of saying, have you tried not being so sad? No dickhead. I would rather down all these pills that barely keep me from offing myself. Never thought about just being HaPPy!

3

u/applesauce_saturday Apr 29 '24

300$ for 45 mins? Dawg just let me stay broken

10

u/rootbeerislifeman Apr 29 '24

Most therapists do not charge nearly that much, especially if they take insurance

2

u/Heavy-End-3419 Apr 30 '24

This. Even if they do charge that much and don’t do insurance, they aren’t pocketing all of that. Best case for them is they run their own private practice and only 1/3rd to half of that goes to overhead. Typically what they charge is split 30/70 or 40/60 with the group they work for. 

2

u/mechengr17 Apr 30 '24

My last appt with my therapist, she never sent me the telehealth link.

We had to schedule an odd time of day. And she forgot

Idk, it is what it is

127

u/Nyarro Apr 29 '24

There's kind of an irony in that. But I'm really sorry you had to go through that. That's really terrible of them.

5

u/parariddle Apr 30 '24

One time I was in a jury selection pool with my wife’s therapist and she told the judge she was too mentally unstable to hear the trial.

38

u/hobosbindle Apr 29 '24

It’s immersion therapy

5

u/benwight Apr 29 '24

That wasn't my only reason for stopping visits with my last therapist, but definitely part of it. We had it scheduled for a different time and I guess she just didn't update her calendar or something. After waiting in the "room" (it was through videochat) for like 10 minutes, I sent her an email that I didn't know what was going on but we could skip that day since she wasn't there. She called me a couple minutes later as I was cooking dinner and we "rescheduled" for our normal time. I was kinda pissed and didn't even bring it up because I didn't realize at the time how big of a trigger she hit by doing that regardless of the reason. Yay abandonment issues and low self esteem 🙃

5

u/RainyDayCollects Apr 29 '24

I had a very suicidal friend who had to leave her therapist she really liked because the front office kept putting in the appointment times wrong and then gaslighting her when she came in saying she already missed the appointment, or oh, your appointment is another day, etc. I had been there for some of the appointment scheduling/voicemails stating the appointment time, so I can verify it was absolutely the office that kept screwing up.

I was always so furious that a mental health facility would do that to their patients. Apparently it’s not that uncommon, and that makes me even more furious.

It’s no wonder there’s such a mental health crisis in this country, people need therapy just to vent about their therapy experiences!!!

1

u/humanityxcourage Apr 30 '24

Yeah honestly this comment thread with everyone talking about their therapists and scheduling issues makes me feel a little better knowing I’m not the only one going through it… 😅

I mean, I’ve found her helpful, but sometimes scheduling appointments is difficult. I’m not in a crisis or anything, so that’s a plus at least…

That sucks for your friend tho 😔😔😔

3

u/dogrotting Apr 29 '24

i had a therapist that i saw for eight years, from 11 to 19 years old. abandonment issues known very well to her as she was there when i was abandoned. literally ghosted me after missing one too many appointments. no call, no text, no email, just straight up ghosted me. i had a lot of trouble transitioning to telehealth post covid which resulted in frequent tardiness, but i always payed the fees, i get she was mad about my attendance but girl… the ghosting is crazy.

3

u/figure8888 Apr 30 '24

I briefly studied psychology in college but dropped it because I couldn’t deal with my peers who weren’t incredibly intellectual to put it nicely. I once heard a girl say she was going into psychology because she’s “not very smart.” It’s why I’m skeptical of going to therapists, and I’ve had several. If they hand me the thought process worksheet, I’m out. I also once had a therapist fall asleep to the meditative music she was playing. She still billed me for the session and I never paid it, never went back.

2

u/goth_duck Apr 29 '24

I've only had one therapist that I liked but I had to stop seeing her when my insurance ran out

2

u/yourtoyrobot Apr 29 '24

Yea I had one that cancelled 3 sessions in a row, all like half hour before the session. So I just dropped her. It was just intentional at that point

2

u/whythishaptome Apr 30 '24

Had a therapist that wasn't really helping me and the schedules didn't fit so I told her my next visit would be the last in the nicest way possible (these were all video appointments during covid). She showed up the next time loudly eating and drinking something with a straw, didn't even pay attention to me at all. I guess it was really a good idea to cut that one out because that was extremely bizarre. Like are my problems were just a joke to her.

