@Mominohio wrote:
@SahmIam wrote:
More of a rant than anything else.
I've been taking my children to the same pediatric dentist for 18 years (the eldest switched this year to our regular dentist). Due to a last minute appointment change for him with a specialist, I had to call to change the time of my children seeing their dentist. I received the call about an hour ago and the appointment for their dentist is tomorrow at 5pm.
To do this, they are charging me $50 per child; they require 72 hours notice with no exception. I told them I'll find another dentist.
Called my regular dentist; he sees all ages so I transferred them to his practice. The fee to cancel is $25 with 24 hours notice BUT for long standing patients, they'll wave the fee.
We started with the pediatric dentist when she first started her practice. We've dealt with her cancellations, her running late, her employees screwing up, etc but never complained. Last, this policy went into effect last month. BEFORE, the fee was $25 with 24 hours notice. I've had to change appointments due to my sons medical situation (something the dentist and office manager were aware of) and was never charged.
Either it got really bad or... well I don't know. I also found out she only sees patients one day a week. The rest of the week? 5 dentists I've never heard of. Oh well.
I haven't read all the replies, but I see your leaving. We,too, used our pediatric dentist for 18 years. Never missed an appointment, always paid in full at the time of service, no problems.
Had we encountered a time where we had to cancel on short notice, I would expect to be given a pass. The office was always very full, and they often were running just far enough behind schedule that a cancellation here or there would have smoothed out their day some.
Doctors don't give you a percent off when they are running behind or have to call and change your appointment because of illness or schedule changes, so I expect if I'm a regular patient of yours, you'd better be equipped to accept that once every decade or so, I may have to make a last minute cancellation, without charging me a fee. Save that for the chronic offenders.
No, no, no! Cancellations do not smooth out their day some. They create a lot of stress. Late patients cause the dentist/hygienist to get off schedule...along with emergencies. You know, the hygienist can't let her patient go until the dentist does the exam. So, if the dentist is behind, the hygienist is behind. Then the whole office is stressed.
Dentists hold staff meetings every morning to go through who is coming in that day, what they are having done, what x-rays and other things the dentist wants before s(he) comes in the room. If there are openings in the schedule, tremendous pressure is put on the staff to get on the phone and try to fill those openings...which is very difficult at the last minute as people already have their day planned. The dentist might also offer to do some extra work for a patient who is already in the chair if there is an opening....e.g. fill a cavity that day. That isn't always possible though. Also, at the morning staff meetings, most dentists these days discuss how much money they need to bring in that day based on the work they and the hygienist are doing...and based on office needs. When people don't show up or cancel at the last minute, that really messes up the plans for the day.
Many dentists base raises and end of the year bonuses on how good production has been. They have their accountant involved in all that. That motivates all the staff to work their butts off to keep the schedule full. So, they don't take kindly to late patients and people who cancel frequently. Also, some dentists do not pay staff to work after 5:00 pm...yet they often run late and have to stay to clean and organize the office after the last patient leaves.
Also, just another little dental office inside info. I have worked for dentists who will charge an "aggravation fee" ($25-35) to patients who are extremely demanding or annoying, constantly late, etc. It's not the dentist's fault if the traffic is bad. Couldn't you have left home earlier? We noticed that your hair and makeup look beautiful. And yes...they do document in your chart when you are 10 minutes late. There are some people who are 10-15 minutes late everytime, so pretty soon, the staff just lies to the patient and tells them that their appointment is 10 minutes earlier than it really is. There are other patients who are extremely responsible...never miss appointments, never late...in fact, they come early to sit and read.
Just sayin'. I'm sure every profession (no matter what) has their list of gripes about the clients they serve. Afterall, it is first and foremost a business.
A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. ~~ Steve Maraboli