Minor things that bother you

[vdeane]

Businesses that require one to create an account in order to do things like order food or book an appointment.  Sure, offer the option for those who would rather create a username/password and save things like payment/contact information, but there needs to be an option to do these things without creating an account.  I have no desire to create an account for, say, a once a year eye exam or if I'm trying out a new place to get my hair cut, and I definitely won't if I'm just ordering food while I'm traveling, so this degrades my experience by forcing me to downgrade to a phone call (which is both more annoying and more likely to lead to errors; plus there likely won't be an email confirmation).

[JayhawkCO]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

[vdeane]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

At least those don't leave you with a false hope of doing it online only to get to the end and be asked to create an account, forcing you to start over on the phone.  But yes, though I don't know too many doctors office that do online appointments for new patients.

[wanderer2575]

Businesses that require one to create an account in order to do things like order food or book an appointment.  Sure, offer the option for those who would rather create a username/password and save things like payment/contact information, but there needs to be an option to do these things without creating an account.  I have no desire to create an account for, say, a once a year eye exam or if I'm trying out a new place to get my hair cut, and I definitely won't if I'm just ordering food while I'm traveling, so this degrades my experience by forcing me to downgrade to a phone call (which is both more annoying and more likely to lead to errors; plus there likely won't be an email confirmation).

It has to have been mentioned somewhere in the 338 pages prior, but businesses that require one to register/login to an account, or at least select delivery/pickup options, before allowing one to just look at the damn menu.  Maybe I'm not having it brought home, but instead plan to actually sit down and eat there.  If I have to go through a hassle just to see your offerings, I'll go elsewhere.  :grumble:

[webny99]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

Agreed in general, but doctor's offices feel like a potential the exception to the rule. They usually have fairly rigorous approval and sign up processes for new patients (if they're even accepting them at all) so it makes sense they would want to speak to you first and verify personal information etc.

[JayhawkCO]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

Agreed in general, but doctor's offices feel like a potential the exception to the rule. They usually have fairly rigorous approval and sign up processes for new patients (if they're even accepting them at all) so it makes sense they would want to speak to you first and verify personal information etc.

When I called, all they asked me was my name and what kind of insurance I had. Not too rigorous if you ask me.

[SEWIGuy]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

The place where we board our dogs asks us to make reservations online, only to call me five minutes later to verify the details. Exceedingly annoying.

[thenetwork]

Businesses that require one to create an account in order to do things like order food or book an appointment.  Sure, offer the option for those who would rather create a username/password and save things like payment/contact information, but there needs to be an option to do these things without creating an account.  I have no desire to create an account for, say, a once a year eye exam or if I'm trying out a new place to get my hair cut, and I definitely won't if I'm just ordering food while I'm traveling, so this degrades my experience by forcing me to downgrade to a phone call (which is both more annoying and more likely to lead to errors; plus there likely won't be an email confirmation).

It has to have been mentioned somewhere in the 338 pages prior, but businesses that require one to register/login to an account, or at least select delivery/pickup options, before allowing one to just look at the damn menu.  Maybe I'm not having it brought home, but instead plan to actually sit down and eat there.  If I have to go through a hassle just to see your offerings, I'll go elsewhere.  :grumble:

Or the ones that will post the menu, but either omit the prices altogether, or never update the prices.  I decided to hit a restaurant whose menu I liked online, only to find out that the prices for many of the appetizers and entrees went up by $3-$5. 

[vdeane]

It has to have been mentioned somewhere in the 338 pages prior, but businesses that require one to register/login to an account, or at least select delivery/pickup options, before allowing one to just look at the damn menu.  Maybe I'm not having it brought home, but instead plan to actually sit down and eat there.  If I have to go through a hassle just to see your offerings, I'll go elsewhere.  :grumble:

I wonder if they ever ask themselves why they have so many orders start but never get completed.

[dlsterner]

Businesses that require one to create an account in order to do things like order food or book an appointment.  Sure, offer the option for those who would rather create a username/password and save things like payment/contact information, but there needs to be an option to do these things without creating an account.  I have no desire to create an account for, say, a once a year eye exam or if I'm trying out a new place to get my hair cut, and I definitely won't if I'm just ordering food while I'm traveling, so this degrades my experience by forcing me to downgrade to a phone call (which is both more annoying and more likely to lead to errors; plus there likely won't be an email confirmation).

It has to have been mentioned somewhere in the 338 pages prior, but businesses that require one to register/login to an account, or at least select delivery/pickup options, before allowing one to just look at the damn menu.  Maybe I'm not having it brought home, but instead plan to actually sit down and eat there.  If I have to go through a hassle just to see your offerings, I'll go elsewhere.  :grumble:

Sometimes when I'm on a road trip, I just want to check out the menu at a restaurant that I'm considering for dinner the next night, to see how appealing it might be.  (I prefer to eat at places different than what I can eat at when home).

I don't want to create an account, or be told "we're not open right now; try again when we are".

To be (somewhat) fair, a workaround is to click the place in (say) Google Maps, and check the photos there and check the "Menu" or "Vibe" section for useful photos. But those pics could be quite dated.

