AIBU ... to ask you to cancel your vax appointment if you don't need it

[BruceAndNosh]

Really frustrating!

I was volunteering at vax centre yesterday, all appointments.
Very busy as one vaccinator was off sick.

I was checking names off as people arrived among other duties.
The early appointments were boosters but late morning we had a couple of dozen 2nd doses booked in, and over half of them didn't turn up!
I assume that they a) forgot date of 2nd dose when they booked their 1st one 6 months before or b) had brought forward their 2nd dose and not cancelled the later appointment.

Yes, the booking system should be robust enough to avoid the latter option, but we know that it's working at full stretch.

Those slots could have been used by someone else.

I had booster booked for Sunday and was too sick to go. Husband had his an hour earlier and tried to cancel my booking then and there but that wasn’t allowed! They said to go online. Which didn’t work. Fantastic.

I got told to book a booster although I had mine three weeks ago. It's very confusing

@GatoradeMeBitch

Am I using a different system to everyone else? The "manage your appointment" option?

Same here, I cancelled mine yesterday and it was done within seconds.

Maybe it is a different system, come to think of it. The invite I got from my GP surgery took me to book through a different system with only their own appointments available. My other appointment (the one I successfully cancelled) was through the national booking site.

Weird, I booked mine initially through the NHS website but a few days later got an earlier appointment via my GP.
I was able to cancel my NHS one using my original booking reference from the confirmation text.
It was sort of hidden away in the process but it was possible to do it

I found an earlier booster appointment and cancelled the later one

I tried to cancel my second (AZ, after being told it wasn’t safe for my age group) - the system said no. So I went anyway because I felt like I had to.

I then had to cancel my booster and rearrange it as I got DDs urgent referral which was at the same time… it took 90 mins of navigating, queueing and refreshing the website. Most people would have given up, I’m sure.

I tried to cancel my 2nd one because I was ill, and the website literally told me to cancel it after the appointment. I was astounded, it was utterly ridiculous.

Am I using a different system to everyone else? The "manage your appointment" option?

I tried that but it just took me in circles… no option to cancel from there.

As I said before… this was on the same day as the appointment and 119 confirmed I couldn’t cancel; just had to be a no show so perhaps it’s specific to that particular scenario.