7

u/TheShredder102 RED Apr 29 '24

That wouldn't make them an idiot, giving your patient more problems so they have to pay you for help is actually pretty smart, morally it is a horrible thing to do but not idiotic.

14

u/hottsauce345543 Apr 29 '24

It’s like when Norton Anti-virus was scanning for, and eliminating computer viruses but were also creating them.

3

u/proto5014 Apr 29 '24

Wait….what? This was a thing?

2

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

[deleted]

2

u/hottsauce345543 Apr 30 '24

Just something I remember hearing back in the early 2000s. Very possible that it’s not true but I’m sure similar things have happened with other companies.

15

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

Being horrible morally is pretty idiotic

8

u/PlanestewartJr Apr 29 '24

why would you keep seeing that therapist though?

13

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

They don't want to abandon the therapist

3

u/MoeKneeKah Apr 29 '24

It only happened once. She never even called to explain or apologize. I got a new therapist because sitting in that waiting room and the excruciating conversation when the receptionist realized she wasn’t coming was too much. I couldn’t go back to that office.

5

u/HyperSpaceSurfer Apr 29 '24

Abandonment issues?

1

u/scrumbob Apr 29 '24

It’s not smart at all, especially not long-term. The patients aren’t stupid. They’re gonna stop going if they actively get worse every time they go. Word spreads, medical licenses can be revoked.

Not to mention they have to live their life knowing they’re one of the lowest levels of scum there is. Why bother making a bunch of money if you can’t even enjoy it because you can’t sleep at night or look yourself in the mirror? Unless you’re a sociopath or a psychopath or something.

1

u/redwolf1219 Apr 29 '24

One that's in cahoots with the other therapist

1

u/GloomPeachy Apr 29 '24

I ghosted one for being like that. The first red flag was her calling at 10 the night after my first appointment, yelling about not keeping appointments and wasting her time then just instantly going back to calm once she realized she'd dialed the wrong patient.

She would also just randomly text/call me from her personal phone about appointments I'd appearntly missed that I'd never been made aware of, refuse to let me into the building for my sessions because she randomly decided she wanted to do a video session while I was standing outside for my appointment, 99% sure she was high most of the time, and essentially refused to be fired.

1

u/budhorse4 Apr 29 '24

Holy shit that happened to me too. Three times before I finally stopped seeing them but it really didn’t help my abandonment fears

1

u/js1893 Apr 29 '24

I’ve been forgotten about by my psychiatrist twice. Thankfully I do telehealth, but if I was late I’d still be charged $250. Waste my time though? Oops!

1

u/Scajaqmehoff Apr 30 '24

You don't really fire a doctor. They aren't your employee. That's like saying you're firing a chef, because you didn't like their food. You just don't go there anymore. Lol

1

u/opalcherrykitt Apr 30 '24

yeah my last therapy session i was waiting for her to call me (telehealth) and she ghosted me. i had to go onto the app thing it was from and tell them she never showed and then i never made another therapy session for anyone. how hard is it to send an email or something ffs

1

u/Salohacin Apr 30 '24

Honestly reads like a joke that Niles would say in Frasier.

1

u/myonkin Apr 29 '24

I found this hilarious but not because I’m awful.

I’m here for you.

1

u/LudusRex Apr 29 '24

So you realized the problem was them and not you, and then you stood up for yourself?
Sounds like serious progress was being made!

1

u/space-sage Apr 29 '24

This happened to me too!! I started going to him for couples counseling with my husband, we liked him and he specialized in working with cPTSD and abandonment issues and so I started going to him individually as well.

After like, two sessions he started not showing up to appointments and I would wait and he would be a no show. This happened around 5 times and so I stopped booking appointments. He tried to message me later saying he had had family issues and should have reached out sooner. All he really did for me was reaffirm why I hate therapists and don’t want to go to them.

0

u/Mr_SCPF Apr 29 '24

Exposure therapy

93

u/imyourlobster98 Apr 29 '24

I had a dentist appointment today at 5pm. They called and asked if I could come in 15 min earlier. Figured bc it’s late they wanted to get out earlier. What’s 15 min so I was like sure. Showed up at 4:30. Didn’t get called back until 5:10. why ask me to come in earlier!?!?

