I’m frustrated and need to vent. I sent my MRT kit to Signet last Tuesday. Getting my blood drawn was not as simple as I had hoped (long story involving a couple of arguments with a receptionist and a phlebotomist both of whom tried to insist on doing things the way they always do things even if it didn’t make sense). I was a bit nervous about how the package had been put together and since I hadn’t seen the charge come through on my credit card by Friday, I called Signet to make sure everything was ok. I spoke to the woman that runs the charges and was told that the testing had been completed and that she had just put the charge through.
Monday, I called my doctor’s office to make an appointment to get my results. The scheduler was out that day, so I had to call again yesterday. The scheduler put me on hold for awhile and then told me that the lab didn’t get enough blood. They were not able to do the test. She told me to call Signet to find out what to do. I asked why I wasn’t called about the problem and was told Signet should have called me.
With the time difference, it was too late to call Signet, so I had to wait until this morning. I actually spoke to the same woman who told me on Friday that the testing had been completed and that everything was ok. She said that all she could tell was that the test had been run but that she would check with someone. It turns out that when they discovered they didn’t have enough blood on Wednesday, they ran the 120 panel instead of the 150 panel. They called my doctor, but didn’t call me because they are not allowed to directly contact me unless the doctor says it is ok. So, the lab expected the doctor to call me and the doctor expected the lab to call me. Nobody called me.
Since the test must be run within a certain period after the blood is drawn, they ran the smaller panel without consulting anyone. They knew about this on Wednesday and yet they charged me for the 150 panel and told me everything was fine on Friday. When I asked how that could happen, she told me that the paper work she sees when she puts the charge through doesn’t show if a different panel was run, just that something was run. The chemist that ran the test just assumed that they would eventually get more blood and be able to complete the test. It seems that there is a total lack of communication all the way around.
So, here I am, more than a week after I sent in the kit, still needing a blood draw. I will have to go back to my doctor’s office to get another kit, take it to the lab, probably have the same argument with the receptionist, pay a second draw fee (even though it was the phlebotomist fault that she didn’t draw enough), have a second blood draw (hope enough is drawn), make another trip to FedEx and hope that Signet will complete the remaining items (not a regular panel) without charging me another fee. Oh, and wait an additional week for results.
Moral of the story – if the phlebotomist is arguing with you about how to send in your sample while she is drawing your blood, don’t assume she is paying attention to how much blood she puts in each vial. At the time, I thought she wasn’t filling them enough, but I figured she knew what she was doing. Live and learn.
Thanks for letting me vent. Hopefully, I'll be able to post my results here in a couple of weeks.
Getting tested shouldn't be this hard
Moderators: Rosie, JFR, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh, mbeezie
How infuriating! It makes you wonder how these people stay employed. You shouldn't be responsible for any additional charges. If there are any, they should be paid by the office where the blood was drawn.
I hope you can settle this without too much more difficulty. BTW, the place that drew my blood for the MRT test called Fed Ex and had them pick it up. I don't understand why you have to drive it to them.
Gloria
I hope you can settle this without too much more difficulty. BTW, the place that drew my blood for the MRT test called Fed Ex and had them pick it up. I don't understand why you have to drive it to them.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
They were going to ship it for me, but they had weird rules about sending it to the shipping department. The phlebotomist first tried to fold up the starter booklet to fit it into the box. There is no way that booklet would fit in that little box. When I protested, she told me she had to have everything in the same container. I asked her to put the box and the booklet separately into the FedEx bag. She told me she wasn’t allowed to do that, the shipping department had to do that part. So, I asked her how she was going to manage to put everything into the same container if she couldn’t use the bag. At that point, she shoved the whole thing at me and told me she couldn’t help me. This time I don’t need the starter booklet, so maybe they can ship it for me.
Interesting that someone with such a disposition would seek work where she actually has to touch her fellow humans. I'm so sorry you went through that unpleasantness on top of the frustration. I agree that you should not have to pay an additional charge, but I understand you may be so looking to get this over with, you don't even want to go there.
Best of luck LEAPing - soon.
--Sara
Best of luck LEAPing - soon.
--Sara
This happened to a client of mine. It is the phlebotomists fault for not filling the tubes enough. When it happened to my client the lab did the draw for the remainder of the blood for free and mailed it off. I would take it up with the manager at the lab since she created the problem.
When it happened to my client Signet called me (they are not allowed to call the client directly). I told them to proceed with the 120 so as not to waste the blood. They then finished the other 30 items when they received the other blood. Your doctor should have talked with Signet and told them how to proceed and should have called you to inform you.
Sorry there has been such a delay - it is very frustrating. For anyone else doing the test, make sure they fill the tubes to the top.
I look forward to seeing your results and following your progress.
