Dore Talk

First of all, this is my first post, new to this forum and entered here just trying to find out what is going on with this program we've only been part of for 2 months.  It will become clear that I'm pretty unhappy with the way things are going and being handled and I don't have the same faith in this organization as many people here do.  I have hope and faith in the program, but my faith and trust in those who are running it is very unsound.  I've got lots of questions, many of which I have not seen posted yet, so here we go...

 1.  Why aren't all centers worldwide closing down if they're all under the same umbrella of Dore UK and Australia?  Why are just those of us in the USA, UK and Australia so lucky to have our centers taken away?

2.  Where are these FAQ answers that Mr. Dore talks about in his video message?  The only FAQs I can find are the ones about the program.

3.  Why hasn't the Dore USA website been updated to reflect the fiasco that is going on?  It still looks to me that they are ready to take more people's money.

4.  I am still getting Invalid PID messages when I try to sign in to My Dore.  From the sounds of it on Mr. Dore's message, it is up and fully operational.  If that's the case, why is my PID still invalid?

5.  For those of us in the US, it seems like many of you in the UK have been contacted directly by your program specialists.  Lucky you.  Where are the specialists from the Grapevine office?  Do we not deserve at least some human contact to set our minds at ease?

I guess that's enough for now, hopefully some of these questions can be brought to light.  Thanks.

 

 

TexasMum, The only question I can try to answer is the last one. I'm an (ex) program specialist from Australia. We were unable to contact clients as we were locked out of the clinic and denied access to the computer system with everyone's details on. This may be why you haven't been contacted by your PS. I would have loved the opportunity to contact my clients but this was as much of a shock to me as it would have been for them. I believe the clients here were having their appointments cancelled by members of the call centre. I wish you all the best Texas Mum and hope that the management find some kind of solution here, although I must say, I share a little of your lack of faith.

 Hi Texasmom

I have tried to answer your questions for you.  I am really sorry that you haven't been contacted.  You will be soon.

Answers: 

1. Because the other countries have not needed the direct subsidy from Wynford that the US and Australia have needed - the other countries are fully self sufficient and have been for some time.  The way it is working there is very successful and doesnt need any financial help.

2. What FAQs would you like to see and I will try to pull them together?

3. We are updating the website in the US tomorrow and I can assure you that no money is being taken from new clients.

4. MyDore in the US is going to be launched very soon and you will be informed of how to log in when your next appointment is coming up. 

5. There are many more staff in the UK headoffice who are contacting clients in their own time, without being paid.  Unfortunately, there are a lot less staff in the US and they are struggling to contact you all personally.

 I will keep you informed of all the latest developments by posting them here on DoreTalk, but if you do want some human contact, then please email me - rosanne.sayers@dore.co.uk

Rosanne 

Texasmom - Wynford sent an email on 23rd May to UK clients that had an attachment of Q&As for those on the programme and the next step to take. If you would like me to forward a copy to you, I am happy to do so. Please PM me with your direct email address.

Hopefully Roseanne has answered your other queries. 

Texasmon, I'm in the UK and as of right now, I have received no communication from Dore. Whilst I'm a bit miffed about this, I also understand that they are probably working their way through clients in date order (as in, those who have imminent appointments). This forum has provided a wealth of support and information. For what it's worth, I suggest you check back here fairly regularly for updates. That's what I'm doing, and it's working for me. 

xx 

GeorgesMum, I'm sure that's true as I had an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.

If you want me to send you the email in question, I'm happy to do so. 

 Bugalug, that would be great, thanks. Any information I can get my hands on will be helpful.

Rosanne, I appreciate your prompt replies.  Here are mine: 

1.  Okay, thank you.

2.  Any FAQs - they may be the same as mine or ones I haven't thought of yet.  I'm just trying to look at what Mr. Dore was referring to.

3.  Although it's comforting that no new clients are being taken, it's still very disheartening to be a current client who already paid their money and is getting to go through this.

4.  Again, the US being treated like red-headed step children and getting the last of the support.  Fantastic.  I feel so much better.

