Ahhhhh!!! Ready to pull My Hair out.(long vent)

Why does it have to be so frustrating dealing with government programs.

Long story short...About 3 months ago I applied for prescription drug insurance through the Trillium Program which is provided by the Ontario Government for people who have high prescription drug costs. It basically takes into your account you income vs drug costs and then depending on the percentage will pay part of your drug costs.

I take three medications daily all of which are quite expensive so I more then qualify.

About 4 weeks after I applied I received a letter from them stating that they needed addition information and sent me a couple more forms to fill out. I did this and promptly mailed them back.

I never though to much about it the last few weeks until today when I received a letter stating that since I had not submitted the additional forms they assume I am not longer interested in applying so were closing my file.

Needless to say I spent 45 minutes this afternoon on hold waiting to talk to an actual person, then another 15 explaining to said person that I had filled out the extra forms and had mailed them on March 20th.

To which I was promptly told several times we did not get those forms so your file has been closed.
The lady I was talking to has no customer service skills at all and I really got the vibe from her I was wasting her time and she had much better things to do on a Friday afternoon.
At the very least she could have said someone would check and make sure they haven't been misplaced, or even if I filled them out again and fax them in as soon as possible that would be okay as well. But because they closed the file then notified me I have to start the process from the beginning again which means another 3-4 months wait.

Seriously though, I try to be polite when I am in a situation like this because I know the person I am talking to is not responsible for the problem, just the one dealing with it. However iif the lady I was talking to had been standing in front of me I would have had a hard time not smacking her for being so rude. She certainly wasn't helpful in any way, and I am certainly going to file a complaint if I can ever get hold of a actual person at their offices again.

How frustrating for you! I hope that the situation gets resolved quickly I can imagine that the lady who helped you today probably gets alot of disgruntled people!! It sounds like dealing with Social Security

I would be pulling my hair out too. How frustrating. I am starting to wonder if the government agencies hire based on bad people skills. I hope you can get this solved quickly.

Next time send everything by registered mail, which requires a signature from the receiving party. That way you have a record that they actually got it, or a way to track it if they didn't.

Can you send all the papers with a note requesting that they reopen the file instead of starting over?

for a fast resolution.

Gosh.. frustrating for sure! I'd suggest being a squeaky wheel this time around. Instead of waiting for them to contact you, keep contacting them to check on the status of your file to make sure it's correct and current. They may tend to it quicker just so they won't have to hear from you anymore.

Hoping everything goes smoothly this time - and the last time! - around.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

Next time send everything by registered mail, which requires a signature from the receiving party. That way you have a record that they actually got it, or a way to track it if they didn't.

Can you send all the papers with a note requesting that they reopen the file instead of starting over?

for a fast resolution.

Click to expand...

Bingo! At least send it certified or even Signature Confirmation. It costs more than first class mail but it is tracked with a # and you can track when it got there, if it was delivered and that someone signed for it. Priceless!

Srsly, everyone...if it's important to you to know that the other party received what you sent...get a tracking #.

I had a guy come up to me today and say that he ordered checks 2 1/2 weeks ago and hadn't gotten them. I asked if he called the bank and he said he got some mumbo-jumbo from them. If he had gotten them delivered with Delivery Confirmation he would know what happened to them, if they even had been sent at all. I can only deliver what is sent to me...I know nothing about the origin. I almost feel like I'm being accused of something...like mis-delivery or THEFT! I hardly write checks of my own, I surely don't know how to forge them.
OOPS! Sorry I seemed to have gone on rant. My point is...things do get lost. It's in your best interest to do all you can to track it.

Here in the US you can apply for RX assistance directly with the drug manufacturers - have you tried to do that? That's how I get my prescription drugs, that are very expensive, and I can't afford it. All it takes is to fill out a form, and give to the doctor to sign as a prescription. Some companies will send the meds to the doctor's office, and others will send it directly to your house - the program and the meds are free.
Here is the link I hope it works for Canada as well... It doesn't hurt to take a look at it!
(I assume you are in Canada, but I hope you are in the US!)

Did you get the name of the person you were speaking with??

Sometimes you need to speak with someone higher up the "food chain".

Poor customer service really sucks.

Did you make copies of the 2nd set of forms you mailed last month?

Originally Posted by GailC

Did you get the name of the person you were speaking with??

Sometimes you need to speak with someone higher up the "food chain".

Poor customer service really sucks.

Did you make copies of the 2nd set of forms you mailed last month?

Click to expand...

I am going to phone back early Monday morning to speak to the supervisor whom had already left for the day on Friday when I was talking to the other lady.
I think I was more annoyed by her attitude then the fact that I may have to reapply again...
Time will tell I guess.

The Trillium Foundation and all its subsidiaries are awful for customer service, I called them and didn't get a call back for weeks then the amount they sent us didn't match any of the amounts requested so when we had to send them back the proof of expenditures they wanted a full audit to see what we spent money on.

Awww man...Trillium is such a pain. My DH used to have to deal with them for work and it was always a nightmare. I wish you luck in getting everything sorted out.