How would you deal with this situation?

If only the maligned and probably stressed receptionist could have a chance to give her version. It's only a one sided version of events, we are being given.

It must have been a very stressful journey Donna, but the first thing I always do before setting off further than my local area, is check the live traffic news.

The dentist did see you, albeit for a short time, but that has implications for another patient, who was perhaps there on time , but couldn't be seen at their actual appointment time, because the dentist and receptionist were dealing with you.
It wasn't their fault you were late.

Sorry to say but being late would have impacted on other customers, why should they be delayed because you were late. If I was travelling there I would have gone early and found a coffee shop whilst waiting for my appointment time. I work somewhere that allows 15 mins for latecomers and still they moan they could not find the place, traffic was bad etc and get abusive when they are not allowed in.

Hurray!
I've just had an email inviting me to phone and make an appointment for my postponed checkup.

Now, a question for you all - are you ever too old for a brace?

While frustrating for you neither the dentist nor the receptionist were being unreasonable when you arrived 45 minutes late. My dentist sent all clients an email notification about their Covid measures and the importance of arriving on time. We have to wait outside the surgery in the rain if the dentist is running late, so I take a big umbrella. The note also said the addition Covid measures would have to be passed on in extra charges, but so far hasn't said how much.
As you have paid £3k for a course of treatment I would send a note of apology if you lost your temper. You do not want to be labelled as the client from hell. Change your dentist at the end of your current treatment and find one closer to home and with parking on site, if you do not want to be stressed by risk of traffic delays and parking problems in future.

What about all the times you are sitting waiting for your dentist or doctor or hospital. I sat waiting for over an hour for a dentist only to be told "sorry he's still out at lunch".
Some of them think you have all the time in the world to sit waiting for them to see you.

My NHS dentist is just a mile up the road . If I had to go privately then I would chose one equally as near . Why would anyone want to have their dentist 26 miles away , even more so when knowingly they would need to navigate difficult situations at every visit . Dentists always states that you need to be on time for their appointment because if not they can charge you for their wasted appointment slot . Think you need to sign up with dentist much nearer home or otherwise have to make sure you leave in plenty of time to accommodate road / parking problems as we all know that these situations can happen .

Look around for a new dentist.

So all the ones that say don't argue as the dentist has time slots etc what about in normal times when you are sitting in the dentist an hour after your allotted time because the dentist was "still at lunch".

But these are not "normal" times Caragran. The reception area, and the surgery, have to be deep cleaned after every patient has left and before the next one arrives. 30 minutes? 45 minutes? An hour to do that?

jillybird the dentist did see the OP, he fitted her in. See her later post.

Sorry to go slight off subject but another poster mentioned being charged for missed appointments? I thought that had been banned nowadays?
I had a similar problem with an appt many years ago, (when missed appts were chargeable), when although the dentist was close to home, I had to travel from my workplace for appts during the day. The bus trip could be up to an hour (for a 5 mile journey - yes really) so I had allowed well over that. All well and good, except that 3 expected buses failed to show (waited an hour for those). This in the days before mobile phones, covid etc. I was not able to be seen once I got there. I complained to the bus company and said that they would be charged for any non-attendance fee as I had allowed more than enough time. Thankfully the dentist did not charge me for the fee, so I didn't have to get into arguments with the bus company in getting it paid.

I agree with Blinko

though I don`t live in a village.. just cannot imagine driving any great distance for a dental appt.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Firstly, I travel this sort of distance to see my dentist because they are brilliant so some of us (especially if we were born with poor teeth) understand travelling a long way. I don't think saying "just change dentist" is good advice.

However, I had exactly this kind of problem (pre-lockdown) and just accepted it was a one-off mess. I think you should have done too Donna. My dentist waived the "no show" fee as clearly it had been my intention to arrive. Both of us lost out though.

Now I leave twice as long as the journey takes and simply take a book or some work with me and sit in the car. Yes, it takes a huge chunk out of the day, but to me it's worth it.

