Should I pay or not?

Complaints Corner
1
Hi all, just for discussion. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.

After back from a trip, on 6thday, 10.12, I went for a doctor, who was recommended by my friend for a PCR test. That day was Friday, and on next day, I have to submit the result online to bag.

I paid 60sfc, for getting test sample at the clinic. The urse said I will have result by email the next day.

However, the next day (Sat)until 5 pm, I still didn't get the result, not even in Spam folder. So I quickly go to langstrasse to do an antigen test, cheaper and I got the result in 20 minutes.

Now I received the bill of 88sfc for the laboratory asks me to pay for the PCR test. I understand they did their job, but I never get the result. Should I pay for this ? I tried to call the clinic, they said will call me back but never do.

What a frustrating experience. I will pay finally of course but doesn't make sense to me.

2
Yup, you should pay. They provided a service and you got the result, just not in the the time frame that was desired. I am sure it would cost you much more time and grief to fight it than to just break away with the 100 bucks.

Dont mean to sound insensitive as all money should be properly accounted for and spent wisely. However, it will likely cost you more to not pay than it will to just deal with it.

3
Yep. You shouldn’t have waited till day 6 to do a PCR if you needed result the next day.

4
I would call them, or write them a letter - explain that you never got the results, and as such, would expect them to give you a free retest or some discount on the payment...

5
When I went recently, I was told that it would "probably" come the next day, but guarantee is withun 48hrs.

Are you sure they guaranteed next day results? Did you ever get the results? Did you try to call them before getting the Antigen? If you were under time pressure why not get Antigen directly?

Antigen Tests are free ATM for so why did you have to pay for it?

6
Pity I never received the result until now. Not by rmail nor by post.

7
I never got the result till now. They do not open on Sat so can't contact them on the next day.

I didn't take antigen was my fault that I was thinking I had to do PcR but not antigen. But my Q here is the topic. Pay or not....

I said I pay anyway.

Antigen is free in Dec? I didn't know. They need a QR code to upload to BAG.

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8
Then before paying I would ask them to send you a copy of the results showing when they sent them as you never got them.

9
Depends if they guarantee next day, or you bought the service for the next day and made it clear at the time of purchase that you needed next day. All part of the contract. If the results are late, then depending on the exact circumstances, they may not have fulfilled their half of the contract and you don't have to pay.

I'd pay, then argue, however. And for 100 francs - frankly it's not worth pushing it too far. Certainly not reaching for a lawyer!

10
You need to chase up where the results were sent.

11
No, she doesn’t. The purchase is a legal contract that was not honored within the time agreed upon. She should bring a copy of results and the date of the test to the place of testing for a refund.

12
I suspect moggy means that if they sent your medical details to a third party by mistake, then they could be in for a world of trouble. Giving you the test for free would be the least of their concerns.

13
FWIW, not a COVID test, but here's what happened when i had a sort of similar situation where a test was done but results never delivered:

I had a pre-surgery test done. The results were supposed to be available the next day, as they were needed before the surgery. No results came. When I called the hospital to chase down the test results I was told they could not be found. Had to postpone surgery and wait to see if the results might appear from the bowels of the lab. After it was determined that the results were well and truly lost, I had to re-do the tests.

I was billed for both sets of tests. I tried to dispute the first charges, but was told that payment had to be made because work was done. That the 'work' was insufficient for the purpose (no results, so surgery could not be done) was immaterial. Work done = payment required. .

.

I had my insurance company and eventually an ombudsman on the case - no luck. I had to pay for the first test, full stop.

In the end I 'wasted' a fair amount of time and energy fighting the system, to no avail. Whether you feel it worthwhile to tilt at similar windmills is something only you can decide.

You might be in a better position if the lab or testing company is private. These might be more attentive to an upset customer than a large public hospital.

Hope you find a resolution.

14
Meloncollie

Sorry to hear your experience. That's worse than mine. I always can't fit in this system that pay afterwards. And always saying Swiss system is very teustwortht is far overrrated.

15

But how can it be found out?

16
I would think legally they would have to tell you who they had shared your private data with if you ask them.

Of course they could lie, but then even bigger trouble if it ever came out (e.g. other party contacted you to say i think i got this by mistake).

17
Did you verify the email address when you went for the test?

I once actually made a mistake with my own email address but caught it as they showed me the entries they made. If it was handwritten is is easy to have a typo?

18
That would be my concern as well. It's so easy to make a typo or to add the wrong top-level domain, e.g. if you use multiple different emails with .com vs .ch - and that is true on both ends, i.e. customer and service provider.