I am 30 weeks pregnant today. I was on my way to the dr appt this morning, and I had a soft tire on the way there, so I pulled into the gas station 2 blocks away from the clinic. 2 jackasses were parked in front of the air pump and i was stuck waiting for several minutes, and i knew i was going to be late to the appointment.
I am normally 10 min early to the appointment and most of the staff know who i am, first name basis and all that. I dont make their jobs harder than they have to be, i just get seen for my baby stuff and i go home.
But today, holy shit. Their policy that they just enacted today, states that if youre 15 min late to the appt then you are a no show.
1st time offense: warning
2nd time offense: you pay for the appointment
3rd time: you are banned from getting medical services there
I was 14 min late, from the tire fiasco, and they had already no-showed me in the system before i ever had a chance to go. I pulled a Karen and demanded to be seen because I am an OB patient and have had this appointment booked for a month. The doc had no idea this was happening and was willing to see me anyway today. But they would have canceled me if i was not an OB patient. I was 2 blocks away and didnt feel the need to call because i wasnt super late anyway, and the phone call would have made me past 15 min late. Then they ask me if my phone number is up to date. Yes. Why didnt y'all call me? I have never been to a clinic that didnt call to make sure a patient was ok or needing help, if they were running late. They make it your problem for them making money. Fuck you clinic! If i wasnt almost done cooking the bun in the oven, I would have sought medical help elsewhere. Sorry, long winded, and needed to get this off my chest. Where is the humanity for patient care? Why do receptionists at a medical clinic get to determine whether you get the help you need? Tyranny at its finest.
Edit to add, I felt like i was being treated as if it was a tanning salon, because that's how our local tanning salons operate too 😆
EDIT ALSO TO ADD: I DID NOT RAIL ON PEOPLE LIKE A KAREN, IT WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH. I was assertive and respectful, people keep blowing up my comments and that was my bad for saying that in the first place. Calm down lol.
I did apologize for being late.
I was working on the tire so didn't call because I was busy trying to patch my tire. I wasn't that late and didn't think it was a big deal before I walked in. When I walked in, I didn't know that they had the policy.
I left from several miles away and discovered the flat en route. I understand I am not their only patient.
They used to call people that were late, and I am not a normally late person. The tire was going down fast and I didn't know if I was going to make it home. I was venting because I was having a bad morning and got treated poorly the ONE TIME I was late. The doctor had NO problem seeing me at all. You are assuming a lot right now.
Our town has a lot of elderly folks that have early onset dementia and that's why they used to call. And OB patients, that's standard procedure to call patients. Or at least they used to.
They had the staff. Just not used effectively.
I don't even know why I have to detail every play by play to you. If you aren't going to get the big picture message I was sending out, then go find another comment to read or you know ASK QUESTIONS. Be more respectful
"Be more respectful"
Had you been more respectful of others to begin with, this whole situation would not have occurred.
"I did apologize for being late."
That's hard to believe at this point. It wasn't important enough for you to mention in your original screed. Apologizing to anyone was not at the forefront of your mind when you originally posted, and I suspect apologizing for your lateness wasn't at the forefront of your mind as you railed like a Karen to the receptionist.
Your doctor extended you an extraordinary courtesy by accommodating you in spite of your lateness. Did you even thank him? No where do you say you expressed any amount of appreciation to him for bending over backwards for you in this way.
It was and is your obligation to inform anyone who you have planned to meet at a certain time if you expect to be late. It is just common courtesy. It is not up to others to chase you down, when you know you are the one who is exepcted to be late.
But still you continue to make excuses and blame others.
"I don't even know why I have to detail every play by play to you."
You originated a post which detailed everything about that unfortunate situation for which you are solely responsible. You took advantage of the doctor's office and then blamed the office for not being inclined to letting you disrespect them like that.
You are the epitome of selfishness and ingratitude.
It is never wise to post anything when you are personnally out of control.
You are completely off the mark. It's no use arguing with someone with an agenda. You seem rather close minded for somebody with 4 children. You don't have to believe what I say, but I took the time to explain more details to help you understand more what happened. I'm not out of control. I was justifiably pissed off because I had always been accommodating for other patients who made my doctor see me late. I worked in the medical field for 6 years, in the support staff, so I know some of the workings of the behind the scenes. I said in other comments more about it. I said I made a mistake. But they treated me bad for being late for 14 minutes. One time. The punishment really didn't fit the crime. Shit happens in life sometimes, and it was bullshit that they were going to turn me away entirely when there was no posted sign about appointment time policies. I had every right to be pissed off. And you just call me selfish. Whatever, doesn't offend me. Is it selfish to vent about something that happened to you this morning? Is it selfish to expect better service than I got? Is it selfish that I explained to my doctor and nurse what happened because I felt bad for inconveniencing them today? Sorry I didn't say that I apologized, but that was 1000% NOT THE POINT of the story. You just want to name call and breeze right past the medical setting's treatment of people when shit happens. Normally I would call. But when i was fixing my tire, i was two blocks away, and thought i'd be close to time. Sorry Im human and make mistakes, and sorry that you're unwilling to be understanding.
Seriously? I have health problems! I am absolutely not leaving my vehicle at the gas station for that. I am not hoofing it to the doctor's office being 30 weeks pregnant with bad joints. Ialready explained that I was appreciative and apologetic. It is customary at the gas station to park on the side of the air pump and use the air gauge I already had and air my tire and get going. I do not trust the people around me to watch my vehicle when my town is known for crime. Hell no, that is the epitome of no self preservation. You don't know me, you don't know the context of it all, you have an agenda to shame me and not focus on the picture I was presenting. Why do I waste my time and keyboard typing on a close minded individual who is looking for every reason to badger me? GAW is not about that. It's OK to discern and look at details, but it is not ok to fight a useless battle like this. Just stop. You will never be in my position, or live where I live, with different cultural concepts. I will never be in your position either. I did the best thing for my situation, and your refusal to understand that appalls me. Move on.