In my own business I run an appointment system - with Covid 19 we only have one household on our premises at any one time - miss your appointment then we'll TRY and fit you in but on busy days not at the expense of other clients who do arrive on time - you say "you leave on time" but clearly you didn't - I think your dentist well within their rights to say you missed your appointment

So all the ones that say don't argue as the dentist has time slots etc what about in normal times when you are sitting in the dentist an hour after your allotted time because the dentist was "still at lunch".

Tanjamalita did you not see that Donna said that she did speak to her dentist? She said,

When I spoke to the Dentist the Receptionist actually said I had said more to her than I did and then in mid sentence the Dentist actually said 'he did not know whether he believed what I told him' and then quickly changed the subject.

From this exchange, I suspect that the dentist was (justifiably) annoyed that, not only was she very late for her appointment, but that he was aware that their had been an altercation between Donna and a member of his staff. So he's now in the position of having his appointments for the day completely messed up, his follow up patients inconvenienced by having to wait in turn whilst the surgery is cleaned down in between patients and his receptionist is left with the job of rejigging what to do about the next patients turning up (probably on time) and what to do with them whilst they have to wait.
Don't think I'd be going back to that dental surgery if I was OP.

I wish I could get to a dentist at all! None of the NHS ones are taking on new patients and both DD3 and I need work done

All this travelling with the possibility of delays and problems with parking plus faulty workmanship sounds like a good time to find another dentist.

I would demand to speak to the Dentist himself. The Receptionist is being rude and acting above her station. I would have waited, until the client being treated was ready, and then I would insist on speaking with the dentist. If she refused, I'd make sure that my voice got so high that he would hear me and come to see what was happening. For all she knows, there was going to be a no-show, and I could take that appointment.

I drove to Liverpool and back yesterday from Berkshire to collect my son and drove through the roadworks that you are referring to OP .
My sat nav said that it would take me 5 minutes to get to L1
( not as far as The Docks ) but it actually took me 35 minutes plus a few minutes extra circling a couple of times to park in Peter Street .

On arrival my son told me that ‘ it is always congested there’ as development is long term and ongoing.

As a local who uses that route regularly surely you would have know that and made adjustments to your journey time ?

In any event for an important appointment , to catch a flight etc it is always advisable to have a contingency just in case .

The Dentist very kindly (IMO) saw you anyway!!

Even though you were so late

I fail to see your problem.

You were feeling stressed and was unreasonable. If you want to see this particular dentist, it is you who needs to make allowances to make sure you keep to your appointment, is he supposed to put his other patients off who are on time.? If I was a receptionist and a client was unreasonable and annoyed, I would ask them to please leave and ring in to make another appointment.

Unfortunately you were late and not just a bit. Yes I think that you are being unreasonable, otherwise everyone else on the list would have to suffer.

Chewbacca

^I think that is why he did see me...I was all of five minutes with him.^

Wait up.......! So you did actually see the dentist then? So it wasn't a wasted journey afterall Donna? From the information that you've given in your 2nd post, the dentist's surgery is in Liverpool City centre, within the Albert Docks area? It's always heavily congested there, with traffic going in and out of the city and to the docks. Plus, it's a bank holiday weekend, with additional traffic going to the ferries. You must have realised this when you were about to set out for your appointment, surely? And knowing the area as well as you do (because you've been to this dentist several times before to have spent over £3000 with him), why didn't you leave in plenty of time?

I did leave in plenty of time...Where in my comments says I didn't??

annep1

It was very unfortunate. I wouldn't have thought of checking for roadworks or booking parking in advance but I would have allowed an extra half hour travel just in case. If you did that and it wasn't enough then that was really bad luck.
I understand they couldn't see you. As Squiffy said the problem was the phone. Perhaps you should have left a message and they might have got back and told you to rebook..

I did leave a message whilst I was trying to get through the gridlock of traffic. annepl .. 3 lanes closed and only one lane opened.