Before I get into this I want to make clear...I bear no ill will toward our dentist. I'm not going to mention who it is...but if you know me personally and you ask me, I will tell you who I may not recommend. I hope she enjoys success in her new practice and helps many many people find their way to proper oral hygiene and dazzling smiles. Having said that, let me get started.
A while back (about 35 years ago give or take) I started seeing a dentist. He was nice, and funny, and gentle, and my whole family loved going to see him. His office staff was nice and caring and at least one person seemed to have been with him the whole time he was there. Honestly, in my childlike, mind I thought that he and the receptionist were married. I won't tell you how embarrassingly old I was when I figured out that she just worked there. After seeing him for so many years we built up a rapport. I could call and ask dumb insurance questions without being laughed at. I was counseled on which procedures could wait for the new monies to become available and which needed to be sucked up and taken care of now! After so many years and so many times sitting in his chair listening to bad jokes that were so bad they were good...I missed him when he retired.
Enter the new dentist. She started taking over immediately and it seemed that the transition would happen without too much of a hitch...I thought. When the receptionist retired as well, I thought this may not be the smoothest of transitions...but we'll give it a shot. A few cleanings and a referral to an oral surgeon later I was hit with the cold reality that there would not be so much a transition as a complete restructuring of everything that we held near and dear to our hearts.
In teaching there are sometimes events that happen after school. Most are planned, some are not. On the day before my scheduled cleaning I found out that I was not going to be able to make it to the appointment. I called. I told them that something had come up and that I wasn't going to be able to make the appointment. It was at least 30 hours beforehand. When I called to reschedule I was informed that I would be billed for a missed appointment and that the dentist had changed her policy to needing 48 hours notice for cancellations. The poor girl on the phone informed me that all of the dentist's friends operated like that. Being the responsible bloke that I am, and not wanting to waste money paying for services that I didn't receive, I rearranged my schedule. I worked through my lunch (as if I didn't most days) and my understanding principal allowed me to take care of my responsibility earlier in the day. When everything was in place and I was sure that I could indeed make it to the appointment, with three hours before I was supposed to be there I called the dentist. It went like this.
"Hello. My name is Jeff. I had an appointment scheduled that I wasn't going to be able to get to. I rearranged my day and I will be able to make it after all."
"I'm sorry. That slot is no longer available."
"Oh, you filled it. That's great! That means that I won't be billed for missing it."
"Uhhh, no. You will still be billed."
"I don't understand. The spot is filled. You won't be out any money."
"I'm sorry that's the new policy."
"No. I'm sorry I don't agree with that policy."
And then I went back to teaching.
I was frustrated and upset that they were going to bill me for, the way I saw it, not being out any money. My phone rang during class and I didn't answer it. I was curious. After school I listened to my message and it was the receptionist asking me to call them back. When I talked to her I was told that the dentist would waive my fee "since it was my first time." I told her that she should waive my fee since it was the right thing to do. Another explanation of her dentist friends' policies being the same as this...and as nicely as I could...I snapped. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't use foul language. I was not banned from being in my own reality show. I simply, without giving any leeway, said, "The next time you hear from me it will be to tell you where to forward my records."
Then I felt bad.
Did I overreact? Should I have given one more chance. I did what any modern nerd would do in this day and age. I appealed to social media. I gave the Reader's Digest version of the events and asked, "Was I a jerk?" The results were unanimous. Apparently, I was not only un-jerky...people were proud that I stood up for myself. So I went about my business.
Jump ahead to last week. Sylvia went in to this very same dentist to have her teeth cleaned. We talked about my experience but I would never try to say she had to follow my departure to a new dentist. She has a brain, a great one, she can decide for herself. At the dentist she was told that she would need to come back to have a filling. (Sorry Honey...I spilled the beans) She asked, "Do I have enough insurance to take care of the procedure? It is so close to the new year I could wait and do it then. I do not want to pay anything out of pocket for this." The response, "You have plenty of insurance left!" She gave the amount, but that is irrelevant. She made the appointment to get the filling and came home. The night before her appointment we got a bill from the dentist. It was itemized to an extent and there was an amount due. We have a small amount of insurance but that amount applies to 100% of the bills we get...until we run out. The way it looked to us was that our insurance had been exceeded and we were now being billed for overages.
Crap.
Now, we have two problems. First, we don't understand how we got a bill for something that we had never been billed for before...especially after we were told that we had "plenty of money"...and we were approximately 12 hours away from her appointment. This was a quarter of the time the new dentist allowed for her cancellations...and since Sylvia's appointment was nearly first thing in the morning, and they wouldn't get any kind of message until then, we had approximately 0.02% of the time she allows for cancellations. We had learned, from my experience, that we would be billed if we cancelled and since it seemed that we were out of money, we would be billed if she went in.
Double crap!
Sylvia got up early and called as soon as she thought the office would open. I wasn't home...teacher...so I got the blow by blow through text.
