As our son was having extreme eczema, we had a hope that chiropractic would help him heal. As Dr. Stern is one of the few practitioners focusing in the care of children, we researched his website and noticed he offered a free consultation. My wife set up a meeting with him, upon arrival immediately announced that this was her first experience with chiropractic and advised him that she knew nothing about it (indicating that she would need walked through things) and at the conclusion of said meeting, he asked for $115. My wife was quite surprised by this and pointed out that his website advised a free consultation and that she wasn't expecting to pay for this meeting. She left the office crying, feeling like the free consultation was fully misrepresented and called me.
Let me be clear here: My problem is not the cost of the service. My problem is not a lack of expertise - we did not get far enough into the process. My problem is he billed us for something we didn't expect and required immediate payment. Given he did provide the service, I did not intend to ask for a freebie. Rather, I expected him to acknowledge the misunderstanding, accept shared blame for it and come to some level of compromise - that compromise could be in the form of a price adjustment or credit for future services or other creative solution.
Instead, Dr. Stern said he didn't know we were looking for a consultation. He laughed at me for suggesting there was shared blame or that he should have provided his pricing saying "in your line of work, I'm sure you don't provide your work without billing" (in fact I do...all work from initial client contact to contract signing is free in hopes of gaining the business). He then came back with "If you call a store to ask if something is in stock, do they tell you the price unless you ask for it." Not really a fair assessment because I would still see the price of the item prior to purchasing it. In fact, in all my dealings with my current doctors, I know the pricing when I walk int he door (even if it's just knowing what my co-pay is). After learning this lesson the hard way with a previous doctor, I no longer do business with doctors who do not provide pricing.
Despite the fact this was a clear misunderstanding, Dr. Stern was unwilling to compromise one bit. Anytime I see a service provider that is unwilling to compromise, it raises a red flag in my book.
The service we paid for included a follow up visit, thus, since we paid for it, we used it. During both visits, my wife's conversations were interrupted three times each visit by phone calls (he has no receptionist and at least some of the calls were telemarketers). On the second visit, her meeting was interrupted so Dr. Stern could provide an adjustment. Additionally, prior to both meetings, Dr. Stern poured a glass of tea and a glass of water, taking both into the examination room with him and offering my wife nothing. None of this is all that big of a deal, but put together shows a lack of consideration for his patients.
While Dr. Stern may have the necessary credentials to provide care to patients, he clearly needs to work on his bedside manner, respect the financial situations of his patients (no, I can't pull $115 out of my ass without warning) and respect the time his patients are paying him for. read more
