I had a friend recommend I go to BioLife and donate blood and then she could get $150 referral fee. Since she was short on money and it seemed to be a good cause, I proceeded to set up my profile online and attempted to schedule my initial visit at the Lewisville Center. However, the website wouldn’t allow it with the error message “there are no centers available in your area”. Therefore, I called the Lewisville Center and the receptionist just said to come on in and they would get me all set up and she made me an appointment at 1:00 p.m. on 10/21/21. I explained that I was about 25 miles away so it would be a 50 mile round trip and I would want to donate that day as well. She said that should be no problem so I drove to that site. After arriving a little early on 10/21/21, I was put through their assembly line system of login and I gave blood samples for testing and had all my vitals checked and proceeded through a very thorough computer questionaire process. I was then told to go to a waiting area again as everything was fine and the doctor would call me shortly for my physical. After waiting another half hour, I asked how much longer it would be as I had already been there 1.5 hours and their website said the initial visit should take about 1.5 hours in total, including the donation time. She then informed me that the inital visit might take up to 4 hours! I said they really need to note that clearly on their website and she said she thought it was. Finally, after 2 hours, I was called into a private room and a male nurse asked me a couple of questions for clarification and then noted everything looked good, but before I could be seen by the doctor for my physical I had to take a release to my private physician and have her note it was ok for me to give blood and then have her fax it back to them and then I could schedule my next visit. I said I had been told I would be able to donate that day and he got rude and indignant and said that clearly wasn’t going to happen! He said because I was old I had to get my private doctors permission first since I was 68. I told him there was no statement of that requirement on their website and no one mentioned it to me previously even though I had talked to multiple BioLife employees previously and been there 2 hours already. He said I had no choice as that was a requirement of all old people over 66 years (very rude). When I was persistent explaining I had driven 50 miles and wasted over 2 hours at the site already and asked for at least a mileage stipend, he said no way and finally went and got a manager. She said she was sorry and that was their policy but she assured me I would be given first priority when I came back next time. I took the forms for my doctor and reluctantly left. I then drove 30 miles to my doctor’s office, waited in line for her nurse for 45 minutes and explained the situation. She said unfortunately the doctor was out that afternoon, but she would make sure she signed the form and faxed it back to BioLife the next day (10/22/21).

I then followed up with my doctor and was told she was busy Friday but I was assured she faxed it back to BioLife on 10/25/21. Since BioLife was closed on Mondays, I called early Tuesday morning ( about 7:00 a.m. on 10/26/21) and the receptionist said she would have to get a nurse to locate my doctor’s permission slip and then they would call me right back. I said ok. Unfortunately, after waiting about an hour with no call back, I started running errands. Finally, at 9:08 a.m., a lady nurse called me from BioLife Lewisvile and said she found my faxed in permission from my doctor and everything looked good so all I needed to do was to come back in and see the doctor for my screening physical so I said I would come in at 1:30 p.m. that day and she acknowledged my time but as she started saying something else, the line dropped because I was driving along.

I then proceeded to the Lewisville Biolife office and arrived at 1:25 p.m. on 10/26/21 and explained I had an appointment at 1:30 p.m. The receptionist looked up my records and said it unfortunately looked like my appointment had been requested but not confirmed yet because the doctor had not yet “reviewed” my doctor’s permission slip. I explained that the nurse had called me earlier and assured me my permission slip was there and in order and everything was fine. The receptionist said she would see what she could do and she gave me a blue card and asked me to wait and said a nurse would be with me shortly. I then waited a half hour and finally a male nurse called me into a private room. He stated very curtly that the doctor still hadn’t “reviewed” my doctor’s permission slip so I couldn’t get my physical yet. He said they would call me when I could schedule my physical appointment as the doctor was only there Tuesdays and Thursdays. I explained that a nurse had already called me that morning and I had scheduled my physical for 1:30 p.m. that day and it was Tuesday. He rudely said the doctor said he hadn’t yet reviewed my permission slip and he refused to do it that day since I came in before he did it. I implied the doctor must be a prima donna since “review” should take less than a minute. The rude nurse said whatever and I was not going to see the doctor that day! I said I should be compensated for 2 trips and several hours for nothing and he had me wait while he went to get another manager. When the female manager finally arrived, she said there was no way I would donate that day or even see the doctor as they had “special rules” for old people. I said that amounted to age discrimination since their website said they take people up to 99 years old with no stated extra requirements. She said whatever and then noted I would have to schedule yet another appointment on another day. She asked if I wanted to at least schedule my appointment with the receptionist then and I said no as I was upset with all the wasted time and trips and cost to me so far and I might schedule yet another appointment online when I got home and cooled off. I then left and drove home.

On 10/27/21 early morning I decided I already had so much invested in this blood donation effort that I really needed to schedule yet another appointment. So I logged into my portal on the BioLife Lewisville website. However, when I attempted to schedule my “appointment with physical”, I kept getting an error message that said I needed to call in to schedule my next appointment. Therefore, at 7:22 a.m. on 10/27/21 I called in to the Lewisville BioLife office at [protected] yet again. I explained to the receptionist the problem and she said to wait on hold and she would find out what was going on. After about 15 minutes on hold, a female came on the line and introduced herself as Haley Vasquez (sp?). She said she was a manager there and unfortunately I was deferred. When I asked what that meant, she said I was permanently banned from all their facilities due to my inappropriate behaviour yesterday. I asked what “inappropriate behaviour”? I acknowledged that I was very frustrated but assured her I hadn’t once cursed or raised my voice. She said that was true but I had stated that my treatment amounted to age discrimination and they (BioLife) would not tolerate being accused of that. Too Bad! Nothing I could do!

Unreal!!! Please help!