Manic Monday Linky Party is still open!
Hello my friends! How is everyone today? I’m not too bad, looking forward to a few hours of sewing before taking Savi to the dentist for HER FIRST FILLING (Grrrr). I’m not very happy about the cavity, and I’m even less happy with the dentist. In fact, maybe you could tell me what you think – am I wrong to be upset?
We’ve been customers/patients at this place for a few years. We’ve spent a lot of money there. Yes, there have been a couple rare occasions when I had to cancel because of illness, but we’ve always made up the appointment as soon as they could get us in. A few weeks ago, however, I had a checkup in the afternoon. But when I got there, I looked at my mobile and realised I had thought it was at 4:30, but the appointment was actually at 4:15. I was prepared to wait, an hour if necessary, to see if the dentist had a quick spot between patients just to look over my teeth. Instead I was charged £15 by a self-righteous receptionist and asked to reschedule. When they run late, I don’t ask for a discount of £1 for every minute I have to wait; perhaps I should? It pissed me off (and still does – can you tell?) so much that I completely refused to reschedule and have started thinking about changing dentists. So do you think I’m overreacting?
Anyway, on to the showcase! It’s not my showcase, though. It’s my friend Melissa’s Valentine’s Day Showcase, and the voting is still open! There are some truly lovely (pun intended) objets d’quilt which represent many (happy) hours of work, so please show your fellow sewist your support by voting for the one you like best! And no, I’m not in the list, because I’m stupid and didn’t know I could enter. :p
P.S. Because I write a non-Blogger blog, I am one of those unfortunates who will lose my Google Friend Connect widget soon. I really value you as a reader and follower, and I’d like to ask you to consider following me on BlogLovin’, a free service built specifically for people to follow their favourite blogs, or by Feedburner, which is an RSS feed. Thanks!! 
© J C Excell, 2011
Oh don’t get me going on evil dentists! I had an appointment booked at my old dentist for the day after I finished the last of my finals at uni. I had been with them for 4 years, and never missed an appointment once, however 3 days before this I got taken into hospital to get my appendix out – not exactly something I could have predicted! My dad phoned up before the appointment to cancel it, and I told him to reschedule, but he didn’t bother for some reason. Anyway, 2 weeks later I went to reschedule and they said because I’d cancelled the appointment they’d removed me from their books – WTF?!!! Thankfully I found a much nicer dentist that’s even closer to home, and it’s an NHS one (whereas the health centre one was going to be charging me as soon as I stopped being a student) so it wasn’t a heartbreaking wrench to leave!
Oh, I voted too
My dentist has it right on her business card, but we can be charged $25 for not giving 24hr notice for cancelling an appt. However, she is nice, and gives out reminder calls, which helps. And when they call and you cancel, they don’t say anything of it. But it is very frustrating to have to pay extra, while they are already so expensive.
I’d be pissed too! It’s one thing if you hadn’t turned up at all and gave no notice, but 15 minutes isn’t that late really, and I bet your ass they just saw the next patient instead of sitting there for 15 minutes doing nothing!
I don’t blame you for being upset. I could see having to pay if you had missed the appointment all together, but since you were just a little late, they shouldn’t have charged you. I wouldn’t have paid it. You should let the dentist know how rude the and ridiculous their receptionist was.
Ugh! I’m sorry, I thought you knew you could enter!!! I feel like a giant ass right now!
I would be pissed too if it were me. It isn’t right for them to charge you a fee, especially if they are regularly late. I would consider looking for another dentist as well. Especially since most offices hold your appointment if you are only 15 minutes late.
I would write a letter to the dentist relating the event and indicate you have serious concerns about continuing as a patient. Indicate you would like to have the $15 credited to your account. That’s it, no fluff and no huff. See what happens. If you don’t get the credit, the dentist is either a total jacka** or is planning to retire sometime this year and doesn’t care about keeping good customers. In which case, you would be better off going to a professional who cares more about your teeth than stupid “rules” made up to punish you as if you were a grade-schooler! Good luck!
I’d find a new dentist. This one doesn’t deserve your time or your money anymore.
I quit one when I found out I was paying for his yearly four week walkabout in Africa, and his very nice, new office. And his new rose bushes, because he decided he didn’t like the color of the old ones. They wouldn’t negotiate on anything. Found someplace more affordable, and even if I cancel the hour of the appointment, they don’t hassle me at all.
I would change dentists . I can see their side , since people just don’t show up or call or anything ; but if you have been a patient there and don’t do it on a regular basis and you showed up , but thinking it was 15 minutes later , that was (in my book ) totally uncalled for . It’s really not a big deal ; I’ve done that before and they get me in ; because they are usually a little late . You may want to talk to the dentist about it ; he may not even know what happened . I had an issue happen about an insurance check many years ago ; the office lady ( wife of the dentist ) kept calling me telling me they never got the check and it went on and on ; finally a lady who worked there called me 1 day when the wife was off and told me to talk to the dentist because the wife was doing this to several patients and he did not know . I guess she was trying to get insurance money and customers to pay what the insurance did . I heard years later they got a divorce . I quit going to him ; even though it was not HIS fault , too much drama for me !!!!
I’m in a major city. Most of the cities will let you have a late window anyway….in Atlanta, even if you plan well, you can be 15 min late because of a traffic issue. I’d switch dentists, but I’d also write a letter to the dentist explaining what happened.
Change dentists now.