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Thread: Payment in full

  1. #1
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Payment in full

    Is it more efficient to just collect the full price of materials at time of ordering, as opposed to paying half down?

    I think so. Why transact twice?

    Most of our patients have VCPs paying half or more...the overages definitely are collected upon order.

    For private pay, I guess the less-discounted price justifies a second transaction, but with 10% private pay (in my case...maybe yours) wouldn't it be better to be consistent for the staff?

  2. #2
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    In *all* my years of dancing this jig, I've only had one office that didn't simply collect payment up front (which is what everyone else does also - doubly so for custom manufactured products). The one office that doesn't *always* do that happens to be where I am now. Their accounts recievable are astronomically insane, and the labor wasted trying to chase dollars after the fact is equally insane. In addition, unpaid, or partial paid orders almost always languish longer waiting to be picked up, further adding to the general chaos of the office.

    Keep it simple. Ask for full payment at time of order, and if they don't/can't/won't, then kindly offer to hold their order information until they do. Warby, Zenni, Walmarts et al won't start, or ship any orders without full payment. Why should you?

  3. #3
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    I'd say about 95% of our spectacle orders are collected up front. If they elect to pay half we collect the rest of the money at/or before dispense. Of our accounts receivables almost none of them are glass orders and most are from medical appointments. If they do not pay, they do not get their glasses, it's pretty simple. We keep the demo lenses in their tray and we'll put the frame back on the shelf and back into inventory. Then we wrap the lenses up and hold them until the patient wants the glasses. I think over 5 years we have maybe 6 orders that still weren't fully paid for and the lenses are still sitting in a box in the lab.

    I agree to keep it simple and ask for full payment up front. I do not give it as an option to split the payment, but if they ask if that is an option then we tell them we can work with them. It seems to work for us, but everyone in the office is on the same page. I can see how it could get out of hand if that was not the case.

  4. #4
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    When I first started in this office, they didn't take any payment up front. I couldn't believe it! When I tell the patient their balance, I just say "your total is XXX, how would you like to pay for it?" If I get pushback, I do tell them they can pay half up front (We will NOT start an order without half down because glasses are custom!) and the remainder must be paid at pick up. No glasses will be paid without being paid in full. (Insurance payment may be pending). I would say we are 75% payment up front and 25% at pick up. The majority that pay half and half are doing it because they are at the end of month/billing cycle. Fine with me. I can count on one hand how many orders we've gotten stuck with because no one picked up and didn't pay in full. (I think 3 and that's because they were ones that were started with the old optician before I got here) I held the orders for 1 year and then held the lenses in a file. I remember when I started and the office manager was shocked I was getting payment up front. She kept saying, "Great job!" All I could think is why wouldn't you do that? Made no sense to me. So as far as accounts receivable... any patient balances are rarely older that 2-3 weeks (enough to process the order and for the patient to get it to pick up. Any balances that are older than about 2 weeks are always insurance. Don't get me started with that!

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by mervinek View Post
    I can count on one hand how many orders we've gotten stuck with because no one picked up and didn't pay in full. (I think 3 and that's because they were ones that were started with the old optician before I got here) I held the orders for 1 year and then held the lenses in a file. So as far as accounts receivable... any patient balances are rarely older that 2-3 weeks (enough to process the order and for the patient to get it to pick up. Any balances that are older than about 2 weeks are always insurance. Don't get me started with that!
    Agreed!

    And with the insurance... I feel your pain!

  6. #6
    Compulsive Truthteller OptiBoard Gold Supporter Uncle Fester's Avatar
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    Payment in full is required for all managed care orders. I believe this is communicated to them. After all, Eye Med or VSP and the lab are for sure not going to wait for their piece of the pie!

    Back office requires Eye Med orders sign a waiver that jobs cannot be cancelled. Credit card charges add up and cancelling it in the system is time better spent finding ways to make the opticians more insane.

    Private pay is case by case with at least lens costs required as a deposit.

  7. #7
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    We have a little section that prints on the bottom of all invoices. All sales final. Any Rx already in manufacturing process cannot be cancelled. Changes made to an order in progress which require new lenses will be charged the original fee plus the new order fees applying a 30% discount...it ends with Eyewear abuse as determined by our opticians is not covered under warranty. It actually has a lot on there but is just a few lines on the bottom of the page. No one can say they didn't get it. It prints automatically. That being said... we're quite reasonable with things. This is just to cover our butt.

  8. #8
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    Don't get into the habit of asking for a deposit as your default. Make your payment request as "That will be $XXX, you can pay for that with cash, check or charge". Make a deposit your second choice.
    "I'd rather not achieve immortality through my work, I'd rather achieve it by not dying" - Woody Allen

    "From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement, it's not that far" -Kirsty McColl, "Walking Down Madison"

  9. #9
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Yeah, and what's the difference between swiping a card once or twice, from a consumer standpoint? They can always challenge the charges. It's the cash-pay patient (that extinct species) that has exposure.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post
    Yeah, and what's the difference between swiping a card once or twice, from a consumer standpoint? They can always challenge the charges. It's the cash-pay patient (that extinct species) that has exposure.
    One swipe could be this month's bill, the second on next month's. Big difference for some people.

  11. #11
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    From a consumer standpoint... swiping a card once verses twice only makes a difference if they are at the end of a billing cycle. For instance, if they get a $900 pair of glasses and half is on this statement and half is on the next month. I have no problem with that. No problem getting half and half.

  12. #12
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Sure. I was thinking less of spreading out the payment than having 'buyer's protection from problems'.

  13. #13
    OptiWizard KrystleClear's Avatar
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    If they have ordered from us before, we will let them pay at dispense. I prefer to collect it at the time of the order but my predecessor let people wait until the dispense to pay for as long as he was here, which was over 30 years, so I get snapped at by patients if I push the issue. He even let people take them and pay later in payments, which makes me nervous, but we do have a collections service, so I guess it all works out one way or another. For some $600 to $1000 is a big chunk of change and it makes it easier for them to spend that if it is broken up in two chunks, so whatever works, as long as they are paid before they walk out with them is fine with me.
    Krystle

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