Hope & curiosity led me to Slainte after reading Google's 200+ glowing reviews. While they were super nice and kid friendly, I feel like I MUST alert others of some serious red flags.
1) The payment plan is complicated. What you are told from the beginning about what things cost, may or may not be the actually cost.
To give some perspective, I just received an adjustment from a very well known chiropractor who works on players of professional sports teams. I was in and out and totally fixed in under an hour. I doubt I will need to go back for quite some time. The whole experience was very reasonable and affordable. Under $100.
Had I chosen to pursue care at Slainte, according to the payment plan I was given, I would need to pay close to $2500! For 36 visits! Receiving 2 adjustments a week for several weeks? When, if ever, would I have felt truly better? Maybe they would've roped me in & made me a life patient, giving them many more $1000s in hopes I would feel better eventually.
Luckily I had experience with many honest, ethical chiropractors in my past so I wasn't hoodwinked. This is a scam. If a chiropractor tells you that you will need X total visits or X visits/week and it will cost you X but if you pay all up front, it will cost you a little less, this is a scam.
2) The chiropractor was hasty to tell me all my problems and why my back looked the way it did and how much it would take to fix it. 36 visits and many thousands of dollars. Gonstead way is the only way. I wasn't asked why I thought my back looked this way. I wasn't asked "how are you sitting?" "How are you sleeping"? "Do you exercise?" "What do you do day-to-day?" Or "do you know what you did or are doing to cause this back issue?" I wasn't encouraged to have a holistic approach to care, like good sleep position, posture, exercise correctly, get a massage, do these exercises or stretches, etc. I think the root cause should have been addressed and a holistic approach considered. Chiropractic care can help a lot, but there are other things that help too.
3) I was told $150 for X ray and $100 for second appointment. I agreed. It's a lot of money, but I wanted to give Gonstead a try. I was presented with, but more like rushed through, the payment plan at my second appointment but before I could get adjusted, I had to agree to it and then was walked up front to schedule all my future appointments. Only after I scheduled, did I receive an adjustment. Before I left for the day, I asked if I was good to go or if I owed anything and they said I did not. (They believed they had me hooked, and honestly I was bewildered and confused. I needed time to process this charade).
Fast forward, I finally received an excellent adjustment from an honest chiropractor and I feel 100% better. I called to cancel at Slainte. Then I receive a call back from them that I owe them $65 for the adjustment, because I chose to not forego the payment plan. The whole thing is super confusing and thankfully they agreed to drop the charge.
4) The number of 5 star reviews on Google baffles me. There are hundreds of 5 star reviews and they are ALL 5 stars. Nothing less. This isn't normal. A "real" business, or a business that isn't begging their friends or church for 5 star reviews, will have a couple negative ones mixed in. So how can this be? It seems too good to be true, and it was.
5) In the office itself, I had to wait for a long time to be seen. If they didn't require so many visits for their patients, perhaps people wouldn't have to wait so long to be seen. Just a thought.
6) One of the owners, another chiropractor, frequently checks in on other chiropractors to hurry them along. The business model seems to be massive quantity of visits spanning over years and see as many patients as possible. I wish the business model was quality over quantity.
7) you will have to be radiated with an x-ray to receive care here.
Overall, the chiropractors were extremely nice & probably capable of making good adjustments. The atmosphere of this place is uplifting. However, when it comes to payment, the "plan", and the number of visits required, and calling you back telling you that you owe them money, this place felt extremely dishonest. I felt like I had been tricked. I felt like all the niceness and friendliness was a facade. It felt cultish, like Gonstead is the only way. I wanted so badly for this to be the solution to my back problems, but thankfully I trusted my gut and found a quick easy solution elsewhere. You can too. read more