@freakonometrics Something very similar happens now in Italy when you go to the tax office (Agenzia delle Entrate). I arrived there at 8.30am, no queue at all but the guy did not let me in until I created a ticket on their website from my phone while standing outside their glass door with 40C. I told them it was idiotic since nobody was there before me, but they replied "yes, but somebody COULD arrive now and you have no allocated time". And their time slots are fixed at 10 minutes, regardless of the service complexity.