Which consumer happenings cheered you recently and which ones made you want to scream or weep? Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:
My best: Being assertive at the doctor’s office
Last week, I came down with the flu. Still sick this week, I decided to go to the doctor to see whether I had strep throat. The flu started with a painful sore throat, which came back a couple of times then went away again.
Since my doctor was out of town, I saw a physician’s assistant. He said I probably had a viral infection. My sore throat didn’t look like I had strep, he said, although he mentioned that sore throats in adults don’t always look the way they do in children.
I asked for the test anyway. And surprise, surprise. It was positive.
I’m on medication and feeling much better.
It pays to be assertive when you visit a health care provider.
My worst: A credit union policy missing checks
Before I left on a recent vacation, I paid my bills. When I returned, I had a couple of letters from my credit union saying my credit card payment was late.
I looked in my checkbook and found that I hadn’t included the check in the payment envelope.
When I was looking over my credit card statement, I found that the credit union had charged a $25 late fee. Fortunately, I was able to get the late fee charge canceled.
However, I think the credit union needs to call members when they receive payment stubs in the mail, but no checks.
When I talked with the supervisor of the credit union mail department, she said she used to call members about the missing payments. However, some were angry with her for bothering them. Now she puts a note in the member’s file.
I don’t think that’s good enough. I’ll be contacting the credit union president and CEO and the board of directors about changing the policy.
