If you enjoy chasing a doctor's office for basic communication, dealing with an AI instead of an…read moreactual human being, and discovering surprise $100 "no-show" fees for appointments you didn't believe were properly confirmed, then Her Down There may be the place for you.
Otherwise, I would stay far away.
From the very beginning, the scheduling process was a mess. You don't simply call and speak to someone. You deal with an automated/AI system, wait for a text with appointment times, respond with your choice, and then apparently wait however long it takes for them to actually confirm it.
In my case, I selected an available time and did not receive confirmation until days later. By then, my schedule had changed. I tried calling to speak to an actual person and clear up the confusion. Once again--AI operator. I was told someone would call me back.
Nobody did.
I got another text.
That should have been my sign to RUN.
Then came the $100 bill. I paid it because I assumed it had something to do with my copay. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the $100 was supposedly for "no-show" appointments--appointments that I had been trying to get clarification about in the first place.
Eventually, I got another appointment. I was late to that appointment, and I will absolutely own that. I had no problem rescheduling. What I DID have a problem with was being told that the $100 I had already paid could not even be applied toward my future appointment because they considered the previous appointments no-shows.
Excuse me?
I wasn't asking for special treatment. I wasn't even asking for my money back. I simply wanted the $100 I had already paid applied toward my future appointment.
After going back and forth with the receptionist, Nurse Practitioner Letrice Macon stepped in. I explained what had happened. Her solution? Tell me that I was apparently not the right patient for their office and refund my money--which, again, I DID NOT ASK HER TO DO.
I was also told that the text messages were confirmation enough and that they do not have time to call patients to confirm appointments.
That statement told me everything I needed to know.
Apparently, there is time to charge a patient $100 for a disputed no-show, but not enough time to have an actual human being return a phone call when that patient is trying to straighten out an appointment.
Make that make sense.
Healthcare is already stressful enough. Patients should not have to battle an automated system just to communicate with their provider's office, then worry about being charged substantial fees when the communication process breaks down.
And what bothered me just as much as the money was the attitude. Instead of trying to understand why a patient was confused and resolve the issue professionally, I felt dismissed--as though questioning a $100 charge and asking for basic clarification somehow made me unsuitable for the practice.
If expecting clear appointment confirmations, returned phone calls, transparent fees, and professional customer service makes me "not the right patient," then I am perfectly happy to take my business elsewhere.
I have NEVER experienced a doctor's office operate like this.
Based on my experience, I absolutely would not recommend Her Down There. The communication was terrible, the scheduling process was unnecessarily frustrating, and the handling of the $100 no-show charges left me seriously questioning the fairness and transparency of their practices.
There are too many healthcare providers out there who understand that patients deserve both medical care and basic respect.
I suggest finding one of them.
