Unprofessional customer service and communication to resolve a mistake made by an employee. Yes, this is long but here’s my experience (TIA for reading, and no I’m not normally “a Karen”). First let me ask you, as a consumer, how often do you make a purchase and are then called hours later by the business saying you need to pay more because of their mistake? Odd, right? Here’s my story: I was called three hours after my sons eye exam and told I needed to pay $40 more for his glasses. This is after I already paid during my son’s initial office visit. When I asked why, the young lady said when she went to process my son’s glasses order, the system said my insurance told her to collect $40 more. When I said I was unclear how this happened as all copays and out of pocket costs were reviewed with me during our visit, she put someone else on the phone. The second woman was very crass in conveying the explanation. She said the young lady who helped us was new and admitted it was her employee’s mistake and sharply asked, “so do you want the glasses or not, if you do, you need to pay the $40.” She also said that if I had VSP insurance this wouldn’t be an issue, but because I have Eyemed insurance I have to pay extra. She started to explain about VSP insurance coverage. Mind you, I don’t get to choose what vision insurance provider my employer offers so this discussion about an insurance provider I don’t have was very unnecessary and her tone was condescending. Neither person I spoke to apologized for their mistake and I was very confused by the rudeness with which the second employee was handling the situation. At this point in the conversation I was wondering why I was being treated this way when I did nothing wrong. Aggression toward me as a customer seemed a very odd way to handle this situation. Normally I would be understanding and would have easily paid the $40, but the disrespectfulness I was shown was very off-putting and made me take a different stance. I asked the woman to try to see it from my point of view as the customer and I felt it was bad business practice to call a repeat customer three hours later and demand additional payment for their employee’s mistake without even an apology. I’ll admit, at this point in the conversation it was not about the $40 but about the WAY this was being handled. She said she would talk to the doctor about it but don’t count on the $40 being waived. Mind you, I did not request for the $40 to be waived by them. A couple hours later the doctor called me and was argumentative as well. She also admitted it was her employee’s mistake with no apology. She said my son received the same services and glasses in 2018 and I should have remembered how much I paid four years ago. I was really taken aback by the doctor’s statement. Again I felt I was being blamed for her employee’s mistake. After some back and forth the doctor rudely said she would waive the $40 for this one time only because she “didn’t want to make such a big deal out of something so small.” At this point I’m thinking, if it’s “something so small,” then why not waive the cost without even calling me when it was her employee’s mistake in the first place? Shouldn’t this be taken up with the new employee that made the mistake and not with me as a customer? She also sternly said she was putting a note in my son’s profile about this incident. Again, this felt like an attack for something that was not my fault, it was her employee’s mistake. The approach the doctor and employees took in handling their mistake was shocking and unsettling. Maybe my experience was not the norm, but we will not be recommending this practice any longer to friends, family, and coworkers. As a business owner, you never know who is walking through your door as a customer. I happen to have strong ties with numerous people in the eyewear and vision insurance industry and I will be sharing this experience with them.
