# Urgent Care charged my card on file without me approving the amount. Do I dispute it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgent-care-charged-my-card-on-file-without-me-approving-the-amount-do-i-dispute-it/938808 "2021-03-27T00:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgent-care-charged-my-card-on-file-without-me-approving-the-amount-do-i-dispute-it/938808/21 "2021-03-27T20:31:35Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > But how would you have known which instructions to follow without the podiatrist’s guidance? Presumably you couldn’t self-diagnose from any of these websites, or you wouldn’t be going to the doctor. I have no problem paying experts for things when they have much greater knowledge about the topic than me. But when the expert charges your credit card before even giving you a bill, something seems sketchy. Because without examining me, she just “confirmed” the diagnosis which my PCP had indicated in order to get me the appointment with the specialist in the first place. If you’re rubber stamping a diagnosis made by a GP and your “expert system” intake form in under 30 seconds, I have doubts about the value you are adding to the process. A physical therapist eventually spent many hours working with me for a similar cost that actually narrowed down exactly what I could do to alleviate my suffering. What I got from the podiatrist was a staggering number of measures that MIGHT help. 20-30 exercises, various types of prosthetics, activities to avoid. I’ve had this happen several times. Wait months for an appointment with a specialist, spend less than 5 minutes with them, get billed $500-$1000 (usually knocked down to $300-400 by insurance contract). If you are making a diagnosis and treatment plan based on what the patient told another doctor 2-4 months ago, you are a walking disaster as a physician. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgent-care-charged-my-card-on-file-without-me-approving-the-amount-do-i-dispute-it/938808/22 "2021-03-27T23:10:21Z")
I remember a story about a woman who lived in a big city and was seriously injured by either a bus or a subway, and she told bystanders not to call 911 because she didn’t have health insurance. Someone finally convinced her, when the ambulance arrived, that she deserved to live - and truthfully, the city should have insurance to cover things like this. Were I to personally encounter a similar situation, I would tell all bystanders who could record it to do so, and I would call 911, and explain that to the victim(s). ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgent-care-charged-my-card-on-file-without-me-approving-the-amount-do-i-dispute-it/938808/23 "2021-03-27T23:53:21Z")
I had a skin tag cut off earlier this year and the doctor’s office literally told me they couldn’t predict the cost until they got a code, and the only way to get a code was to wait until the day of the procedure. Then, the day of, they quoted me a low price, only later they sent me a much higher price. The one quoted that day was for the visit, a separate charge. I was so mad. It wasn’t even the money, it was the helplessness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgent-care-charged-my-card-on-file-without-me-approving-the-amount-do-i-dispute-it/938808.md?page=1)