Trying to get email frequency changed, and trying to get Rob tested for his driver’s license at the DMV, and trying to find out from my health insurance where I am allowed to take William for an x-ray, and trying to understand my tax forms—all of these things are making me feel helpless and frustrated to the point of violence. I am TRYING to do things RIGHT, and it feels like everyone who ought to be motivated to LET or HELP me do things right is SHRUGGING while they MAKE LIFE HARD ON PURPOSE. Other people POSSESS the information for doing it right; they allege that they WANT to help me do it right; their very JOB DESCRIPTION is to help me get things right; but when I ASK THEM FOR THE INFORMATION, they decline to give it out. *pant pant*
Like, the insurance. Again and again and again, the insurance company cautions us that we MUST check with them to find out where we can have tests done. “Check with us! Check with us! JUST CHECK WITH US!!!” So I check with them, and they say, “Hm, I don’t see anything within 50 miles.” I check back, because surely this can’t be right. I live in a small town, but we are within half an hour of two largish cities. There is not ONE SINGLE PLACE within 50 miles I can take William for an x-ray? I receive the response, from a different person. Of course there are PLENTY of places! I can take him to either of these cancer-specializing x-ray places in a neighboring state. Well….but this is just an x-ray to take a look at his ribs, because one side is sticking out weird.
You know what would make SO MUCH MORE SENSE? If my DOCTOR were the one to tell me the best place to take William for the kind of x-ray the doctor wants. Wouldn’t that be SO MUCH MORE MAKE-SENSEY?? So why are we doing it this STUPID way, where I have to talk to a customer service representative who tells me to use their web site for this, and then when I use the web site I get “no results within 50 miles,” so then I use their “Email us!” button and get “Don’t be silly, you can go to the oncology department in the next state!” Wouldn’t it be better to use the x-ray machine that is part of our pediatrician’s practice, in the same building? No, that is not covered. Do it the REALLY REALLY EXPENSIVE AND DIFFICULT OUT-OF-STATE UNNECESSARY-SPECIALIST WAY.
What makes it worse is that I have now tried to get my question answered THREE TIMES, and yet I am certain I have not yet received the correct answer. I am certain my insurance company does NOT want me to go to a cancer specialist in another state to have my son’s ribs x-rayed for non-cancer-related reasons. I am certain of it! I am certain that this is an issue of lowest-level customer service not caring very much about getting me the right answer, and/or not knowing how to access the right answer. But having to go back AGAIN and AGAIN just to try to get the answer they should be giving me in the first place is what makes me feel like smashing my coffee mug into the mouthpiece of the phone.
Or let’s talk about the DMV. A teenager getting his driver’s license is such a big and important and exciting and scary milestone, and I would like to non-thank our DMV for making the process as hellish and horrible and frustrating and lie-awake-at-night-processing-the-clerk’s-startling-brusqueness as possible. Really: exceptional work there.
Today we are going back for our THIRD ATTEMPT to have Rob tested. That is, he has not yet been tested. This is our third ATTEMPT to get him tested, which turns out to be like solving an impossible level of a video game: first double-jump on the blue square, then a jump-flip over the alligator, then bounce off the walking mushroom, aiming for the next floor where you have to punch-smash the tree, and…shoot, small error, start all over at the beginning.
And this is with a parent (I am talking about myself here) who goes online, studies all the instructions on the DMV’s site, makes lists of every piece of paper we need, prints out all the forms, fills them all out, puts them in order on a clipboard, makes a master list of everything that should be on that clipboard, checks the master list against the contents of the clipboard. TWO TIMES we have been sent away anyway. Today is our third chance. If we don’t make it today, you will know because you will think your ear is ringing. But that will be me.
Here is a sample interaction with the DMV clerk:
Clerk: Let’s see your forms.
Swistle: Okay, here is the….
Clerk: This box needs to be checked.
Swistle: But it says to check it if he’s applying for a REPLACEMENT li…
Clerk: We need this box checked.
No explanation. No “I know, it seems misleading, but for some crazy reason that’s also the box they use for new licenses.” No listening to my reason for not checking the box. Just a brusque interruption in an unpleasant voice. She seriously interrupted me EVERY TIME I TALKED.
Clerk: Where’s the birth certificate.
Swistle: Let’s see, here’s the…
Clerk (taking the wrong piece of paper out of the pile Swistle is looking through): Nope. This is a copy.