5.  Great, I'll keep sitting by my phone "being patient".

Some of my replies have come across bitter and sarcastic, that's because I am bitter and I'm angry.  My comments are not meant to offend anyone but since I have no human to speak with, I will express myself as I see fit here.  Being in the US, we are really isolated and getting the last of the support being offered in the UK and Australia.  I refuse to make an international call to get information that should be given freely without request.  If one more person from Dore says "very soon" or "be patient" I think I will vomit.  Seriously, how unfair and unrealistic is it of you all to ask that of us when we've sought your help for our children?  Not only that, but we've paid you our hard earned money for this support and then you rip it out from underneath us without warning and without clear information on when and if we'll get that support back.   And while you hold our money hostage, we can't seek out other treatments that might help our children that are actually available.  I know those who are on this forum who are actually trying to help are not in control of what is going on, but you can't expect us to just sit around and wait for things to be handled correctly.  Clearly that wasn't happening up until now or none of us would be in this mess.  Why should we keep trusting this organization or what anyone from it has to say?  So forgive me if I don't accept the advice to be patient or accept very soon as answers to questions we all deserve to have.  I hope that the individuals who mismanaged Australia are facing criminal charges for in my eyes they are criminals for what they have done.

Rosanne, I appreciate your efforts here, but an e-mail conversation is still not human contact in my eyes.  This situation is just abmoniable to me and even if things get completely restored to the way they were promised to us, my faith and trust in Dore will be forever shaken and I will always be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In the meantime, I sit by with eager anticipation to hear more "very soons" and empty promises, as I know that is all I can expect for the forseeable future.  As if having a child with a learning disability isn't enough, this is just what all of us need.

 

Hi Chris, I just thought that I would remind you that you said that you would send me those emails if I sent you a pm with my email address - which I have done.  Unfortunately I am still feeling a bit like Texasmom as I also have still had no human contact so any help from you would be appreciated. Thanks xx

texasmom:

Expanding a little on what Rosanne has already said:

3. It is unfortunate that the site has yet to be updated; it is being looked at as a matter of urgency. We ran out of time today to resolve the outstanding issues - it is us in the UK (me in fact) who will be updating the site and the time difference worked against us today. My understanding is there are certain legalities that need to be resolved but I have a draft of the text to be posted and hope to update the site tomorrow morning.

4. At a guess you are trying to register on the UK MyDore site (or the AU?) which IS fully operational - unfortunately it wasn't made clear initially (though I did update the text slightly on the sites today) that each "MyDore" site is tied to its respective country - UK clients cannot sign up for the Australia MyDore site for example. We are planning to launch the US version as soon as possible - it's not me who has been working on it so I can't say for certain if it will be tomorrow (Friday) or not.

5. As Rosanne has said (and as far as I'm aware) it's not the Program Specialists calling clients, but a few [former] call-centre staff who have stayed late the last few nights/arrived early to try and contact clients with the closest appointments. In the UK at least, those clients for whom we have current email addresses are receiving updates (or should be); I will try and check tomorrow to see what the situation is like in the US and whether something similar would be possible. As far as I'm aware (and this is the same in UK and AU), PSs don't have access to client details so will be unable to contact you individually even if they wanted to - it's an unfortunate effect of the situation and not an intentional snub on their part.

 

GeorgesMum (and anyone else in the UK): As per the front page of the UK site currently:

For all general enquiries concerning treatment,please contact the helpline on 01926 514 033 or by email at dore@dore.co.uk, quoting your patient ID or contact ID

If you do this, providing an accurate email address (as I assume we don't already have one on file for you), you should receive the emails that get sent out as we know more. Unfortunately it's not feasible to contact everyone individually by phone but I *think* (don't hold me to it, I might be wrong!) you'll receive a letter about the situation in the next day or two.

texamom my last reply referred to your original post! Took a bit too long to write it!

4. The situation is unintentional and just caused by the order in which centres were shut - first Australia, then UK, then US a number of days later. ALL IT support (including setting up of MyDore systems) is being done by UK people who are no longer being paid, and we are setting up MyDore sites in the order that centres were shut; unfortunately this means that US is last in line.

There's nothing I can say in response to your last few paragraphs; you're right, the situation is deplorable.

Oh no... you see, I didn't mention that I have been able to email Dore and have also been able to access "mydore".

