I submitted this to my soon-to-be former insurance company after trying (unsuccessfully) to cancel my account today:
Having done some work with Lotus Notes myself, I understand the difficulty in building features that actually work. Lotus Notes / Domino is one of the worst (I hesitate to say platforms or frameworks or environments) handicaps to modern web development. The Blue Cross Blue Shield site and the "tools" therein are about as easy to use as the Lotus Notes foundation they're built upon. So it's not surprising that the website is useless and so much responsibility is placed on telephone operators. Honestly, it would probably be better to just not offer any online tools than offering what's there now. The fact that a website as critical as BCBS exists and uses Lotus Notes is astonishing. What's perhaps more sad than astonishing is that instead of investing in an online system that would allow customers to manage their accounts online 24 / 7 / 365, funds seem to flow to an antiquated customer support infrastructure that only operates during regular business hours (8:30am - 5:30pm M-F). So, it's understandably frustrating for me to set aside time outside of my normal work week to manage my insurance only to find out that (1) customer service doesn't work after 5:30pm or on weekends, and (2) the website is so utterly useless that I can't accomplish a single useful task on it
I hope this email reaches someone who can affect change and ultimately invest in a more useful web-based system that would alleviate strain on the customer support staff, improve member satisfaction and (probably) the bottom line.
I can only imagine the response you got. Last time I emailed them a pertinent question (and tech-savvy solution to be considered, since I'm so nice), I got back mindless drivel that didn't solved my problem and clearly demonstrated that the person writing the response didn't read or understand a single sentence of my email. Great job, BCBS-SC. You fail miserable not only as an insurance company (don't get me started) but as an online provider of anything remotely useful. I hope no one ever needs medical care again, you go bankrupt and the goverment doesn't bail you out.
Whew. I feel better!
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Way to nip it in the bud there :)