Swistle (who hasn’t yet noticed clerk’s error): It’s a certified copy! It said it could be a…
Clerk: Nope. See right here: it says VOID.
Swistle (seeing problem): No, you’ve got the wrong…
Clerk: Nope, won’t work.
Swistle: HERE is the certified…
Clerk (no concession, just moving to next form): You need the driving school written here.
Swistle: They told us we should first ask you…
Clerk: We need it written here.
She was HAPPY to turn us away. She was HOPING to turn us away. I wanted so badly to shove her to the ground. Just one really sharp sudden SHOVE. Or I wanted to record the whole exchange and post it on the internet, and then send her a link to the comments section.
All of this is just awful. I hate doing all things like this, and then when people suck or are rude or unhelpful, it just…. It Shouldn’t Be This Hard.
I got a message from the IRS that I needed to call back TODAY before the end of the day. I called, waited on hold for 25 minutes to find out, “Oh, we were looking for Shwanda. Not Amanda.” I guess I should be happy the IRS wasn’t looking for me and only had the wrong number?? Or I should’ve just known they weren’t looking for me (person who follows all rules) and not called back anyway??
But still. I feel you. And I’m sorry! Ugh.
YES: “It Shouldn’t Be This Hard” is EXACTLY how I feel about this!
UGH. Yes. IT SHOULDN’T BE THIS HARD.
I once needed to have something done for one of my children which was proving to be way too difficult/not covered in the way it should have been. I won’t go into details; it’s boring. Anyway, what I did was directly contact the insurance rep who dealt with my husband’s employer (through whom we had the insurance). Once I explained the situation, and why it would be way more beneficial to the insurance company to do it a different way, he made it happen. It took a little time for things to get set up so I could do what I needed, but it ended up working out.
Even so, should it have been so difficult for my son to get proper care and for me to save them loads upon loads of money? NO. IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN.
You have all my sympathy, and I hope this works out soon.
yes! this! when I have had similar problems with my insurance company (ie: every single time I have ever had to deal with them), I call my HR benefits rep, who immediately swoops in and figures everything out.
…now that i have typed this out, I realize that perhaps neither of you works for a large organization with such a person, so I thought about deleting this comment, but I am going to leave it anyway it case it helps you or someone else who comes here.
I love most what you did here is juxtapose how inept both private and public systems can be. I feel like when something (insurance, DMV, WHATEVER) isn’t working, maybe we just acknowledge that that method sucks and try something new instead of heaping inefficient changes on top of it. Or just let Amazon run it all (I’m in the after-glow of a wonderful customer service experience with them after one of my lovely children learned how to purchase dozens of apps on the tablet…)
But make no mistake, the most miserable humans on the planet are employed at the DMV. I’m dying to see how that interview process goes. It’s like when someone gets even too miserable to work at a Walmart, they get on fast track for a job at the DMV.
All of this = ugh.
As for the dmv person, remember everyone has a boss. You’ve perfectly documented the situation here. I would take particular joy in writing her boss. It would be such a pleasure. :-)
Oh, that clerk makes me what to shove them, too. I’ve met that brand of clerk and they always make me feel so small and stupid and like I can never do anything even a little right, which is not true, but they make me feel that way. Awful.
You only mentioned tax forms at the top, and not specific frustrations/questions, but PLEASE feel free to email me if you want. I’m a CPA, and I helped you with a different tax question a bunch of years ago (late 2010), and I am very willing to help again. xo
The six words I use most with customer service are, “May I speak to your supervisor?”
If I feel like the person I’m dealing with is making an effort to be helpful, but is being held back by institutional blockades, I preface it with, “I realize that you’re doing the best you can, but…”
this is great advice. I need to make a note.
I am all bent out of shape just reading about that exchange. I’d like to give her a shove myself!
We have really really terrible health insurance. My company gets a discount for using the same insurance company for all of its employees across the country, so while this insurance is maybe great for people who live in some places, it is not so great for us. I’ve had to fight and argue for dental providers and medical providers and coverage for YEARS. I have found a few doctor’s offices though who will make all of the phone calls for me, and that’s been nice. I hope you find a decent place to take William soon!
All of this makes me want to scream on your behalf. I do not understand for one second why an x-ray at your pediatrician would not be covered. That makes NO SENSE AT ALL.
