My wife and I were researching a Groupon for SlimNow MD's physician supervised weight loss. The…read moreGroupon was for a 4 week plan with an initial doctor's visit, 4 weeks of 'fda approved appetite suppressants' and a lipolight treatment for $179. On the business' website, they offer what appeared to be the same program for $249. Seemed like a good deal to get the groupon! My wife called 'Moe', the receptionist or office manager or whatever, who said the more expensive plan included WEEKLY visits with the doctor and an additional lipolight treatment. I'm the one who needs the weekly check in and accountability, so my wife bought the groupon for herself and I was going to get the more expensive version in the office.
She called back to schedule our initial appointments and 'Moe' said the groupon was only for the Naples location. The groupon very plainly states that it is for 'multiple locations' and makes NO mention anywhere in the ad that it is redeemable only in one location. The Groupon also plainly states that if the Groupon is not used, the business will apply the full balance to their normally priced services. It seemed pretty cut-and-dried, so we opted to go in anyway, using the Groupon cost ($179) toward the $249 full price.
I just left their office about 20 minutes ago, and this is what happened:
My wife brought her 'new patient' paperwork up to 'Moe' the front desk girl. She started to ask about the use of the Groupon, not for the program we purchased by buying it, but to use the money already paid toward her own fees. The doctor, who OWNS BOTH CLINICS mentioned in the Groupon, said the Groupon is only good in Naples, despite the deceptive and, dare I say FRAUDULENT wording of the ad. Since the doctor owns both clinics, what difference would it make if the balance was used at one or the other?
Moe' went on to say that he told my wife that already, which she did, AFTER the Groupon was purchased. I explained that the wording of the Groupon was very plain, mentioning BOTH offices, and stating refunds are handled by the business holder. The doctor said the Groupon was wrong, which I replied was neither my fault nor my problem.
The Doctor said, and I quote, "This has happened with three other patients." Again, I explained this was neither my fault nor my problem, and that perhaps Groupon wasn't working out for them. I also indicated that we didn't care about paying full price, just to apply our balance to today's visit. 'Moe' went on to explain that even if they took the Groupon, it would take "six... two weeks" for them to get the money from Groupon. Six? Two? Your guess is as good as mine.
That's when I left. There is no way in Hell or God's Green Earth that I would ever do business with this clinic - blaming their shoddily, and deceptively, worded ad and lame-duck business practices on a third party company they opted to use to drum up business. Nice job, SlimNow MD! Class act all the way!