Rice Dentistry of Christiansburg, P.C.

Review: On July 26, 2013 I wrote a check to Rice Dentistry for future dental work to be done IN THE AMOUNT OF $1845.00. Check number [redacted] was deposited into Rice Dentistry of Christiansburg bank account on July 31, 2013 and cleared my bank account on August 1, 2013. Around October 1st there was a surplus of $545.00 on my account and I requested a refund. [redacted] the office Manager informed me I would have it within 30 days. I contacted [redacted] at Rice Dentistry once again around November 1, 2013 inquiring about my refund. At this time I was told it had to come from Florida and [redacted] would contact accounting in Florida and get back to me. The next day [redacted] called to say I would have my refund within 14 days. I contacted [redacted] again on December 2, 2013 asking about my refund. She stated she would contact accounting in Florida again and get back to me within 24 hours with the check number on the refund, date it was mailed etc. . I contacted [redacted] again on December 4, 2013 because she had not contacted me with a response on my refund. On December 4, 2013 [redacted] refused to give me the phone number of the accounting company in Florida nor an address so I could contact them myself. She did tell me the name of the company is [redacted] associates. On December 2 [redacted] said the name of the accounting office was DDP. [redacted] said she would forward to me all the emails she had exchanged with the accounting company about my refund. She has not forwarded that information and called me back to inform me she could not forward the information.. I requested to speak with Dr. Miller Lewis who did the dental work on my and she refused to allow this. [redacted] informed me he is just an employee and knows nothing about the payments.Desired Settlement: I just want a refund of my over payment.

Business

Response:

We are working with our new company to get our refund process straightned out. I have kept in constant communication with Ms. [redacted]. I have also made every attempt to speed up this process. I have contacted our Accounts Payable disvion and they keep assuring me that Ms. [redacted] will have the refund check shortly. Again we are doing all that is possible to get this overpayment corrected and get this refund back into Ms. [redacted].

In response to Ms. [redacted] and forwarding emails, I offered to do this for her prior to noticing other patient information on the email exchanges. I cannot legally forward those to her due to HIPPA. I also cannot give out our Accounts Payable information to patients as it can cause even more confussion.

Regarding Ms. [redacted] asking to speak with Dr. Lewis, I informed her he was with a patient. I asked if there was anything I could help her with. I did not deny her to speak with him. I did advise her that he does not take care of patient payments or reimbursements. I did not refuse her.

I think that this situation has been the perfect storm of events for Ms. [redacted], she requested her refund in the midddle of a company wide transition. My team and I go above and beyond for each and every patient, Ms. [redacted] has been very patient up until this week, I just encourage her to be patient a little longer and she will receive her refund.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The denial to give me the information about the actual company that owns this practice is not a sign of good faith. I have been more than patient about this matter until now. I believe 2 months is more than a sufficient amount of time for someone to receive a refund of over payment even in a time of transition ( technically the services this payment was for was completed the 1st of September and my insurance company completed the claim on September 19. In my opinion the refund process should have been started at the time of completion) . I have tracked down the owner of the company information myself and contacted them personally. I am awaiting response now.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Her refund was in process when the complaint was filed and we understand that she has received her refund.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: There is a health issue that is being handled by the dental board, but my complaint through the Revdex.com concerns billing and collection practices. After the examination, I was quoted a price of $172 to fix 3 teeth that had cavities. One, they said, might need a crown, but I said that would not happen. They quoted me $172 for the three teeth. I asked 4 times whether that included everything and was assured each time that all charges were included in the $172. I told them to call my previous dentist to learn what drug to give me as anesthetic, because I am allergic to most local anesthetics. On the appointed day, [redacted]). They said they had not called my previous dentist. They fixed one tooth and said I would need to return to have the other two teeth done. I was asked to pay the full bill of $172. I was going to pay with my pre-pay card from work, which had (I think) $104 on it, so they took that. This was much more than one third of the $172 I was quoted. I thought it was fair and they agreed to wait for the rest. I called my previous dentist and found out from them what drug they used on me. When I called NRV Dentistry back, I told them about the drug reaction and then told them the drug that my previous dentist used, which was very good. NRV Dentistry told me that they could not get that drug and that I should go someplace else to have the rest of my work done. They then charged me $198 to repair the one tooth. When I objected, they just said that was the charge. I refused to pay and asked them to reconsider. They refused. After a while they sent my bill out to a bill collector, who added more charges to the $198. My complaint is that their charges exceeded their original quote, which they confirmed to me 3 times. They did only one tooth of the three teeth included in the quote, but want to charge me for all 3.Desired Settlement: 1. An apology in writing.2. Accept what I have paid them ($104) as full payment for services rendered. 3. Stop asking for more money. They only did 1/3 of the work and demand more money than they quoted. 4. Call off the bill collector. I will not pay for their charges either.5. Repair any damage done to my credit. 6. Deal with any action from the dental board as a separate issue.

