8 ms·
I always found it strange that services like doctors, dentists, barbers, etc. are generally open the same hours as the majority of their customer base (9-5ers).
by randomacct3847 8y ago
I always found it strange that services like doctors, dentists, barbers, etc. are generally open the same hours as the majority of their customer base (9-5ers).
If a doctor, barber, dentist wanted to win my business literally all they would have to is shift their hours to accommodate office workers (e.g. like boutique fitness class hours open before work, after work, and lunch hours) and weekends.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoYou could shift your hours?
- randomacct3847 8y agoYeah blaming the customer instead of better accommodating them is not the answer. If I were running a dental practice I’d open at 5am, close for a few hrs mid day and reopen at 5-7 and be open Sat.
- otab111 8y agoIt's tough to imagine finding qualified employees who will tolerate a split shift like that, or who want to only work part time and take one shift or the other. So the dental practice would, almost by definition, be made up largely employees who couldn't secure employment in a business with traditional working hours - maybe even making it the least skilled dental practice in the area. In order to attract workers who can work at 9-5 dental practices, you'd have to pay more than those businesses, given the awkward opening hours. And then you'd hope you got enough patients out of the shift in hours to make some extra money. But a little extra money wouldn't be enough to go through all the trouble... there's no point opening weird hours and then doing "about as well as other dentists" because the weird hours introduce various overhead. So you have to somehow figure out how much more profitable the weird-hours business needs to be in order to deliver a profit that's significantly more than a traditional dentist. And if that profit difference is worth the extra hassle (in its various forms) to you as the owner of the business, sure go ahead.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- quickthrower2 8y agoOf course he/she can. How often do you see the dentist? Twice a year max. Instead of asking their boss: can I come in late tomorrow or work from home, they expect an industry to shift their hours. Not just all the dentists but their assistants and admin staff.
- Nextgrid 8y agoHowever, he is not alone being stuck at work 9 to 5, and the dental practice wouldn’t just accommodate him by shifting their hours but the majority of the workforce and thus win business and make everyone happier.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoFor sure, but you're asking someone else to shift their hours, are you happy to shift yours. Whilst there's an economic element there's a large social/family element to the consideration which is why, IMO, you don't see many services time-shifting: particularly dentists where they are relatively well paid and usually able to direct their own hours. Example I work in an SME that could make much more money working Sundays, but we choose to close and be with Church and family. Same sort of consideration; valuing social aspects far beyond their monetary value. Not everyone will be happier with business hours expanding, especially low-wage workers I expect as the expanding hours will lead to lower QoL.
- jedberg 8y agoI once broke my tooth while traveling in NYC. I pulled up Yelp and just started calling down the list until I found someone who was open past five. Ended up getting an appointment for 7pm. Paid cash because he didn't take my insurance, but basically he won my business simply because he was open late.
- scarcely 8y agoWas the doctor able to tell over the phone you lost a tooth?
- jedberg 8y agoHaha no. I broke my front tooth only 1/2 way. I was talking normally. In fact, I wasn't even going to see a dentist that night, as I had dinner plans, but my wife insisted I fix it that night. Ended up making dinner anyway since people eat really late in NYC.
- vortico 8y agoI've thought the same, but it's usually pretty easy. Just tell your boss you need to go to the doctor or dentist, and they'll usually let you off for a couple hours. What's difficult is barbers (where Trim-It might come in handy, or barber shops open until 7 or 8pm) and banks (which are increasingly moving to online-only but might still require a visit to wire money or set up a new account). These are more unusual services to ask work time off for.
- randomacct3847 8y agoYeah it’s less about being concerned about taking a few hrs off here and there and more that it’s inconvenient to have to do so. Would prefer to do these kinds of things in the AM but again a lot of these places don’t open til 9 or so.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoThat's a privilege of our industry. Regular people in regular jobs have to take days off their paid leave to run errands.
- vortico 8y agoHmm, all of my friends in nontechnical 9-5 jobs (factories, bank tellers, car mechanics) are able to have a couple paid hours leave with a doctor's note or signed appointment slip. Except for one who's a restaurant shift manager. I'd imagine this is more the case with smaller companies. In Tennessee, US.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoWorks for serious illneses, not much for anything else. You won't get extra time off (which doesn't cut into your paid leave) for dealings with your bank, barberer, vet, HOA, etc.