As for the DMV, one time in a similar type of situation where I needed a pile of forms for some bureaucratic nonsense, I thought I had everything that I needed, including a money order for a ridiculously specific amount. I even called the administrative office to confirm that I indeed did have everything they required and that the money order was for X amount (naturally, what she told me on the phone was DIFFERENT than what the website said so I had to go back and get a DIFFERENT money order).
However, when I went there in person and presented my pile of forms and my STUPID money order (after waiting on a huge line, etc), the clerk (who may have been ONE AND THE SAME as the one I’d spoken to on the phone) acted like I was the dumbest person in the world not to have brought one additional thing that was NOT MENTIONED ON THE PHONE OR THE WEBSITE.
Well, I got VERY LOUD with her. And then I went out in the hallway and cried and threw my purse down on the floor a few times. I CANNOT BEAR those types of situations.
Your DMV experience happened to me a couple months ago asking about applying for replacing a lost passport. I literally just wanted to make sure the info I’d found online was correct in person and the agent was SO MEAN and SO DISMISSIVE about how everything I had was wrong I walked out of the post office and cried in my car for 10 minutes. Then I went home and ripped apart the house looking for the lost passport again because if I’m going to be miserable anyway I might as well be useful and FOUND IT IN A CARDBOARD BOX WITH OLD GREETING CARDS so there’s sort of a happy ending but mostly I still want to go back and throw the heavy greeting card box at the agent’s head.
Frustration – the word of the week. I’m so sorry you’re facing those ridiculous obstacles.
One of my many frustrations this week is centered around my daughter’s wisdom teeth. When her braces were removed, we were told she didn’t have wisdom teeth. GOOD NEWS! No extractions in the future. However, we changed dentists and were told she has two wisdom teeth but they would likely never cause a problem. Lo and behold, one wisdom tooth has now erupted at an awful angle. It erupted early in the calendar year (so there’s no option to wait for new insurance enrollment period) of a year for which I did not enroll in the deluxe dental insurance plan so we have absolutely no coverage whatsoever. In trying to get quotes for this extraction, we were told she would only have one tooth removed and when I asked why, they said she only has one. This is the same dentist who told us she had two. REALLY? Also, it has been 3 days and we’ve not gotten a call back from the oral surgeon’s office, the oral surgeon the dentist said is the most responsive. GRRRRRRR
Oh my gosh, my husband had two wisdom teeth come in fully and it was fine for years, but when he got a cavity in it our dentist recommended just pulling the tooth instead (it would be cheaper and the tooth wasn’t needed, anyhow). Then we switched dentists who also recommended pulling the tooth. Then we switched dentists again (this is over a period of many years. My husband is not a fan of the dentist so getting him to follow through on these procedures took FOREVER!) and we finally decided it was time to take care of it. They had him schedule a consultation with an oral surgeon (there was a charge for that!) who then quoted almost $2,000 to have this tooth extracted in a super special and fancy way that none of the previous dentists had said anything about it. We switched AGAIN (my husband refused to return to that office after that experience) and this dentist just pulled the stupid teeth for $150. I HATE trying to figure out anything about dental work, because nobody ever gives you the same opinion on the situation and even if you DO pay for the ultimate dental coverage (which we do, because my teeth seem to just be dissolving as the years go by) it still doesn’t cover anything USEFUL! (“Crowns to replace the fillings that cracked your teeth in multiple places? Nope, that’s all for you to pay for! But if you don’t take care of it and you end up needing a root canal, THAT we will cover!” “Your son has some potential pre-cavities forming? Well, you can wait until they are ACTUAL cavities, and then we will cover some of the cost of filling them (but not with the good materials, of course). But if you want to do what the dentist recommends and place a sealant on the baby tooth that needs to last another 8 years, nope. We won’t cover that!”) ARGH!
EXACTLY! Even my basic dental insurance just about breaks even with our out-of-pocket costs. Trying to predict this crap is impossible. And how can there be so many differing opinions? I just confirmed she does, indeed, only have one wisdom tooth – as of today, according to this particular oral surgeon.
Unrelated to your post – but if the IRS wants to contact you, they will do so by letter only. Phone calls are a scam to get people (usually foreign immigrants) to wire them thousands of dollars. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/nj_residents_lose_more_than_660k_to_irs_phone_scam.html
Also at my doctor’s office I had to ask the clerk for her work schedule – actually I guess I ended up with an appointment on the day she didn’t work and I asked other coworkers about her work schedule – so I could in the future ensure I only had my appointments on days she wouldn’t be there.
