I had an appointment for one of my pets last week at the vet.  I arrived a few minutes early (by accident).  I waited an entire hour before seeing the vet.  More than once during that hour, I was told, "Sorry for the wait."  Since it wasn't ok, I didn't say, "It's ok."  I just gave a slight smile and an acknowledging nod.  When I finally saw the vet, she apologized and explained that there was an emergency regarding another pet.  I nodded in acknowledgement. 

I believe they made the ethically right decision of treating the emergency as more important than the routine appointment.  I would've done the same thing.  And I don't think they made me wait just to mess with me.  But it doesn't negate the fact that (a) I had an appointment, and (b) I had to wait for an hour.  Apologizing didn't give me my time back, and it didn't take away my annoyance. 

I think the proper way to apologize in that scenario is with some form of compensation, probably either a refund on what I already paid or a free visit some other time.  The way I see it, they broke the appointment contract.  But since it was an unforeseen circumstance, I can understand why the appointment wasn't kept.  Seeing that the business was still making money (positive) while treating an emergency (positive) while not keeping my appointment (negative), the only person in the equation who didn't benefit was me.  It stands to reason that the business should compensate for that. #psychology