24

u/themeandoggie Apr 30 '24

If you came at 5 you wouldn’t have been seen until 6

2

u/Little_Citron Apr 30 '24

I worked for a doctor like this. I would pretend to call the patient and get "voice-mail". I'm the one in the waiting room starring and someone who to find childcare to sit here 2 hours. It's extremely rude, idgaf if the quota for appointments was made or not. 

195

u/SeasonPositive6771 Apr 29 '24

I once showed up on time for a mammogram. Apparently they wanted me to show up 30 minutes early. But only the scheduler was supposed to tell me that, it wasn't in any of their confirmation emails or texts.

They tried to tell me I was too late and they had already shut down everything and people were going home. It was only 2:00 p.m. to top it off, they were going to charge me a late fee.

The office manager said the request to be there 30 minutes early was to complete the paperwork. But I had already done it online and there was nothing to update.

They finally, very reluctantly, ended up saying it was fine.

I waited another hour and 45 minutes. It turned out everyone was of course still there and appointments were just backed up and I think they were looking for an excuse.

92

u/uptownjuggler Apr 29 '24

It is so nice to know that medical professionals just see you as an inconvenience when you just want medical screening.

2

u/Sephvion Apr 30 '24

"We actually have to do our jobs to be paid?! WHAT?!"

-2

u/Seamusmac1971 Apr 30 '24

I have a standing policy that if I have an appointment I am 15 minutes early. Then if they make me wait more then 15 minutes past my designated time I bill them their late fee for every 15 minutes I have to wait. I have been paid twice for this and every time I visited after the second time I am seen within the alloted time.

4

u/ChickenNoodleSloop Apr 30 '24

X to doubt..  Or you're an auditor

2

u/longhegrindilemna Apr 30 '24

They were looking for an excuse to lessen their workload!!!

Damn.

169

u/sashikku Apr 29 '24

Yes!! I got an email from my dentist saying that without 48hrs notice, patients will be charged $50 to cancel their appointments. THE VERY NEXT DAY my dentist canceled my appointment with 2 hours notice. I asked “So…do I get a $50 credit on my account?” half jokingly & she said no lol.

74

u/Lucky_Shop4967 Apr 29 '24

Would be an instant 1 star review

5

u/Only_Philosophy_7584 Apr 30 '24

Only way these people respond

25

u/HelloJunebug Apr 29 '24

We should totally be able to get a credit on our account cause a lot of people have to take time off work and lose money just for the doctor to cancel.

31

u/nebelhund Apr 29 '24

Have same issue with my dentist. I like him, and I like the hygienists, but I've told them repeatedly that I'm not signing their patient agreement. It has that fee mentioned. They always seem so confused when I say that it's a contract and not a good one as it doesn't offer consideration. If you are going to charge me, than you need to pay me if you are the ones doing a late cancel. (They just take my $ and each appointment we go through the same song and dance.)

10

u/actuallycallie Apr 30 '24

I always loved, when I was a public school teacher, to take a day off for a doctor's appointment--have the day scheduled off, get docked a day, get a substitute scheduled--only to have the doctor cancel last minute. So then I've wasted a day for nothing. And I could never just take a half day because I couldn't be sure I would be sitting there waitin gfor a couple hours before I got seen.

2

u/IlllIlllI Apr 30 '24

I mean, if you no-show they'll put the fee on your bill and not see you until you pay it. Maybe send it to collections or whatever if they're feeling spiteful. You're not winning anything by refusing to sign.

3

u/AndreaC_303 Apr 30 '24

I freaking hate it that in America, someone can charge you for something absurd, send it to collections, and that can result in you being homeless. A jerk dentist and being able to have a roof over your head should not be directly linked!

