Apria Healthcare -- $98.49
I had to pay the full price of my recent order of CPAP equipment(new mask, hose, and filters) because we haven't satisfied our deductible yet. Within the space of a few days we received two invoices from Apria -- the first for $24.24. The second invoice was for $97.32. Both invoices itemized exactly the same items. When I called to inquire as the discrepancy between the two bills, I was told that my actual bill was yet a third amount, $98.49.
The customer service representative was not unfriendly. But she was certainly not the most impressive customer service rep I've ever spent time talking with either. After waiting on hold for over 10 minutes before being connected to a real person, it only took us another 5 or 6 minutes to come to a mutual understanding of the basic difference between the first and second invoices. Apparently the first (smaller) invoice is what I would have paid if my insurance had been kicking in their 80%. The second invoice represents what I actually have to pay (100% of the charges -- though the math doesn't actually work out right).
But that's about as far as we got. We spent another 5 minutes or so trying to clarify the difference between the second invoice and the amount her computer showed me as owing. In all honesty, I finally just gave up. The bill was due, I had to leave the house to pick up The Son, and I was clearly not going to get an intelligible explanation of the additional $1.17 charge. You and I know full well that the whole system -- the interminable wait times, the horrid Muzak, the oft-repeated message about how important our business is and appreciation of our patience, the barely understandable strongly-accented phone rep, the complaints of computer issues (have you ever noticed that they're always experiencing computer troubles?), and the perfectly reasonable "explanations" in faux technical terms that mean nothing to normal citizens -- all of this is designed to subjugate, humiliate, bamboozle, and confuse us into submission. Well, in this case it worked. I paid with a credit card over the phone and hoped the whole thing would just go away.
One thing I can tell you about this experience -- tomorrow I'm going to start researching alternative sources for my CPAP supplies so that I never, ever have to deal with Apria again.
[What I cannot explain, and didn't bother asking about, is 1) why the original quote for the supplies was approximately $200 and 2) why the charge wasn't applied to my card immediately, as I'd been lead to believe it would be. Maybe I should be feeling grateful -- at the price difference if nothing else, but the experience was so outrageous that I feel strongly motivated to seek out a new equipment supplier.]
Costco Gas -- $36.81
I'm still using my mom's Ford for about 90% of my driving, leaving The Tank sitting idle in our driveway. I'll tell you what -- my gas budget is definitely benefitting. Still, the difference between our monthly gas expenditure for my mom's car and The Tank isn't nearly large enough to justify getting rid of The Tank and buying a car with better gas mileage. The Tank is paid off -- we're talking pink slip, baby. It has over 120,000 miles on it but there's no reason to believe it won't keep going for another several years without requiring major mechanical work (I have heard a nasty rumor that V-8's only tend to average 150,000 miles before needing significant engine work but I have no proof of the rumor's legitimacy).
It's my strong hope that we don't even have to think about replacing The Tank until June of '09 -- which is when we'll be done paying off the two-year, 1.9% loan we took on the new Subaru.
Son's Teacher -- $20.00
Two minutes before we walked out the door this morning, The Son handed me a permission slip for a field trip to see a Shakespeare production (the same one that The Daughter will be going to see with her high school class later this month). I grabbed the household checkbook, wrote the check, signed the permission slip, and still got The Son to class on time. I'd been hoping to see this one myself but I guess I'll have to settle for having the kids tell me all about it.
Subway -- $13.97
On the way home from a baseball game (The Son's team lost), The Son and stopped and picked up sandwiches for him, The Daughter, and The Husband for dinner. At The Son's request I upgraded his sandwich to a meal including a soda and two chocolate chip cookies -- one of which he very generously offered to his sister. I made do with two leftover biscuits and a carrot. We're all out of milk and I didn't feel inspired enough to cook anything for just myself. I fear I might wake up in the middle of the night hungry but if I do, it's my own darned fault.
