ComplaintsforThe Brace Place

• Initial Complaint

  12/30/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had braces! So during the covid my orthopedic broke our contact. He missed appointment and rescheduled them and did not see me for months so it push my time back with my braces. So now that I have a problem with my braces his office told me that I have to go by the contact when Dr patal did not but he wants to hold me to it. When I ask him to call me so we could discuss it he refused to do so. So this is what I had to do to get help.

  Business response

  01/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/01/03) */ Hello, we do not understand the reason for this complaint. We show here that there should not be an issue with *****'s braces as we removed her braces and completed her treatment on October 8, 2020. Therefore her contractual agreement with Dr. Patel was also fulfilled on that date. We work hard to provide excellent orthodontic care and exceptional customer service to all of our patients. If there is a treatment concern there is no way that Dr. Patel would not call a patient back and discuss any questions they may have. It is not possible that he refused to talk to a patient about her orthodontic concerns. However, it seems *****'s concern was more scheduling-based or refusal to pay for services and goods she needed following completion of treatment. Generally these types of concerns are handled by our Scheduling Coordinator or our Financial Coordinator, as Dr. Patel does not handle administrative phone calls. As a team we strive to keep Dr. Patel engaged in patient care while we handle any administrative needs. With regards to some of the other key points made in this complaint please see below responses: The patient did not get rescheduled and not seen for months due to Covid, our office was only closed for six weeks due to the pandemic. Not only that, we continued to provide emergency care to anyone that needed it in that time frame. ***** only had one active treatment appointment during that closure and that was on March 25, 2020. She was scheduled to get seen again on May 4, 2020 which she rescheduled to a May 8, 2020. In order to make up for the one appointment that had to be moved out for all patients we were actively seeing patients at shorter intervals instead of 8 to 10 weeks. ***** was no exception. This patient was actually scheduled for another visit on June 16, 2020 that she canceled and moved to June 30, 2020. Following that visit the patient was seen again in August on the 11th and in September on the 24th before she was scheduled for treatment completion and braces removal on October 8, 2020. The patient was told her treatment time would be approximately 18 months (give or take two (2) months). This is because orthodontic treatment is not an exact science and we cannot guarantee how quickly or slowly someone's teeth may move. This patient's treatment was no exception we completed her treatment in 20 months to the day from when she was banded. This is with a global pandemic. Following her debond (braces removal) appointment ***** was scheduled for a retainer check appointment on December 16, 2020 that she rescheduled. She was seen again by us on January 6, 2021 where we repaired her bonded retainer at no charge. After that we proceeded to make more appointments for ***** that she continued to either cancel or no-show we have an appointment on February 2, 2021 that she canceled, another appointment on April 22, 2021 that she no showed. All of these appointments after debond were free of charge and she was not charged even the cancellation fee during last minute cancellation or no show. It turns out that she scheduled for another appointment on December 15, 2021. That appointment was because she lost the removable retainer that was provided to her as part of her orthodontic contract. Per office policy, once the patient has been out of treatment for one year there is an office visit charge for the appointment and a fee for any work that we have to do (in this case take new impressions and make a replacement retainer). She was advised of this when she called to schedule this appointment. This was also the first item listed under the "Additional Fees" on page 2 of her contract. (I have attached a copy of her contract for reference). The patient canceled the December 15th appointment. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/01/04) */ First thing! Dr refuse to call me back. And during covid he did not hold up to everything In the contract. The contract did not have a covid clause. So. So this office canceled appointments with me because of covid so they broke the contract. So that voided the contract when they missed visits over and over. So they can not hold me to the contract they broke first. The contract is voided!!! So with that being said! No we do not have a scheduling issue we have a contact issue. Because we nolonger have one!!!! He broke the contract. So I can't be held to a contract that he was not held to. And I received a call yesterday about my appointment. I will not make an appointment until he understands that he broke the contract during covid. So he can't hold me to the contract. Thank for your time.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