Galt Healthy Smile

Company states that the account has been zeroed and everything has been taken care of

Company states that the account has been zeroed and everything has been taken care of.

Review: Recently in the last month I have received (1 and 2 notices) of balance due to Galt Heathly smile from July 2011. I have not been contacted prior to this and made aware of any balance on my account. The company will not provide any explaination of what the charge is for and after speaking with my medical insurer at the time, they advised me not to pay the charge. I have not been to this dentist in over 3 years and have just now received 2 statements stating that a balance is due from July 2011. I have requested several times that backup for the charge be sent to me and nothing has come forward. This company is threatening to send my account to collections; without proper documentation or explaination of what charge is for.Desired Settlement: Unless an explaination and statement of valid charges can be provided- debt collection should stop.

Business

Response:

Company states that the account has been zeroed and everything has been taken care of.

Review: In 2013 I was told that I owed money on a claim for dental services that should have been paid by my insurance carrier, but due to an error on behalf of the Galt Healthy Smile staff, it was too late to submit and I was now responsible for payment. An arrangement was made and it was agreed upon that a monthly payment of about $125 would be withdrawn from my account on the 20th of each month. On January 8 2014 a withdrawal from Galt Healthy Smile was made causing my bank account to over draft and fees to be charged to me. When I called the office on 1/9, I left a message for [redacted], the office manager and never received a call back. I continued to call on 1/10, 1/13, 1/14 and 1/15. Finally on 1/16 I made contact with [redacted]. She was extremely rude and stated that "maybe you need to balance your bank account better" This made me extremely upset. I explained to her that the agreement was for the withdrawals to happen on the 20th, not the 8th, and that someone from their offices should have contacted me to inform me this was going to happen. She again made a comment in regards to my finances, sending me over the edge. I explained to her that my husband has been out of work and if someone would have contacted me I could have made sure there was money available. She kept interrupting me and made me so upset that I finally hung up the phone on her.Desired Settlement: Due to the way this situation was handled, Galt Healthy Smile did not honor the agreement that put in place. I will not be making any further payments to their office until the matter is resolved. This is for services that should not have had to be paid by me in the first place since it was there mistake on billing my insurance company.

Business

Response:

I received a call from [redacted] on January 16th, 2014. She was very upset stating that her bank account has been over drafted. She stated that she knew she had a signed payment agreement with us and that her payment arrangements were set up to come out on the 20th of every month. She said her payment didn't come out until Jan 8th, 2014 and because of that her account is over drafted. She then started yelling saying that her husband is out of work and how embarrassing it was to get a phone call from her bank. I explained that she is right that her payment contract is set up for the 20th of the month but due to holidays, weekends or if the office is closed it doesn't always land on that exact day. She continued to yell at me saying the same thing over and over. I explained that I understood she was upset and explained again our payment arrangements and asked what she would like us to do for her. She stated that she wanted us to pay for her over draft charges. I explained to her that we can't do that. I explained that its not our fault that her account was over drafted and that she knew she had payment arrangements set up with us as she stated several times and that it was up to her to plan or budget for that. She then started yelling profanities and I interrupted her and asked her to stop speaking to me that way and that I wasn't going to continue the conversation if she was going to talk to me like that. She then yelled some more and hung up.

I have signed consents for her treatment, her signed payment agreement as well a signed office and insurance policies.

[redacted] did state that she tried calling for several days, however we were closed Jan 10th-Jan 13th, and I was out of the office ill on Jan 14th and 15th and unable to speak with her those days.

We value [redacted] as a patient and are saddened that this has happened. We would like to offer that we would be happy to credit her account to help compensate for her over draft fees.

Thank you

Office Manager

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: I am not denying that I got upset and I will admit that I crossed a line when speaking with [redacted]. However, as I said in our conversation all it would have taken was a simple phone call letting me know that for whatever reason they were unable to withdraw the money on the 20th as the agreement states. I find it hard to believe that their offices were closed from Friday December 20th to Wednesday January 8th. And secondly, it was beyond inappropriate and unprofessional for the office manager to make the statement to me "well, maybe you should budget your finances". My finances are none of her business. I was appalled and that is what made me so upset. The main reason for the rejection is that the balance due was supposed to have been covered by my insurance company, but due to an error on the part of Galt Healthy Smile, it was not submitted correctly and therefore denied for payment. When it was first brought to my attention I said that I should not be responsible for their mistake but since [redacted] was out on maternity leave and the lady I spoke with was filling in, there was nothing that could be done other than for me to make the payments. She told me that [redacted] was the one that was dealing with it. Every visit after that I would ask if anything had been resolved and no one seemed to have an answer. I understand that an agreement was signed between me and the office but they failed to honor it on their end by not withdrawing on the correct date and failing to notify me. If all they are willing to do is credit my account it was $86.89 and a $12.50 fee. I will wait for their response as I do not want any further contact with their office staff until a resolution is made. I am upset that it has come to this because I do really like Dr. [redacted].

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

[redacted] was seen on December 26th, 2012 for a porcelain crown on tooth #20. We estimated that [redacted]'s copay was $387.50 and made arrangements for her to pay her portion into two payments. She paid $193.75 on December 26th, 2012. The insurance, Assurant Employee Benefits was billed and paid $182.50. The insurance allowed benefits for a metal crown and explained that the patient is responsible for the difference. This was not an error in billing, but a benefit determination by her insurance company. When [redacted] came in for her appointment on September 9th, 2013, it was explained to her that she had a balance on the account from her remaining estimated copay and the difference of benefits that was stated by her insurance company. We set up payment arrangements with her on her balance as well as new treatment that she was having done.

When I received the phone call on January 16th, 2014 that [redacted] was upset about her payment and her account being withdrawn, she never expressed any concern or frustration about this insurance issue that she has brought to the Revdex.com. Both Dr. [redacted] and I were quite surprised that she has brought it this far. [redacted] did sign our office and insurance policies that states that we cannot guarantee insurance benefits or payment and any balance unpaid by the insurance is the patient's responsibility.

We will offer again to apply the over draft fee that she was charged as a credit towards her balance, however we need her to continue with her payment contract or her account will show delinquent and result in collections.