[roadman65]

Strange women who you don't know who start following you on Twitter. Such women who don't even use Twitter to post photos and commentary in their pages.

[Rothman]

Strange women who you don't know who start following you on Twitter.

Psst.  They aren't real...

[hbelkins]

Strange women who you don't know who start following you on Twitter.

Psst.  They aren't real...

No joke, I've picked up dozens of them as followers and I'm too lazy to go in and block them all.

[J N Winkler]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

Agreed in general, but doctor's offices feel like a potential the exception to the rule. They usually have fairly rigorous approval and sign up processes for new patients (if they're even accepting them at all) so it makes sense they would want to speak to you first and verify personal information etc.

I think most primary-care physicians force new patients to jump through more hoops because initial appointments take much longer.

Since I was long overdue for a first screening colonoscopy, I had to make an appointment with a new PCP after a 14-year hiatus of not interacting with any medical professionals at all.  I started right after New Year's Day 2023 by booking an appointment online.  It was cancelled almost immediately because I was not on the books and so needed to obtain a new-patient appointment.  When I called (using IM relay), the first available slot was in September.  I took it.  After a month or two, I was offered the chance to rebook for May.

I was able to handle the logistics for the colonoscopy itself (eventually scheduled for September) mostly by email, but had to start the process with a telephone call.

The only medical professional I've worked with that has accepted an online booking as the first contact is my optometrist.

To be (somewhat) fair, a workaround is to click the place in (say) Google Maps, and check the photos there and check the "Menu" or "Vibe" section for useful photos. But those pics could be quite dated.

I had this experience with a Peruvian restaurant I tried last weekend--Google has at least three different versions of their menu.  I had to use photo timestamps (not sure whether these are shown in mobile interfaces) to determine which was most recent.

Strange women who you don't know who start following you on Twitter.

Psst.  They aren't real...

No joke, I've picked up dozens of them as followers and I'm too lazy to go in and block them all.

I have a particular antipathy to lonelyhearts scams, so I don't just block them--I report them as they come in.  It's been quite a while since the last one.

[GaryV]

Strange women who you don't know who start following you on Twitter.

Psst.  They aren't real...

They're all somebody's X's   

[mgk920]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

Agreed in general, but doctor's offices feel like a potential the exception to the rule. They usually have fairly rigorous approval and sign up processes for new patients (if they're even accepting them at all) so it makes sense they would want to speak to you first and verify personal information etc.

I think most primary-care physicians force new patients to jump through more hoops because initial appointments take much longer.

I wonder how much of that is due to language in recent federal laws?

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

Similarly, places where you CAN'T book an appointment online. My doctor recently retired, so I needed to find a new practice to get a physical. Almost no doctor's offices near me let me book appointments online.

Agreed in general, but doctor's offices feel like a potential the exception to the rule. They usually have fairly rigorous approval and sign up processes for new patients (if they're even accepting them at all) so it makes sense they would want to speak to you first and verify personal information etc.

I think most primary-care physicians force new patients to jump through more hoops because initial appointments take much longer.

I wonder how much of that is due to language in recent federal laws?

I would guess its more about insurance companies wanting patients to spend more time with relatively low-cost PCPs and less time with higher cost specialists.

[J N Winkler]

Regarding new-patient appointments, I think they last longer because a full medical history is taken; lab work is ordered (including a CBC); and the PCP sits down with the patient to cover the waterfront in terms of outstanding medical issues, general approach toward metabolic health, necessary screening procedures (besides a colonoscopy, I was advised to self-refer to a dermatologist given family history of skin cancer on both sides), vaccinations, prophylactics (especially important for sexually active people), contraception (for female patients of childbearing age), and so on.

I think mine lasted for about an hour.  That did not include a follow-up appointment to have blood drawn for a CBC.  I was also told in advance to bring all my medical records from my previous physicians, but I did not do so, and was not asked for them.  (I think paper files from my next-to-last PCP are probably now in the salt mines in Hutchinson and would take forever to retrieve.  I was also registered with a GP practice, but when I tried to request these records, I was told my registration had lapsed, which means my patient file has been archived.  I can order it--indeed, there is an online form to allow me to do so--but I have postponed that task for the time being since it is such a cumbersome process to gather all the required documentation.)

In contradistinction, I would expect later appointments--particularly ones to treat easy-to-diagnose acute conditions like pneumonia or strep throat--to be much more brief.

[JayhawkCO]

I had my new-patient appointment today. Only lasted about 20 minutes. Got my lab orders and I'll knock that out next week. It helps that I'm overall very healthy.

[D-Dey65]

Does anybody know anything about the feud between "AAARoads" and "Horse Eye's Back" on Wikipedia? Because "Horse Eye's Back" is tagging a lot of articles as not meeting the General Notability Guidelines, even lists of roads.

[Big John]

Does anybody know anything about the feud between "AAARoads" and "Horse Eye's Back" on Wikipedia? Because "Horse Eye's Back" is tagging a lot of articles as not meeting the General Notability Guidelines, even lists of roads.

What does the third A stand for?

[Max Rockatansky]

Horse people in general have issues with roads.  We have video of Horse Eye's thought process while pondering initiating the latest purge of road related articles on Wikipedia.