Friday, July 15, 2005
Pre-breakfast: banana. When I walked in the door at work, I saw 3 small white boxes sitting on the counter, and I smelled sugar before I saw them: beautiful small cakes which Joel had made and brought to work. They were round and white. One had a 4 ducks (plastic) sitting in a pool of blue sugar. Another had carrots made in frosting. He also brought cupcakes with various colors of colored sugar on top. He's truly amazing and so are his cakes! Breakfast with Joel at the cafeteria. My usual breakfast, and Joel had the same, but he calls it the Lumberjack's breakfast or something like that because it's a much heartier breakfast than he usually eats. We talked about The Goat—he had seen it earlier and found it fascinating as well. Today I set up Stacey with e-mail and trained her for about an hour with Outlook and Outlook Web Access and voicemail. I did final PDF builds and made the supplemental application live. I did linkchecking. It was also Melissa's last day. Her parting gift to me was a lovely box of truffles from XOX Truffles Inc (415-421-4814, 754 Columbus Av)—a delightful surprise! Lunch at Nan King Road Bistro: #1 not spicy. This afternoon I had the worst experience yet with Kaiser Permanente. I had finished an appointment which went well, and before I left the doctor said he electronically submitted the prescriptions we discussed to the pharmacy and that I could pick them up in about 15 minutes. I arrived at the pharmacy at about 4:30 PM. In the pharmacy an electronic sign board lists the last names and first initials of patients whose prescriptions are ready. (Is that really HIPAA-compliant? I don't think so.) I waited 15 minutes—my name did not appear on the board. I waited 30 minutes—no name. I waited 45 minutes—no name. I waited 60 minutes—no name. I waited 75 minutes—no name. I waited 90 minutes—no name. It was now 6:00 PM, and the pharmacy was closing. I would have gone up to the counter earlier if I hadn't overheard the conversation of another gentleman who had said he'd been waiting a long time too—longer than me. I eventually got my prescription, and it wasn't clear to me who or what had screwed up. The man who helped me couldn't immediately determine the status of my prescription order. Another man behind the counter told him that one of my medicines was out of stock and that's probably why my order was not to be found. The second man's information was ultimately not helpful. After a few minutes, the first man found that my prescription was packaged and ready, but it had been filed and wasn't in the location he had expected. I suspect, but cannot prove, that my prescription was completed a long time ago but the procedure which puts the person's name on the board was mistakenly forgotten by the pharmacist who filled the order. Throughout my entire visit, I received constant reminders that if I needed a refill I should call ahead. This reminder came from my doctor, from the pharmacy sign board, and from the first man behind the pharmacy counter. However, this reminder doesn't help me much if when I receive a new prescription it takes over 90 minutes to fill. I felt as though the doctor had lied to me when he said it would be ready in 15 minutes. I also felt as though the doctor should have asked if I wanted the prescriptions mailed to me automatically so that I wouldn't have had to waste an hour and a half of my time. The other customer who had been waiting a long time eventually said he had been waiting 2 hours and 15 minutes (!). He was much more disgruntled at the situation than I was, and rightly so. In another conversation I had overheard, that customer was told that 1-hour wait times were normal. (If this were true, why does the doctor say prescriptions will be ready in 15 minutes? And why did that man end up waiting 135 minutes instead of 60 minutes?) I couldn't understand how things had gotten bad so quickly, as I have had prescriptions filled before at this same pharmacy with no problems at all, but that was many months ago—maybe a year ago. I asked before I left the pharmacy if there was anyone to whom I could write to explain these problems, but I was told with resignation that I could try reporting these events to Member Services but that he thought it probably wouldn't do much good. To me, either the first man behind the pharmacy counter was lying when he said 1 hour wait times were normal or the pharmacists aren't doing a very good job communicating with the doctors with whom they work. Either way, their collective actions created an inexcusable situation, and I know I'm not the only customer affected by this problem. After my unfortunate Kaiser visit, I picked up my car from the auto repair shop, Sunset 76 (415-753-9635, 1700 Noriega Street, BAR AB237930, EPA CAD982493249). I left my car with this repair shop because of coupons they had posted in the elevator lobby at UCSF. One coupon advertised 15% off any repair over $50. Before I dropped my car off, I was quoted over the phone $95 plus tax for a replacement battery and no charge for labor. The day after I dropped it off, they called back and said it would be $110—more than the earlier quote because my car was a BMW and because they don't make much money on the batteries to begin with. After I picked up my car, I noticed that they charged me $10 for labor. And, they kept the unused 15% off coupon, presumably so that I could not use it again. (I was so happy to get my car back that I forgot to insist on the coupon's return.) The money situation here doesn't bother me much—I can swallow a $15 swindle. The part that bothers me is that this is simply poor communication and service. This kind of experience is why I think auto mechanics have the unsavory reputation they do, and it's why I continue to feel I'll never be able to trust any auto repair person for the rest of my life. Right up there with insurance salespeople, auto salespeople, and politicians. They should have quoted the most expensive battery, or they should have quoted a range, or they should have asked what kind of car I drove before providing a quote. They should have not charged me for labor if they quoted me no charge for labor on the phone. They should have returned the unused coupon. Even if I'm not really being swindled (and part of me thinks that might actually be the case), I feeel as though I am because of their inattention to detail and/or their lack of proper customer service skills. Dinner at home with Patrick: pizza. Dessert: one teaspoon of coconut sorbet for me, one "teaspoon" of coconut sorbet for Patrick. It's the end of the day, and needless to say...