** SUMMARY **
As a…read morefirst-time patient, I was made to give a credit card over the phone in advance, wait 3 weeks for an appointment, and drive nearly 2 hours round trip. When I arrived, they had not booked the appointment, and could/would not see me. I was asked to call scheduling, who only repeatedly said I was not scheduled, and did not apologize for the mistake until I called them out on it.
The bottom line is that I was made to feel like my time was less valuable than theirs, and that my business was not valued at all. This is absolutely NOT the way to start a relationship with a mental health provider: how could we establish trust, the most important part of that relationship, after I've been made to feel as if they do not value me or my time?
** FULL REVIEW **
I scheduled an appointment about 3 weeks ago, as a first time patient, to see Amanda Martin at the Achieve TMS center in Temecula for today. At the time of booking the appointment, they would not confirm that they accepted my insurance, and made me provide a credit card. I then had to call my insurance company (a lengthy process!) to get confirmation that I was covered with Amanda Martin.
I live in east Hemet, so Achieve is a long drive for me (~45min on winding back roads if no traffic.) It's about $20 in gas, and meant taking an afternoon off of work - not a huge deal, but still "something."
When I arrived, I was not on their schedule. They had my information in the computer, but not my appointment. I spoke with Brook, who was friendly and sympathetic, but explained that Amanda Martin was on lunch and had a patient booked right after lunch.
My thought was that, in my career (working in hospitality and then public health nonprofits) I've given up many, many lunches (or similar) to help a customer in need, ESPECIALLY if it was my company's error. But - I accepted that not all people think this way. So Brook asked me to call scheduling, which I did.
When I called in, I was told several times that they did not see my appointment in the computer. What I was NOT told was, "I'm sorry." After a couple of minutes, I began to get angry. I'm not proud, and it doesn't happen often, but it did this time, and some of the anger came out. I called them out on not apologizing, and said that the situation was messed up, with my time and money being wasted without consideration (though not phrased quite as nicely as that.) It was only then I first heard an "I'm sorry" and they tried to work with me to find another option.
However, all she could offer me was an appointment 2 hours later in Carlsbad. That would have been an hour+ drive in the wrong direction, followed by a 45 minute wait, then a 2.5 to 3 hour drive home in rush hour - all while seeing someone my insurance had not verified, and leaving my dogs locked inside for an entire day - so it did not work for me.
She then offered to reschedule me for another day, but I declined. I had taken time off of work, made a long drive, spent money on gas, etc., and generally been made to feel as if my time and business were not valued, and I was not willing to give them my future business.
Declining to reschedule that appointment means starting the whole process over with someone else - I'll have to wait many weeks, deal with my insurance company again, etc. And in the interim, I'll also have to watch and be sure that Achieve doesn't try to charge me, since they have a credit card of mine on file.
But my willingness to deal with that should show how I felt treated today, and is why I would highly recommend that you find somewhere else to go as well!
