working with terms and conditions under the ndis

We need to start educating providers about comsuer choice and different ways of plan manager so this is a email to a provider this morning,. 

Store Manager

I am sorry to draw your attention to a decline in customer service offered by your team.  I do feel you would value my feedback given our business relationship extends many years and I know you pride yourself on the high-quality service you have previously delivered.

I acknowledge the introduction to the NDIS has been difficult for all parties and navigating it has not been easy.  However, we have all had 18 months to adjust to the NDIS system, as manager I see it as your role to train your staff in the number of ways NDIS can be managed.

While I respect providers want to ensure participants can pay for services and products.  A participant should not need to pay out of their own pocket.  I realise it has been your store policy for payment on delivery. 

I feel frustrated that having my manual chair serviced I now need to wait until my plan manager pays the invoice. I am told that could take up to 7 days.  Once I have it confirmed by them the money can be reimbursed I will pay by cash then I will collect my chair.  This is not very convenient to do so. Like your business I do not want to be out of pocket as unlike a NDIS managed plan, my portal is not set up for me to make a claim. 

I self-manage my funds through a fund manager.  My fund manager pays all invoices on my behalf within seven days, as is standard business practice. This payment agreement is beyond my control.

This issue has arisen for three reasons:

1.       Your staff are not trained well enough to be able to handle payments through different types of plan management.

2.       Services not trusting clients to be in control of their expenditure, therefore you all ask for service agreement plans.  You want to ensure we can pay.  No other consumer is treated with this level of distrust and this is a discriminatory attitude adopted by all providers.  Participants are trapped between providers and fund managers.  It is them who are inconvenienced when a provider withholds a service, while a plan manager decides to pay.  As you know I run a business and now I feel held a ransom buy both parties.  I blame you both equally as each of your terms and conditions leave me without a chair or out of pocket.

I could just have paid the $40 as requested, but I wanted to highlight the gaps in the NDIS delivery service. Every transaction as a participant is lengthy and incurs inconvenience, that sends a message that we people with disabilities are untrustworthy and it is ok to make us wait because we don’t have responsibilities.  We are used to being made to wait.

I not only write this email as a loyal customer who is made to feel less important but on behalf of every non-verbal participant who is now trapped in a system dishing out the same old same old.  Our predictions were correct it’s the same old story under a new name that takes five times as long as the system it replaced.

As you know I am a strong advocate for people with disabilities.  I am not happy just to send you this email, which will be followed up with the excuses other providers have already given me.  It will be forward to Shayne Newman my local MP and published on my blog. I don’t want an apology, I want change! I want to be treated with respect and receive the same quality service as every other Australian resident.  I too run a business to run and my work hours should not be consumed by chasing up payment of NDIS invoices.