I had made a dentist appointment in advance with my regular dentist, and 3 days prior to the actual appointment, I realized I would not be able to make it, so I called the dentist office to cancel. (3 days is more than the 24 hour notice they require to avoid the “missed appointment” fee of $50.00) The booking clerk kept insisting that I keep the appointment “open in case I could make it”, all the while I am asking her to please cancel it because I KNEW that I would be unable to be there that day. At the end of the conversation I said, “Look, I can not make it, please just cancel it.”, and the clerk replied “Okay”.

Two days later I received a bill for $50.00 via US post. I was so furious! I called the dentist office, asked to speak to the office manager, and told her “I called 3 days ahead of time which, according to your POSTED rules, is more than your 24 hour advance notice required. I spoke to *insert clerks name here* and canceled that appointment. She insisted I keep it open and I told her NO. If she wanted it open and held for me so badly, let her pay the $50.00 fee, I am refusing to pay it. And as an aside, I will no longer be coming to your office for treatment.” *click*

I am so sick of people in business trying to charge you outrageous fees for nothing at all. They can stuff their fees or lose my business, and with the economy the way it is now…you would think they would be bending over backwards to keep customers, as opposed to bending their customers over.
MadCow