January 1st, our HMO changed to a new Advantage Plan. I knew when I signed up, we needed referrals from Primary Doctor to see a specialist.
Bob had an appointment with a Dermatologist (specialist) and the woman at front desk said we did not need a referral because it did not say we did in her computer.
I came home, dialed the new HMO, and felt my blood pressure climb each time the automated voice asked question, she did not like my answers and aske more questions..
Auto Voice: I see by your phone number you are a member, please state your date of birth.
ME: 9/5/44
AV: I did not understand date of birth, please state in this fashion, January 1, 2020
ME: September 5th, 1944
AV: thank you and on and on with more automated questions.
Finally I heard a live person
LP: Thank your for calling, my name is blah How may I help you. (heavy accent, I had to ask for repeat)
ME: I have a question. My husband has an appointment with a dermatologist , he has the same policy as I do, does it require a referral?
LP: I am pulling up your policy, Have you had breakfast?
ME: WHAT? thinking either the accent or my brain was the culprit?
LP: Have you had breakfast? ( it was 10 am) it is very important that you eat a healthy breakfast every day and she went on until I interrupted her.
ME: YES! I HAVE HAD BREAKFAST! Do we need a referral or NOT?
LP: Yes you need a referral. Would you like me to add your husband to your account so he can call for you? Again with repeat what she said, do to accent
ME: No, but will you check to see if you received the letter I mailed adding me on to call for him. He doesn't talk on the phone.
I will leave you here, because it took another yada yada blah blah and repeat, repeat, to finally get the answer Yes they received it.
NOW, I sit and wonder, did they get the referral there? Are we going to be billed?
18 comments:
They like to make it more complicated than necessary. "Have you had breakfast? what a cheek.
Two things I can't stand are insurance companies and automated answering systems. I usually end up screaming at them I get so frustrated. When I'm getting nowhere I tend to yell "LIVE OPERATOR" it doesnt always work but it's worth a try.
How odd that she would ask you if you had breakfast.
For some reason I am hungry. The foreign accents are the pits. When the bill comes, I'll be at the ring side, rooting for you. And it will be only one round before TKO
You are kidding me?! Were you really born on September 5?
then celebrate your birthday in the same day with my husband! He was also born on September 5, only a few years later
About the insurance ... think the same problem is everywhere in the world! The people in the call center don't know how to talk and they are deaf too!
Hello,
I wonder what does breakfast have to do with your calling about referrals. I try skipping the automatic questions by asking for a representative.
I have trouble hearing/understanding the accents over the phone too, it is really annoying trying to understand the person who is talking to you. Good luck with the billing! Have a great day!
Why the heck did she need to know about breakfast? That just blows my mind.
I absolutely detest the automated mess and what gets me is the usual first statement is asking you what language you want?!
Hugs Cecilia
This makes my blood pressure raise just from hearing about it...been there, done that too many times to count. If I start getting a bunch of auto questions, I just repeat "representative' over and over and usually get a live person much quicker than going through the questions. Like you, they have a hard time understanding me. that is why I never use google girl or any of those...
Aaargh! Good thing that wasn't Tom. Sometimes I wish he WOULDN'T talk on the phone (on account) it doesn't take much to make him lose his temper. I'm always having to remind him, the person(s) he's talking to doesn't make the rules. I wouldn't be surprised if, like the guest service agents where I used to work, they must adhere to a certain script. Sometimes you get better customer service from a robot. So sorry you had to deal with that. Happy WWW!
The breakfast question was probably part of the script they are required to use. A part of the mind games customer service reps are forced to follow and which I refuse to cooperate with. "Just the facts Ma'am"; as Joe Friday used to say.
OH MY GOSH I HATE CALLING AND GETTING AUTOMATED AND THEN FINALLY SOMEONE THAT CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I try to be patient with people of other nationalities , but on the phone I have a hard time, if they can't speak proper english.
So sorry, but you have made my day. This is hilarious! I do so hate to profit from your misfortunes, but you are priceless! Yes, usually these people are overseas (usually some sub-continent or other) and you can't understand half of what they say. I am also caught up on your last couple posts, which gave me a good laugh as well. But this sure ranks as one of your funniest. You could make a fortune as a stand-up comic.
I would have found it VERY difficult to keep my temper...
This makes me absolutely crazy...I don't think those people listen or seem to really care!
When your blood pressure finally goes down, maybe you can call again and get someone else or ask for the supervisor to really get a straight answer.
Hope it works out...totally crazy.
It drives us absolutely crazy!!!!! SO frustrating!! I hope my insurance never changes. Louis Dean and I have separate companies as he is a retired teacher. Mine is better than his but there's no way I am going to change anything!
Oh, this gave me heartburn. My life turned upside down on Dec 4 when I was diagnosed with a "progressive, terminal" lung disease--IPF. Since then, I have been on the phone multiple times with both the pharmacy and the doctor so that I can get started on the prescription written way back in early December, the prescription that will allegedly slow the progression of the disease. The insurance company has a few more questions they need the doctor to answer before they can mail my medicine. Repeated calls to his office have failed to get him to make one simple phone call. If I still had any wits, I would be at the end of them. All I can do is sputter. I'll start phoning again at 9 AM.
I can't stand the automatic systems. I usually say "talk to a human" and often get sent to someone. When we first got into our AARP new insurance after Mark retired I feel like I was on the phone all the time. "Knock on wood" things have slowed down and seem to be better. Mark was thinking of changing during open enrollment and I said no way am I going through that again. I'm sorry for what you are going through. I can't believe she asked you about breakfast!!!
Oh my gosh your conversation was too funny, but not really it's also frustrating. Those automated phones are ridiculous but I don't know whats worse the automated ones or the human voices with heavy accents. I find it crazy that she asked you about breakfast, like what was that about? Just answer your question sheesh haha
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