Business

Response:

New River Valley Dental Care has worked hard to communicate with Mr. [redacted]. He was not quoted $175 for all 3 teeth, that was for each one. His insurance was explained to him in detail. He agreed to the $175. per tooth when he was in our office. He also brought in a credit card that did not have enough on it for the full amount. Mr. [redacted] was also advised that any estimate for a copay was just that, an estimate. We can not delegate what an insurance will pay, we are also caring enough to file a patients insurance for them instead of having them pay in-full and take of this on their own. We will not comply with Mr. [redacted]'s request due to the fact that he did not even pay the estimated amount he claims he was given for all three teeth. He paid $101 instead of the supposed agreed amount of $175.00. I hope that this is found to be a satisfactory response

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Why is this not acceptable? The quote of $175 (I remember it was $172) was for 3 teeth, not the ONE that they worked on. They have only done 1/3 of the work covered by the quote and refused to do the rest. They billed me for $195 after they said they would not work on the other two teeth. This is more than the original quote to do all the teeth. They sent the bill to a bill collector who added about $30 more to pay for that service also. The bill collector will be sending info out to credit agencies and it will be put in my credit report. I want that fixed. They told me they were in the network of the insurance company and they are not. I think this is why they do not want me to talk to the insurance company. This bill is much higher than if they were inside the network. This dentist would like me to just pay the amount quoted whether they do the work or not. They say they have tried to contact me. My phone works fine. I tried to call the bill person at that office for weeks and she was never there. I am sorry, This is a 2-sided dispute. They talk like I am a pawn who has nothing to say. I am a person with rights and I demand to be treated as such. If they quote that they will do the work on 3 teeth, they do all the work. If they do less, they are paid less. If they tell me they refuse to do the work because they cannot get some drug, they need to admit they cannot do the work and cut that off the price. Why can they not get the drug I need? I do not know. If they are not qualified to use this drug, why? The drug is publicly available. They are doctors. That was a false claim or they are under some kind of restriction by the dental board. For whatever reason, they refused to do the work. They want to be paid as if they did the work. They are full of excuses. They need to stop ignoring the facts that make them uncomfortable and respond to the entire complaint. Regards,[redacted]

Business

Response:

We have made numerous attempts to resolve this situation prior to Collection Agency activity, once his account was turned over he filed his complaint with the Dental Board. We can not discuss any of his other accusations. At this point in time I feel that Mr. [redacted] has a vendetta and that nothing will satisfy him, it also . Therefore we hope that he will leave our office alone and find something else to occupy his time.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Rice Dentistry says I have a vendetta against them and that I should not waste their time and mine. If they choose to overcharge me, not behave in a manner befitting their profession, change their quote for work after it is partly finished, refuse to finish the work they started, lie about being "in the insurance network", and then send my bill out to collections, it is totally OK in their minds. However, if I choose to complain about being treated this way, I am somehow a bad person. All Rice has to do to make this go away is dismiss the charges, call off the bill collector and erase anything bad from my credit report. I have already paid twice as much as I would have had to pay if Rice Dentistry was "in network", as they said they were. They have chosen to continue this disagreement. I have approached the Dental Board with issues that concern their performance as dental professionals. I have approached the Revdex.com with issues concerning how they treat clients as they run a business, including payment, quotes, insurance coverage, etc. I want my bill balance to be deleted and my reputation to be cleared. For the record, Rice Dentistry is not in the network covered by my insurance company. They told me they were. They did not contact my insurance company to find out how much that insurance company would cover as they said they did. And as a non-network dentist, they charged me 400% more than maximum I would have been charged by a network dentist for the same work. That is what my insurance company told me when I told them what work Rice Dentistry did. Does insisting on reasonable, honest treatment constitute a vendetta? I think not. I think I am being bullied by a dentist into paying what I do not owe, when they overcharge me, refuse to call my previous dentist, administer a drug to me without checking with the previous doctor, changing the original quote to cover themselves, and sending a bill collector after me instead of actually talking to me. I called them numerous times and the bookkeeper was not there any of those times.The response of Rice Dentistry does not solve the problem. It merely explains more of how they choose to insult rather than be honest. Regards,[redacted]