Sorry, I’m not done.
What burns me up SO MUCH is that you and I and people like us are smart! We follow instructions! We are prepared! But OTHER PEOPLE hinder us because they or their office don’t give proper instructions and then they are going to sit there and be condescending as though WE ARE DUMB for not being able to MAGICALLY KNOW what is required, when no one is willing to present that information in a complete and coherent way.
Ok, I need a cookie or something to calm down.
Adulting is very very hard today (for me). The DMV is the worst. I got a notice that I needed to come in in person to renew mine this year. What I did NOT get a notice of was that my state has changed drivers licenses. Now in order to get a “real” drivers license, with a gold star, you must go in with your current, valid DL, your SS card, two pieces of Important Document with your name and address, and a vial of blood. (Ok, not really on the blood). Otherwise you are issued a no -gold-star drivers license which is not accepted by TSA or other things. Yet there was NO indicator of this in the letter they sent.
Not pleased.
My personal favorite was when the insurance’s customer service rep needed a DOCTOR’s NOTE before they would pay for the prescription. The doctor wrote the PRESCRIPTION because I needed a medicine, now this representative (do need I point out that the know-it-all representative did not have a medical degree?) needed ANOTHER note explaining why I needed the medicine? How about because the doctor says so in his prescription? I’m wasn’t even tempted to blame my annoyance on my pregnancy hormones. I got so annoyed that I just let my OBGYN deal with the situation. That’s what I’d recommend. Have your kid’s doctors office deal with getting the insurance company to tell you where to go. I consider the office workers at my doctors office to be trained interpreters. They are able to translate low-level-insurance-bureaucrat speech into my everyday I-need-to-take-care-of-my-kid language.
The DMV folks are behind glass in my state, perhaps so we CAN’T shove them. They do seem to take joy in being able to dismiss folks. I wonder if they win some sort of office slush fund by dismissing the most people. Two points for dismissing someone not wearing sweat pants. Three points for being able to dismiss someone who brought their mom.
I am physically angered on your behalf about that prescription. A prescription is LITERALLY A DOCTOR’S NOTE saying that you need the medicine. Like, they write it and sign it. That should be enough.
My husband is on a med that is 1 mg, twice a day. Our insurance would not cover it. They would, however, cover 2 mg, once a day, so our doctor had to order that, and my husband had to get a pill cutter and deal with the daily frustration of bureaucracy every time he cuts that stupid pill.
My insurance company started denying certain types of medicine. My doctor’s office gave me a prescription for nausea medicine for my pregnancy and I got a letter from my insurance stating that I needed to document trying 3 other types of over the counter medicine first before they would approve my prescription. My doctor’s office said the medicine they prescribed me was the only one that was safe during pregnancy. So ugghh, now I am supposed to try 3 other medicines (that may or may not be safe) while I am running out of the free pills my doctor’s office gave me. I ended up paying over $300 myself just to get the medicine because I didn’t want to be nauseous all day. Since when did insurance companies become doctor’s without ever seeing a patient. I pay a monthly insurance premium to have my medicine covered but apparently they don’t do that anymore. My husband and a coworker had the same thing happen to them with 2 different prescriptions they were trying to fill at the pharmacy.
i am already in a very frustrated mood, and reading all of these stories is making me positively ITCH to drop kick some people in the face for all of you.
Oh, I’ve seen that clerk in action. I used to work for a government agency in an office that issued IDs. There are some clerks that see someone who looks pleased and happy and who has come prepared, and the clerk thinks “Oh yeah? I’ve had a shitty day, and I don’t have much power, but I do have enough to wipe that smile off your face.”
I actually worked with one woman who would see someone coming up the walkway and say “She looks like a bitch. I’m gonna figure out a way to fuck her over.” I am not even kidding. I left that job after multiple complaints by me about her attitude failed to get anything done. Management just didn’t care. What are we gonna do? Not get driver’s licenses? Not get marriage certificates or birth certificates? There’s only one place to get that kind of stuff and they know it.
