Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/14/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  My wife and I are going through a divorce. She received a letter stating our children will no longer be seen due to an outstanding debt we were not aware of. I immediately called the office, spoke to Linda and offered payment in full. She said I had to pay the collection agency, which I did immediately ($700+). After settling up this debt, I had asked to schedule the children and they refused. She said Kris, their office manager, will call me back. I explained the misunderstanding to Kris, immediately settled up the debt, and said I did not receive any of the notices or calls she claimed I did. She stated that she worked with me for months about this debt, yet this was the first time we spoke and they did not have my correct address nor number on file. I made several offers to continue working in good faith because my children love it there so much. I offered to pay in cash, offered to pay up front, offered anything to continue their services and she still turned my children away. Not only did she refuse to work with me, but then further added the insult of hanging up on me. I can not understand why I would be treated this way, when I was not acting in bad faith or ducking out on the debt. While having an office policy makes sense for MOST circumstances, there will be some circumstances that could use a little compassion and heart, especially when someone is willing to go above and beyond to correct it. Punishing my children for them not having my correct address or phone number isn't right. I would hope they would reconsider seeing my children again. It's because of them that I would endure this humiliation of being hung up on and talked down to and frankly be treated like a deadbeat. If they are truly as compassionate as their commercials, ads, website, say they are, I nor my children would be treated this way. They will likely reply with the number of invoices or calls that were sent, however, I did not receive any of them. Had I known, I would have pd up front.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/31/2023

  This letter is in response to a complaint submitted on 3/14/2023, ** ********. 

  
  The complainant's account has been delinquent for $763.00 since 6/21/2022. According to our computer system's records, ten statements were sent via postal service over the intervening months. A front desk staff member spoke on the phone with this individual on 1/22/23 regarding the account balance and informed him that the debt would be turned over to a collection agency if it was not settled soon. The complainant hung up on my employee on that occasion. 

  The account was finally sent to IC Systems on 3/6/2023, and a formal letter of patient dismissal was sent to the address on record. The complainant called our office on 3/14/2023 after receiving this letter of dismissal. This individual spoke with a second staff member for 15 to 20 minutes, according to her recollection. He stated that he had received a dismissal letter for his two children but never received any of our billing statements. At that time the mailing address was confirmed with him (the same address where those first ten billing statements were sent). He was informed of our office policy not to reschedule patients after their accounts have been sent to a collection agency. The complainant asked to speak to someone “higher up". 
  When my office manager called to speak with him, this individual told her that he had settled the debt with IC Systems and wanted to reappoint his children. The office manager reiterated the office policy and again confirmed the mailing address. The complainant said that he was going to take this issue to our "corporate office" and was informed that this is a private practice. After approximately 20 minutes, the office manager felt that she had exhausted all efforts to close the conversation, which had become a circular argument with no apparent resolution, and informed this individual as politely as possible that she was going to need to hang up the phone, which she then did. She immediately came to me, explained the situation and told me to expect a social media complaint. 
  One final quibble with this customer's statement: my practice does not, and never has, placed any television commercials or advertisements in any periodical. We pride ourselves on providing world class pediatric dental care to the children we are honored to treat. It is unfortunate that finances and family circumstances sometimes end up getting in the way of that care, and it is the children who pay the price. 
  BEAUTIFUL SMILES 
  PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY AND ORTHODONTICS 
  I have, on occasion, overridden my office policy and allowed patients back into the practice after having settled their debt. Two major considerations in my decision-making are how forthright a parent is with the situation at hand, and how kindly they have dealt with my valuable and hard- working staff members. Otherwise, it is my staff whose morale suffers, and it is their limited time that is taken away. It is my opinion that the complainant has failed both criteria. 
  Sincerely, 
  Drew J. C*****, DMD 
  Diplomate, American Board of Pediatric Dentistry 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

  Unfortunately, much of what Dr. Drew C***** said in his response letter simply isn't true. He has never reached out to me directly nor cared enough to try and resolve this directly. His response is simply based on the feedback of his staff and their perspective, which I am willing to listen to and understand. However, this continues to show how little regard they have to even attempt to work anything out with me directly or hear my side of the story.

  I explained very clearly that I never received any direct communication from their office, whether it was invoices or anything. The only reason I found about this debt and their unwillingness to work with us after immediately settling that debt was from a letter my ex-wife received. He references a phone call in which I hung up on them, however they have never called me. I have not ever spoke to them before my call on 3/14/23. I looked at my phone record and I only spoke with the receptionist for less than five minutes, not 15-20 minutes he references. He did not offer to reach out to me, so his reference of occasionally overriding his office policy was never an offer. He implies that I didn't not treat his staff kindly and their morale suffered, however I did approach this situation with the utmost care and respect, not to mention it was his staff that hung up on me, not as politely as he indicates in his letter. He claimed I failed in both of his criteria of being forthright with the situation and how kindly I treated his staff, which to the contrary, I did not fail. I certainly do not appreciate the libelous judgments and conclusions he put into writing. His staff hung up on me. His staff did not want to work with me. He has never contacted me.

  Furthermore, I made NO social media complaint other than reaching out to the BBB (am I not allowed to do that?) nor did I say anything about "corporate." I didn't launch some sort of campaign to bash him or his practice. To the contrary, I would be flattered someone was fighting so hard to give me their money and to continue doing business with me. 

  I paid a debt to them that I wasn't aware of immediately, if that isn't being forthright, I'm not sure what is.

  If trying to immediately settle a debt and settling an unfortunately situation with an obvious misunderstanding is wasting and abusing his staff's time, then I humbly apologize. All I wanted was for my children to be seen by them again, because despite how they have treated me, they are fantastic dentists. I am saddened to see the judgments and conclusions he wrote about me and basically my family, without ever meeting or taking the time to talk to me a single time. Like I said in my first message, had my children not cared so much about their practice, which is great for kids, I would not be so passionate about this.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** ******