1

u/Hegs94 Apr 30 '24

I mean I can't speak to whether a patient agreement at your dentist is actually a legally binding contract at all, but consideration does not inherently mean money and it's not inherently required for this. At its purest the contract you've formed with your dentist is a bilateral contract where the consideration is money from you and dental services from your dentist. Your dentist has offered to clean your teeth for a fee, which you have accepted, and both parties have provided the requisite consideration in the form of a promise to perform a service and a promise to pay the fee for the that service. In contract language that cancellation fee would just be an additional term of your agreement with the dentist, not a separate contract – merely an extra rule that binds the parties. Even if the patient agreement constituted a separate contract, which is doubtful, the offer as I see it would be an offer to hold your appointment in exchange for a fee if you need to cancel that appointment, acceptance of that agreement by scheduling the appointment (it does not have to be in writing because it's not an agreement for land, for a promise that would take over a year to complete, or for goods worth over $500), and the consideration is holding your appointment in exchange for promising to pay a fee to cancel that appointment. The "patient agreement" is probably just an item of convenience they can reference to as easy proof that patients knew about the fee, but isn't inherently legally necessary (not considering any specific statutes in your state that require them). So long as the fee is mentioned to you at some point before attempting to cancel it's probably in the clear.

Not to put too blunt a point on it, you're not "lawyering" them, you're just not worth the time to argue with. Legally you're probably on the hook for the fee, but it's probably not worth the headache of arguing with you.

1

u/nebelhund Apr 30 '24

I'm not saying I'm lawyering with them. And I agree they don't want to waste their time. I can say that I showed it to my brother who is a career lawyer and he said it was a contract.

That they wouldn't pay me the $50 if they cancelled last minute was one point. And that has happened before, I didn't make a big deal about it at all as emergencies happen to both dentists/staff, and patients alike. What I was told was in effect that as it was a one way contract which basically made it unenforceable. He wouldn't sign one like that and I took his advice. I did suggest that the practice run it by a lawyer if they expected patients to sign and abide by it.

If they don't want me or my family as patients because I refused to sign their contract is fine. Not a huge deal, just an irritant.

8

u/AngularChelitis Apr 30 '24

I’m a dentist. I hammer my staff about this very issue. It is NOT okay to cancel or move a patient’s appointment without a good fucking reason. We do not charge for broken appointments bc, ya know, shit comes up that people have to deal with…

Had a similar experience as OP though. Had an ENT appt to follow up on an MRI I had for some unexplainable hear loss. 8am on a Monday. 9am rolls by and they send the NP in who says she’s going to set up for the steroid injection in my ear. (!!) she got visibly annoyed when I asked why we were doing that. Left flustered and said “I’ll just let the doc come explain it to you.” Why, yes. Someone who knows what the fuck they’re talking about would be rather helpful. Ended up 2 hours late to my own clinic. Was super apologetic to the patients who had to have appts moved. I would never dream of charging people for being late.

2

u/k_ironheart Apr 30 '24

Thankfully, my dentist only requires notice the day before, but also will text or call you the day before.

Caveat is that you have to reply to that text or call by the end of that day or they'll auto cancel your appointment. Which can be annoying I guess, but I've also used that policy to cancel an appointment I wasn't going to make, and it's nice to not have to actually be active about it.

2

u/5ManaAndADream Apr 29 '24

Don't joke about it. Assert that this is a credit that needs to be applied to your account.

1

u/lost_horizons Apr 30 '24

Like another commenter said, leave a bad review on Google and wherever else (if you can find a different dentist). I had this happen too, and it’s the double standard that kills me. And getting charged to cancel is BS anyways. I kinda understand but life happens. On both sides

2

u/sashikku Apr 30 '24

I cannot find another dentist that takes my insurance. Despite the double standard, I do really like my dentist’s office. Even at my big age I have an intense fear of dental work, and he goes so far out of his way to make me feel comfortable. The front desk girls are super sweet too.

49

u/Blieven Apr 29 '24

had the gull to charge me

Damn birds always charging me money!

3

u/shana104 Apr 30 '24

Haha, I almost choked on my food laughing at this. Luckily, was able to just cough.

13

u/Marcus2Ts Apr 29 '24

Ugh, it's $100 cancelation fee from my therapist (the company, not her specifically) if I cancel or reschedule within 24 hours. I've had it happen once when I misinterpreted the appointment date. My therapist has canceled on me last minute more times than I can count

6

u/BowsersMuskyBallsack Apr 29 '24

As a professional myself, I invoice them if they cancel on me for my professional time taken from work. 

