Irritating Dental Visit

[Medusa]

Absolutely, positively not were you wrong. The fact that they're handing out free movie passes tells me that they run a sloppy office rather than speak to Jean (and all staff) and make sure that they run on time. This happened to me a few times and my solution was to send my dr. a bill for my wasted time. Of course, they didn't pay but they got the point. And from then on I'd always call and ask "How are you running?" and if they said "15 minutes late" (or whatever), then I'd say "Well, I'll be 15 min. late as well." There's no way I was going to sit there and waste my time. I always did it w/m vet, too, b/c I usually would take more than one cat in at once and it was nerve wracking when they'd start fussing. However, Dr. Lee's office runs smoothly, no waiting, so no worries there.

[wombat2u2004]

I wouldn't go back.
Jean probably realises now that you are questioning her professionalism, or lack thereof.
Next time she gets you in the seat, she'll probably drill a hole in one of your rear molars without any anaesthetic.
I can imagine hearing the whirring of that drill, and watching little bits of your tooth flying everywhere.
Naw....don't go back.

[Cataholic]

I think 5-10 minutes is a reasonable wait time. I would have left, just as you did.

J was in the ER lately. 1.5 hours later, and I approached the nurses station, and said, 'Children's across the street has no waiting right now, I want to have him discharged'. Guess what? A doc was in 5 minutes later. Turns out, they couldn't treat him anyhow...nice bit of triage there, nurses! The doc did apologize, and I was gracious towards him...BUT, 1.5 hours, with a 6 year old? To find out they needed to send him elsewhere?

[cassiesmom]

"free" movie passes to a cinema that is no where near by (they have started doing this for Jean's clients apparently)

Aha, so they know it's a problem.

I just spent 20 minutes waiting in the doctor's office this morning. I arrived on time; she was running late. I felt I needed to hurry through my appointment so as to keep her from falling even further behind. In that context: It says to me that Jean doesn't respect her patients' time if she is arriving that late. Does the dentist feel her work is better than the other hygienists' work? Your time is just as valuable as Jean's. When you schedule the first appointment of the day, can you tell the receptionist that you want a call if she is more than five minutes behind. Just so you don't drive over there, wait a half hour and then leave without seeing her.

[Asiel]

I think 5-10 minutes is a reasonable wait time. I would have left, just as you did.

J was in the ER lately. 1.5 hours later, and I approached the nurses station, and said, 'Children's across the street has no waiting right now, I want to have him discharged'. Guess what? A doc was in 5 minutes later. Turns out, they couldn't treat him anyhow...nice bit of triage there, nurses! The doc did apologize, and I was gracious towards him...BUT, 1.5 hours, with a 6 year old? To find out they needed to send him elsewhere?

I hate to say this but if we had to wait only 1.5 hours in ER we would be dancing a jig. Our waiting times in ER out here is anywhere from 8-20 hrs, sometimes longer and that's every day 24/7. Most people who are too sick to wait that long just stay home and try to go to a clinic if they don't need x-rays or anything real serious. Priority isn't even an issue anymore. You can be having major chest pains but if the kid with the runny nose is ahead of you he's in before you. Our problem is that people use the ER for stupid issues like a cold, a bump on the leg or they're just plain bored and decide to go snack and watch tv in the ER with some feeble excuse of having a cold.

[pomtzu]

Priority isn't even an issue anymore. You can be having major chest pains but if the kid with the runny nose is ahead of you he's in before you.

WOW - do they get sued much????
When I went in with a badly fractured wrist several years ago, several patients complained that I was taken in ahead of them, and they had been waiting a good long time. Of course one was there for a headache, another with a kid with a snotty nose - you get the picture. Thank goodness triage works here!

[happylabs]

No you were not wrong at all. Time is money for me. If I have to wait an hour for a medical appointment, I have just lost money. I don't understand why she is so late. I'd switch. It's only teeth cleaning. If the office has the proper equipment another hygienist can clean your teeth. I think it is disrespectful to a patient to make them wait like this. I am sensitive to this because I had a physician that thinks nothing of making someone wait for him for 2 hours on a regularly scheduled appointment.

[Freedom]

Jean was 'only' 15 minutes late this morning; and me as her second appt!

On the way out, I booked my next 6 month cleaning w/ another hygenist.