I tried out this place because of the top reviews. I've had about 6 acupuncture sessions here with Zoe, and they went great. This review is not about her services but rather about my unhappy customer relation with this practice. I may be an outlier case, but perhaps this information helps others in avoiding my experiences.
My first negative experience came about 3 meetings in (I considered myself a regular client by then). The morning of my acupuncture day I woke up with horrible abdominal cramps. It was so bad that I ended up calling in sick and staying in bed all morning. Of course, the last thing I wanted to do that day was to have someone poke needles in me. So, I called Well Balanced to postpone my acupuncture session for later in the week. Unfortunately, I got no sympathy from the front desk manager and was told that if I cancel with such short notice I will have to pay a cancelation fee. She didn't even look up the schedule to check for an alternative opening slot that week or consult with Zoe. I was shocked by this lack of empathy and flexibility. To add more to this, at my next appointment they made me sign a document about their rules and procedures including cancelled visits, which only then I realized that such a document existed but they forgot to share it with me at my first visit. Oh well...
My second negative experience was with billing. From the beginning I was impressed with their computerized appointment reminders and automatic invoice receipts, a significant upgrade from my previous acupuncture practice. This service turned out to be crucial as I later realized from my explanation of benefits that the dollar amount I was charged after every visit was higher than needed to be. These things happen given the black box that insurance coverage can be sometimes, so I was not concerned. What did surprise me was that when I called the office to bring this up, I was assured someone would look into it and call me back. I never received that call. So, a little disappointed about the lack of customer service, I called again and this time talked directly to the person processing the insurance claims. All went well though few weeks later I got a refund check with a lesser amount than owed. This is where the automatic invoice receipts came in handy. So, I called the office again and explained why I think that the check received was insufficient. They agreed to this once again, though few weeks later I am still waiting to get my money back.
I'm writing all of this to say that while this practice is nice and welcoming, with probably good practitioners, it has a very deficient customer service. I am happy I interrupted services with them because the last thing I wanted was to have my life made more stressful by constant omissions to return calls or fix billing issues, or by the lack of flexibility and consideration towards last minute emergencies. For the rate that they charge (much higher than other places in town), I was expecting much better customer service. Too bad... read more