Review: My family was new patients to Dr. [redacted] in 2013 after searching for months for the right dentist in our area. Unfortunately after a year things were not going well, we had given this dentist large amounts of money, as payment was demanded at time of service. They would come and tell you what your portion was estimated being after insurance and expected payment before you left the building. Then our dental work was not what we expected. Conveniencing me that my husband and my daughter both needed root scaling, giving me a large estimate for that in which I paid for all at one time, my daughter received a job in another town and left the area before the work was complete- so there was a large chunk of money that was used on her account. My husband got fed up with their always saying he needed this and that and refused to go back, so there he had an credit as well. I kept going back trying to get my dental work completed, jumping from tooth to tooth and they sent me to an expensive endontist to have a root canal (Like $1,500 for one tooth expensive) and then placed a temporary cap on that tooth then moved on the put a temp cap/crown on a bottom tooth and never completed the top tooth, ordered the permanent for the bottom and still nothing for the top. So all the work I had paid for on the top was falling apart because the permanent cap/crown was never ordered and placed on the tooth, so in December 2014 the bottom tooth was bothering me so I went back in which was told up front to see us for a non schedule appt you part will be $18.00 so I paid that, so I was told oh that tooth has gone bad you will have to have it pulled, I said which tooth the one we were going to put the crown on? YES. So they had ordered the new crown for the bottom, never called me to come and get it put on, charged my insurance for the crown and it was just sitting in their office. let the bottom tooth go bad so the money paid for all the prep work on that is washed down the sink. Then the top tooth was also bothering me, I was recommended to another dentist by a friend, went there and it cost me $400 more dollars for them to clean up the mess Dr. [redacted] had made on the top tooth, I have had to contact my insurance company my self to make sure they were refunded for the crown that I never received that they paid for and still have to have the bottom tooth pulled. Now I requested a refund for all the credits on our accounting they made up some big story that I owed them money and they were not refunding my portion. How can that be when you are made to pay your portion up front every time you visit their office. I mean really here comes that girl down the hall while they are working on your teeth this is going to be $100 or what ever making sure you are going to pay...... My problems is now they have all these credits of mine my daughters and my husbands and are refusing to refund out money. My insurance had stepped in and apparently they are smoothing them over as with a difference pic than they are having with me when I call. So my insurance explained that the fee for my part of the temp cap/crown was more than estimated and that's why they were not refunding my part of the credit - so okay that's fine. But my husband has $245 credit and I still don't know what my daughters credit is. So when asking for my husbands and daughters refund I was told that I would not be getting that one either. So this business do extremely poor work, are money grubbers and then is not fair with refunds or credits. Sounds like they want to their cake and eat it to!Desired Settlement: I would like a couple of outcomes. I would like my comment posted so that people can see what kind of CRAZY experience I have had with them. I also want my credit. It is owed to me and the work that was done was not quality work and I am now spending a large amount of money with a quality dentist have the work completed.

Business

Response:

In any event that a diagnosis is given, it is based on each individual patient. If patients need Scaling and Root planning, it is determined by a thorough exam by the Registered Dental Hygienist and the Dentists. Patients who do not have Periodontal insurance coverage at 100% are required to pay their estimated co pay on their date of service. At any circumstance where a patient needs a Root Canal that we are unable to perform in our office, we refer them to a specialist also known as an Endodontist. Unfortunately we are not aware of their costs, and we refer to them based on their specialty and patient care.

If a crown is treatment planned on a patient, the insurance is billed on the day that the patient comes in for a crown prep. At the crown prep appointment, the patient has a temporary crown placed while the fixed crown is sent off to a laboratory. If there is any problems with the tooth/temp crown (ache, throbbing, pain ,swelling etc), it is always recommended by the Dentist to wait to have the fixed crown placed until the symptoms subside. It is not medically advised because there could be underlying issues that need to be addressed by a specialist like an oral surgeon or Endodontist.

We do not refund the insurance company until we are 100% sure that this tooth will not need the crown, and we are also required to give the patient any overpayment from insurance. The insurance company has been refunded for the services they paid for, and the Guarantor on the account will receive a refund for an overpayment on their services. The patient was told to have their spouse call and request the refund, but they turned to the insurance company to get involved instead. The refund process was already taking place prior to the insurance company's involvement.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

This is not at all how the situation was handled. To begin with if they were paid with a check that has my name on it only why would my spouse have to call for the refund? and they push that root scaling thing, that is the first thing they say they want to check when you go in, not cleaning or looking for problems. They are not truthful at all

Regards,

Business

Response:

We strive to get every patient healthy. Periodontal Disease is an active infection in the mouth , which can lead to many problems. If a patient is diagnosed with Periodontal Disease, we absolutely advise Scaling and Root Planing therapy. Unfortunately, Insurance companies do not cover this at 100%. As a provider , we will collect all co pays the day of service . On a daily basis we see many patients that have other people ( family , friends, co workers, employers etc) that pay on the patients behalf to cover their expenses . We apply the payment to the account of the patient we are treating. If there is a refund or overpayment from the Insurance Company we refund the guarantor of the account . We do not refund the party who paid , or whose name was on the form of payment .

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. If that is the refund from Rice Dentistry then yes the conflict is resolvedThank youMy husband received a check this weekend from a company[redacted]

Regards,