Being a squeaky wheel

There are times when you need to be a squeaky wheel, and it can be a bit of a challenge. I don’t like having to raise issues, but there are times when things aren’t working correctly, and I have to make sure things are taken care of.

Recently, I noticed an issue with some items that are purchased on a regular basis for my mom. My mom lives in a senior’s residence, so they manage the ordering of supplies, which normally means that I only know that things have been ordered when I get the notification for the credit card charge. Well, after visiting mom I noticed that some things were out of stock, and I couldn’t figure out why that was happening. I checked the last time I received a notification, and it was July 11^th and here it was the end of August. On my next visit I decided to talk with some of the staff to see what was going on, and I was told that they had made the order but had not received the items. The staff has now been borrowing from other residents to make sure that my mom has what she also needs. I then called the management team to approve an order so that we could get things back on track. I did that request on August 31st, figuring that I would have seen a credit card charge within the next couple of days.

Well, here it is September 6^th and I haven’t received a credit card charge, therefore no order has been placed. I decided to call the provider to see if there was an invoicing issue, only to be told that they hadn’t received an order for my mom since July 11^th. Yes, here is the problem, they are saying that they haven’t received an order and the residence is saying that they have placed an order. After that phone call I called the person that normally is responsible at the residence to approve the orders and let her know that there is a major issue given now it is almost two months since the last order and the staff have had to borrow from other residence. I wonder how many other residents haven’t had their ordered filled because it shouldn’t just be my mom’s order that isn’t going through.

I hope that the issue is resolved within the next couple of days because now that it has been almost two months without an order being filled there is probably over a month worth of supplies that have to be given back to other residents. Here I sit waiting to receive a call to let me know what has been going on and how it is going to be resolved. Yes, having to be the squeaky wheel isn’t something that I enjoy doing, but when I see an issue that needs to be resolved I will work the system to ensure that the issue is resolved.