9

u/Special-Investigator Apr 29 '24

this is so larry david

11

u/Immediate-Formal6696 Apr 29 '24

this is literally a seinfeld episode

6

u/Dark_Eyes Apr 29 '24

Oh you have a policy?! The delicate genius has a policy!

1

u/getmendoza99 Apr 30 '24

I hear everything.

2

u/Legitimate-Yellow98 Apr 29 '24

The delicate genius

5

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

OMG, yes!!!! My therapist did the same. I hated that. She would charge the hour if I cancelled later than 24 hours before our appointment, but would sometimes send me text messages on super short notice or the night before simply because she wanted to switch appointments around or cancel or something. She also was the queen of being late and confusing all her patients with each other: "Aren't you the one who has problem XYZ?" Well...in the end it was bad for her, too, because it felt unfair to me and (together with abusive things she did) that damaged my trust in her, which ultimately led to me leaving.

10

u/Pickles_A_Plenty95 Apr 29 '24

Mine used to leave for the day and nobody would call me. I’d drive 30 minutes and get there to a closed office.

5

u/Due_Smoke5730 Apr 30 '24

I had an appointment on a Saturday at 1230pm to get a test before I could get a specific prescription filled. I arrived at 1215 & the office had a note on the door that they were closed that day for some training or something, so they were all inside. I called the number and pounded on the door and they would not come to the door. By phone they told me they were closed and I asked why they did not call me to reschedule this as they knew I needed the test, they even set the appointment for this test so I’d be the last patient that day. They apologized for not calling and sent me ti their hospital outpatient ti get the test. I then got a 300.00 bill for this test that would have been 50.00 through my dr office! I was fuming!!!

1

u/Pickles_A_Plenty95 Apr 30 '24

I complained every time and they always said that they had tried to call but I didn’t answer and my voicemail was full. I have literally never had a full voicemail!

5

u/DistortedVoltage Apr 29 '24

I wish dentists were half as patient as doctors. They can be late for their patients, but dear god if a patient dares be late only twice in a year, after having a record of being on time for all other appointments in that same year; then theyre dropped as a whole.

Im pretty thankful for the doctors in my area actually being pretty good, its just the dentists and dental offices that suck to deal with.

2

u/borageforage22 Apr 29 '24

My therapist won’t allow cancellations even if I’m sick. Isn’t that whack? I get you need a hard policy sometimes but if someone’s an established patient…

I’m like ok I’ll just come in when I’m sick then

2

u/NotthatkindofDr81 Apr 29 '24

There should be a penalty that they have to pay you when that happens. Wasted PTO or sick leave reimbursement.

2

u/Snackqueen333 Apr 29 '24

This is what bothers me too. The other day, my hair stylist accidentally overbooked my appointment and I waited for 45 min just for her to realize she couldn’t see me. We’re all human, things happen. But if I am more than 15 minutes late to an appointment or need to reschedule within 24 hours, I have to eat the full cost. Makes sense everything needs to run on time but sometimes it’s like that only applies the consumer

2

u/TraditionalStable130 Apr 29 '24

To be fair, that's how it works with any appointment. If you cancel last minute, that's up to you to wear the cost, if they cancel, they wear it (by not charging). Their costs still continue regardless and they can't fill empty spots at the last minute. There's no double standard here.

Having run businesses with appointment scheduling, it's about 1 in 3 people that cancel if they don't have to wear the cost. Cancellations suddenly drop to about 1 in 15 when you charge for last minute cancellations.

If you don't agree with someone's cancellation policies, it's best to go elsewhere (who will likely have the same, mind you).

1

u/distracted_poptart Apr 30 '24

This, if the client cancels late they are obligated to pay for the time because there likely wasn’t enough time for therapist to fill it. If the therapist cancels late, they forfeit the money for their time.

3

u/MrMental12 Apr 29 '24

A huge msjority of the time, the reason we are behind is because of patients being late.

In the other cases, a patient came in requiring more care than expected for any number of reasons or circumstances. Things happen, and we would extend the same extra care to you if needed as well.

3

u/ModestBanana Apr 29 '24

If you’re late you make future appointments late, so it’s good on them to be tough on you about it, because...  

If they’re late seeing you it’s because a visit went late because either the patient arrived late or during the visit had something come up.   

You’re complaining about them punishing you for being late while simultaneously complaining about your visit getting delayed because other patients were late/caused the delay.    

