Recovering

Chris is recovering nicely from his wisdom teeth extraction this morning. He's in some pain and is hungry since he hasn't eaten anything but pudding and a little ice cream in the last 24 hours. I've been trying hard to wait on him hand and foot, but he's being pretty independent. That's not a very man-like way to act when he's sick, but I'm not complaining.

The following is just a rant, plain and simple, so just ignore me. We were about a block away from the dentist office this morning when Chris asked me if I had fiilled out the application for the 0% interest credit for his procedure. He had brought home a pamphlet, along with lots of other paperwork, after his appt. on Monday and says he asked me to call and get approved. I don't actually remember him asking me, but it isn't beyond the realm of possibility.

I told him that my dentist office called in my application for a similar one for me last year and got it approved right away, so his probably is the same way. Well, it wasn't. Turns out my dentist must just be very accomadating and go the extra mile for their patients. The office staff today just looked at me like I was smoking something every time I walked up to the counter.

Chris had to be there 30 minutes before surgery. We were the only ones there and asked about still getting approved. They were no help at all, but I see on the brochure that you can be approved immediately. I start dialing, Chris goes in to fill out paperwork. It's an automated system and they need the amount of the bill. Great. Chris walks back out into the waiting room, I ask him, he asks someone and then gives me the amount. I proceed and after about 10 minutes I have an account number and credit limit. Sweet. That was easy!

I go over to the counter and give her the acct. number I just wrote down on a piece of paper and she just kind of stares at it. I'm like "I just called and got approved. It said it could be used immediately." She tells me she'll have to check on that. She finally calls me back over and asked who's name it was in. I tell her I put it in Chris'. And that was my error. Chris couldn't sign the credit slip since he was in surgery already at this point and of course, I, being his wife who just got it approved, couldn't sign the slip.

Grrrr. I say "Ok, do you have to have payment right now or can it wait until he's out?" I'm told they will not accept a signature after he gets out of surgery because of the sedation. Ok...... "Can we come back later today to sign?" Nope, can't sign the same day as surgery. "Seriously?", I ask.

Then they say if tomorrow wasn't Saturday, they'd just let him come back in tomorrow and sign. But since it is.....sorry. Grrrr. So I ask if he can come in on Monday to sign. Nope. Then they say they can hold a check and he can come back in on Monday to sign. Great! No, wait, I don't have any checks on me. Grrrr. "Will you hold a credit card number until Monday?" NO. They seemed very frustrated with me, so I informed them that my dentist's office took care of this stuff for me, so I assumed they did too and hadn't foreseen a problem. For the record, I know this is my problem, but they were just soooooo not helpful!

This is the point at which I start to get frustrated. They don't allow a patient's ride home to leave the office while the patient is in surgery, so I couldn't go get a check. But I so do not want to put it on a credit card with 10% interest when I've just been approved for 0% for a year! It's the principle of the matter. So I ask if I can get approved for one in my name so I can sign. They said yes, so on the phone I go again.

First I called to speak to a customer service rep. Since the acct. was brand new, she couldn't tell me much or make changes (like adding my name to the acct.), just answer questions. I explained the situation and she said that if this next application went through my provider that they could add two names. (At least we'd both be on one for the future and I could cancel the other.) I knew full well this wasn't going to register with the nice young lady at the counter, but I tell her anyway. She gives me that blank stare thing again like their office has never, ever dealt with this company that they have brochures for all over their waiting room advertising 0% credit. I explain three times the customer rep's exact words. She tells me they can't do that. (Hello, they had one other patient in that office the entire 2 hours we were there. I have no idea what all of them were sooo very busy with.) I tell her "Wonderful."

So, I go through the automated process again and get one in my name. I'm sure that looks great on our credit. But, ta-da! They got their signature.

For what it's worth, the surgeon spoke with me for a couple of minutes when Chris was in recovery and he seemed very personable and professional. He just needs a new office staff.