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The original was posted on /r/AmItheAsshole by /u/Pretend_Ad_8806 on 2023-09-12 07:36:04.

I made a dentist appointment for 5.30pm. I arrived early, got registered and waited. At about 6.15pm I told them I couldn’t wait any longer and I had to leave.

I had a dinner reservation at 7.00pm. I had planned this bearing in mind they could be running late, so I gave myself 30 extra minutes in the appointment (30 minutes waiting, 30 minutes in the appointment and arriving 10 minutes early to register and 30 minutes to travel to the restaurant).

When I told them I had to leave, they looked shocked and told me I had to pay a cancellation fee. I told them no - my appointment was 45 minutes ago, I showed up and they did not. If I had missed the appointment by 45 minutes, they could refuse to see me and still charge me.

They offered to ‘squeeze me in’ right away and let me jump the queue, but I again refused because it would give me only 15 minutes of an appointment - I noticed the people before me were being seen within about 10 minutes each, and this guy was above market prices so I didn’t want a quick and rushed job.

I left without paying and the waiting room full of people seemed to be judging me pretty hard. It was extremely uncomfortable but objectively I feel they were holding me hostage.

Am I the asshole here? Should I have anticipated the dentist would be more than 45 minutes late and just turned down dinner plans?