On the day of my first visit for a routine cleaning, I received a call asking if I could come in early because another patient had cancelled. I agreed to do so and moved around my schedule. When I got there, the receptionist told me that the patient who had cancelled had decided to show up so the appointment time was no longer available because they gave that patient the time and didn't call to inform me. Foolishly, I agreed to wait.
While in the waiting room, the receptionist asked me about myself. Upon mentioning the school I went to at the time the receptionist proceeds to tell me the name of patient that goes to my school and then looked up her information in the computer and told me in detail the procedures she had done there. It was unbelievable and I have never seen such an egregious violation of patient privacy.
I finally am seen after waiting for 45 minutes. I agree to do teeth whitening. I check again to ensure that they take my dental insurance and they assure me that they do and know how to process claims.
I receive a call that my insurer denied the claim. When I followed up, the insurer told me that they had not denied the claim but informed Dr Friedler's office that they needed more information from them to process the claim. I informed the office and got the information and gave it to the insurance company myself so that they could pay the office directly.
I come back for the whitening. The office manager comes over and in a loud harsh tone and nasty attitude accuses me of not paying my bill despite the fact that the claim was still being processed and insists that I pay the bill in full. I point out that the insurer is paying them directly and that the delay was a result of them not providing complete information to the insurer, so I would need to be issued a check for the amount when the insurer pays. They agree to do so.
I get the whitening done. They tell me that there are dental molds that need to be made for follow up home whitening and that they would call me when they are ready for pick up. I saw no difference in my teeth before and after the whitening.
Two weeks go by and I still had not heard, so I called the office. The person who got back to me chastised me on the phone telling me the molds had been ready for a week and why hadn't I come in. This is after they had told me they would contact me when they were ready....
Several weeks later I follow up because I see that the insurer had paid the office but I had not received a refund of the money they made me pay. They tell me that they were giving me "credit" (after we agreed that they would be sending me refund). I finally get them to follow through with doing what they had agreed to and sending a check- they should have done that in the first place. I did not need hundreds of dollars in credit from this place as I was not coming back to this office ever.
I wish I had listened to my first instincts and left when they told me they gave away my appt time after I moved around my schedule to come in early at their request. I work as a healthcare provider and would be embarrassed if any of my patients had an experience in my office like this. I can't really comment on the dentist himself, he came in for 2 minutes after my cleaning by the hygienist. The only positive that I can comment on was the initial hygienist was good. read more
