Rene J.
1/5
When you mess up, own up to it and fix it. Don't blame other organizations for not fixing your mistakes.
As a new customer, I contacted Heart to Home to set up my account and learn how to place my order. I was approved for 30 meals from Veterans Affairs Canada, from Jan 30 to Feb 28 inclusive. Diane took my information, including my ID number, inclusive dates and amounts authorized, and explained that they would direct bill Veterans Affairs. I placed my order as instructed, and waited for the delivery. Their delivery schedule says that my area (Sarsfield) is on Tuesdays.
Well, my delivery showed up a day early, on Monday the 29th of January. Then Heart to Home sent the bill to Veteran’s Affairs with the date of 29 Jan. It was rejected for payment because I wasn’t authorized for any meals until the following day. Heart to Home knew this.
Diane called me several weeks later to tell me their invoice to Veteran’s Affairs was declined. I explained , and she understood why. Diane insisted that I call Veterans Affairs and have them change the authorization dates to reflect their invoice (by one day). After several tries, I eventually had someone at Veteran’s Affairs agree to look into it and contact the vendor (Heart to Home) to rectify the situation for me.
A month later, Diane from Heart to Home called again to let me know that the amount was still outstanding and that I would be responsible for the whole balance, unless I contacted Veteran’s affairs to have them alter the dates they pre-authorized me for.
Again I called, this time to the insurance company that Veteran’s Affairs uses (Blue Cross). They were very helpful and explained to me that the vendor simply had to resubmit the claim to them with the correct date, or that Heart to Home could bill me for one day (January 29) and then submit the claim to them for the remainder of the meals.
When I contacted Diane, she said it was IMPOSSIBLE for Heart to Home to change the date of the invoice by one day so they could be paid. No matter what I said or did, it wasn’t good enough and despite Heart to Home promising to take care of everything, in the end it was me on the phone for hours trying to sort things out, all because they delivered a day earlier than agreed upon.
Here are the facts that Diane from Heart to Home has told me:
1) they have over 700 Veterans they work with, and when they make billing errors like this, the Veterans always call and get their dates changed.
2) It is IMPOSSIBLE for her to change or re-issue the invoice with the corrected date either because it was a computer system issue, or it was their policy not to do so.
3) Diane was ‘in shock’ that my Case Manager with Veteran’s Affairs wouldn’t alter their approval dates by one day due to Heart to Home’s billing error.
4) Diane agreed my delivery date should have been Tuesday (the 30th) but after looking it up in her system, she stated that perhaps it depends on where in Sarsfield you live, (even though it still clearly states Tuesdays). Yep - Tuesday is listed for the delivery, but.....
5) She also said it was IMPOSSIBLE to bill Veteran’s Affairs for the 29 meals that were in the approved window, and only have me pay for one.
6) I have to pay out of pocket, to them, for the whole order. Again, she was shocked that Veteran's Affairs wouldn't change the date to reflect their error, because that what they do for all the other Veterans.
Look - I get that everyone needs to get paid for products that they sell. But you know what? When you screw up, own up, and make it right. I do not trust the folks at Heart to Home to have my best interests at heart. They promised to take care of everything, they dropped the ball, and were unwilling to make any effort other than insist I have to fix their administrative error (which I tried but couldn’t do) or simply pay out of pocket. The stress and time spent with this was unreasonable and unacceptable for me.
