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:12/15/2022

  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.

  I have been using Heritage Dental as my provider since 2020. I found them as part of my covered insurance and I asked them to double check that my insurance would cover all treatments, which at the time they confirmed. I went to them on several occasions. On 2021 I was informed that I needed to have cavities filled and I sat with the financial person for the dentist who went over my insurance coverage, and what would have been my co-pay given what was covered by the insurance. she informed me that the insurance will cover a percentage, and my co-pay would be of around $160. I made that payment on that day and schedule the appointment for my treatment on November 2021. On Dec 2022 I received a bill for $624.40 with no explanation. I called the company asking for further information given that I had not gone to their office in over a year. After looking into my case, the woman in charge of finance informed me that the payment was due to the fact that my insurance paid very little because it wasn't supposed to be covered and I was responsible for the rest and that she was willing to give it to me for half the price. She was unable to explain why they informed me over a year later, why this was not shared with me prior to getting the treatment even though I had been to their office on multiple occasions, and the reasoning behind the costs. She just said that it wasn't her and that if I refused to pay that she would make a note and is all she could do because I had the treatment and she would move it forward. I believe I am not responsible for this additional charge as 1) I was not properly informed of this and was mislead to believe the insurance would cover for the procedure. 2) I was contacted over 1 year later with no explanation. 3) they have no explanation as to why they didn't do their due diligence prior to the procedure. 4) They were negligent in informing the customer of all their information in a timely manner.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/22/2023

  1/2/2023
  

  To The BBB,
  

  Good morning, this is the doctor and owner of the practice
  responding. Let me begin by saying I am deeply upset by this complaint from
  this patient. I have been practicing dentistry for 27 years and owned this solo
  practice for 19 years. I have never had a complaint to the BBB from anyone. If
  there ever has been a concern or complaint from a patient, or any
  dissatisfaction, I have offered to refund the money and/or redo the work. I
  never leave an interaction with a negative feeling. This is important to me and
  my customers. This entire business model for my practice has thrived on this
  model.
  
  I had reached out to this mentioned patient (I will keep her
  name out for privacy as I then expect my personal name will be as well) even
  before receiving this complaint. I had offered to remove her balance and in
  return I would deactivate her chart and send her records to a dentist of her
  choice. So, in fact this could have been easily resolved if she had given me a
  chance and written me a letter personally. I understand her frustration with
  dental insurance; The entire insurance industry is very overwhelming and
  confusing. There are hundreds and hundreds of dental insurance plans out there.
  We do our very best to help patients with their insurance and estimates of benefits.
  It is never a guarantee that the insurance company will pay what is expected.
  In my financial policy which all new patients sign, it explains this and that
  the patient is responsible for any monies for services rendered that are not
  paid by insurance. It is partially the patient responsibility to even know what
  type of insurance they have. At the beginning of the relationship with this
  patient, the chart reflects all the difficulties identifying this patient plan.
  You can see there were problems on her end, she had to go to her companies HR
  department as well. The dental work was done and done well. She claims my
  office was rude and I am sorry if she felt that way, but we told her that she
  had the services done and done correctly and payment was required. Now I am
  being asked to write off part of my already discounted fees (under insurance
  fee schedule she was given these reduced fees) and do not get paid this money
  for the services rendered. I am going to do this for this patient because it
  was my plan anyway before she jumped straight to the BBB.
  
  Thank You Kindly,
  
  Heritage Dental Owner