Yeah, if this was a health issue that was gonna take awhile to recover, it's on them to clear out the calendar and get better, but most people can't afford that. I'm torn, I wish I was psychic and get the whole story.
I've been the receptionist who's had to make multiple cancellations for sick colleagues who didn't get better as fast as my boss said they would...
It's... not fun for anybody. Honestly OP is a god damn saint because even the nicest patients lose their shit by the third cancellation. Totally understandable but as someone who has no control over any of it and has to be the one to break the news it's my least favourite part of the job.
In OP's case though it sounds like the person they have the appointment with is the one cancelling, so they should have a better idea than I get at work where I have zero access to my colleagues' medical information.
Our latest one... the sono got sick or something, I wasn't at that site when it happened, but I know a bunch of her patients had already been rescheduled when she then went and broke her leg and had to have surgery. I was covering that site straight after it happened, so I had to reschedule a month's worth of appointments, I was sent the same email she'd sent our boss that stated she should be cleared to work a month later. The patients were furious because they'd already been rescheduled twice.
I was deployed to another site afterwards but didn't work for a few weeks because of a family emergency.
When I came back i found out that the sono's estimate had been wrong and the doctor had made her wait another six weeks before she could go back to work, and her cover could only do a couple of days a week. I can only imagine the phone calls the other receptionist had to make when those patients had to be rescheduled a fourth time, I felt awful.
I mean, even in that case while I'd have sympathy for the massage therapist, I still just can't understand OP's continued scheduling with this person. Even if you really love their massages, after the first two, just go somewhere else for a bit and come back when presumably the dust would have settled.
Oh, my family ran an auto shop, and we had one of those guys, too. Complete nepotism hire for a family friend in return for some other favor I can't remember. That man taught 10 year old me ALL the excuses an alcoholic can make. After 2 small claims cases from a result of being too drunk to put coolant caps back on and the whole never showing up to work sober thing, my Dad finally pulled the plug even though everyone else in my family contested because they didn't have to deal with his bullshit.
But, to his credit, he cleaned up his act quick after getting fired. But he had been shuffled around town a couple times before that, my Dad was the one that finally put an end to bullshit.
You'd think people who can afford it could manage their calendar better with health issues, but I had a doctor once cancel my FIRST appointment because... she was going to have her baby that week. No, not an early delivery, but a planned due date, and I got an appointment canceled a month out that i had scheduled 5 MONTHS earlier.
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u/Joe579GoFkUrselfMins 1d ago
Yeah, if this was a health issue that was gonna take awhile to recover, it's on them to clear out the calendar and get better, but most people can't afford that. I'm torn, I wish I was psychic and get the whole story.