In the mail there was an envelope from a healthcare company I went to, recently. I suspected it was a bill. I quickly opened it and saw it was a bill for several hundred dollars for two physical exams I had received for a workman’s comp claim that I shouldn’t have to pay.
Annoyed, but praying for patience, I called my HR department to find out why I had to pay the bill. The woman in HR was annoyed the healthcare company didn’t understand it was a workman’s comp claim. She told me to simply call them and give them her number.
Good, I thought, that’s an easy assignment, and I called right away. But the woman who answered said they didn’t have my records and she transferred me to another department that might have them and they didn’t answer, and I was on hold for ten minutes and I hung up. To make a long story short, I called again, and the same thing happened: no record, no answer. I wasted a half hour and was very frustrated.
Many companies can’t get people to answer their phones. And it’s ironic that healthcare companies can’t get enough people to collect the tons of money they’ve got rolling in. This one charged me about two hundred and fifty dollars an hour just to ask some questions.
I called a third time and the woman who answered said the same thing, but she said she would email her manager to try to straighten it out and offered to transfer me again and I told her to put me through and I would let it ring a few times to see if they would answer and they did, finally, and we took care of business. Persistence pays.
Next, I called my bank because they needed me to update an account and a woman answered and said, “How can I help you?” with a bright, cheery voice (anything would be bright and cheery after dealing with the healthcare company). She had no problem updating my account and even asked me how I was. After a few minutes we wrapped things up and I told her she was like a bright light of sunshine on a stormy day and that made her happy. Good for her. She had excellent customer service skills and deserved to hear.
Later, I thought that God is behind all of the storm clouds we see today. Things are bad, but it won’t last forever. Some things will be washed, and others swept away.