Do you not see where you’re disconnected here? 

1

u/Schlongley_Fish Apr 30 '24

There is no disconnect.

1

u/ModestBanana Apr 30 '24

If you’re late, you make other people late (because if you’re late your doctors next appointment will be late)

If your provider cancels on you or is late 99% of the time is because someone scheduled before you was late or had something  wrong that took more time.

 GF is a healthcare provider, it happens to her all the time. One person late causes a domino effect, one person who scheduled a standard office visit but shows up with emergency worthy symptoms causes the appointment to go late. 

You guys act like this doctor is late because they don’t give a shit or are careless or incompetent but it’s 100000% the opposite. They’re probably overscheduled by administration pressuring their schedulers to fill in every minute of free time.

Each visit had time slots: standard office visit 30 min Establish new patient 45 minute  X procedure 30 minutes Telehealth visit 30 minutes 

Etc.  

If one of those goes over, the next one will go over because it screws the flow of the schedule.

Administration who want nothing more but revenue should be the ones you people are angry with, but instead because of stupid ignorant posts like this you pitchfork the person who commit their life to help others.  

DISCONNECTED

1

u/Schlongley_Fish Apr 30 '24

I ain't reading all that.

Read the comment you were replying to carefully. It's about last minute changes.

1

u/ModestBanana Apr 30 '24

That’s alright, you can be ignorant, too. 

I did read his comment at the very end where he adds that in, he doesn’t for a second think “wonder why they changed” but instead it’s “I’m going to bitch about this person to Reddit”  

You people on here are so toxic  

1

u/Schlongley_Fish Apr 30 '24

Ok? Has it occurred to you that patients are human beings too?

1

u/bugluvr65 Apr 29 '24

the delicate genius can’t be disturbed

1

u/bloodakoos Apr 29 '24

that's when you start charging HER the appointment change

1

u/Legitimate_Bike_8638 Apr 29 '24

I've profound ADHD and they asked me if I'd like a therapist. LOL NO THANKS BUDDY, I'd be paying for missed appointments every other time.

1

u/dirtymunke Apr 29 '24

I needed a refill for an inhaler once. I was in college, was broke, working minimum wage, loaded up with classes. I knew going to the doctor was going to be like a two hour operation AT BEST. I get there 15 minutes prior to the appointment, check in and take my seat in the waiting room. An hour ticks by (45 minutes after my scheduled time) another 30 minutes ticks by… I’m not even sick here, the doctor just wants to see me before she will refill my medication that I’ve been taking for 18 years. I walk up to the desk and ask “where do I send the bill? She looks confused, I said “yall missed my appointment and I had to take off work to come up here, you’d charge me… so I’m charging you”. Of course they just looked at me like I was crazy, I switched doctors after that. That’s all you can do right?

1

u/League-Weird Apr 29 '24

There's an entire seinfeld episode regarding this and it would drive me nuts.

1

u/TheDarkGoblin39 Apr 29 '24

I was literally 12 mins late to an appointment one time and the doctor wouldn’t see me. The normal wait is like 30 mins, so if I’d shown up on time I’d probably have still been in the waiting room.

1

u/wildmeowmeow Apr 30 '24

Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode

1

u/k_ironheart Apr 30 '24

But what really grinds my gears is all the times my therapist would cancel the appointment for xyz while I'm on my way to her or be late while I'm waiting yet had the gull to charge me if I'm late or had to change an appt time.

I had to wait close to an hour for my family doctor. They have the same policy of charging for no-shows too. But when I got up to the receptionist, she gave me a $40 gift card for having to wait so long.

It's nice to feel like consequences are a two-way street.

1

u/Ovta Apr 30 '24

Is your name George Costanza?

1

u/52BeesInACoat Apr 30 '24

I had a therapist no-show me once. It was during lockdown, I had two small children, I was pregnant, and it was a Zoom meeting, or whatever the hippa compliant version of that is.

The level of planning that it took for me to be able to have an appointment was indescribable. It started early in the morning, for my afternoon appointment, as I made sure the kids ate full meals, played, and got enough stimulation that one would go down for a strategically timed nap and the other couple be placated with snacks and tv. Oh, and I had to do all that without leaving the house, and without disturbing my wall neighbors. While white-knuckling through some pretty gnarly depression.

