Ever since Dr Sharma left and the new staff took over customer service has been declining. I've been a loyal client for the last 8 years, and it is sad and disappointing to see how this place has turned into a cold, greedy and aloof dental office that has shifted from a practice that used to care to one that only cares about profit. As MRU Alumni, I continued to support them long after I graduated, however, due to recent events and the repeated neglect on the customer service side, I'm going to list my experiences:
-I called this morning to cancel an appointment booked for Friday, January 4th and the lady who answered the phone said that she was going let it go this time, but that cancellations need to be made 2 business days in advance, which I know, it says on their emails, texts, I'm fully aware of the policy. She gave a hard time, apparently calling this morning, Wednesday, January 2 was not 2 business days, which doesn't make sense because 2 days it's 48 hours prior. I called TWO full days before. I asked her to explain what she considered to be 2 days and she said if I called the day before it would've been 3 full days, which contradicted what she said about 2 full days. By the way, the clinic was closed on Tuesday, January 1, so even if I wanted to cancel 3 days in advance it wasn't possible. She was rude, condescensing and sarcastic. When I asked her to transfer my call to a superior she refused and said that she was alone in the office. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time. Months ago it was the same story even though I called a few days in advance. Their policy is not clear, it changes according to their advantage. It's obvious they just want to collect the $100 fee as much as they can by manipulating people into paying. Again, this has been the case several times, and the policy seems to vary based on what's convenient to them.
-On my previous visit 6-7 months ago, both the doctor and hygienist kept trying to sell me additional services even though they knew my coverage changed. They were fully aware of my situation. I explained again and they still insisted on it. I was very disappointed because they knew I was still looking for work at the time and I repeatedly said there was no way for me to borrow $2000 and I had to wait to get it done. Not once they actually took the time to explain what my new insurance covered, which is supposed to be part of their job, since most people don't understand how it works. I asked many times during that visit and on previous visits to please go over what my insurance covered and what wasn't covered but they kept ignoring me. They billed me for the extras that I wasn't covered for, which to a recent graduate can be a lot of money, plus they knew I wasn't working at the time. They used to explain every single charge, even gave students time to pay and ways to arrange for easy payments, but it was obvious they didn't care and they wanted payment of all fees right away.
-And finally, their text/email cancellation system is clearly tailored to their convenience. When you get a text from them a few days in advance asking to confirm an upcoming appointment, it says to reply 'c' to confirm or call to cancel or reschedule. Why have that if you can't reply 'cancel' or 'reschedule' and your only option is to confirm? Things can change, so people are not always going to reply 'confirm', so I don't understand why they can't give people the option to cancel via text. It's the same thing over email, the link only allows you to confirm not cancel. You have to call and cancel, which is extremely inconvenient, specially if you're a busy person who doesn't always have the time to call. The text and email notifications to confirm are obviously made for the clinic's convenience, not the customer's, which shows how little they care to make it easy for people to cancel, which in turn brings more money, because having it that way makes it easier for them to collect $100 more times and more often.
They lost me as a client. STUDENTS be ware, it's not cheaper, it'll cost you more! read more