I will NOT wait. I have very few appointments, but if I have a 10 o'clock appointment, you better have me in a chair by 10:15 or I'm leaving.

Several weeks ago, I signed up to get my telephone service. They scheduled to come hook everything up between 8 and AM. I'm a real stickler for being on time and he wasn't here by AM! By 11:05AM and no phone call, I'm getting a little irritated. At 11:15 I decided if he wasn't here by 11:30, I was closing the front door and would not be home! He got here about 11:20! I told him another 10mins. and he would have been early to his next job! lol

This is one reason I don't have appointments. I do my own hair. Dh changes the oil in the car....never eat out...seriously. I don't like waiting. I have an annual check up and they are always on time. An annual dentist cleaning, on time. That's it. :0) "IF" I have to wait in line at the grocery store I read a tabloid and figure I got something for free! :0)

No problem with most appointments. I have standing appts, for hair salon and nail spa....same time and day of the week. They know I will be there, value my business, and are waiting for me when I walk in.
Rheumatologist's appt is no-waiting, either because I just go back to infusion room and start immediately...Dr calls me in to see him during this time.
Cardiologist is new...and I do have to wait as long as 15-20 minutes - I bring a book.

Going to my dentist is a "pita" always having to wait.

Since being back in school, I always have a stack of articles to read of papers to grade. I often times get to the appointment VERY early just so I have uninterrupted time to get stuff done, lol.

I seldom have appointments. I do when I get a perm and never have to wait, I just walk in and sit right down to get it started. I can understand there are sometimes you might have to wait some at a doctor's. Yes, I would hate to wait long.

Sue

Back in the early to mid 1990's I was a manicurist specializing in the Acrylic nails. They were very popular then and I was booked all day.

I scheduled 1 hour a person. 9am, 10am, 11am and so on and I always tried to be on-time and respect my clientèle.

However, because of my clients, I would run late every day.

Here's why: Clients show up late for their appointments. Which makes me run late for the rest of the day.

Some clients couldn't make a decision on nail polish and would stand in front of the nail polish racks for 10 minutes trying to choose something.

Occasionally a client would bump their nail on the way to the car and come back for me to fix and re-polish that nail.

Or the worst, clients would come in for a balance or fill, only to show up with 5 or so broken nails, basically needing a new set.

Honestly, I loved my clients, but we are only as good as our clients are.

Susie, did you talk to your hairdresser about your concerns? I honestly can't believe she would make you sit there for 3 hours on purpose.

Sometimes people would call me to see if I was running on-time. That seemed to work pretty good.
I just feel bad when people blame the hairdresser, as it's not always their fault they are late.

"No problem with most appointments.

They know I will be there, value my business, and are waiting for me when I walk in. "

That's my experience too...

Yes, I did. She did this to alot of people. She has lost many customers due to this. Often she would go in the backroom and argue with her son or boyfriend on the phone, too. It just got old..

My new gal books every hour and leaves some extra space at her lunch for catching up if she needs to. I have never had to wait one time. I don't mind waiting some times but when you cram people in that don't have an appointment ahead of your customers that do and it happens more often, then this becomes a problem. I would never just go in to a place like this and expect to be put ahead of someone that has an appointment ahead of time.

Susie

My old dentist in CA was that way. Hurry up and wait, until DH had to take time off from work, and waited almost 30 minutes. He walked out and boy did the dentist get mad. After that, took early morning appointment no more waiting, but it took me almost 5 hours to get crown. Work abit, take another patient, filling, me again, cannot believe I put up with it. But then I am not a good patient. New dentist, in and out no problems 1-2 hours with a crown.
That also is the way it is at some beauty salons. Some have to wait the counters, book apts, and I did complain about one well known chain, tried it one more time, and boy what a lousy cut. NO more until everyone goes away.

i can beat you all..my oncologist gyn dr...i have an appt in several months for my check-up and while the card says 12:30pm, i won't see him before at least 3pm, if then...i've had a gyn physical at midnight!!!! it's al well and good he takes his time but good grief he was doing a papsmear almost asleep once... unfortunatly he's the top surgeon in his field here in detroit, and all the other reg ob-gyn's send al thier cancer patients to him...