I will say that for most of my life I have had Kaiser insurance, which I feel like EVERYONE IN THE WORLD looks down upon. But the short time period I DIDN’T have Kaiser I felt SO LOST! I could not for the life of me understand where I was supposed to go to get lab work done, or who I called to find the right pharmacy. It was AWFUL. I’m so glad we’re back to Kaiser, where everything is usually within the same building (and if it’s NOT, it’s usually in a different complex 20 minutes away or something reasonable). THAT is something I can handle. Your situation sounds GHASTLY and I hope you demand to talk to a supervisor the next time you call so you can get a straight answer and BE DONE WITH IT FINALLY!
I miss having Kaiser very much. The only problem I ever had was that I didn’t always like the doctors available at my local office, and because it’s Kaiser, they’ll shuffle you around constantly (in the last month of my pregnancy, I saw four different doctors in four weeks while my midwife was on vacation). Now we’re paying for PPO insurance through my husband’s work, and guess what? In the past five years, the pediatric practice we very carefully picked out because “whoo, we have a PPO, we can finally choose a doctor we like!” lost two of its three original pediatricians and replaced them with ones I no longer like or particularly trust to be giving me the best advice. Thanks to the PPO, we can go somewhere else, but how many different practices am I realistically going to drag my kids to just to find the perfect pediatrician who could very well up and leave for Kaiser, just like the last one did? I’d go back in a heartbeat – everything was SO easy there.
SAME! My co-worker gets all faux concerned every time I mention I have Kaiser “But you can’t choose your own doctor! etc” After not having an HMO for a couple of years I was so glad to go back to a job where it was offered because I was totally lost and confused and frustrated every time I had to see a doctor, dentist, pediatrician, you name it. I nearly lost my mind going through nonsense like this. Bah.
While working at a previous job, I discovered that the closest DMV to the office was actually staffed with real human beings who were actually kind, efficient and helpful (unlike every other DMV I’ve been in.) My first experience there was so unlike any other I’d had at a DMV that it took every ounce of willpower not to reach across the counter and hug the person – I think I may have even gone home and written a letter of commendation/appreciation to the supervisor. Even though I no longer work anywhere near that office, I will drive miles out of my way to go there. And the funny thing is, the employees there probably aren’t that exceptional in the grand scheme of things … it’s just that the bar is set so low in comparison to other offices that even simple niceties and helpfulness stand out. Which is just kinda sad. None of this is helpful to you, but yes, completely understand the frustration.
Ugh, health insurance. I sent forms to get my husband’s orthotics reimbursed (filled-out form, a statement from the place that made the orthotics that they did so because they got the required paperwork from my husband’s doctor, and a receipt for the work done). I got a notice: rejected because they needed something with the doctor’s signature. But the thing with the signature was the prescription, which we’d given to the othotics-maker in order to get them, you know, made. So we got a copy and sent it in, and got another notice: rejected because they needed the information from the first batch of papers. They’d filed it under a different claim, even though I’d returned the second paperwork with the notice from the original claim. So I called and they put the papers together, then got another notice: rejected because the prescription was signed, but not dated. Back to the doctor’s to get yet another copy of the prescription, called to make sure everything was ready to send back and was told that it had to be dated with the current date and not back-dated to the original date (which still makes no sense to me), so back to the doctor’s to get the date changed. FINALLY got it approved 4 months after the original claim went in.
And all this was to prove that a real doctor said he had to have them, and proof of this was technically in the first batch of paper I sent in, but it wasn’t in the format they wanted it to be.
GOOD GRIEF!
I think some state workers find JOY in treating customers badly.
This is how the post office treats me.
Thankfully, in my state the driving schools test the kids!
So you can just go in with your documents & get the license.
UGH! And I’m sure there are DMV people who wonder why people walk in with a chip on their shoulders!
It reminds me of the time I needed an x-ray (my wrist–tendonitis) and my dr gave me the x-ray form and I went over to the x-ray place in the same medical complex and signed in and waited. and waited and waited. Then they called me back only to tell me–the dr forgot to sign this form and we can’t do the x-ray and oh looky it is 4:55, so we have to wait until tomorrow. We’ll call the dr and get the signature and then call you when we have the signature. Next day they do not call. The day after that I call and wow no one has my form, no one remembers my form (And here was my mistake, I told the lady at the x-ray place, you said you’d call the dr and she snapped at me that SHE would never have told me that). So I call the dr’s office and get a NEW form. Then I swear they made me wait an HOUR–took 3 people who walked in after me before me. They always give people a comment card at the end–and they didn’t do that either. So then I sat in the waiting room after wards and wrote on the back of a coloring page in the waiting room the whole thing and shoved it in the comment box. I know right after i left the receptionist fished it out. BUT the next time I needed an x-ray they had eliminated the receptionist–you check in and then call the Tech on a little phone.