Called. We do have enough money but the extra $28 is possibly for fluoride treatment that isn't covered. Never been charged for that before???
(I didn't think you had fluoride treatment)
She called back. We were billed because it was my third appointment and we are only allowed two???
(Never heard of that before)
That time the crown fell off, she counted it as a visit. Old dentist didn't do that.
Receptionist just called. She said the dentist doesn't think we are transitioning well and wants me to find a new dentist...not only that. She is cancelling my appointment for the filling. She is refusing to do it. Asked to talk to the dentist. She won't come to the phone.
(Hello new dentist)
When I came home Sylvia mentioned that the dentist had not given her 48 hours before cancelling her appointment so we should bill her. I think we will let it go. But if she had taken the morning off of work to make this appointment and then had no work done, we would be very upset. As it is, you probably don't want someone who is upset with you to stand over your open mouth with a drill. It's probably best that we let it go.
So, finally, we get to the letter that I want to send. (But I probably won't...I haven't decided)
Dear New Dentist,
We regret that we weren't able to have a "smooth transition" to your new practice. While you may feel that we have been difficult to deal with, we feel that you have not had your patient's interests at heart. I am not going to say, "It wasn't like this before." What would be the point? You are your own person. You make your own choices. Your choices affect real people. When you try to bill even after a time slot has been filled, all I see is greed or punishment. When you say that there is "plenty of money" and then send a bill, what I see is an unexpected expense. To some, a $28 dollar budget error is difficult. It is true that you waived these fees but it is disappointing that the reason was, as it appears, to get a difficult person off your back. The true reason they shouldn't have been billed was because it would have been the right thing to do.
We, of course, are going to take our business elsewhere. You asked us to do that. But I wanted you to know that people are more than just sets of teeth and insurance forms. We do not live in a vacuum where actions do not have consequences. I am not the type of person who goes to Yelp and fills out a scathing review. I think I would be justified in telling people what they might encounter, but that is just not my style. I will, however, give friends and family (should they ask) my opinion about where they should not go. It's a shame.
I wanted to let you know why, even if you hadn't asked us to leave, we would have been leaving. Without a relationship the only benefit to coming to you as our new dentist is that we wouldn't need to find directions to a new place. I do not wish you ill. I hope you are able to take this criticism for what it's intended and remember that all of the files from your predecessor (a number of whom have been referred by my family) are looking for a little more than "what your other dentist friends" are doing. I wish you luck in your practice but I think, if you are not careful, you and your receptionist should learn some card games to play while you sit in an empty office.
Jeff Garrett
There...Rant finished. I feel better.
A while back (about 35 years ago give or take) I started seeing a dentist. He was nice, and funny, and gentle, and my whole family loved going to see him. His office staff was nice and caring and at least one person seemed to have been with him the whole time he was there. Honestly, in my childlike, mind I thought that he and the receptionist were married. I won't tell you how embarrassingly old I was when I figured out that she just worked there. After seeing him for so many years we built up a rapport. I could call and ask dumb insurance questions without being laughed at. I was counseled on which procedures could wait for the new monies to become available and which needed to be sucked up and taken care of now! After so many years and so many times sitting in his chair listening to bad jokes that were so bad they were good...I missed him when he retired.
Enter the new dentist. She started taking over immediately and it seemed that the transition would happen without too much of a hitch...I thought. When the receptionist retired as well, I thought this may not be the smoothest of transitions...but we'll give it a shot. A few cleanings and a referral to an oral surgeon later I was hit with the cold reality that there would not be so much a transition as a complete restructuring of everything that we held near and dear to our hearts.
In teaching there are sometimes events that happen after school. Most are planned, some are not. On the day before my scheduled cleaning I found out that I was not going to be able to make it to the appointment. I called. I told them that something had come up and that I wasn't going to be able to make the appointment. It was at least 30 hours beforehand. When I called to reschedule I was informed that I would be billed for a missed appointment and that the dentist had changed her policy to needing 48 hours notice for cancellations. The poor girl on the phone informed me that all of the dentist's friends operated like that. Being the responsible bloke that I am, and not wanting to waste money paying for services that I didn't receive, I rearranged my schedule. I worked through my lunch (as if I didn't most days) and my understanding principal allowed me to take care of my responsibility earlier in the day. When everything was in place and I was sure that I could indeed make it to the appointment, with three hours before I was supposed to be there I called the dentist. It went like this.
"Hello. My name is Jeff. I had an appointment scheduled that I wasn't going to be able to get to. I rearranged my day and I will be able to make it after all."
"I'm sorry. That slot is no longer available."
"Oh, you filled it. That's great! That means that I won't be billed for missing it."
"Uhhh, no. You will still be billed."
"I don't understand. The spot is filled. You won't be out any money."
"I'm sorry that's the new policy."
"No. I'm sorry I don't agree with that policy."
And then I went back to teaching.
