Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology - Austin, Texas - Abysmally Bad Service from Manager

I felt the need to help spread the word about Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology, since I was shocked at their truly bad customer service with regard to a penalty that they charged which was related to my late mother-in-law's illness.  My wife dealt with them again today, which resulted in the following that she wrote.  I think it's more powerful and compelling in her words:

"These guys took $50 from us for a "missed appointment." It was unfair, and they boldly refused to return it, clearly indicating they didn't care about losing our future business or the business of anyone who happens to read this, even after I explained that this would likely appear in many places online.  After looking at the current reviews, I guess I can understand that they don't really mind one more bad one floating around out there.

Here's the story: My mother injured herself severely in March of 2007. She stayed in bed quite a bit, barely able to get to dialysis to keep herself alive. Because of a household mishap, she injured herself even worse in August of '07. That's when I took her to the hospital for surgery. She was on a lot of painkillers for her constant, excruciating pain, which made her delirious. By October of '07, she was so delirious, she needed to be hospitalized, because everyone thought she had had a stroke!

Unfortunately, during this time, she missed an appointment at Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology. Nobody knew where her calendar was, or that she had an appointment, so we had no chance of making it to the appointment. They charged us a $50 no-show fee, which my grandmother paid, because she didn't want to fight them. I held on to their letter, however, because I didn't think it was just.

I realize that waiting a long time to ask for a refund is inconvenient for businesses. However, this is a special case, in my opinion. My mother was delirious; she did get better later, but the painkillers had a terrible effect on her. Also, during the time between now and then, I have been occupied taking care of my mom, my three kids, my own illness, and my then-unborn child. Another reason I'm trying to collect this right now is that I'm now the executor of my mom's estate.

My mother was victimized by many people during her final days, and I thought that Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology would see that they had not treated us rightly, and try to rectify the situation. They did not. Their statement was that "It's only fifty dollars," but if it's such a small amount, then why not return it? When doing business with them, please ensure that you do not overpay, and that you watch how much you really need to pay them, or the same thing may happen to you.

They were willing to make life-long enemies of our family over fifty dollars, which is a small sum to them, by their statement. They hung up on me today, (twice). That is how much they value their customers. Do they not understand that, in today's economy, $50 is a significant sum to some families?"

As you can clearly see, this clinic showed no mercy with regard to this situation, which strikes me as particularly ironic considering their line of work.  The sites I looked at today are filled with bad reviews for them (particularly the Yellow Pages online), so I guess we'll throw another one on the fire, so to speak.

I don't often use this platform for truly negative content, but if I can prevent them from harming others, it is well worth it.  Clearly, we won't extrapolate any further than necessary, as I want to stick to the truth of our own experience.