 

I implore those who have so far been unable to access mydore, to be patient. Not much help right now, I agree. I spent a nail biting weekend wondering where we would go from here.....

Patience has won out, and I have enough information to keep us going, for the immediate future.

In fairness, the knee-jerk reaction is understandable, but give it time. They are trying....

Thank you, Jevon.  I appreciate the clear and concise answer.  It does help a great deal.  Thank you to you and all those who are going above and beyond for us without compensation.  You all are VERY appreciated.

 

Texas Mom,

I agree that the US is being ignored in this conversation.  In some ways it is not surprising as the staff in the center often told us that the US was the last to receive support from the UK.  I am curious as to why we have only received a note from Shalene Barrera via email and a post on the yahoo forum from Joe that even tries to explain what is going on.  The lack of information is frustrating.  My concern is that we are being strung along and will be left out of any further support.

Can anyone at Dore help with the US?  Is there anyone left over here?  Is Joe Stephens, the "co-chairman" still with the company?

Help.

This post was in response to the origninal post and does not take into account Jevon's updated post.  Thank you for your reply and efforts.  I hope you are being paid for your time.

 I am still curious if anyone is left in the US?

 

Please don't think that we in the U.K are having any special treatment. I was taking my son to his 3rd appointment last friday when he was phoned on his mobile and the appointment cancelled.

Being so close we continued to the dore centre and found it shut with the staff and other clients outside, many in tears.

We have heard NOTHING from Dore since. The only info I can scratch is from this site.

What is all this nonsence about Dore will contact those clients who are  to receive an appointment shortly. What about the ones who were turned away!!.

By the way there is Non-performance of contract here no doubt about it. You can't take money for a service and then not provide it.Lets hope the administrators keep some cash back for us.

Ann - I've checked my InBox and my private emails, and I don't seem to have got a message from you. Send me another PM with your details and I will send it on.

Jevon:

There's nothing I can say in response to your last few paragraphs; you're right, the situation is deplorable.

I just wanted to clarify what I meant by this as I realise "deplorable" could be taken the wrong way - replace with "incredibly difficult", "awful" or something along those lines. I fully sympathise with everyone, and I assure you that those few of us still here are doing everything we can to minimise inconvenience and stress.

jsmalls1965: I don't know enough about the situation in the US to help at all, I can only speak from an IT perspective in that we are aiming to launch the US MyDore as soon as possible. An issue came to light yesterday on the other sites which needed to be resolved before we could finish work on the US version. I will try and post when I know more.

soonerthedog: I'm sorry you haven't heard anything except the phone call when you were already on the way to your appointment; as per details in a previous post if you contact us to provide an email address (or if you have signed up to MyDore), emails are being sent out as we find out more about what is going to happen. I believe that the Administrators will also be posting a letter to everyone to explain the situation, but I may have misunderstood.

Jsmalls,

I think we're all being strung along.  I don't see how there is any way for them to get out of this.  I do want it to be clear that I believe in this program which is the biggest part of my frustration with this situation. But from the business perspective I think the damage is done and there's no good way out anytime soon.  I just don't understand why the centers in 3 of the biggest and wealthiest countries in the world are the ones to shut down.  It simply doesn't make any sense to me.

Don't get me started on Joe Stephens.  He sends us e-mails via Shalene Barrera, gives an e-mail address to send questions to, then never responds.  If you don't know, just say you don't know.  But don't ignore people when they have valid questions and deserve answers.

I've started another thread in this forum looking for other US families so we can comiserate together.  At least we can get support from eachother since we're clearly not getting it from Dore.

Hi Sooner,

I didn't mean to imply that the UK clients were getting special treatment, just that it seemed like more is being done to service clients there than here in the US.  I think we're all getting the runaround, in all countries.  I was just making issue of the fact that services like My Dore are being made available for Australia and the UK before the US.  You all also got an e-mail from Wynford Dore himself, we got two vague and impersonal e-mails from some guy who we'd never heard of before and have never heard from since.

I'm glad to hear someone else saying what they think about this being a breach of contract (our term here in the US).  It clearly is and I hope we'll have some legal ground to stand on when the dust settles.