How would you deal with this situation?

Donna I sympathise. Even if the receptionist was only doing her job sometimes they come across as so unbearably smug about it when you're hot and bothered and already totally stressed out. And to have to pay for the privilege. Don't blame you for arguing your case.

Marieeliz

Donna1964 I think my dentist could be near yours. Albert Dock mentioned. Thank goodness I cancelled mine but will need to go soon. Rodney street

My Dentist is across the road from the Albert Dock near a Dessert Cafe and Gym.

Jillybird

Poor Donna. She's had a horrible frustrating waste of a day and now you are all telling her it was her own fault! It was a set of extremely unfortunate circumstances, one on top of another, leading to a bad final outcome. I completly agree that the dentist could not have put everyone else's treatment back 45 minutes, but the receptionist could at least have been sympathetic - that could have taken the heat out of the situation.
You now have to make a decision: make peace with the dentist and receptionist (I'd write a letter) or find another dentist.

Thank you Jillybird for some understanding. I have said it once and I will say it again. Had I received a return call to my message whilst waiting in the gridlock of traffic (not because of building work as someone as mentioned or that this area has always got a congestion of traffic)! The problem was road works and lanes of traffic closed down...so if you times that by 10 to what normally is congestion you would understand where I was coming from. I then went to the first carpark that said it was full when there was car spaces available and the second carpark let me in but was full and I then had to wait for someone to return to their car to get a carpark space. STILL no one had returned my call from the Dentist and when I arrived at the Dentist and spoke to the Receptionist...the first thing she said was 'I should have left a message' when I did. I asked her to check for my message and she would'nt. I insisted she spoke to my Dentist as she does not make his decisions for him...he came out to speak to me then told me the Receptionist quoted more than I did say and when I challenged her on what she said...she was very sheepish has she had been caught out and she knew it. I then had to listen to the Dentist then to say 'he did not know whether he believed me' I found that to be unacceptable, inappropriate also unprofessional of him. Had my telephone message been returned I would have turned around at the next exit and not continued to the Dentist. That is where the problem began from their side...before this situation they have not returned calls nor answered the phone. As for some of the people on here there are a few of them who speak down to you, like they have a dirty smell under their nose, are without sin and do no wrong (or so they think) so cast stones at others...I think they get a kick out of it putting people down.. must make them feel good...sad really.

Donna1964 I think my dentist could be near yours. Albert Dock mentioned. Thank goodness I cancelled mine but will need to go soon. Rodney street

Donna1964, this was entirely your fault and your behaviour was appalling. Your dentist should have charged you for a missed appointment.

donna1964, there's two issues here, as I see it. Your delayed arrival and the dentist response. You don't say how much time you allowed for travel or delay, so being late is down to you, no ifs or buts. But I do sympathise, I will come back to that.

The fact that the receptionist couldn't have shown some understanding of your plight is probably why you have started this thread. She could easily explained, that which others have eloquently said, so sorry that you have had a wasted journey but we have to keep within guidelines and so on.........

Coming back to my first point, here's why I sympathise. My previous dentist had relieved me of not to considerable sum for fitting two crowns, a four figure sum in fact.

Some months later an abscess had formed under the work of one of those crowns and as always it happened at the weekend. Come Monday my cheek was protruding out with the swelling. I called at my dentist without an appointment, the receptionist could see my swollen face, she rang through to surgery, my dentist absolutely refused to see me without an appointment, adding that he could see me on Thursday.

Months later I started getting reminders that my dental check up was due, which I ignored. The reminders continued so I phoned the surgery. After explaining my previous plight the receptionist remembered me. I told her that I left the surgery in such pain that I went to my doctor, told the receptionist there of my frustration with my dentist. She spoke to my doctor after she had finished with her last patient. Doctor came out of surgery, looked the swelling in my mouth, agreed it was an abscess and prescribed antibiotics, it took about thirty seconds.

By the time that my dentist would have seen me the antibiotics were taking effect. With that I found another dentist and have been with that practice ever since. If you are paying privately it's your choice. Do you like the dentist that you are with? If so, write to the practice and tell them how you feel. How they reply will give you the understanding that you need to stay or change. I hope that helps.

Knowing what a nightmare it is to drive in Liverpool city centre I would have parked at an outlying station and caught the train in. You would then have only a 10-15 minute walk to the dentist’s.

Not your fault, not their fault either... A bit of misdirected anger there. All the other patients shouldn't need to wait because you were 45 minutes late and the dentist should not be late home because of it. I would have probably still charged you for the appointment too...

I'm afraid when you make a appointment being on time is your responsibility even if it isn't your fault when things go wrong. Better to leave more wriggle room for the unexpected

it is annoying, but why should the dentist be inconvenienced and his other patients.
i hope the driver did not make a phone call while the car engine was on.
what difference does the phone call make. could have turned around as soon as realised would not make appt.
the receptionist was probably busy dealing with other enquiries.
need to leave much more time, at least an hour to be there before appt due, esp coming from so far.
but the attitude of outrage and entitlement does not garner my sympathy.

"had a problem"

I am of a different opinion to those who say OP should have checked for road works, left plenty of time etc. My only way of checking traffic problems is to listen to the local radio station, google maps isn't accurate when it gives time it is expected to take for the journey.

My Dentist is only 5 miles away but we have major roadworks & depending on the time of day you can drive more or less straight through or be held up for a long time.