Don’t even get me started. Oops, too late! Our town has a medical center that INCLUDES a hospital plus probably another hundred medical offices. There is one lab there, and a satellite lab of the same group at a small strip mall in town, and those are the only 2 labs in town. However, because these labs have the word “hospital” on their bill, my insurance will only cover a small portion (non-covered provider) of it. [Side note: If I were hospitalized in that same hospital, they WOULD cover the whole bill at full benefits, including the lab charges.] So I have to drive to a large city an hour away to a private medical laboratory and get blood drawn 4 times a year.
DMV: Like you, I read and re-read the website, and carried a stuffed folder full of documentation to the DMV to get a driver’s license in this state. Foiled! I had to leave and acquire a statement from the bank that does not hold a lien on my car, saying they do not hold a lien. Second trip, foiled again! I needed a copy of my 20-year-old divorce decree because the name I wanted on my new license was not the same as the name on my birth certificate. The name was on all the other documentation they would accept, but that didn’t matter. Awwwk!
So sorry you’re having to deal with this, and sorry William is having this problem.
ARGH! I agree that that is all immensely frustrating. I manage student workers at a front line Helpdesk, and I work here myself, and when there are barriers up to us being able to help people it makes me ragey.
Also, speaking of poor service…this morning I had a health care screening at work to get a reduction on my 2016 insurance premiums. I knew going into it it was going to be upsetting, because I’ve been “obese” according to the BMI since I hit puberty. What I wasn’t prepared for was the screener who, when I tearfully was telling her about my running and training for a half marathon (which they did not ask about, which is a whole OTHER thing), said, “Well, just imagine how bad it would be if you WEREN’T doing that!” And then my jaw dropped to the floor.
As a physician who does have to label people according to BMIs (Mostly to my chagrin) I am so sorry that someone would talk this way about your health and fitness.
What a crappy thing to say!
I love my husband. He does all of this stuff for our household, and doesn’t even realize how frustrating it is for most people. I hope that all of your spouses appreciate this frustration that you go through. If you don’t have spouses, know that you are amazing to deal with all of this stuff without support.
I worked as a clerk of the court and the people there weren’t mean. If a form wasn’t filled out the exact correct way, you did the best you could with computer entry. I’ve dealt with the DMV in three states and the small DMV offices were the best. Centralized DMV places where everyone has to come were terrible.
I wonder – if at the DMV- they would treat Rob differently than you? Sometimes they are kinder to kids. You of course should be there for backup and form finding and explaining if need be, but it might be a good switch for both of you. AND Rob can start learning to deal with assholes in his own way! I call that excellent parenting! :)
Plus, if you are the kind of person who needs a push to ask for a supervisor (I get it, I am non confrontational too) NOTHING gets me more righteous than a mama bear moment. It’s easier for me to step in on my kid’s behalf, than on my own behalf.
Anyway, this is probably not helpful because you are either there now, or have already been. Either way, I hope the 3rd time was the charm.
All of this is making me really glad to live in Canada.
Not that we don’t have our share of unpleasant customer service and government workers, but all my interactions getting driver’s licenses, x-rays, and prescriptions have been extremely simple in comparison.
We live in a rural town without a DMV so I have to travel no matter what if I need to go in person. (Thank you IL SOS Jesse White for all the online services you offer.) I have discovered if I travel one county east the DMV is very small and helpful, but if I drive the same distance to the DMV “in town” it’s a nightmare.
Me too!
I usually go to the dmv in the smallish town where the people are almost always nice and the wait is less than 30 minutes. I once went to one closer to the city, figuring I’d renew and head on to my 11am class. I took a number, sat for 80 minutes, then left so I wouldn’t miss class.
Just as well since it was so confusing. I might have taken a number for the wrong line and the other people waiting kept making comments that made me think I was missing a form. The next Saturday I went the other direction. In and out in 15 minutes and nobody sitting near me smelled like pee.
I think “IT SHOULDN’T BE THIS HARD” just about every day of my life! At my job, I go out of my way to make sure I can help people…and I’m not even IN customer service…so why can’t other people?! It boggles my mind.
