Anthem ‘superfriends’ save day on insurance issue

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Updated: April 3, 2012 1:57AM

Dear Fixer: I lost my overseas job in July while my wife was pregnant. Without a home in the United States, we decided to have the child in Colombia, where my wife’s support network of relatives resides.

We signed up for COBRA benefits through Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, so we would be covered for our daughter’s birth. She was born in early October in a Bogota hospital.

Because we were COBRA-covered, Blue Cross’ international services said they would not authorize pre-payment. Therefore, trying to do the ethical thing with a promise of reimbursement, I paid the hospital and doctors’ bills out-of-pocket, a total of about $5,700.

We submitted an articulated claim form with all invoices from the doctors and hospital on Oct. 10. As of Jan. 4, Blue Cross cannot give me an answer as to when we will be reimbursed.

On Jan. 4, all that Anthem Blue Cross said was that the “diagnosis number was wrong” so it has to go through the whole process over again.

I feel we are getting the runaround because it is a high-dollar claim. We were foolish to believe that we would be reimbursed by Christmas, but now, as the crushing weight of their bureaucracy rests on our shoulders, I do not foresee payment within months, if ever. In the meantime, we are trying to raise a baby girl without funds of any sort.

Thomas Dorsch, Palatine

Dear Thomas:

The Fixer was happy to kick this up a notch. We were able to get this into the hands of Scott Golden, director of corporate communications for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, who in turn got it to their executive inquiry team. Golden calls them the “superfriends of customer service,” and indeed they were: In less than three weeks you had a check for their share of the medical bills, about $4,500.

Missing part is fully frustrating

Dear Fixer: I ordered a part for my Mitsubishi TV through Matt’s TV in Tinley Park back in September. I still have not received the part, and both the shop and I have received the runaround for months. I have documented calls where Mitsubishi promises us the part will be shipped, then it isn’t.

Just today, I called and now they show Feb. 16 for the estimated ship date (it was Jan. 17, and before that it was in December and before that it was in November).

I understand it is on back order, but we can never get a solid answer from Mitsubishi. They say they will expedite the part in seven to 10 business days. I told them they should send it overnight or offer a price break for such terrible service.

Joanne Garvey, Mokena

Dear Joanne: When the shop discovered that your projection TV needed a new part called an E2 board, they shipped the old part to Mitsubishi on Sept. 23 to see if it could be rebuilt. Mitsubishi told them on Nov. 1 that it would take four to six weeks. Then, on Dec. 13, they said a new board would be sent that day. By Dec. 21, there was still no board — but Mitsubishi said they had a few in stock and would send one out. A couple days later, Mitsubishi called back and said that what they had in stock was the wrong thing and they’d have to order another.

As you know, that back-order was set to arrive Jan. 17 but now it’s looking more like mid-February.

We asked Mark Scott, PR guy for Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics, what the deal was, and he said that because your TV is eight years old, they did not have the part on hand.

They did offer to sell you a new 73-inch TV for $1,400, but you said no thanks.

Scott says they’ll get the part ASAP, but it will be “at least several days.” At this point, you better not plan a Super Bowl party.

Thanks to contributor Mike Nolan.

My ticket from the travel agent said we would get two pieces of luggage apiece for the trip. I checked on American Airlines’ website, which said that travelers to Asia get two pieces of checked luggage — confirming what my ticket information said.

However, when we arrived at the airport, we were told that we would only get one free checked bag per person, and that we would have to pay $60 for each additional suitcase. I pointed out that their website indicated we should get two pieces per person because we were flying to a city in Asia (the Middle East being on the continent of Asia). The agent informed us that since they were only flying us to Europe, we would only get one free bag.

I sent a note to their website complaining about this. They responded that travelers only get one bag on flights to Europe. But on our return flight, El Al allowed two pieces of luggage per person.

Is there any way you can convince American Airlines that according to their posted policy, I should have been allowed to check in two bags per person for free?

Joseph Gluck, Evanston

Dear Joseph: It does seem nonsensical that you’d only get one free bag on the way there but two free bags on the way home. Were they thinking you planned to buy luggage in Tel Aviv?

We asked American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan about this, and she said their agent was correct to base the baggage fee on American’s leg of your journey, which was only to Paris. She said that on the way home, the El Al agents are supposed to collect a baggage fee for the Paris-to-Chicago portion and remit it to American, though apparently there is a communication problem on this point.

Fagan said consumers need to consider each portion of their trip a separate instance and read up on baggage allowances for each.

We also asked the industry group, Airlines for America (formerly the Air Transport Association of America) about what seems to be an unnecessarily confusing system. Their answer: Consumers do need to cover their bases by checking on each airline’s rules for each part of the trip; however, the industry is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation to make this stuff clearer for consumers, including looking at ways to re-engineer the reservation, check-in and baggage systems throughout the airline industry.

But back to your specific problem. After we brought this to their attention, American offered you $120 in vouchers for a future flight. While it’s not a cash refund, it is better than nothing.

COSTLY LESSON: A consumer’s tale of woe

The way some politicians rant about the federal government, you’d think there was money just floating around for us regular people to pick up.

That’s also what the phony “government grant agencies” want you to think, too.

One reader who knows this well is Sam of Berwyn, who signed up for a free one-week trial of a grant-finding service. He gave them his credit card number for a $1 fee they said they needed to ship a CD-ROM. They sent him the disc, but Sam had second thoughts about the service so he called to cancel his enrollment.

Apparently, his cancellation came too late, though, because this company — based in Las Vegas — had already billed him for the next month of services.

“I was given a cancellation number, but I also got a bill for $49.95,” Sam wrote The Fixer.

They did promise to end Sam’s enrollment, but they would not give him his 50 bucks back.

Getting the runaround over a consumer problem? Tell it to The Fixer at www.newssunonline.com , where you’ll find a simple form to fill out. You’ll also find a list of consumer contacts and tips.