Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/28/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

   I'm writing to let you know about a business (Derma Spa Med) in Santa Maria, CA that I've been dealing with since 2023.
  1. It was recommended that I see DermaSpa Med in Santa Maria to have some moles checked out. Upon consulting with Blue Cross Anthem and the dermatologist's office, they claimed they covered my insurance.
  
  2. Upon arriving for my appointment, I was told that Dr. Labreque was full and could not take any new patients but that Dr. ***** was in the network and could provide the same service.
  
  3. I saw Dr. ***** in March 2023 and June 2023, then was scheduled to have a topical procedure on August 1st, 2023.
  
  4. Again, I arrived and now Dr. ***** was unavailable, so they had Dr. Esche do the procedure (again, claiming he was in the network).
  
  5. I had paid for all of my office visits within that time frame as they were mailed to my home.
  
  6. By Easter of 2024, I spontaneously received a bill for $328.76, claiming now that my visits were out of network.
  
  7. After multiple calls between billing and un-returned calls to the office manager, I was informed that I was among many other patients who were experiencing this same issue...getting told I was in the network from both the insurance and the office and then finding out a year later I "wasn't." According to Billing, the facility has two apparent NPIs... one in-network and one out-of-network. I tried to get a callback on having them rebill under the correct number but, again, a dead end.
  
  8. Since then, Dr. ***** and Esche are no longer practicing at this location, I have tried getting a hold of the office manager (only to be told she's in the office only on Thursdays and Fridays) to which still no response after calling at all times of the day. I even tried calling the "other" office she was at and they claimed every time I called that she wasn't in the office.
  
  9. I have tried appealing the claim with insurance but they said that the fault lies with the facility for misinforming their patients and their databases with false or inaccurate information. Therefore, they can't process the claims unless the out-of-network charges are appropriately run through the correct doctor whom I was referred to actually see.
  
  10. In December of 2024, I finally was in contact with the office manager Elizabeth who said that she would rebill my visits under Labrecque given the circumstances, and that she would put a note on my account to not have it sent to collections. She also said she would call me back within 3 days to give me confirmation. After three days, I tried calling and received no response. I received another statement... it says $328.76 but billing says it actually is $412.00. Even the discrepancy between the amounts raises more concern about what kind of practice this facility is actually conducting.
  
  11. This past week (April 2025), I received the same statement as before stating I owe $328. I tried calling the office and they have not changed their voicemail so that you can't talk to anyone in the office (only if they decide to return your phone call).
  
  Add to all this that the billing phone number on the statement is different than the billing number on the answering machine, this business is absolutely a red flag.