In Sickness and in Health

Yesterday, in a humbling experience, I had to call my insurance carrier to get an early refill on a medication I take.  We are taking a trip out of the country, and I’ll be away when the normal refill is ready.  The insurance company insisted I call personally, which is a torture I don’t normally have to endure.

It took two phone calls, four menus, and two humans to make the decision to let me do something that in the long run wouldn’t cost the insurance company a penny.  I repeated the same exact information three times, and at the end I wasn’t sure I still spelled my name with an “ie.”

It’s obvious that this procedure is created to get customers to give up and go away, which I almost did, and paid the money out of my own pocket.  Everyone was friendly, but non-committal.  I finally got my authorization, after about twenty minutes, and went on my way to wellness land.

I spent a large part of my business life trying to inspire organizations to give good customer service.  How can any company treat a consumer the way I was treated?  The health care industry is one of the worst offenders, but there are plenty of others.

Can’t businesses get their IT nerds to make these processes easier?  Why do we have to repeat the same information over and over?  Can’t a machine or a human input the info the first time you give it?  Doesn’t anybody give a crap?  I once intended to write a book titled, “Nobody Listens, Nobody Follows Through.”  I decided not to write it, because it was so dark.  I’m currently sharpening my pencils, getting ready to write.