Always wise to check. I went to an oncology app't once with my twin. Heather had an AM app't in a busy clinic. At one PM, I asked if we had "time" for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. Found out the clinic was over - her chart had been put in the wrong pile. It happens.

I rarely have to wait. My regular doctors get me in within 10-15 minutes with rare exceptions, and my hairdresser does the same as another poster said, and schedules a long lunch and uses it to catch up, so she rarely runs behind.

My orthopedist, though, does keep me waiting. Her office seems to schedule about 50 people for the same time slot, and we all just sit and wait. It's awful. Unfortunately, they all seem to do this. My sister has seen two that do the same thing, and friends have said the same thing.

When I schedule clients, I allow for 5-10 minutes between clients, and I also warn people when they're getting close to the end time, so they don't go over. If someone shows up late, I tell them that we'll have to cut their appointment short. It only seems fair to me.

I never have to wait at the salon, Deb knows I am on a schedule and she respects it. Pretty much the same for nails, standing appointments and we are all pals. When I get there I go straight to the nail spa, it's a party back there!

Physicians are another thing, my rheumatologist is usually a 5 or 10 minute wait, nothing excessive. But my endo is another story, I usually go for the last appt of the day, then call the office to check on his status. I walked out once, ever since the girls let me know when to come! He and his wife are very good friends of ours, I've told him more than once that I wait 15 minutes, PERIOD.

Pawprint, your response is one of the reasons I always ask for the first appointment of the day if I can wait for it.

I love our vet, but it's always a 45 minute wait and it's because he takes care of his patients. If someone needs that extra 5 minutes to understand what is happening, he takes it. If someone calls with a question, he takes the call. I don't begrudge waiting for him, because I know when my turn comes he will take as long as I need.

But it absolutely shocks me how inconsiderate people are of other's time. They show up late and expect to be rushed right in or, worse yet, they don't show up at all and the service person is left with a hole in their schedule they could have filled.

Susie, in a situation like yours, if I had really liked the service she was providing, I would have voiced my dissatisfaction and given her one more chance. If I didn't, that would have been my last time. And I still would have told her why.

Difference in you are treated in a salon may be relative to how well you tip.

I once had a hair stylist in CA that was always behind schedule. I would wait 30 minutes to see him. Then while he was cutting my hair he was on the phone with friends. One day I arrived for an appointment and they said he was "out" and should return shortly. He never did show up and I never went to him again. I walked out of an ortho appointment after waiting for an hour and the doc phoned me at home. He was nicknamed "Midnight Moulton" because he saw patients all day and all evening. Poor guy died when he fell asleep and hit another car head on.
Here in Iowa my hair stylist is always on time, as are my dentist and doctors except for my internist. She is the most popular doctor in the clinic and I always bring a book to read. I know that when I see her, she wil spend all the time she needs with me. One day the receptionist told me when I arrived that she was running late because of a hospital admission. I could understand that. I no longer go to my gyn here. He mostly does OB and gets called to the hospital to do deliveries in the midst of his appointments.

Our doctor sees us within 10 or 15 minutes at most.

My hairdresser is very prompt. maybe five minutes and if it will be longer than that she comes out and tells me why. The whole experience is about me and the only time she leaves my side is to take a break while my color is setting. She makes sure I have a drink, offers a snack if someone brought in food and magazines to read before she does.

I wouldn't tolerate a hairdresser who was doing multiple clients at one time. The worst was a gal who did hair out of her home and behaved very unprofessionally both with her DD and on the phone. I "fired" her.

I don't mind waiting if it is for a good reason. Doctor taking a bit longer with a patient,human or animal etc. but I won't wait when some just overbook.

My hairdresser is usually on time. The one or two occasions that she was late was because her clients were late to their appointment, thereby causing the rest of her day to run behind.

I've walked out of a few doctor's waiting rooms because I won't tolerate waiting any more than 30 minutes to be seen. What irks the heck out of me is when they book three patients for the same time slot.