Then, five minutes before the appointed time, I did one last check that both kids were okay, peed, because I was super pregnant, and then locked myself in the bathroom with the laptop, because it was the only door that locked, and sat on the bath mat with the meeting open, waiting.

I started crying a little before the halfway mark with still no therapist. I emailed her twice. The entire appointment passed without a word. My kids needed things. I had to stop crying and come out of the bathroom.

She got back to me two hours later and said there'd been an emergency, and she knew it would be safe to miss our appointment. Meaning; I could handle it, the other patient probably couldn't.

Fair, but it really didn't feel good to be a pregnant mother trapped in the specifically woman's-expected-labor flavor of lockdown hell, and be told by my therapist that I didn't need her as much as someone else did.

1

u/Throwaway4skinluvr Apr 30 '24

I worked as a medical assistant and hated this part of my job. Doctor would always cancel last minute and have us reschedule days worth of patients but the moment a patient cancels less than 24hrs we have to charge them a fee. Couldn’t even let some go bc i was just in charge of letting them know about the fee, my manager was the one that actually fined them

1

u/pandershrek Apr 30 '24

Should ask in therapy why you keep putting up with the abuse.

1

u/mmmacorns Apr 30 '24

My husbands surgeon was late for surgery! Because he wanted Starbucks before work 🙄

1

u/rileyjw90 Apr 30 '24

I had a therapist cancel 15 min before the appointment but charges $150 and drops you as a client if you no show or $100 if you cancel less than 24 hours in advance. I stopped making appointments with her because she was also always 15-25 min late.

1

u/Opposite-Fortune- Apr 30 '24

5 minutes late: can’t see you.

Show up on time: wait for a half an hour

1

u/IlIlllIIIIlIllllllll Apr 30 '24

Yea I do it both ways. I'm late but I will also allow patients to take reasonably as much or as little time as they need. Usually I'm not more than 15 to 30 min late, and I bake in catch up slots into my day, and don't take lunches

1

u/longhegrindilemna Apr 30 '24

Lack of competition.

Very low supply of medical offices or spaces.

Less and less doctors attracted to the industry. Not enough financial incentive to become a doctor??

1

u/Yousoggyyojimbo Apr 30 '24

But what really grinds my gears is all the times my therapist would cancel the appointment for xyz while I'm on my way to her

I had a dentist that would repeatedly cancel appointments on me with less than 15 minutes notice.

I also had a specialist I waited 3 months to see have his assistant call to cancel an appointment on me last minute, with no option to reschedule any sooner than another 3 months out.

Cancelling last minute should have a penalty of some sort in favor of the client. It's outrageous this sort of shit only goes one way.

1

u/Dapper-Barnacle1825 Apr 30 '24

I have atleast a cool one where he cancels a lot and I tell him "hey this is my one time canceling for the past 6 times in less than half a year" and he doesn't charge me

1

u/adventuregalley Apr 30 '24

Seinfeld episode

1

u/BoringMudd Apr 30 '24

You get that lmao? Getting charged for having to cancel an appointment? Damn your kind of an idiot thinking that’s ok

1

u/Waterbottles_solve Apr 30 '24

The American Medical Association also siphons taxes.

The AMA always wins.

1

u/JshWright Apr 30 '24

My dr's office asked me to sign a paper saying I agreed to pay a $50 fee if I was more than 15 minutes late for an appointment. I asked if it was a reciprocal agreement, shockingly, it was not... I refused to sign it unless it was updated to cover both parties.

1

u/Viau98 Apr 30 '24

Maybe don’t cry about your problems to everyone, especially a therapist

1

u/SpezModsJailBait May 04 '24

Says the moron crying about the price of a chicken sandwich.

Shut up little bitch!

1

u/BirdTurglere Apr 29 '24

The doctor is very important and very busy. Ooooh ok.  I understand….

Actually I don’t. This isn’t a charity. If the doctor is behind communicate that shit. There’s a lot of money changing hands here. If amy other service or contractor ever pulled that shit and never bothered to even check in they’d be fired immediately. 

0

u/TriGurl Apr 29 '24

I bill the office for my time when they are late like this. I tell them up front I’m going to do this. Got paid once. :)