The Four-Hour Window/Waiting Time

[*amy*]

Recently, I've had to set up several appointments for installation of an appliance (disposal), check my refrigerator - & not long ago, make an appointment with the cable co to come out. Used to be, the cable co gave you a four-hour window, & asked "Do you want morning or afternoon?" Now, many installers/repair techs? are following the four-hour window time slot & am/pm as sop, & won't commit to a specific time, even though we/I pay for the service & hefty installation fees (charged to my credit card).

My "beef" is, scheduling an appointment, losing a whole day, being tied to the house waiting for a pro to show up w/i a four-hour window because they can't narrow the time down to w/i an hour & commit to a specific time.

In my business & social life, when I've scheduled an appointment, I show up at the designated time (if not earlier) - not w/i a four-hour period. When it comes to doctor's appointments, they sometimes ask you to arrive an hour earlier to fill out paperwork etc -- then, we wait again, in the waiting room, until the Doc/pro is ready. Then we may again wait in the examining room.

I'm at the point where I want to say - Be there at the designated time, or let's call the whole thing off. Any thoughts?

 

[GotGarlic]

Recently, I've had to set up several appointments for installation of an appliance (disposal), check my refrigerator - & not long ago, make an appointment with the cable co to come out. Used to be, the cable co gave you a four-hour window, & asked "Do you want morning or afternoon?" Now, many installers/repair techs? are following the four-hour window time slot & am/pm as sop, & won't commit to a specific time, even though we/I pay for the service & hefty installation fees (charged to my credit card).

My "beef" is, scheduling an appointment, losing a whole day, being tied to the house waiting for a pro to show up w/i a four-hour window because they can't narrow the time down to w/i an hour & commit to a specific time.

In my business & social life, when I've scheduled an appointment, I show up at the designated time (if not earlier) - not w/i a four-hour period. When it comes to doctor's appointments, they sometimes ask you to arrive an hour earlier to fill out paperwork etc -- then, we wait again, in the waiting room, until the Doc/pro is ready. Then we may again wait in the examining room.

I'm at the point where I want to say - Be there at the designated time, or let's call the whole thing off. Any thoughts?

re: technicians: bad traffic and unexpected problems at a previous work site can throw them off unexpectedly. re: doctor's offices, sometimes previous patients are late, throwing off the schedule, or an emergency not serious enough for the ER has to be worked in. At the doctor's, I always try to get the first or last appointment.

I know it's frustrating. I try to use the time to get something constructive done - bring reading to the doctor's, catch up on chores around the house, etc. Actually, I'm lucky there - DH works in the same city where we live and I don't, and his working hours are done earlier than mine, so he usually gets stuck waiting at home.

 

[*amy*]

I hear ya, GG. But, we all have schedules, places to go, things to do, traffic & commitments in our business (& social lives). What I'm getting at, is perhaps, not to accept four-hour windows & 2 hour waiting times in doc's/dentist etc. offices. Our time is valuable as well. There are lots of folks that have to take the day off - just waiting around for four hours. IMO, just seems to be sop, for saying we don't know when we'll be there.

 

[buckytom]

with the rising cost of gas, it'll probably get worse. companies that offer those 4 hour windows for service usually run pretty loose, and wait until the last second to actually schedule the drivers, or installation techs, or repairmen, etc..
now, they'll try even harder to schedule their day to save the most amout of time and fuel.

there's only 2 things you can do: cancel it and patronize someone else, or live with the aggravation.

 

[miniman]

I phoned up the other day for a redelivery of an item which they tried to deliver when I was out. I was home for an afternoon so I said that would be a good time, got the answer we deliver between 8am aand 4pm and can't commit to a slot.

Against that I have had some who now give you the 4/6 hr window and then phone in the morning to narrow it down to an hour & then even phone to say that they are on there way and will be with me in 5 minutes - good service.

 

[pacanis]

I think a large part of it has to do with overbooking in case there is a cancellation. Now when nobody cancels, they have too much to do and run behind.
And yes it stinks.

 

[Katie H]

For 25 years Buck and I have owned and operated our own interior design business, which specializes in all types of window treatments. We've never had an installer. Instead, we do the installations ourselves. When we lived in Washington, D.C, we occasionally subcontracted to other designers/decorators to do their installations when they were in a pinch. We always made a point to schedule a set time and to be on time. Every once in a while we'd be a few minutes late due to traffic. Rarely more than 15 minutes.

When we moved to Kentucky, we were contacted by the regional office of Sears and were hired as subcontractors to install all their custom window treatments. We were their only installers for a three-state service area. Again, we scheduled our installation times and did our best to be on time. There were days that were very tricky because we were shooting in the dark as far as travel time was concerned and depended wholly on directions given to us by the customer. Satellite guidance wasn't available at the time. It would have been a godsend, believe me.

Having said all that, with the technology available these days, it would seem a rather simple thing for a service company to commit to a window of time for their customers.

I have never relished waiting for service personnel and do my best to understand if there are unavoidable delays. As someone said earlier, I busy myself with tasks around the house or, if I'm at the doctor's office, I always come prepared with a book or something to keep busy to pass the time. However it plays out, we're still at their mercy.