Professionals' lack of basic courtesy

The Oxford dictionary explains the word "appointment" as "an arrangement to meet or visit at a particular time".

Why is it then, that most of the professional people who provide a private service and an appointment system keep their "clients" waiting for up to an hour after the agreed time, and when one walks into their office/surgery they have a habit of making you feel they are doing you a favour after they relieve you of their hefty fee instead of providing you with their service at the agreed time?

Is it not about time that the public is shown some respect and these professionals wake up to the fact that their clients' time is equally as important to the individual as it is to them?

It is also about time that the public wakes up to this arrogant system and makes it clear, every time they make an appointment, that they expect to be seen at that time or reasonably near the agreed time?

After all, when one is paying for a "service" the least that can be expected is that you are seen promptly and treated professionally and with respect.

This lack of basic courtesy seems to be a Maltese phenomenon. Abroad one is treated with respect and appointment times are respected by the professional community although one accepts that on occasion urgent matters may delay the professional.

However, this should be the exception and not the rule, as seems to be the case in Malta.