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And how long do you usually have to wait to see a doctor or dentist after showing up on time or early for your appointment?
Exactly... it goes both ways. The so-called "professionals" also have no respect for your time as their client. It's commonplace to be kept waiting in the waiting area or exam room for over a half hour before they come in and spend two minutes with you, and then bill the insurance for a 15-minute appointment. Medical and dental professionals have no concept of customer service anymore. So, excuse me if I didn't show up on time as a patient. You kept me waiting 45 minutes for my last appointment.
Moved here from MN and WA. I don't understand why, when I invite a local for coffee, they show up an hour late without calling or don't show up at all. I end up throwing out freshing made, good coffee, and wondering why I bothered to bake that nice coffee cake. And, when visiting locals, they offer nothing even to drink. This type of behavior is completely alien to me. Enlighten me.
You might want to try this: just call them and ask them if they'd like to meet for a latte at Starbucks and if you have an open schedule, ask them if (for example) 2:30 pm on Tuesday works for them. If the time/day doesn't work; ask them what day & time would work for their schedule.
Just a guess here, but if this will be your first or second meeting with them; I think most people would be more comfortable meeting at a coffee house then coming to someone's home. Speaking for my preferences here..... I hope this works for you!
If you asked me for coffee/tea and I committed to being there, I will be there on time unless something happens out of my control.
You're asking the wrong people. Ask someone that has respect for you and other's. People that are continually late or worse yet, don't show up when they said they would be there are just not very good people. They are rude and self-centered.
This crap about being 'fashionably late' is idiotic too and it took an idiot to come up with something like that.
You might want to try this: just call them and ask them if they'd like to meet for a latte at Starbucks and if you have an open schedule, ask them if (for example) 2:30 pm on Tuesday works for them. If the time/day doesn't work; ask them what day & time would work for their schedule.
Just a guess here, but if this will be your first or second meeting with them; I think most people would be more comfortable meeting at a coffee house then coming to someone's home. Speaking for my preferences here..... I hope this works for you!
think you are right about meeting at a coffee house or even McDonald's for the first time. Is there a Starbucks in Alamo? I agree that you should be on time if any way possible, or call and let them know you are delayed or can't make it. Not just no-show.
Exactly... it goes both ways. The so-called "professionals" also have no respect for your time as their client. It's commonplace to be kept waiting in the waiting area or exam room for over a half hour before they come in and spend two minutes with you, and then bill the insurance for a 15-minute appointment. Medical and dental professionals have no concept of customer service anymore. So, excuse me if I didn't show up on time as a patient. You kept me waiting 45 minutes for my last appointment.
There are a lot more factors that go into this than a doctor/dentist being unprofessional or inconsiderate. Although as a fellow patient, I certainly feel your frustration!
Most private practices are profit-driven and try to squeeze in as many appointments as possible. And community practices are just plain overloaded and often inefficient. This is usually not solely the doctor's fault. Take for example a Presbyterian clinic...the doctors you see are in no way deciding to overload their own schedules. They HAVE to, or they will receive a pay cut (this is a fact). They are mere cogs in the system. Then there are patients who are late, paperwork, phone calls, patients who need extra time, checking lab results, etc. I realize this doesn't diminish how frustrating it is to wait, but it's not as if the doctor/dentist is kicking back in his or her office smoking a cigar while you wait.
I realize this doesn't diminish how frustrating it is to wait, but it's not as if the doctor/dentist is kicking back in his or her office smoking a cigar while you wait.
That may be but it's ridiculous to have 5 patients in the same time slot. That's called greed. If they had to pay us for waiting they would not continue with this practice. They charge us quite a bit of money for their time and feel that our time is worth nothing. Patients are the bread and butter on their table and they should start treating us as if we are valuable to them instead of like cattle waiting to get a shot or whatever. I waited at one Dr for SIX HOURS for my mother. My mom made the receptionist angry because she wanted us to fill out forms yet another time and my mom asked her to photocopy it and she would sign it because nothing had changed in the short time since we'd last been there. The receptionist kept putting her chart to the back. Normally at this Dr the wait was TWO HOURS as if that weren't outrageous enough. If she had not been sick we would have left then but she really needed to see the Dr that day. That Dr lost two clients that day, my mother and myself and from what I understand others have left because they also got tired of waiting all the time. It's one thing when they stick someone who is seriously sick and take a few minutes to check them out but it is another thing when they just have too many for that same time slot.
That IS ridiculous. Even though I understand how things work on the other side of health care, I still have fairly high expectations as a patient. If I have to wait too long at appointments, if a doctor doesn't return phone calls, if doctor or staff aren't friendly, etc, I look for another doctor (and am extremely grateful to have that option...). It's the same with friends and acquaintances like the OP was talking about. If I make plans with someone and they have a pattern of being very late, I stop making plans with the person.
They don't have a Starbucks per se, but as I understand it, the newer Premier Fitness on Indian Wells has a small selection of Starbucks coffee.
About Premier Fitness (http://www.premierfitnesshealthspa.com/about.html - broken link)
Lost my pool last week. I knew that Alamogordo Physical Therapy and Wellness Center was going to close their pools eventually. Last Monday, I was told in an email that they would close the pool over "the next several months."
One of the employees at the front desk told me, "Probably March or April. Ok, fine, so I have 3-4 months left.
I go in last Wednesday to find the hot therapy pool completely closed, and the final closing of the lap pool Dec 31, 2010--so much for that. Since I won't be here for a week in Dec--and they will be closed for Christmas (falls on a Saturday this year)--I just took the partial refund they offered.
I was so ticked off at how they handled the whole thing. It was just so poorly done, IMHO.
They tried to keep us as members by offering a "free exercise class that they're all excited about, and those who tried it are SO enthusiastic....blah blah blah."
Don't think so. I cannot imagine what made them think that they could replace the water with a stupid land exercise class. What a crock. Like members want to pay them for that, as well as a membership at the only indoor pool left, the crappy Family Rec Center. I have a punchcard that I'll just use until I move. There won't be any summer swimming here for me. I am really not into either burning or bathing in sunblock.
So. I'm done.
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