On The Sixth Day, God Created Receptionists

(A month ago I had to cancel a dentist appointment due to my mother having an accident. She lives in Northern Ireland and I doubted I would make it back in time — I live in Scotland. My dentist is private and charges for missed appointments. I cancelled three weeks prior to my appointment. After checking my bank statement, I notice a charge has been made. I call up my dentist.)

Me: “I have a charge on my bank statement from you. Could I ask what it was for?” *gives details*

Receptionist: “It’s for a missed appointment. You should have given us six days’ notice.”

Me: “But I cancelled at least three weeks before.”

Receptionist: “…”

Me: “Hello?”

Receptionist: “You have been charged for a missed appointment. You needed to give six days’ notice.”

Me: “I gave you 21 days’ notice!”

Receptionist: “That isn’t six days!”

Me: “So… I need to cancel my appointment exactly six days before?”

Receptionist: “Finally, he gets it!” *hangs up*

(I went into my dentist after work and got everything straightened out. It turns out the receptionist was new and had been charging everyone who had missed appointments who didn’t cancel six days before. I was only the third person to actually call in about the charge, but it prompted the owner to do an investigation. The found that a rather sizeable sum had been accumulated. She no longer works there. The bewildering part about all of this is you need to give at least 24 hour’s notice of cancellation or risk being charged. There has never been a policy there concerning six days. No one knows why she was so adamant about six days. Even she couldn’t answer why.)