Loose Lips Sink Ships

Sometimes it is better not to speak unless you are certain of the circumstances. My office sees people for intensive therapy. Most people comply with the treatment but sometimes there are a few that play around. Usually they are the rich kids that do not care about wasting their parent's money. They miss appointments or cancel at the last second. They are still charged for them since that would be a time slot that the doctor could have filled. It incenses us to see parents throwing away their money. At some point we just say that until you are serious about getting better, stop treatment. After a few missed appointments that have been paid for, I usually get a call from a parent. I then explain that their child is not showing up, they are still paying for the time and they need to deal with their child. We have one young man now who is playing that game. He expects the doctors to be his taxi service from the railroad. Most days they accommodate him but sometimes they cannot.  They other day, he said he was at the train station and no one answered our phones so he took the train back home. We know it was a lie. He called me yesterday to "dispute the charge" as he said it was our fault. My doctors have their phone records showing they texted and called him but he never answered. Here is the point I am getting to. My regular receptionist was on vacation the day this happened and the girl that filled in forgot to even charge the $525.00 for the visit. It would have slipped through the cracks, maybe. But since he called in the dispute, I had to tell him that his father was now being billed. Sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut, especially when you are in the wrong.