My Medicare Part D provider is funnin’ with me
I got a voicemail this morning from my Medicare Part D provider. “We have some important information about your prescription!” it said insistently. And, unlike scam calls, it knew my full name.
Far be it from me to ignore such a thing. The mystery beckoned. Would it be something like, “We no longer cover it” or “You have to jump through another hoop to get it”? Would it be that the price had gone up?
When I called back, of course I had to prove that I’m really myself. It turned out that meant, among other things, saying my birth date – which for some reason these bots never understand when I say it no matter how well I try to enunciate. But there’s the handy keypad for that if all else fails. And then I had to climb a long flight of stairs to get my card, because they needed my ID number. And then a few more things. And then a few more. And then, finally to the point of the whole thing.
They were reminding me that I’m due to fill my prescription. That was it. I tried to explain that I had many pills left and didn’t need to refill it now, but the bot did not understand. That possibility was not within its Venn diagram of possible events in the world. The patient, calm, and yet strongly insisted quasi-female voice kept asking me whether I had filled it, but any “no” response got a flurry of further questions about whether I’d seen my doctor and whether my doctor had advised me to go off the medication. A “No!” “NO!” from me only elicited escalating misunderstanding from the bot, until I finally hung up and called customer service, where I had to plug in all those numbers and verify myself all over again.
I got to talk to a real person this time. But the real person said that in order to cancel reminders of that sort in the future I’d have to call the other number back. Although I tried to tell her that I didn’t think that would work, because the bot wasn’t programmed to do anything of the sort, the real person told me that was the only way to do it.
So it was back to the bot, laboriously authenticating myself again, and of course my attempt to cancel future reminders didn’t work. No matter how I tried, the bot did not understand. I hung up again, and then back to customer service, more authentication, and person number two, who graciously fixed the problem.
At least, she said she fixed it. I hope I don’t get any more of those reminders, but I wouldn’t bet money on it. And anyway, I get similar reminders from the pharmacy as texts, which are a lot easier to deal with.
The process was boring, time-consuming, and frustrating in a petty way that I realize has nothing to do with a real trial and tribulation. But it’s like chalk on a blackboard, and it took close to an hour from start to finish.
1. Bots are useful only if you know exactly what you want, and how to get it. I use it to refill a prescription I take only as needed.
2. You MUST speak to a real person otherwise. I would never have tried the auto number again. Just go full Karen on them. I feel like a jerk when I do it, but it works. And nothing else does.
“…but the bot did not understand.”
Hmm. Maybe it did…but was going through a psychotic episode…?
Exhibit A:
“Exploring Air Canada’s AI Chatbot Dilemma”—
https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/exploring-air-canadas-ai-chatbot-dilemma/
Key grafs:
[All emphasis mine; Barry M.]
Hmmm. Live by the bot. Die by the bot…?
(Not really an appropriate warning for a Medicare provider….)
You COULD cancel, but what I do is accept the fact that I’m a little ahead, take the prescription refill and put the new pills into my “Go Bag”. Rotate them out each refill.
Why? Because you want to have EXTRA should TSHTF. It’s not uncommon for meds to be very hard to fill in those emergency cases.
But this shows the extent to which providers will go to make sure their clients don’t run out. Because, the Med Advantage plans have found that when people are reminded (OK, NAGGED) they are more likely to get, and take, their meds. And, that correlates with improved health, which is cheaper than sickness.
Reading this post was like having a fever dream.
Wellcare is my Part D provider, and I got the same type of call a couple times now. When they asked for birth date I just hung up. Thought maybe they were some criminal trying to get my personal info. Are all providers doing the same thing, or is it Medicare, or a scammer. Don’t have a bot calling me—asking me for personal info…
Linda S Fox:
I already have a 3-month supply. That’s extra enough.
“I’m sorry (Neo). I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
In order to save a few dollars we all must be made to conform to the program for our own good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARJ8cAGm6JE
Linda S, yes that is what I do. Neo, 3 months is not enough. I like when I have 3 Refills waiting.
You never know when it might be difficult to get them.
Recently, I needed knee surgery prior to a hip replacement, where the latter hasn’t happened yet. But… I needed visits with my orthopedist, a couple MRI scans, and the use of a surgical center. Each one of those places has its own online system with logins and authentications and largely useless automated Q&A sections of varying lengths. And a slew of automated phone text message queries and alerts.
Then, when one of my credit cards expired recently, they sent me the new one with several options for activating it. Long story short, after 1.5 days and 1.5 hours of my time, I got it activated AND I gave the lady on the phone a piece of my mind. Such a stupid waste of time.
This!
It has become the bane of my life. Robo calls where they never understand my voice responses and require multiple methods of proving my identity. And getting to a human is near impossible. Technology has made this sort of thing unnecessarily difficult, IMO.
The other thing is the assumption that everyone now has a smart phone. My clinic was bought out by a bigger provider who has installed new computer systems. I just had an annual appointment with my GP. I came home and opened my computer e-mail. I had an e-mail asking me when i was going to check in for my appointment. Duh?
I checked in with the lady at the front desk before having my session with the doctor. They expected me to use my smart phone to check in. 🙁
They still don’t grasp that I don’t have and don’t use a smart phone.
Okay, I’m a dinosaur. So, sue me.
It costs a company nothing to make your life miserable with an A.I. machine. It costs a company the hourly rate, to provide a live human to interact with.
I refuse whenever I can, to spar with robots. I make my responses unintelligible until I get something with a heartbeat. And a lot of the time, I get something with a heartbeat in a foreign language, so I keep insisting on a supervisor. Usually they have better language skills, or a better grasp of English. Sometimes, they’re even in the US.
I had the same issue. Rather than try to deal with an automated system I had zero faith in, I blocked the phone number from connecting to my phone. (Used both the phone itself option and an app.) No more calls.
Some years ago my brother was in the management team at his bank for the design and installation of (its first?) automated phone system. Press1… That was the great-grandfather of the bot you recently dealt with.
I have told my brother, not entirely in a joking manner, that when he goes up to St. Peter’s gate to gain admission to heaven, his having worked on that automated phone system will not help him get in. 🙂
The amount of wasted time and lost productivity due to bad system design is immense. (By ‘system’ I mean the overall workflow of a process, including the human aspects as well as the computerized aspects)
There is a related post at Ricochet about treating customers like livestock.
https://ricochet.com/1643088/customers-or-livestock/
I don’t think his diagnosis is entirely correct, about to comment there.