I have been taking my dogs to this veterinary office for approximately 10 years. Over that time, I’ve had six dogs receive care here, and my three current dogs have always been patients of this practice. I have never had an issue before today. I am extremely loyal when it comes to the doctors and offices caring for my animals, and I’ve always made an effort to keep their veterinary care consistent.
This morning, I called to schedule a sick visit for my one-year-old puppy. I was given an appointment for 1:40 PM today.
Unfortunately, I got caught at the two traffic lights immediately before the office and pulled into the parking lot at approximately 1:45 PM. The staff could see me arrive, unload my dog, and walk him into the office. We were checked in at approximately 1:47 PM — seven minutes after our scheduled appointment time.
The front desk checked us in without saying anything about my being late, any change to my appointment, or any additional fee. I then sat in the waiting room for approximately 10 minutes. There was another patient ahead of us who was called back about 5–10 minutes after we arrived, so they clearly were not waiting on us or ready to take my dog back at 1:40.
After we had already been sitting there for several minutes, a technician came out and told me that because I had checked in seven minutes late, there would now be an additional $60+ charge to “fit” my dog in.
This was NOT a fit-in appointment. I called that morning, was given a 1:40 PM appointment, arrived in the parking lot at 1:45, and was inside and checked in by 1:47.
What made this even more frustrating was being told that the office itself was running behind. So somehow, because I was seven minutes late AND they were running behind, my approximately $90 scheduled sick visit was suddenly going to cost me $145+.
I have absolutely no problem waiting longer when an office is running behind. Veterinary medicine is unpredictable, emergencies happen, and I understand that schedules don’t always go perfectly. What I do have a problem with is an office running behind and then attempting to place the financial consequence of that delay on me because I walked through the door seven minutes after my scheduled appointment time — particularly when another patient was still ahead of us.
If your policy is that patients scheduled for 1:40 PM are actually expected to arrive by 1:30 PM, then SAY THAT when the appointment is scheduled. Tell patients they must arrive 10 minutes early and explain the late-arrival fee upfront. Do not check someone in, have them sit in your waiting room, and then inform them afterward that their regularly scheduled appointment is now considered a “fit-in” requiring an additional $60+ fee.
After 10 years of loyalty to this practice, this was incredibly disappointing. I left without having my injured dog seen, and this office lost three long-term patients today because of how this was handled.
And if seven minutes of a patient’s time is worth an additional $60 when WE are running late, I can only assume patients may begin deducting $60 for every seven minutes the office keeps them waiting past their scheduled appointment time.
Fair is fair.
