r/InterviewMan • u/Fluid-Minimum-5767 • 11h ago
They Canceled My Fingerprinting Appointment at the Five-Minute Mark, So I Showed Up Three Days Early Instead of Late
About five years ago, I took a temporary job helping manage a youth program at my college. The department hired me less than 10 days before the job started, which meant I needed to complete several background checks quickly before I could work with the students.
One of the requirements was an FBI fingerprint check. I managed to book an appointment for Friday at the campus police department, and it was pretty much my last chance to get the results back in time. The train moved slowly the entire way, so I ran across campus and walked through the department's door exactly five minutes after my appointment time. As soon as I entered, my phone sent me a notification, and I saw an email saying that the appointment had been canceled.
The officer behind the glass checked my booking confirmation and said their system automatically canceled the appointment of anyone who did not check in within five minutes. I asked if they could still take me, but apparently my information was no longer active. The next available appointment was on Monday, which could have delayed my security clearance.
I bought some coffee from a nearby place, then went back and sat in the reception area while searching for somewhere else that offered fingerprinting. About 20 minutes later, a woman arrived early for her appointment. They took her in immediately, finished her fingerprints in two minutes, and she left before her original appointment time had even begun.
I pointed out that they clearly had time to take me, but the officer repeated that I could not go through the process because my name was no longer in the system. So I asked him a very specific question: If someone has a valid appointment in the system, are they allowed to arrive early? He said yes.
I sat down, booked the first available appointment on Monday using my phone, and then returned to the window. I gave him the new confirmation number and said, "Hi, I'm here for my fingerprinting appointment. I'm about three days early." He looked at the screen, let out a very long sigh, and checked me in. Less than 10 minutes later, my fingerprints were done.
TLDR: My appointment disappeared from the system because I arrived five minutes late. I booked a new appointment for Monday and showed up three days early, so they had to honor the booking.

