The one center I go to (not the local vet, but the vet hospital for lameness or more in-depth stuff), has you go to the counter first to get your card on file. Then, you can unload your horse and a vet tech meets you to take your horse into a stall complete with alfalfa. Then, you wait for the vet to finish up with the previous appointment. I'm fine waiting since my horse is in a posh stall with 8" of shavings and alfalfa and water. LOL

THIS!! ^

Im a technician at a small animal clinic and for an ambulatory equine practice. I wish every person could work just a week in the veterinary field to understand how it is. I love both jobs to pieces but yes some days we get behind more than we would like and it can get frustrating. Every scenario you mentioned happens every single day. 

I've had to wait days for my vet before. Emergencies come up, and my horses get pushed to the back burner. Luckily I can do some things myself, but man, sometimes it will be weeks before I get a few of my horses' teeth floated. Other times though, like when I have emergencies, or middle of the night foals, my vet is always at my beck and call. Some days, being married to an equine vet is the best thing in the world (I wouldn't trade him for anything)- other days, we joke about how I picked the wrong type of doctor

Oh goodness. lol thats funny! But I might be willing to wait 2 weeks for FREE vet care! 

Yeah, that's why I can't get *too* upset 

My last job was a receptionist for an equine veterinary practice, who was also an emergency referral/surgical clinic. Really great vets, so they were in pretty high demand anyway, and being an ER referral clinic anything could drop in at any time.

Communication is definitely key. Some vets are better than others at this, and many truly want to see and help EVERYONE and there just aren't enough hours in the day. The office staff can and should help in this area.

As the receptionist, I was usually the first one to know if an emergency was coming in, or an appt was running longer than expected. In those cases, I always tried to call and give following appts a heads up. We always tried to provide options; client could be seen by a different vet, come in later, drop off the horse (we often offered free overnight boarding in these cases), reschedule for another day, or wait if they wished.

If an ER arrived at the same time as a scheduled appt and I didn't have a chance to call ahead, our vets were great at assessing the situation quickly and giving me an ETA so I could discuss options with the client. We had awesome, understanding clients, and much of that was due to customer service.

After waiting 15-20 minutes, somebody should have at least approached you with ETA info, and offered you some options.

I think the longest Ive had to wait was maybe an hour but that was rare and the tech and the vet both told me what was up. I really didnt mind because I was able to observe while we waited. And my horses were unloaded and tied in the shade. I miss that vet but hauling 250 miles to see him isnt exactly feasible. 
Now I did have something happen a several weeks ago that turned me off from using a specific vet. I had an appointment set up several weeks in advance. This vet drives 2.5 hrs 1 day every few weeks and works on horses in the area. Great huh? I was already having second thoughts about this vet when things kind of went south at a previous visit. Id spent alot of money and my mare was still "not better" in her words. The sad thing is, she was/is better but I wanted the ok to start hauling her again. Id been ponying and riding her the last few months but hadnt entered a race. Anyway im off track... So in order for me to make the appointment on time, I have to leave work 2-3 hrs early. Takes that long to get home, change clothes, hook up, catch the horse and drive to where they meet. No biggie.... I lose 3 hrs of work. I purposely set my appointment later so I dont lose more time. At 1pm I get a message saying they were running 2 hrs behind. So I stayed at work about an hour later. I leave work around 2-2:15 and head home. I get home, hooked up and about to go catch my mare when I get a second message.... All my clients cancelled because Im running late but I can still come check your mare. It will be a $150 trip charge and Im still 2 hrs away. Its 3:30 maybe closer to 4 at this time..... I told them to forget it. No way was I paying a $150 trip charge on top of the $300+ that it seemed to run everytime I saw this vet, when it wasnt my fault everyone cancelled...... I was mad. And that was the final straw. I will not use that vet again. 

I took her to Dr. Lee of Double X Equine. He watched her move. Blocked that foot. Said lets inject her bursas and she will be fine. He wasnt lying. 2st run back in 5 months and we were a second off at a salty race this weekend. She felt amazing. Her rider didnt perform up to standards but thats ok. 

It really just depends on that given day at my vets office. I use a rather hight in demand vet that always and I mean always has a line! Sometimes you only have to wait 15 minutes and others I've waited almost 5 hours before. Everyone knows that it's first come first serve so I normally try to leave a bit earlier to get a jump on a couple people in line. My vet is wonderful and I wouldn't trade him for anyone. Yes it's a pain to have to make an entire day out of going to the vet but I wouldn't trust anyone else with my horses. Anytime I have an emergency he is there 11 at night, day after Christmas you name it. I understand that emergencys come up or that people regularly bring in more horses than schedule and that's not his fault. So it's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make yes I have to wait longer than a normal vet office but the quality of vet services by far out weighs the inconvenience.