Pam of Fayetteville, NC, writes: We are a physician's office that bought medical software, "Medical Manager," from this company in March, 1997. We have had nothing but dissatisfaction with this company since we began. Customer service is our major complaint. Customer Service is outrageous. Whenever we call for help with a problem, they may call us back at the end of the day, two days later, or never. We are still waiting for a call that we placed back in February, 2000.

For a physician's office, we need our information accurately and quickly. In addition, our reimbursement from insurance companies slowed up twice because of the incompetence of their electronic biller, and their poor response time on our requests to find out what the problem is. We had to go all the way to the the chief operating officer for help. He gave us a little help, but nothing has been solved.

Furthermore, their equipment is very old and outdated. The system can't produce simple reports and other features without you having to BUY additional modules. The Medical Manager company has already been in a few lawsuits for their equipment, especially for not being Y2K complaint. I have spoken to many doctor's offices throughout Fayetteville, and the surrounding cities, and they have had the same complaint from this company. Many of them have switched to another software company. The problem is that many of them had to buy their way out of the lease.

I do not feel that I should pay for poor service. I do not want to go through this entire five-year lease complaining and not getting the service I am paying for. There has to be a law that releases you from the terms of the contract if the other party defaults. Is there such a law? I really want to get out of this lease so that I can put this three-year nightmare behind me.

As described above, our reimbursement slowed up because of a problem we were having with their electronic biller. Reimbursement is the life blood in a doctor's office. Without it, you go bankrupt. This happened twice in the three years we have been with this company. When this happened, we placed call after call trying to get the problem solved. We had to write letters, and go to the COO, after many attempts by phone to solve this problem. They tried to put the problem back on us and say that it was our fault. I had to provide proof that they were at fault. My husband and I, who are the owners of this physician's office, do not need this headache from a software company.

Pam needs to rethink her strategy. While it may not be possible to break the lease, it may be possible to sue the company in Small Claims Court or, if the amount is too large, in superior court for the purchase price of the software and any associated hardware.

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