- nikofeyn 8y agois it really such a big deal to take sick time or just leave work for these types of appointments though?
- ams6110 8y agoFor most of us here, probably not. For shift workers or those who otherwise work a strict schedule, it at least requires a fair bit of advance planning if not close to impossible.
- nikofeyn 8y agothat is true, but even that i find that frustrating. the reality is what it is but it bothers me people working shifts don’t have sick hours or the mobility to take care of themselves during the day like this.
- randomacct3847 8y agoNo, but taking a few hours off is annoying if it means you have to reschedule a bunch of things. I would much rather run “errand” type things like this in the early morning before work.
- pard68 8y agoNot for the hn user base maybe, but for a lot of people it is. I worked part time out of college, only job I could find, worked 36 hours a week, anymore and they'd would have to give me benefits. If I had to take time off that came out of my pocket. This is a reality for a lot of people.
- scarface74 8y agoThis exactly. I haven’t had to take time off work for any personal reason or because I was sick in years - and then I was actually in the hospital. I can work from home, catch up on the weekend etc. But my wife can’t exactly work from home as a special needs bus driver.
- benbristow 8y ago
- chiefalchemist 8y ago> "I always found it strange that services like doctors, dentists, barbers, etc. are generally open the same hours as the majority of their customer base (9-5ers)." In find this true for nearly all mom & pop doing retail. At least be open a little later a couple evenings a week so those who want to support SMB's can. I mean, you can't scream "Support us" and then be closed when I get off work. It's bad enough most towns have parking meters. The mall / strip mall is open later and there's no charge for parking. Obviously, the internet is even better in terms of convenience.
- veryworried 8y agoI’m not sure what the point of supporting most small business retail is. If you are just selling things I can buy online, you have no reason to exist, and are just taking up space that can be used for other service like businesses.
- Symbiote 8y ago1) It's easier to influence a local business. "I don't like that you've stopped stocking X." 2) You may rely on the local business in some situations (urgently need something), but it can't survive on this type of custom alone. 3) The profits are much more likely to be fairly taxed and then spent in the local economy, which is positive for the community.
- kodz4 8y agoThat's not literally all they have to do. This goes to a lack of understanding of how the 24 hr body clock works and what the cost is when everyone is functioning out of sync. In the search for efficiency, we make people go out of sync with the rest of herd all the time. This has consequences to their lives, their families and sooner or later the cascading consequences lead to things like 3 mile island, chernobyl and bhopal. Check what time they happened.
- sdinsn 8y ago> sooner or later the cascading consequences lead to things like 3 mile island, chernobyl and bhopal. Check what time they happened It doesn't work like that; You are ignoring all the other accidents that happened during the day and refusing to account for other factors (such as less staff during off-hours).
- mattkrause 8y agoSome fields, especially medicine, take this to extremes, but I’m having a hard time imagining that switching a few days a week from from 9-5 to 12-8pm would be disasterous. Plus, the stakes are pretty low at barbershops.
- benatkin 8y agoThe stakes are going out of business, which defeats the whole purpose of moving to unconventional hours.
- mattkrause 8y agoThe parent comment mentioned 3 mile island, chernobyl and bhopal, which seemed to be suggesting that shifted hours would lead to...i don't even know what.
- jeffmould 8y agoMy kids dentist is closed Thursday and Friday, but open Saturday and Sunday. While this is great, the downside is it is you have to schedule well in advance and even still there is always still a wait. The plus side is they will work until all patients are seen that day. The convenience factor alone is a huge driver for their business.
- benatkin 8y agoThat’s smart. “We’re open on Saturday and Sunday” makes for a better sound bite than “we’re open on evenings from 6-9, except Friday."
- geodel 8y agoAt least for doctors and dentists they are better paid than most of their clientele. So they wouldn't see the need to serve customers beyond their normal comfortable hours.
