Frustrating licensing renewal

[mike g.]

A tad bit of frustration on my end with Topeka (are they volunteers or paid employees?)

So I sent off my license app and renewed medical form on April 4th. On the 10th, I get this email from membership@scca.com:

Your medical application for a SCCA License is incomplete. For any questions, please contact Member Services at 800-770-2055 or membership@scca.com.

Ok. That's helpful. I hit reply, back to membership@scca.com and send this:

What is incomplete about it?
Thanks,
Mike

They reply a next day:

On the examination page, the vision is filled out incorrectly. it is normally written as a fraction (20/20).

For background, he filled it in like this:

OD: 20 OS: 20 OU: 20

I have no clue what that means. He is my aviation doc, so maybe he was used to something else. However, he did make a comment when he was filling it out, jokingly, about it saying "Vision (use numbers)" - as maybe we're expected to provide it in binary code or roman numerals?

So, SCCA...HOW ABOUT SOME HELP HERE? Do I need to give them a multiple choice email, like this?

How do I resolve this?
A) Provide a phone # to doctor for them to call and ask clarification.
B) Simply add /20 on each of form and send back
C) Provide updated form
D) Keep asking questions and eventually should yield someone to provide a helpful answer

Anyone else get this kind of response? There is no background here - no prior emails, no calls, nothing. Its like registration - "fill out a new form because you didn't put this in the right place" - "your tech sticker is 3" too low" - "you cannot get on track at an SCCA even with a Midwestern Council sticker on your car"

rant: off.

-Mike

[reidhazelton]

OD is right eye, OS is the left eye, and OU is both eyes together. Looks like Topeka doesn't know what 20/20 means anyway. He wrote it correctly, in more detail and accuracy than is normal. Explain to them this is the smart kid way of doing it.

[Bob Coury]

Sorry to hear of the issues. I have to say that anytime I have had any problems, the people at the SCCA have provided prompt, accurate, and courteous reponses. I have had nothing but great customer service from them.

[ric baribeault]

That's what you get for buying the car I wanted. But as Reid said, it's filled out properly from a medical providers perspective. The 2nd 20 in 20/20 is the normal value. The 1st one is the value of the person being examined. Just email that back to them. I find them generally, pretty easy to get along with

[RussMcB]

I understand your frustration. In the past doctors have had to ask me what SCCA wants on the form because it made no sense to them. It's been a problem for years, I can't believe they haven't fixed it yet, or provided a little help in what's expected.

Maybe get your area rep involved, and ask them to fix it not just for you this year but for the whole club.

[budawe]

We're aware of the problems with the med form and are working to simplify both the form and the process. My own personal experience with Dr.'s is that beside having the worst handwriting in the world, they hate forms. Some even charge extra for filling them out.

Stay tuned.

[racerdad2]

Thankfully, my Doc enjoyed filling out the form... Got a few laughs while filling it out... The biggest kick were the instructions provided for doing the peripheral vision test... Kinda stone age with all the whiz bang eye test gadgets they have these days I had a glitch on my forms as well & it was remedied quickly. Sorry you're having problems... Perhaps its a technical glitch ? We tend to take it for granted that everything works as intended... Shipments are lost, mail goes to wrong places, voice mail shows up two days late, text messages come in 9 days late... Emails get filtered to spam for no apparent reason....

[John LaRue]

If you don't get a satisfactory answer then call Terry Ozment and see if she will help out. SCCA's mantra for 2013 is customer service.

[ric baribeault]

minor glitch with my renewal. 100% my error. easily resolved in a couple minutes with a phone call

[mike g.]

Ironically, when searching google (not apex) for what "numbers" need to be in the vision part, the first result was this thread:
http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18163

I talked to Kathy @ membership on the phone today, she said what they expect and doctors dont really know thats why they include the peripheral thing.. I told her none of the emails prior said peripheral, just "vision" and not specifically what to change... hope this goes well.

Doc said to add the /20 or whatever and send it in. I put my initials and a time on it. Hope that works.. I gotta have my license for next Friday :-)

thanks for the help.. hopefully this resolves itself tmrw...

-Mike

[MAC Racing]

Mike,
On the acuity reading 20/20, the first number indicates the distance the chart is calibrated for and the second number is the actual reading. In particular we us 20 feet since it mathematically optical infinity and if you have average vision you see the same as most do at 20 feet so 20/20. If you see 20/40, you at 20 feet see what most can at 40 feet. There are actually charts that use 10 foot measurements and read 10/10 etc.
Unfortunately 20 just doesn't give the correct info by itself. Did he mean 20/20 or was he starting to fill our the form and wrote 20 and was going to write in the values you read on the chart after and forgot. Could you be 10/20 and have borderline acuity to drive a race car. The specifics are needed for accuracy.

Its unfortunate the first letter you received from the SCCA wasn't clearer on what was necessary but I understand why they asked for the clarification.