Car park I have to use is shared between Dentist, Council Offices & JobCentre, only good thing it is free. I once spent 20mins driving round & ended up parking in the Dentists Disabled spaces. Receptionist started to tell my I was late (2 mins), I explained to her that I had ha problems parking & where I had left my car, explanation accepted & I saw the Dentist.

Having to wait outside is a problem for me as I can't stand for long but I do appreciate the reasons which is why I haven't booked my check-up

My dentist was not using a receptionist when I went last time. All paperwork was done online ahead of the visit. Her dental nurse was checking people in and any messages were picked up before and after surgery and at lunchtime.

I know this practice had a receptionist present but we don't know that she was able to answer the phone at any given time.

Perhaps the one 26 miles away is a trusted practice that has been used for years.

Apparently not. According to the OP have in the past had to make a journey back to the Dentist 2 days after blocks where put on your teeth that fell off in the carpark after just having them put on.

There is no point in screaming at the receptionist, however if she had answered the phone when you called she could have been able to tell you that you would need to re-book. As a receptionist she should also have been monitoring any messages left and could have called you back to reschedule an appointment.

I find it quite annoying when people say why didn't you check before you left the house for any traffic delays etc...
Well an accident can happen in the blink of an eye that can cause hours of delays. I live on a main road and you would be surprised at when the council turns up to do repairs, they close one lane at 2pm with no notice what-so-ever - so I think it is very patronising to accuse someone of not being smart enough to check traffic.

Also if she wants to go to a dentist 100 miles away it is her prerogative. Perhaps the one 26 miles away is a trusted practice that has been used for years.

If any one arrives 45 minutes late for any appointment, why would they expect to be seen? We are, as we know, living in unprecedented times. Any work station has to be covid safe, that is disinfected between clients or patients. New PPE for dentis/doctor/nurse. Traffic is always unpredictable and anyone familiar with Liverpool currently will be aware of the need to add a considerable amount of time to their journey plan.
I feel for the receptionist here. I don't know if she was rude but the advice from some posters that raised voices are the answer is wrong. Why be rude to someone when you're the problem, arriving so late. It's stressful for the OP of course but I wonder how many other irritable patients this receptionist has to deal with, all blaming the traffic and with sense of entitlement.

phinee phone!

The phinee was the problem. Why didn't the receptionist listen to the messages.

I think the dentist is at fault.

They should have answered the phone, the OP did try and explain her late arrival. Because of their failure to answer the phone, she had a wasted journey and a lot of stress.
I sympathise.

You say you left in time. No you didn’t. You should have given yourself a lot of extra time knowing that traffic and parking could be a problem. You should have been prepared to be there a lot earlier.
Most dentists are working with very few staff which means there is no current receptionist. You were lucky they didn’t charge you for a missed appointment which my dentist does.

NotTooOld

Bluebelle - Donna said the receptionist showed no understanding and merely told her she had missed her appointment. Receptionists should be trained to deal with patients in a sympathetic manner (even if the patient is out of order) and I got the impression that this one didn't. I could be wrong! A good receptionist is an asset to a company. They are the first person a visitor encounters and they represent the public face of the company. Of course, the reception role is often underrated, under trained and under paid. I should know, I used to train 'em!

A good receptionist doesn’t have to be a doormat though.

A good receptionist is a gatekeeper to their boss, as well as someone who manages all the appts.

Taking abuse from people who have missed their appt is a hard part of their job and surely they should be forgiven for not going out of their way to be a doormat. After all, it’s not their fault.

I get the feeling that “sympathetic” in this case actually means “squeezing me in, and disrupting the dentist and other patients day”

i want to go to dentist ,but am so scared of all this spray disinfectant. am allergic to most...been waiting 4/5 months for root canal treatment.....my advice change dentist .but thats not so easy , i try to change dentist .i get email us .i did ,no answer ,left message on phone .no answer .waited outside surgery .oh you not one of our patients .waited 25 minutes for her to speak to me through window .with oh you have to email us .i have .phone message .i have .still waiting to change dentist...

*HiPpyChick57’, the OP did try and phone but only got an answering machine.

When you realised you were going to be late why didn’t you ring the dentist to say.
When my DD had braces she had check ups every 6 months. Not being a driver I had to catch the bus. On two occasions something was happening in the city so the bus had to take a detour. I rang the dentist to explain I was on my way but that owing to the circumstances I would be late. Both times the receptionist had a word with the dentist who said to come in if I was willing to wait until she could fit me in but obviously couldn’t say for how long. I waited on both counts and thanked the dentist for her understanding. To which she replied if people are coming from a distance they would always try and fit them in if possible.
If you experience any less from your dentist I would change.

Callistomon. I 'treated' myself to orthodontic treatment for my 60th birthday. It had a big impact on my life as previously I had always been self-conscious about my crooked teeth.

It is the OP's responsibility to ensure she leaves enough time to get to her appointment but sometimes accidents happen after you have left which cause chaos to other travellers. It is nobody's fault, the dentist can't be inconvenienced and the client just has to accept these things happen.
One person's perspective about being sympathetic is often very different from another's and maybe the receptionist might have thought she was being very reasonable. However, an apology for not ringing back might have gone a long way to be placatory. My dentist is 40 miles away for my specialist treatment but the NHS dentist who is 6 miles away who does all the grunt work but refuses to do Crowns, bridges, etc, despite it being "allowed" on the NHS. I have 3 spaces which aren't noticeable (he won't provide false teeth either for the bottom set) but when I lost the front tooth, no way was I going to leave a space! I always try to leave plenty of time to arrive for both venues but sometimes things go wrong.