- randomacct3847 8y agoSelf employed doctors and dentists (e.g. those with their own practice) are just like any other business and need to attract new customers. If you’re established and you have a full panel, then sure there’s no reason to change things, but if you’re new and looking for ways to attract new customers the first thing I would personally consider speaking from the customer POV is have hours that accommodate 9-5ers...
- x0x0 8y agoThe problem with that is obvious -- the doctor is building a clientele that expects her or him to spend the rest of her or his life working evenings.
- acct1771 8y agoBanks, same issue. Decentralize.
- jhbadger 8y agoOnce upon a time, doctors even made house calls. Think of old movies where the doctor comes with the little black bag to see the patient.
- quickthrower2 8y agoThey still do in Australia. There is an out of hours doctor service.
- amelius 8y agoFlying doctors?
- jfk13 8y agoOnce upon a time? When my mother was too unwell to go to the surgery (she had cancer and was approaching end of life, but still at home), her GP made house calls as needed. This was in the UK, just a couple of years ago.
- stordoff 8y agoMy grandfather routinely has nurses make home visits (including for blood tests), and I'm fairly sure he can request a GP's visit if one were necessary (NHS).
- arkades 8y agoMost doctors are already at capacity. They don’t have anything to win by staying open later, and they can’t charge a premium for it. The few docs I know having trouble filling their waiting room work evenings and weekends, and some do house-calls.
- ams6110 8y agoMany of the clinics here that are open late do charge an "after hours" fee. It's about $20 tacked on to the base office visit fee. "Urgent care" walk-in clinics don't and are typically open 8-8 or so.
- arkades 8y agoWhere is “here”? In the US your rates are contracted with insurers, so for any patient with insurance, a cash add-on is fraud.
- robertAngst 8y ago>Most doctors are already at capacity. Physicians are at capacity. The American Medical Association has capped entries to medical school. Other doctors are not like this.
- khaled 8y agoDepends where you live I guess, here in Egypt barbers are usually open till midnight (and even till the next morning in Eid eve). Private clinics usually work evening hours as well.
- Keyframe 8y agoIn Croatia, doctors and dentists usually work in alternating hours. Odd dates mornings till 1400, even dates 13/14 until evening or something like it. That way, people that work 9/5 can make it, but also other shifts. Private clinics and barbers work morning to evening, except Saturdays (usually up to 1300/1400) and a strong no for Sundays.
- rhcom2 8y agoAlso a major barrier for people looking for a consistent appointment with a therapist.
- MisterTea 8y agoThat's because your spouse isn't at home to do these things for you as they're either working or don't exist. Blame the concept of the nuclear family or rather the death of it.
- codemac 8y agoHow does my spouse go to the dentist or barber for me?
- qrbLPHiKpiux 8y agoThen pay for it and stop with arguing with me and my staff about your insurance plan. I am a practicing provider and I struggle with this. People, on one hand, like a doctor that takes their insurance plan. Did you want a boutique provider, after hours from where you work, I can guarantee there won’t be any network with your insurance plan and you will pay top dollar for this. In my experience, people do not want this.
- forkLding 8y agoMy mum basically did this for her restaurant, its only open around 12pm for preparing the ingredients and is open until 11pm in the night, nobody comes to eat breakfast at a fine dining restaurant anyways.
- zahrc 8y agoIt’s even worse in Germany, especially in my town. Governmental offices are open 8-14 on Monday, 8-16 on Tuesday, closed on Wednesday, 8-18 on Thursday and 8-12 on Fridays.
- koolba 8y agoI’ve talked to my barber about this. His personal experience with more accommodating hours over the experiment was no gain in income and increased headache from his family. Even being open on Sundays (rather than the usual Tuesday - Saturday) didn’t change things as the clientele is accustomed to fitting themselves into the regular schedule.
- mamon 8y agoYou're really misunderstaning the power balance here: when you go to a doctor or a dentist you are not a customer buying their services, you are a supplicant begging for their mercy :) That's why they work the hours they find convenient, and you have to go through the hoops to make it on time for your appointment. This logic however does not apply to barbers.
- conanbatt 8y agoDoctors and dentists make six figures: its the other workers that have to accomodate to their hours.