Over-Confirmed and Overwhelmed: Are We Drowning in Appointment Reminders?

Something strange is happening when we book an event. I don’t know when you last visited the dentist, but I’d bet that you received at least one message confirming your appointment—if not more.

The other day, I booked my car in for a routine service. A quick phone call secured the date and time. But over the next two weeks, before the actual appointment, I received three text messages and one email confirming the booking—each one feeling more like harassment than reassurance.

Why the Obsession with Reminders?

Why this neurosis around something as simple as an appointment? The first assumption is that these reminders exist because people have become unreliable. Missed medical appointments, for example, are a known issue—sometimes because the need disappears, or perhaps because cancelling is too much of a hassle. A quick search revealed that of the 122 million NHS medical appointments booked in 2022, 6.4% were missed.

Interestingly, when I asked a couple of nurses about this, they told me that the NHS actually benefits from these no-shows. The system is often overbooked, so the occasional missed appointment provides a bit of breathing room.

Could the same logic apply to car service bookings? That seems unlikely. A car service is a necessity—you’re not going to just forget about it.

Automation Gone Overboard

I’m beginning to believe that this flood of confirmation messages isn’t about reducing no-shows but rather the result of automation overkill. Someone, somewhere, decided that sending multiple reminders was a good idea. It costs next to nothing, makes the business look organized, and is easy to implement. But is it really necessary?

For the 95% of us who reliably show up, these constant reminders are just noise—one more digital distraction in an already cluttered world. In my case, the service reminders weren’t just confirming the appointment; they kept asking me for details I had already provided—like my car’s make and the specific services requested. Similarly, my dentist still asks for COVID information before each visit, likely because the system was set up years ago and never updated.

Are We Losing the Human Touch?

This may seem like a trivial rant, but it highlights a bigger issue: we are losing sight of what great customer service really means. True customer care makes people feel valued, not bombarded. A well-timed phone call would be far more effective—and personal—than an endless stream of automated messages.

People like people. And nothing beats the warmth of a real voice on the other end of the line.