As someone who fills these types of forms out routinely the SCCA's isn't the best form and hopefully it will be cleaned up and clearer in the future.

Mat

[mike g.]

They just emailed back "Unfortunately, he will not speak to us because of the HIPA law" which makes me think they called. They didn't. He said he'd tell them on the phone either way at this point.

I wrote /20 on the form, put my initials with something like talked to doc and emailed it back. We'll see how that goes.

Next is sending it back to doc, having him add /20 and emailing it back with another set of initials.

[azjc]

Love reading things like this.... just reminds me why I don't bother racing SCCA any more.

[TimH]

Love reading things like this.... just reminds me why I don't bother racing SCCA any more.

Coming out to Bondurant West this weekend? I'll be away in San Diego Saturday for a wedding. Ken, father of the bride, is catching an early flight Sunday to defend his championship points lead...

[azjc]

Coming out to Bondurant West this weekend? I'll be away in San Diego Saturday for a wedding. Ken, father of the bride, is catching an early flight Sunday to defend his championship points lead...

I'll be there... but without the car . Was doing final engine settings 2 weeks ago, ran out of aviation fuel, added some pump gas and a few hours later the cell started leaking. Beyond repair, just finished mocking up the replacement cell but it wont be done for a month or more. In looking at the cell it did leak, I do not want to drive it like that.

Since I was all set to go I decided to come out and work as an instructor on Saturday. Might bring my wife's SLK... just in case . Have a couple of friends from the Mercedes club going thru the new member class too.

[RSR427]

Same boat here, been back and forth with them on the color test twice. They don't like my doctor's terminology. Pretty soon I'll be seeing red.

You'd think Skip Barber wouldn't have issued a recommendation for a regional license if I was color blind...

[butch deer]

Mike;
I've had the same problem before as my GP doesn't do many eye exams and generally gives that part of the exam to a nurse or aid to do. I try to keep a copy of my last exam and if it's not filled out the same way I get it filled in completely before sending it in.I guess the fact that the Doc signed off on your fitness to drive is not enough. Just wait when you're my age you have to do this every year.

[Charles Warner]

For those of you who get an Aviation Physical once a year (Class 1 or 2) the Club will accept that in lieu of the SCCA forms. Did it for years. Just a call before sending it in with your renewal forms. Then attach a letter to the renewal referencing the call.

[mike g.]

Charlie - WHAAAAAT?!?!?!? I told them on the phone that my aviation doc did this and he was confused on the form..

No mention that they'd take my medical.. But, just reread and you said class 1 or 2. I dont really know the diff in 3 and 2 anymore...

Sheesh.

I am calling them in a few mins... been Wednesday since they last contacted me.

[Charles Warner]

Class 3 is a "novice permit" designed for students and recreational pilots and supposedly is less detailed than the upper classes. A Class 1 is only good for 6 months then it becomes a Class 2 for another 6 months. A Class 2 is good for a year then it becomes a Class 3 for another year. Screwy system. I never had any issues using a Class 1 as long as it was withyin 3 months of the examination date. Due to my age it always included an EKG.

[mike g.]

Charlie,
That doesnt sound correct.. 3rd class medical is what 99% of non-commercial pilots have. I'm no novice and I've only ever had a 3rd class :-)

-Mike

[Charles Warner]

A third class is all that is required for non-commercial activity. To start the process (at laest when I went through many many moons ago) you got a student permit to be able to start your lessons then had to get a Third Class before you got your ticket. Good for 2 years. However, a First or Second Class also acts as a Third Class for two years. As far as I remember, the Club's medical folks accepted the First Class within 3 months of issue. I keep a First Class even though I'm retired from the airlines for this reason. It's accepted by the sanctioning bodies.

[mike g.]

So I think I'm good now - talked to Kathy again, who had me email the doc's form and she immediately got it and processed it.

Hooray!
License Last Physical Date Last Renew Date Expiration Date
Nat Competition 03/12/2013 04/19/2013 10/31/2013

[RussMcB]

I can't help but think SCCA HQ has gotten many questions about this in recent years, so why hasn't it occurred to them that maybe they could improve the form (and eliminate a lot of wasted effort and time). Couldn't it be resolved with 1-3 hours devoted to it?

[FVRacer21]

I can't help but think SCCA HQ has gotten many questions about this in recent years, so why hasn't it occurred to them that maybe they could improve the form (and eliminate a lot of wasted effort and time). Couldn't it be resolved with 1-3 hours devoted to it?

They have changed over the years and it has become simpler, but as seen, in some cases it does not match up with current medical practice.

As an aside - here is funny story from a few years ago. They did not put on the renewal if your medical was still good and I forgot what cycle I was in - so I submitted a medical anyway - just in case. I was late in renewing my license so this is the note I got back:

"Medical was too old for renewal this year. We used the medical from LAST year (my emphasis) to renew you."

Technically they were right but practically.....well it was good for a laugh.

ChrisZ