Kicking You While You're Down? That's CareCredit.com!
Written: Mar 15 '04 (Updated Nov 16 '09)
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Pros: Just about anyone can get a CareCredit.com account
Cons: They're brutally inefficient (and they shipped customer service offshore)
The Bottom Line: I'd rather do liposuction on myself with a straw and a vacuum cleaner than give CareCredit.com another chance to pay my medical bills!
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| scmrak's Full Review: CareCredit Healthcare Finance Plans |
Medical emergencies bring out the best in some, the worst in others. The good guys are the ones who go the extra mile to make certain that the patient is properly treated. The bad ones are the vultures that start pecking at the patient’s eyes to make ‘em die faster. CareCredit.com is one of the vultures – and if you can avoid dealing with them, I advise making whatever effort is necessary to do so.
The Concept
CareCredit.com has signed up medical providers – not just MDs, but dentists, therapists, and veterinarians – to shill for them, to the tune of over 35,000 offices natiowide. Got a big medical expense looming on the horizon? Tell your provider you don’t know how you can afford the bills, and chances are good that s/he will mention CareCredit.com. You’ll probably hear about a three- or six-month no interest plan.
Is it real? Yes, it’s real – when our lab (the yellow one) needed an ACL repair (her second), the vet knew that I was unemployed and needed to stretch out the payments. He suggested CareCredit and I (fool that I am) rushed right out and signed up.
Can you get credit with CareCredit.com? Do you have a pulse? If the answer to this question is “Yes,” chances are very good that you’ll get credit. You can fill out the application on-line and have an answer in a few minutes.
The concept sounds very much like an act of mercy, guaranteeing that people who are in desperate need of funds to pay for their medical procedures will get the help they need. What could be a finer act?
I’ll Tell You What Could Be Finer!
CareCredit.com is actually GE Capital (the same people who made your ‘fridge lend out lots and lots of money). They’re not in it for altruism – they’re in it to make money – and make money they do. Here’s how:
This is not a loan, it’s a credit card – in a few days, a MasterCard appears in your mailbox. In theory, you can use this card to charge more medical expenses (or a new pair of Jimmy Choos, for that matter). What’s different about this card is that – unlike all those offers you’re getting in the mail every day – the interest is pegged at the maximum amount allowable under the usury threshold of 24% APY.
That vaunted “interest-free” period is only “interest-free” if you pay off the entire bill within the no-interest period. Pay off all but $5.00 and you owe interest on the entire bill… man, I hate those people when they do that!
And to Make Matters Worse…
In my case, CareCredit.com never bothered to send me any form of information about the account at all. Sure, they got the card to me, but nothing else. They’re never sent me any information about the payment plans, and more to the point, they’ve never sent me a bill! What they have done is begin telephoning me to pay a past-due amount. Or at least that’s what I think the first call was about, since the caller’s accent was so thick that I couldn’t understand a word she said (and I used to live in Texas!)
I telephoned GE Capital at their 800 number and gave them my new address and phone number and requested that they send me a bill. They promised to do so, but four days later their collection department called me at home. Strange, they still don’t have my new address in their computers, but they have my new telephone number!
My Advice
Avoid these people like the plague. They’re usurers, they shipped good American jobs overseas, and their collection department is obviously incompetent (if not merely stupid or, worse yet, liars).
Recommended:
No
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