As for the DMV (no advice for the x-ray situation), I have discovered that if you drive to most remote, oddest place that you can go within your area, they will be more helpful and the driving portion of the test will be less stressful.
You think the DMV is bad? Try dealing with the courts and the probation office!
I have actually gone without medical treatments because I didn’t want to deal with my insurance. I pay almost 300 a month for it too! I hate how much time all the day to day stuff takes. I think it’s getting worse every year.
My husband switched us over to a ridiculous new health plan this year. The first time I refilled a prescription that was $8 last year, I discovered it wasn’t covered and cost $156. I did some research and found out that if my dose was 325mg instead of 300, it would be covered and cost $15. Apparently the dose I was on wasn’t “standard” for them. I am flabbergasted that I had to have my doctor INCREASE the dose of a medicine so I could save $140 a month on it. Insanity.
I’m trying to imagine the amount of frustration it would take to mare you want to shove someone. Even though you’ve clearly documented it for us I’m still thinking “Holy crap Swistle wanted to SHOVE a person. How did this happen?” I’m hoping you are much less frustrated right now!
UGH, I hate the DMV. It’s as if being rude is a requirement for working there. I mean, I probably wouldn’t be super happy if I had to work there either, but having an attitude won’t make the experience easier or more enjoyable for anyone involved. I agree with what another commenter said about going to the most remote, obscure DMV location you can get to, though. There aren’t as many crowds or long lines, it’s easier to get an appointment, and the employees there tend to be friendlier and more forgiving since they’re not as overworked. Plus there likely won’t be as much traffic on the roads, so the test will be a lot less stressful for Rob! (I also recommend having Rob drive around the DMV area beforehand, if you can–preferably around the same time of day he’ll be taking the test. That way he’ll have a better idea of how much traffic there will be and where the stop signs/traffic lights/etc. are.)
One time when I was little, my mom had to go to the DMV to renew her license or something and for some reason she had to take my cousin and me with her. I remember her saying to us on the way there, “Girls, you know how people call Disneyland the happiest place on Earth? Well, the DMV is about the unhappiest.”
BOO TO YOU, DMV LADY. I’M SHOVING YOU IN MY MIND TOO.
fyi, I have a sticking-out-rib thing, and my chiropracter pops it back in every few weeks. (I actually have three–two up in the back near my left scapula, and one on my front lower right side. Getting adjusted makes it back to normal for a while. Also, my chiropracter did xrays on my first visit in his office, so perhaps that might be a way of getting them done not a state away?)
This may just be a my-particular-insurance-company thing, but I have had good luck in past with invoking the clause in the fine print that says I can go “out of network” if there is no in-network provider within 50 miles. (Your specific “no provider within 50 miles” made me remember.) We had to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed (which was a pain), but we sent in the copy of the bill along with a carefully phrased letter stating that there was no developmental pediatrician within 50 miles of our home, so we should be reimbursed “at in-network rates” due to section 1.A.xii (or whatever the clause in the plan doc was). I was afraid it wouldn’t work because the nearest developmental pediatrician was within 50 miles of our zip code, just not within 50 miles driving distance from our home (and I was also afraid they would want evidence we actually needed a developmental pediatrician), but they paid for those visits for years. I think the key was to put it in writing and sound like we knew what we were talking about.
I hate DMVs.
Just one more DMV story: I went with my grandmother a few years ago to renew her license. She was very stressed out that she wouldn’t be able to renew her license, and she mostly drives to the grocery and to church and to a few other places within 3 miles of her home–no interstates, no long road trips, etc. She also has a vision problem in one eye, but one that does not affect her ability to drive (or maybe it does, I have no idea, but she isn’t getting into accidents or driving on the sidewalk). She sat at the little vision test for several minutes as the woman repeatedly told her to “read the next line,” and my grandmother nervously repeated that she didn’t see a next line. She kept getting more and more upset that she couldn’t see the line she was supposed to see, and the test-giver was clearly too bored to make any concession. Finally, she says for the last time she can’t see it, and the test-giver says, “oh, that means you have XXXX (whatever it was),” which was already noted on my grandmother’s forms and which isn’t an impediment to getting a license. So this pinehole let an elderly woman sweat and shake and think her driving days are over while she chewed her gum and stared around the room, rather than saying, “yes, you might not be able to see that line if you have XXXX,” or, “please try to read it, but if you can’t, you can still get a license.”