Figure It Out!

One thing has become clear to me in the past few weeks of dealing with bank accounts and college business offices: What information you get depends on what person you talk to. On Monday I spent six hours on the phone dealing a single account (one of my mother's that had somehow escaped our attention until now). I talked to four different people and received four different sets of instructions. One bank employee told me I would probably have to travel to one of the bank's offices to present my paperwork in person, and it would have to be one in the state where my mother had lived. When I asked if there was one near my mother's house, she said, "Well, there's one in Bruceton Mills, which is only, um, 102 miles away." Are you kidding? It turns out that, while she probably wasn't kidding, she was wrong. Or at least that's what the next person I talked to told me, and I'm going with that.

If someone doesn't know, I don't understand why it's hard to just say, "I don't know." Maybe, if it's your job, you should know, but it's better to admit to not know -- perhaps even offering to find out -- than to give bad information. When I had called about this account last week, I had been sent some forms by email, which I had printed out and begun to fill in. The only reason I called (the first time) on Monday was to get help with the forms. I was told I couldn't do what I had been told I could do, and thus began the six-hour phone marathon.

Something similar happened to me this morning when I went to my neurologist for my migraine follow-up appointment. I couldn't figure out why I had a $236.00 balance on my account and neither could the office staff -- until someone there realized, after my appointment, that the doctor is not a provider on my insurance. That was the first question I (re)asked this morning when inquiring about my balance! It seems Blue Cross Blue Shield has many different plans, and my particular plan excludes this doctor. I don't know why. It was the office staff's mistake -- I gave them my information two weeks before my first visit, and that was six weeks ago -- so they did reduce the fee substantially. Still, I now have to decide whether to stick with this doctor for future follow-up and pay out-of-pocket, or change to a doctor who does take my insurance and risk changing treatment midstream. Not a terrific choice. Fortunately, I have three months to think about it.

At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, I remember when people used to take pride in their jobs, and being skilled and knowledgeable really meant something. I know there are still people out there who do care -- like the bank employee who is walking me through the process of dealing with this account after I got so much bad information and the doctor's office manager who made sure I wasn't overcharged because of her employees' mistake -- but it seems that they are increasingly the minority. How can that be the case with so many people looking for work? I'm sure someone else could do a better job.