Mary Beth
When it happened to my client Signet called me (they are not allowed to call the client directly). I told them to proceed with the 120 so as not to waste the blood. They then finished the other 30 items when they received the other blood. Your doctor should have talked with Signet and told them how to proceed and should have called you to inform you.
Sorry there has been such a delay - it is very frustrating. For anyone else doing the test, make sure they fill the tubes to the top.
I look forward to seeing your results and following your progress.
Mary Beth
"If you believe it will work out, you'll see opportunities. If you believe it won't you will see obstacles." - Dr. Wayne Dyer
How frustrating! Hopefully you get the service this time around that you should have gotten in the first place and at no additional charge.
I drove my kit to Fed Ex too because the blood needed to be drawn after 12:00 pm and noon is the deadline here for a Fed Ex pickup if the package must be there the next day. I had the same worry about the tubes being full enough but luckily they were. I had ordered the test from Signet myself and I had some difficulty finding someone to draw my blood.
Looking forward to seeing your results.
Connie
I drove my kit to Fed Ex too because the blood needed to be drawn after 12:00 pm and noon is the deadline here for a Fed Ex pickup if the package must be there the next day. I had the same worry about the tubes being full enough but luckily they were. I had ordered the test from Signet myself and I had some difficulty finding someone to draw my blood.
Looking forward to seeing your results.
Connie
This is just unbelievable! I went back yesterday for the second blood draw. Everything seemed to go so smoothly. Different people were there and they didn’t charge me a second draw fee. Since I didn’t need to send in the starter booklet, I decided to have them ship it for me. Once again I thought everything was fine.
I just found out that they didn’t ship the package. Signet told me I need to be sure they don’t ship it now or I will be charged the shipping fee. So, now I have to try to track it down and stop it before I go back again for a third draw. I just want to scream!
I just found out that they didn’t ship the package. Signet told me I need to be sure they don’t ship it now or I will be charged the shipping fee. So, now I have to try to track it down and stop it before I go back again for a third draw. I just want to scream!
Just one more thought . . . is Signet open on Good Friday. I am not sure about that but I would double check - no need to re-draw today if they aren't open tomorrow to receive it.
Mary Beth
Mary Beth
"If you believe it will work out, you'll see opportunities. If you believe it won't you will see obstacles." - Dr. Wayne Dyer
Good thought, Mary Beth. I called them again and found out they are open. They take the same holidays FedEx takes.
I talked with them a little more extensively and now I’m not sure how they are going to run the rest of the panel. It sounds like they don’t have a standard procedure for what to do when this happens. The person I talked to yesterday said I only needed two additional vials. The person I talked to today said they will likely end up running the whole 150 panel because they don’t have a panel the covers the differences between the 120 and the 150. That means they need all four vials again. I’m going to send four and let them figure out what to do, but I’m still nervous I'll be charged for another test.
By the way, I don’t want to give the impression that I am blaming Signet for any of this. I do find it frustrating that the people doing the billing and answering customer service calls don’t know when something like this happens, but it wasn’t their fault that it happened. My local lab is where the problems are. For those of you that are considering doing this test, not only should you make sure the tubes are filled, if you know where your local FedEx station is you are better off shipping it yourself.
I talked with them a little more extensively and now I’m not sure how they are going to run the rest of the panel. It sounds like they don’t have a standard procedure for what to do when this happens. The person I talked to yesterday said I only needed two additional vials. The person I talked to today said they will likely end up running the whole 150 panel because they don’t have a panel the covers the differences between the 120 and the 150. That means they need all four vials again. I’m going to send four and let them figure out what to do, but I’m still nervous I'll be charged for another test.
By the way, I don’t want to give the impression that I am blaming Signet for any of this. I do find it frustrating that the people doing the billing and answering customer service calls don’t know when something like this happens, but it wasn’t their fault that it happened. My local lab is where the problems are. For those of you that are considering doing this test, not only should you make sure the tubes are filled, if you know where your local FedEx station is you are better off shipping it yourself.
I couldn’t get another kit today. There is only one person at my doctor’s office that can prepare a kit and she had a family emergency today. Since the lab never called me back to tell me if they were able to intercept the package, I stopped by to see if it could still be stopped. The lady I talked to this morning was the same person that assured me yesterday that the package would go out that day. She also happened to be the person I spoke with when I went there this afternoon. She did manage to stop the package from being sent, she just didn’t bother to call me back to let me know. She told me the shipping department had looked over the paper work and decided that there was no reason that it had to go out right away. I couldn’t believe it! The paper work clearly states, in more than one place, that it is critical to ensure the package gets to FedEx the same day the blood is drawn. She even tried to tell me that they could have shipped it this morning and it would have been delivered by tonight, they do it all the time. FedEx does not have same day delivery!!! I left there very angry and I still have to go back again sometime next week to try all over again. There is no way I will ever trust anyone to ship a time sensitive package for me no matter how much they insist that they “do it all the time.”
Hoping everything goes more smoothly next week.
