Aibu to think if you have an appointment you should be seen at that time

[ACOA]

So had a routine appointment at vet today, was booked for 11.15am. Dh is working today so off I went with DD (3) and dog for the appt.

Dog has anxiety around other animals due to incident when younger so was barking at dogs. Queue glares from owners of other dog whilst I was trying to quieten her down. Didn't quieten after my attempts so took her outside. Calmed my dog down and went back in to try again with no luck and same glares, went outside again.

So me, dog and dd we're standing outside, dd getting very impatient and me trying to settle them both down. Asked receptionist how long it'd be, said don't know as very busy this morn. By this point we had been waiting about 30 mins. After about 20 more, I got fed up and went in to rearrange the appointment. I Also had to be somewhere at 12pm

So aibu to think if you have an appointment they should bloody well stick to it and see you at the time they had arranged?!

YABU

Things happen that delay then it creates a domino effect. It is annoying but just part of life.

Patience is called for at doctors, dentists and vets. Imagine the boot is on the other foot. Your dog requires a lot of time from the vet. He looks at his watch and says "oh, I've given you the allocated 15 minutes. I don't want to keep anyone waiting so, sorry about your dog, you'll have to cope yourself". So imagine a morning when the vet has quite a few problems delaying him..........and show some consideration. Amen.

Normally yes. Perhaps they had a suffering animal brought in as an emergency? Perhaps they were sensitively supporting someone whose pet had to be PTS?

Depends if they see emergencies throughout clinic time. If not, then late running times should be communicated to those waiting so you can make a choice to wait or reschedule.

Yes very unreasonable.

If your dog's reason for being there turned out to be much more complicated that first expected, would you expect the vet to leave him in pain because they don't want to keep others waiting?

Medical problems are not standard cases.

And for the record, I stopped using my last vet because they were more interested in time and money, than the actual animals.

It was all business to them and if you had any questions or concerns, you could see them actually looking at the clock while giving you hurried answers.

My dog has a wonderful vet now and we often have to wait half an hour or more before being seen...but I don't mind because during that time you can see the RSPCA bringing in injured foxes etc.

Of course YABVU - for all of the reasons listed above.

Have you ever taken a very poorly pet to the vet & required more than 15 minutes (including any treatment)? Have you ever been to see a Dr and been fitted in as an emergency, or required more than the allocated 7.5 minutes?

If not, then I am very happy for you! Unfortunately, not everyone is so fortunate.

What do you imagine the vet was doing while you were waiting? Having a coffee & a chat just to piss you off?

I was very grateful when the vets dropped everything to save my cat's life. I'm sure it had a knock on effect on other patients but I'm so, so glad they did it.

YABU.

Yabu.
As others have said, knock on effect after emergency.
Be grateful that emergency isn't you.
I think it says a lot about a person when they get angry in a drs/vets waiting room hi

Ok I accept I am being u.

I guess it just annoyed me as they didn't even inform me that they were running late or give me any indication of how long it would be. I just felt like there was no respect for my time or my schedule and if they had of called me before hand and said we've had x number of emergencies and running late would you like to reschedule that would have been fine.

Sadly vets like all health care clinics do sometimes have to run over time - however it is not difficult to ensure reception are kept up to speed with a realistic idea of how long a delay is likely, and certainly once a delay has crept into the system it would be civil to let patients know so they can either reschedule or rearrange.

xposted with OP!

Unfortunately, emergencies do not last for a specified amount of time. It was probably not possible to say whether the vet would be free in 1, 10 or 45 minutes.

I was a Dr's Receptionist once upon a time, it's the same principal. I'm glad you can now see YWBU - I used to hear the same complaint day in, day out.

There's no point in calling people to say they're running late because by the time that person gets there, they might be on time again or even ahead of it.

It's the nature of the job.

Think yourself you don't have the same GP Practice as me

Also, yes, WorraLiberty is completely right.

If the next few patients (animal or human) after the emergency or delay require less than their allocated minutes it is totally possible to catch up again.

YADBU. I'm always amazed by some people's lack of understanding and compassion when I see threads about them having to wait past appointment times. There's always a reason for it and usually not a nice one.

It wouldn't hurt you to ask if things were running to time either Crystal.

You tell people that there is an estimated 45 minute wait - they either rebook or say "OK, I'll just pop to X or Y and come back in 45 minutes". Then, the Dr (or vet) is actually free in 10 minutes - and has no patients left to see! The verbal abuse we used to get when asking people not to leave the surgery whilst waiting (for this very reason) would make your toes curl.

They'd only run to time if they insist on sending you out exactly at the end of the appointment time.
"Sorry Mrs. A, you'll have to make another appointment. I've just noticed what could be a serious problem, but it's more important that I'm not late for the next one."

No, that wouldn't bring complaints would it?

It's annoying but YABU, emergencies happen and things don't always go to plan. When it comes to healthcare appointments, human or animal, if your issue merits you to be there then it should prioritise anything else that you have planned that day. This is particularly true when it comes to drs appointments - if you are ill enough to need an appointment then you wait!

Sometimes this means making alternative arrangements for other commitments - inconvenient and annoying but unreasonable to expect it to be any other way. I'd rather be the one waiting than the emergency.

Specsavers are on my shit list atm.

I had an appointment booked with them a couple of weeks ago at 5pm. Parking was a nightmare, I walked in at 5:04pm and it was 5:08pm when I got to the front of the counter queue. I apologised, the girl disappeared to the opticians office then came back and said because the store closed at 5.30 and I was the last appointment, I couldn't be seen and would have to re-arrange. That was irritating, especially as I know a contact lens check takes all of 5 minutes, but I told myself to deal with it as I hadn't been right on time afterall.

I rearranged the appointment for 9 am a couple of days later. I was waiting outside at 8.55am when they opened up, and was the first appointment.
9am on the dot the optician walked in, clearly just arriving with her coat and bag etc. At 9.20 she called me in. I was seriously not impressed.

But not until she had already been waiting for quite a while Crystal. If you want to know at the very beginning you could ask at the very beginning. As has already been said, the Receptionist could not have given her a helpful answer anyway, as she didn't know how long the vet would be.

You said "it wouldnt hurt for them to tell you when you arrive so you can decide to stay or reschedule!" - tell OP what exactly? You might be seen on time or you might not? Isn't that a given with any appointment?