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Day 220: Gas, CPAP Supplies, Theater Ticket, and Dining
Apria Healthcare -- $98.49
I had to pay the full price of my recent order of CPAP equipment(new mask, hose, and filters) because we haven't satisfied our deductible yet. Within the space of a few days we received two invoices from Apria -- the first for $24.24. The second invoice was for $97.32. Both invoices itemized exactly the same items. When I called to inquire as the discrepancy between the two bills, I was told that my actual bill was yet a third amount, $98.49.
The customer service representative was not unfriendly. But she was certainly not the most impressive customer service rep I've ever spent time talking with either. After waiting on hold for over 10 minutes before being connected to a real person, it only took us another 5 or 6 minutes to come to a mutual understanding of the basic difference between the first and second invoices. Apparently the first (smaller) invoice is what I would have paid if my insurance had been kicking in their 80%. The second invoice represents what I actually have to pay (100% of the charges -- though the math doesn't actually work out right).
But that's about as far as we got. We spent another 5 minutes or so trying to clarify the difference between the second invoice and the amount her computer showed me as owing. In all honesty, I finally just gave up. The bill was due, I had to leave the house to pick up The Son, and I was clearly not going to get an intelligible explanation of the additional $1.17 charge. You and I know full well that the whole system -- the interminable wait times, the horrid Muzak, the oft-repeated message about how important our business is and appreciation of our patience, the barely understandable strongly-accented phone rep, the complaints of computer issues (have you ever noticed that they're always experiencing computer troubles?), and the perfectly reasonable "explanations" in faux technical terms that mean nothing to normal citizens -- all of this is designed to subjugate, humiliate, bamboozle, and confuse us into submission. Well, in this case it worked. I paid with a credit card over the phone and hoped the whole thing would just go away.
One thing I can tell you about this experience -- tomorrow I'm going to start researching alternative sources for my CPAP supplies so that I never, ever have to deal with Apria again.
[What I cannot explain, and didn't bother asking about, is 1) why the original quote for the supplies was approximately $200 and 2) why the charge wasn't applied to my card immediately, as I'd been lead to believe it would be. Maybe I should be feeling grateful -- at the price difference if nothing else, but the experience was so outrageous that I feel strongly motivated to seek out a new equipment supplier.]
Costco Gas -- $36.81
I'm still using my mom's Ford for about 90% of my driving, leaving The Tank sitting idle in our driveway. I'll tell you what -- my gas budget is definitely benefitting. Still, the difference between our monthly gas expenditure for my mom's car and The Tank isn't nearly large enough to justify getting rid of The Tank and buying a car with better gas mileage. The Tank is paid off -- we're talking pink slip, baby. It has over 120,000 miles on it but there's no reason to believe it won't keep going for another several years without requiring major mechanical work (I have heard a nasty rumor that V-8's only tend to average 150,000 miles before needing significant engine work but I have no proof of the rumor's legitimacy).
It's my strong hope that we don't even have to think about replacing The Tank until June of '09 -- which is when we'll be done paying off the two-year, 1.9% loan we took on the new Subaru.
Son's Teacher -- $20.00
Two minutes before we walked out the door this morning, The Son handed me a permission slip for a field trip to see a Shakespeare production (the same one that The Daughter will be going to see with her high school class later this month). I grabbed the household checkbook, wrote the check, signed the permission slip, and still got The Son to class on time. I'd been hoping to see this one myself but I guess I'll have to settle for having the kids tell me all about it.
Subway -- $13.97
On the way home from a baseball game (The Son's team lost), The Son and stopped and picked up sandwiches for him, The Daughter, and The Husband for dinner. At The Son's request I upgraded his sandwich to a meal including a soda and two chocolate chip cookies -- one of which he very generously offered to his sister. I made do with two leftover biscuits and a carrot. We're all out of milk and I didn't feel inspired enough to cook anything for just myself. I fear I might wake up in the middle of the night hungry but if I do, it's my own darned fault.
Related posts: