Now that I'm officially 66 years old, I think that I am 'entitled' to "telling it like it is". (Just want we need - another entitlement!)
First of all, let me say that I had a wonderful birthday. It started off with a beautiful card and a Kindle e-reader from my hubby. I've been secretly (well, maybe not quite so secretly) casually making mention of the fact that I thought there might oughta be a Kindle in my future. After all, I've always LOVED to read, and the convenience of being able to download books and read them whenever I felt the urge, rather than having to wait to go to a bookstore (which, by the time I actually got to a bookstore, any thought of something that I really wanted to read was completely banished from my mind by the $29.95 price tag of said book.) So, even though there is a charge for the newer e-books it's a LOT less than the bookstore price. Even the Wal-Mart price. So, he saved up his money (he has a real job now for which he gets paid real money - how sweet is that!!) and had me order a Kindle for my birthday. So, I'm now currently in mad love with JAKE! (ie: Joan's Kindle - JK)
I'm reading "High Heels to Tractor Wheels" by Ree Drummond, a book by Dennis Swanberg, subscribed to Reader's Digest and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines, :"Water For Elephants" - which, after reading all the comments about this book, I can hardly wait to start. And all this in the first few days of Kindle ownership. Like I said, I LOVE Jake!!!!!
To carry on with my birthday. Last Thursday was Bible Time at our church, so I spent the entire morning and the early part of the afternoon over there rehearsing our skit (in which I play Clementine) and then putting the skit on for the two groups of kids who come from school to attend Bible Release Time. Midway through our second skit, when Zelda (one of the other characters) and I were "frozen" while Pastor Rufus delivered his mini sermon, he instead counted off: 1, 2, 3 and the entire church of kids and adults burst in to "Happy Birthday to you" for me. I was so surprised and I guess my face turned beet red. That was just the nicest thing and TOTALLY unexpected.
AND THEN, to top off a really good day, we went out for Chinese food with our really good friends and ate like little piggies. It was delicious and a very nice evening.
So, WHY AM I ON A TEAR you might ask? BECAUSE, I am sick and tired of getting taken advantage of by doctors. Not all of them - two in particular - one can be read about in a previous post. The one I'm pretty well put out with this time is the optometrist that I've been using ever since we've been in Oklahoma. He is located in Mena AR and I've been going there for years.
Well, last summer, in July to be exact, I had cataract surgery in both eyes. A couple months later I went back to said optometrist for a followup checkup. At that time, he prescribed a pair of glasses to help me see close up. I had my eyes fixed so that I didn't have to wear glasses all the time anymore, just for close work. So, two or three weeks later, I got the glasses and proceeded to wear them when I read or use the computer. (Like right now - LOL) About a month ago, sometime in mid March, I noticed one morning that I wasn't seeing quite as good as I had been at first. I thought perhaps my eyes had changed a little. A day or so later, I happened to reach up and take hold of the frame of my left lens and realized that it had shifted a little, so I took my glasses back off to check the screw and lo and behold! The lens was GONE!!! I don't know when! I don't know where! It's just GONE!!!! I have searched the house over and I'm sure had it fallen on the bare floor someplace I would have heard it, and it's not around.
NOW for the part as to why I'm angry. I went back in to the doctor's office to tell them that something was wrong with the frame - that the screw had come out or something and the lens was gone. Either the frame was defective so that the screw didn't seat properly or else whoever put the lens in to start with didn't tighten it up properly. All I know is the lens is GONE!! So, the girl at the front desk goes back to check with someone and comes back and tells me that it will cost me $169.50 to replace the lens. THAT'S what the lens cost in the first place. They're going to charge me FULL PRICE to replace a lens that was lost through no fault of mine. I bought the frame from them - they put the lens in. It came out. End of story.
Well, not quite. I told the little girl at the desk that I was extremely upset about this and felt that something should be done - this wasn't my fault. She told me that "oh, the screw just came loose. That's just routine maintenance. We're not responsible for that!" Helllllooooo!!!! Just how would you feel if you bought a new car and six months later a wheel fell off and you had an accident and wrecked the car. Then, when you checked and found that the lug nuts had come off so that's why the tire fell off, and the dealer said, "Well, that's routine maintenance. We can't be responsible for the lug nuts coming off!" Give me a break!!!! I would foresee a very large lawsuit in their future. How many times have you ever gone out and checked your lug nuts to be sure they are tight - especially since it's a brand new car!!!!! Come on!!
And the same holds true for glasses. WHY would I expect that the screw might come loose in a brand new pair of frames after only having them for 6 months. I had another pair of glasses that I wore for 7 years, and I NEVER had a screw come loose. AND, I never had the doctor suggest that I go to the back after an eye exam and have the screws checked in my frames "just in case they were loose!" He didn't EXPECT the frames to be loose, and neither did I.
SO, I went back in to the doctor's office and this time talked to the wife of the doctor's son who is also part of the practice. She agreed with me that that shouldn't have happened and was sure that it could be taken care of. She said, I'll just have to run it by the office manager, and I'll give you a call in the morning. Well, the next morning the office manager called me and explained that they couldn't replace the lens. After all it was all my fault. Now, they would replace the frame if it was defective, but not the lens. The frame was under warranty. BUT, if the frame was defective, then the lost lens was not my fault. Then she said that they could give me a 20% discount off the cost of the lens. I told her that was NOT satisfactory at all. I was not to blame for this and did not feel like I should have to pay for something that #1. they've already gotten paid for to start with and #2. was the result of a defective piece of merchandise that I BOUGHT from them!!
So, she said she'd have to check again with the doctor who was going to be back in the office Monday (today) and she'd call and let me know what he said. GUESS WHAT!!!! NO Call!!! No nothing!!!
AND, if all this wasn't enough to frost my cake, the real kicker in the whole thing is that he's already gotten $1,026.00 for this pair of glasses, frames, and a followup exam. He charged my insurance $249.00 per eye for "Exam Post Op Cataract Care". PER EYE mind you! And what really ticks me off is that he did nothing more during this "Post Op Cataract Care" exam than during any other exam I've had. Same routine. And that was $90.00 for the whole thing - both eyes!! What a stinkin' rip off!!! And then we wonder why our Medicare and insurance premiums are going through the rough. Because doctors are ripping them off by calling what they did by some fancy-schmancy name.
So, that's why I'm mad. I'm not a little mad. I'm really, really, really MAD!!!!! And I'm not finished with this yet. I have never quibbled about legitimate charges for things I've had done, but this is just WRONG!!!!
