Why do patients put up with obnoxious doctors ?

I often hear horror tales about how rude some doctors are; and how unfeelingly and uncaringly they treat their patients. I have little sympathy with patients who go to such doctors, because I could never understand why they had to go a doctor who they felt was rude or uncaring, just because he was the "top guy in the field" . Couldn't they just go to someone else instead , who would treat them more compassionately ? It's only when I started reading Dr Robert Caldin's book, Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion, that I understood why patients continue to flock to certain doctors, no matter how bad their bedside manner was. Caldin talks about the six weapons of influence - reciprocity; consistency; social proof; liking; authority and scarcity. The reason why some "top" doctors are so busy that they simply cannot take good care of their patients, is because of the influence of "social proof" - our tendency to assume that an action is more correct if others are doing it. The logic is, " If he's such a busy doctor that there are so many patients who are waiting for so many hours to see him, he must be good !" Once I asked a patient why she was willing to wait for so many hours in a certain IVF specialist's waiting room, and her answer was an eye-opener - " Doctor, there are patients who come up in a Mercedes who wait for hours on end , so who I am to object ? " This is why some doctors prefer having full waiting rooms - so that they appear to be busy and popular - and presumably, competent as well, by extrapolation !