Wednesday, February 6, 2008

gggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

you know what really pisses me off? (sorry for the curse but I can't think of another way to describe my feelings at this time)



People who assume. Don't assume things about me. I brought my children to a new dentist after having a horrible experience with a fill in dentist at the old place we used to go to and the office manager of the new place is not exactly one of my favorite people. I cannot stand people who talk down to others. This woman at the new dentist office talks to me like I am a 5 year old and cannot afford to pay for my children's dentist appointment co-pay. Well it all started out at the first dentist appointment I brought them to at the new place. After the girls had thier teeth cleaned and the dentist told me they needed to have a few little things done to prevent cavities and Katy needed some teeth extracted because she refuses to give up her baby teeth for some reason, I asked the receptionist if she could give me some idea of what it was gonna cost becuase insurance only pays 80%. She went into some long drawn out schpeel about what they have to charge and what insurance pays for and what the alloted amount is for this and that and how they have payment plans and finally tells me that my balance is $30 for that day so I pay and go on my merry way. Yesterday I brought Anna there to have her tooth fixed and I don't feel good I have an ear infection in both ears and an upper respiratory infection with a hacking cough and a stuffed nose. The first person I see when I walked in was the office manager she greets Anna is a sing song voice which is fine for Anna and then does the same to me. I reply with a little smile and a hi and anybody with one eye could see I feel like hell I sit down and Anna goes to the back to have her teeth done.



The dentist wants to talk to me after Anna is done and she just tells me that Anna did well no problems So as I am guiding Anna back to the waiting room I say Hey Anna we can't leave yet we have to make another appointment. I walk by the office manager who is busy with another patient (I can see thisI don't expect her to stop with her and deal with me right now) but the office manager stops and says "you'll have to take a seat I am busy with another client and she was here first." well no shit I think and I said " I can see that" So I patiently wait my turn.



She tells me she can help me now so I sit in the seat infront of her desk and wait for her to finish up with what ever she is doing while Anna bounces around next to me trying to find gum in my purse and whatever else a 5 year old does when she wants to leave somewhere that is boring the hell out of her.



The lady procedes to tell me the charges and blah blah blah and then tells me I have a balance from my last visit. I say I paid $30 like you told me when I was last here. Well apparently that was for my appointment not Katy and Anna's and I still owe $87 so I ask her for what cause I work to hard and put up with too much crap to just go handing out my hard earned money to whom ever says they want it. She she calls up some chic from the back and tells her to dig out all the paperwork and insurance crap from last time I went there. I don't need all this she just had to say well I didn't charge you from when Katy and Anna had there teeth cleaned I just charged for your cleaning and some mouth wash for sensative gums. I give her my debit card and said Ok whatever I'll pay with this I don't feel good I just want to go home. She charges my account and keeps flapping her gums asking about what is wrong with me and she could tell I didn't feel good blah blah blah. Well as a nurse I know it's not very nice to ask people about illnesses in the middle of a waiting room full of strangers. I ignore her question and say well have a good day and Anna and I leave.


Tonight when I get home after a long day of browsing at some stores and wasting time until I can get the girls from school the phone rings and it is my "friend" from the dentist office. the first thing she asks is if I am feeling better which is fine. I tell her I am on antibiotics and things are getting better then she continues on about what they are going to be doing to Katy and it might cost more money then I can pay and she thinks we should set up a payment plan and it's hard to get bills paid but it's important to pay on time and I was like "whoa how much is this gonna cost?' im thinking in the $1000 and she tells me a little under $200. Then I am pissed because this lady is talking to me like she feels sorry for me and she can make arrangements. WHAT MAKES HER ASSUME I CAN"T PAY $200? That pisses me off. I might not want to but I can pay $200 What made her look at me and right away assume that I didn't have any money and that I might be living paycheck to paycheck. I don't have hand me down clothes that have rips and tears my hair is clean and well brushed I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt my kids are freshly bathed every morning and have nice stuff. I drive a nice car I graduated from college. Im not an office manager who learned my job 50 years ago with on the job training who doens't have any education. But she assumed that I was poor and she needed to give me her sympathy. I politely said to her on the phone that "I could afford it after all my husband is over in Iraq making hazardous pay fighting in the war". That shut her up and she said have a good night and hung up.

2 comments:

Queen Annie said...

I had a dentist issue with Katie a month ago too. They told me they would charge me one thing, then did the procedure and charged me an extra $250. I asked about it and they got all snotty and said they didn't know for sure what the cost would be. I asked them why they quoted a price if they weren't sure?! I had to finance it because it was over $2000 for her and me together, but they sort of treated me the same way--like I was trying to be a cheapskate or something, when I was just trying not to get ripped off. They wouldn't even let me be in the room to see what they were doing to her, so it made me suspicious when they kick me out of the room and then I go to pay the bill and it is no where near the price I was quoted. I feel your pain. I hope you feel better soon and I'm glad you're blogging! It helps me feel more connected to you. How is Jon? I saw he had pictures from a concert on his myspace.

Dewdrop said...

She sounds like a real pain in the buttocks. I think you handled it well though. She had some nerve... some people!

Hope you're feeling better!
Hope you have a great b-day!