Just curious- how long are you willing to wait at a doctors appointment? I want to see if I am being reasonable or not here.

I showed up for an appt that would normally take between 30 minutes and 45 minutes. I got there a few minutes before my appointment to check in, as recommended. They did not mention that the doctor might be TWO appointments behind. After 40 minutes and a second person being called in before me, I got up and told the nurse I had other appointments I had to keep, asked for my copay back and left. And NO I do not want to schedule another appointment. EVER. Frankly, between gas and the time it took me to get there plus the almost hour of both my time and my husbands, I feel like he owes me like $35 bucks for my time! I was hopping mad, but now I'm wondering if I should have been more patient?

What do you guys think?

I thin they should have told you right off the bat that they were running behind and given you the option of rescheduling, all of this before taking your money. I think you have every right to be PO'd. I think in the same situation I would be too.

Boy, I can relate to that. That irks me beyond belief! I don't blame you at all. As a matter of fact, I'm impressed that you asked for your co-pay back! Good for you! I have found that if a receptionist or anyone at the office can at least aknowledge that they are behind schedule, or offer an apology and let me know that they are aware I've been waiting, that goes a long way. But when they just expect you to sit and wait, as if I should be honored he/she would even bother to meet with me, screw that!

I had to see a specialist after a surgery and they kept me waiting for an hour and 40 minutes. I sat and sat and checked in several times and not once did they bother to acknowlegde that they were late or at fault. I finally exploded and nearly ran down a nurse on my way out and she sure got an earfull (she was smug, don't feel sorry for her). Sorry for the rant....

Back to you, I think 40 minutes is plenty long. They surely wouldn't be waiting for the patients for that long and it's not as if they are doing us a favor here. They get paid for their services and as far as I'm concerned, that's crappy service.

i like to clear out my schedule on the day of a doctor's appointment and bring a book just in case something like this happens, but i probably wouldn't go longer than two hours.

I worked in a clinic for many years and ALWAYS told my patients upon check in if there was going to be a wait. Some people would blow up right then and there and leave in a rant and others were very understanding and either waited it out or re-scheduled.

One of the reasons I don't work there any longer is the fact that the doctor I worked for didn't respect his patients or my time. I was never out of there on time and rarely got lunch breaks because of his poor time management.

You should have been informed upon check in and have every right to be upset.

This has been one of my pet peeves for a long time. I now ask when I check in if the doctor is on schedule. Sometimes I get snotty responses like it's none of my business, but they won't say anything if you don't ask. And BTW, have any of you sat with a sick, hungry kid waiting for a doctor's appointment that has come and gone? If they'd just told me when I checked, I would have turned around and gotten him something from the Walgreen's a block away and he would have been less uncomfortable. It's only reasonable for them to tell us when we check in if they're running more than 30 minutes late, and let us go and come back when they tell us to be back.

I think it depends on how they treat you. I took both my cats to the vet for their checkup last year and ended up waiting two hours for my appointment. Everyone there is so nice though, they kept checking on us and apologizing, and then when we finally got done they thanked me for my patience and gave me a discount My vets are fantastic!

But then there was the time several years ago when we'd driven 2 hours to Mayo clinic to see a specialist and waited over 3 hours for him to come in. No one checked in on us, and when he finally did come to see us, he was rushed and rude. We were furious. So much so that we filed a written complaint.

I also want to say it depends on the dr. If it is a dr who also does deliveries then as long as they tell me they are running late it's fine. Can't always predict when babies come. I am like another post I always take half the day off and take a book.

I also say it depends on the doctor and the situation. I'm willing to wait a long time if it's a fluke, because I'd rather go to doctors who spend the time each patient needs, not only so much as their appointment time allots. I expect the same consideration when it's my turn.

Now I do expect that most of my appointments will be quite prompt, so if there were a pattern of multiple late appointments, I'd find a doctor who was better at scheduling.

My favorite doctor ever, was an ob/gyn pediatritian, and I once waited several hours for an appointment with him because he was in delivery (I was given the opportunity to leave, but I chose to wait rather than take a second day off work).

I would be pissy about it too. Though when I take my daughter to the ENT we are there 2 hours, every time. We pack books and games and everything. Its insanity. But if I was seeing my GP and was there for that long Id be livid and probably leave too.

My number one frustration with my Doctor. Love her but there is no chance that appointment will be in a timely matter. I try to schedule her first appointment of the morning and STILL often have to wait 45 minutes because she takes the patients that had an issue overnight that just can't wait. I like that she cares and takes time with her patients but always results in delays, delays, delays. Worst was the 2 hour wait for 5 minute appointment to tell me some lab results her staff insisted could not be reported via phone call. I know they needed the office visit charge, but that was just SO wrong.

I've noticed that doctors are pretty consistent. They either have a habit of running on time or a habit of running horribly late so I usually know what to expect after a couple of visits.

I saw a specialist for a shoulder injury and kept having to wait upwards of an hour. The last straw was when I wasn't told that my doctor wasn't even in that day. I was scheduled with a PA (sorry, not the same when we're deciding on surgery). I did something similar to you- gave them a piece of my mind and never went back. It was the best decision I ever made! I've been kept waiting for bad doctors and not waiting for good/popular ones, so I also don't think the quality of the doctor has much bearing on their ability to keep to a schedule. For example, my OBGYN was voted the best in the state by a local magazine and while appointments are not easy to get these days, she still respects her patients enough to keep to her schedule.

I have stayed and waited an hour and a half before, but only because the receptionist told everyone me it would be a long wait b/c the doctor had some emergency patients come in. I had no where else to be and had a book with me, so I had no problem waiting.
I did accompany my DH to a doctor's once and waited the same amount of time (1 1/2 hrs) with NO word whatsoever. I went up a few times to ask what was going on and was told "you should be up soon". The last time I went up there was a different receptionist there who, very rudely, told me it might be another hour and that I should expect to wait this long b/c the doctor ALWAYS takes as much time as the patient needs. ????????? Ok, so that's admirable, but we had never been to this doctor before (a specialist) and WHY wasn't I told this when I booked the appointment (or, I don't know, the first 3 TIMES I checked why it was taking so long)? I asked for my co-pay back and my DH & I left.
I find that, in general, it takes about 15-30 mins of waiting before I get in. I'm fine with waiting longer than that, I just want to be advised of a longer delay.

i remember waiting at the dentist office for about 40 minutes after my appointment time, with no apologies or estimate of how long it would be, then about 2 weeks later my ex had an appointment there with the same dentist, he was 3 minutes (literally 3 mins!) late for his appointment because of the bus being held up in the snow and the dentist wouldnt see him.
i understand doctors/ dentists/ vets etc are very busy and unexpected circumstances come up (emergencies etc), but i think there has to be a certain amount of respect for that on both sides.

It's one of my pet peeves too.

I like the fact that my dentist is rarely, if ever, late, my cleaning is always on time too (usually I'm the one running a couple minutes late). I really like the fact that they want to keep the appointments on time, they never overschedule, they will call to change the appointment if they need the extra time for someone else.

My other doctors? Pox on all of them and their time management skills. I don't think they spend any extra quality time with any of their patients, including me (I spend more time with their nurses and PAs!).

However, I stick with the ones that I have because I haven't found a better doctor (although if I ever do, I will switch!) so I will put up with the delays, I just build them into the appointment and bring magazine and snacks and continue to work in their waiting room. If they can't respect my time, I'm going to have to continue working!