Green Valley Dental Group

Review: Office Manager provider erroneous detail and guidance.

My daughter had a dental appt at 8am PST, Jan 8, 2014, that required cancellation due to transportation issues. This appt had been previously been rescheduled due to work obligation that required me to stay at work or impact my job; I did call on this appt to see if my 22 yr old son could bring my daughter in for her appt but because they were doing a root canal my presence was required. I called the office on Jan 7, 2014 at 5:07pm to let them know that we were having transportation issues and that we may need to reschedule. I spoke to [redacted], who advised there would be a $100 fee to cancel; however, as long as I rescheduled it would be put towards the fees for the new visit. I told her that I really didn't think we could make it and I again asked if my son could bring my daughter in if need be and she said "yes". At the close of the conversation I requested that if we didn't reschedule right now if we could keep the appt tentatively, she agreed then asked me to call in the morning. I called the office at 7:38am on Jan 8th to let them know the kids were on their way but reached an automated system that said to call back during normal business hours which started at 8am. I hung up, then shortly thereafter received a message that the vehicle was broken down and the kids were not able to get to the appt. I called the office as soon as I heard, 8:24am, to let them know and spoke to [redacted] who told me I could not reschedule without a deposit. I explained to her that I spoke with [redacted] the night before so she was aware of the issue and that is not what she had told me. [redacted] got onto the phone with me and informed me that there was a deposit required for the reschedule yet admitted she did not tell me that the night before. When I told her I didn't feel that I should have to pay the deposit to reschedule because that is not what she told me her attitude was rude and very cold. I could not help the vehicles breaking down and tried to be proactive in figuring things out without costing myself more money since I have broken down vehicles and she met me with complete indifference. This is not the first time in the 5 years my kids have been patients of this dental office where there has been miscommunication; however, it was the first time I was treated so poorly and like garbage to be thrown out. When I told [redacted] I didn't want to pay the fee she was very rude and when I told her that I would find a new dental office for all 3 of my kids her response was a very cold "Okay". Obviously, the patients are not her first concern the dollar is.Desired Settlement: I do not feel that I should have to pay a deposit to reschedule because they were kept in the loop as to what was going on. Since that is no longer as option, since [redacted] does not care if we find a new dentist, I would like my accounts to be closed with a zero balance and no fees assessed. Her actions have made it so I have no desire to continue sending my children to Green Valley Dental. I will not subject my family to an office manager who is void of any empathy or willingness to stand by what they say. In the years the kids have been patients at this office there has always been miscommunications, lack of communication, and billing mistakes; however, we opted to continue going there out of loyalty. I have good insurance so finding another dental office will not be difficult but it is unfortunate that an office manager can make a simple life issue blow up into a huge event all because she appears to lack what I call professional integrity. I just expect people to stand behind what they say. This dental office has had a revolving door of dentist/orthodontics doctors over the years yet we have stayed with them through that and to be pushed out by someone that has not been there as long as we have is sad. When it comes to being loyal to the patients, [redacted] has shown her loyalty is to the almighty dollar not the people that are being billed/paying for a service. Life happens and to be so unbendable and show such little compassion is very distressing to me. Again, all I want is my accounts closed with a zero balance.

Business

Response:

This letter is in response to the concerns filed by Ms. [redacted]l regarding her daughter, [redacted].

Green Valley Dental Group takes great pride in being a customer service focused dental office and we strive to ensure that the patient experience is exceptional.

We understand Ms. [redacted] has had numerous transportation problems causing her to cancel more that one appointment with our specialist on short notice. Please understand it is customary that each patient agree, by signing a "Cancellation Policy" statement, that they will provide notice in writing two days before the scheduled appointment if they need to cancel the appointment for any reason in order to avoid a cancellation fee of $100.00. This is especially important with specialty services as the time booked for appointments are generally much longer than those for routine checkups and not so easily filled on short notice.

It is important to note that we did attempt to contact Ms. [redacted] to offer to apply the $100.00 missed appointment fee towards her co-payment for the needed root canal should she call to schedule another appointment. However, we were unsuccessful in this attempt. As such, given Ms. [redacted]'s dissatisfaction, we have removed the $100.00 charge from her account.

In summary, we regret that Ms. [redacted] was dissatisfied with her experience at Green Valley Dental Group. As a gesture of customer service, we have removed the $100.00 missed appointment fee from her account as requested.