I was frustrated and upset that they were going to bill me for, the way I saw it, not being out any money. My phone rang during class and I didn't answer it. I was curious. After school I listened to my message and it was the receptionist asking me to call them back. When I talked to her I was told that the dentist would waive my fee "since it was my first time." I told her that she should waive my fee since it was the right thing to do. Another explanation of her dentist friends' policies being the same as this...and as nicely as I could...I snapped. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't use foul language. I was not banned from being in my own reality show. I simply, without giving any leeway, said, "The next time you hear from me it will be to tell you where to forward my records."
Then I felt bad.
Did I overreact? Should I have given one more chance. I did what any modern nerd would do in this day and age. I appealed to social media. I gave the Reader's Digest version of the events and asked, "Was I a jerk?" The results were unanimous. Apparently, I was not only un-jerky...people were proud that I stood up for myself. So I went about my business.
Jump ahead to last week. Sylvia went in to this very same dentist to have her teeth cleaned. We talked about my experience but I would never try to say she had to follow my departure to a new dentist. She has a brain, a great one, she can decide for herself. At the dentist she was told that she would need to come back to have a filling. (Sorry Honey...I spilled the beans) She asked, "Do I have enough insurance to take care of the procedure? It is so close to the new year I could wait and do it then. I do not want to pay anything out of pocket for this." The response, "You have plenty of insurance left!" She gave the amount, but that is irrelevant. She made the appointment to get the filling and came home. The night before her appointment we got a bill from the dentist. It was itemized to an extent and there was an amount due. We have a small amount of insurance but that amount applies to 100% of the bills we get...until we run out. The way it looked to us was that our insurance had been exceeded and we were now being billed for overages.
Crap.
Now, we have two problems. First, we don't understand how we got a bill for something that we had never been billed for before...especially after we were told that we had "plenty of money"...and we were approximately 12 hours away from her appointment. This was a quarter of the time the new dentist allowed for her cancellations...and since Sylvia's appointment was nearly first thing in the morning, and they wouldn't get any kind of message until then, we had approximately 0.02% of the time she allows for cancellations. We had learned, from my experience, that we would be billed if we cancelled and since it seemed that we were out of money, we would be billed if she went in.
Double crap!
Sylvia got up early and called as soon as she thought the office would open. I wasn't home...teacher...so I got the blow by blow through text.
Called. We do have enough money but the extra $28 is possibly for fluoride treatment that isn't covered. Never been charged for that before???
(I didn't think you had fluoride treatment)
She called back. We were billed because it was my third appointment and we are only allowed two???
(Never heard of that before)
That time the crown fell off, she counted it as a visit. Old dentist didn't do that.
Receptionist just called. She said the dentist doesn't think we are transitioning well and wants me to find a new dentist...not only that. She is cancelling my appointment for the filling. She is refusing to do it. Asked to talk to the dentist. She won't come to the phone.
(Hello new dentist)
When I came home Sylvia mentioned that the dentist had not given her 48 hours before cancelling her appointment so we should bill her. I think we will let it go. But if she had taken the morning off of work to make this appointment and then had no work done, we would be very upset. As it is, you probably don't want someone who is upset with you to stand over your open mouth with a drill. It's probably best that we let it go.
So, finally, we get to the letter that I want to send. (But I probably won't...I haven't decided)
Dear New Dentist,
We regret that we weren't able to have a "smooth transition" to your new practice. While you may feel that we have been difficult to deal with, we feel that you have not had your patient's interests at heart. I am not going to say, "It wasn't like this before." What would be the point? You are your own person. You make your own choices. Your choices affect real people. When you try to bill even after a time slot has been filled, all I see is greed or punishment. When you say that there is "plenty of money" and then send a bill, what I see is an unexpected expense. To some, a $28 dollar budget error is difficult. It is true that you waived these fees but it is disappointing that the reason was, as it appears, to get a difficult person off your back. The true reason they shouldn't have been billed was because it would have been the right thing to do.
We, of course, are going to take our business elsewhere. You asked us to do that. But I wanted you to know that people are more than just sets of teeth and insurance forms. We do not live in a vacuum where actions do not have consequences. I am not the type of person who goes to Yelp and fills out a scathing review. I think I would be justified in telling people what they might encounter, but that is just not my style. I will, however, give friends and family (should they ask) my opinion about where they should not go. It's a shame.
I wanted to let you know why, even if you hadn't asked us to leave, we would have been leaving. Without a relationship the only benefit to coming to you as our new dentist is that we wouldn't need to find directions to a new place. I do not wish you ill. I hope you are able to take this criticism for what it's intended and remember that all of the files from your predecessor (a number of whom have been referred by my family) are looking for a little more than "what your other dentist friends" are doing. I wish you luck in your practice but I think, if you are not careful, you and your receptionist should learn some card games to play while you sit in an empty office.
Jeff Garrett
There...Rant finished. I feel better.
