Nice Guys Finish Last

According to an old philospher, Leo Durocher.

Well, see, I've got this DME that was fairly useless for me. Dropped off a machine, mask and then disappeared. Well, finally, I decided I needed some supplies. And its been a few months, so I thought what the heck, I'll give em a 2nd chance. And the prices they were quoting me were in line with out of pocket expenses. My insurance covers my machine in total, but not anything else. But anyway, I decided to me a nice guy and give them the order for new tubing, replacement headgear for my Comfort Gel FF Mask (in which the velcro came apart, and for which I wanted to try again), and filters for my machine.

So I called them up, and sure enough, my order was filled within a few days. Not bad service. Was instructed to sign the invoice and mail back. Nothing about payment. So ok, I did this. No big deal here. Well, I got the bill today. Only thing is the bill I got didn't match the invoice... It was for items I already paid for FF Mask, tubing and headgear - and dated July 22nd. Geesh.

What a pushover I am. try to be a nice guy. I gave them a 2nd chance. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

I bet this will be the last time you will be a nice time!

Well Gary, I can tell by your avatar with you and your lovely wife, that you are a nice guy.

Well, at least when you walk away your mind will be clear. Nothing wrong with giving someone a fair chance. Probably better to have a few "Oh Well's" in life than to spend it always eager to jump bad at every perceived slight. At least nice guys finish before the pushovers, so it sounds like nice is a very balanced place to be.

When i go into the DME i take the same attitude that i take to buy a new car at the car stealership because both places exist to try and screw you over

Uncle_Bob wrote:... because both places exist to try and screw you over ...

Not really. It's just like ANY other business.

Some are wonderful. They try to do what they can to make it a win-win situation. They want you to be compliant. They put in the effort to help. And they tend to develop a large, very loyal customer base.

Some are horrid. My last (former) DME tried to bill me (not the insurance company) $600 for a full face mask. I said no, and submit it to my insurance company. Of course, I knew what they would say about that one. It went round and round for quite a while. That type of business approach had a predictable result. Eventually they went out of business.

It is a big temptation to try to make as much money as possible each time. For the business it is healthier to promote an ongoing relationship.

Oh, and in this case, I suspect the problem was sloppy paperwork. Good people, horrid process. Bad processes sink more business than competitive pressure.