ComplaintsforSmiles Dental

• Initial Complaint

  07/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  Initially went in for a routine cleanup after not seeing a dentist for awhile Have been receiving incessant text messages and calls ever since. Bills get higher and higher now recently went back in for a free fix on a painful issue they created to begin with during a supposedly necessary service and am now being charged nearly $400 Last time I went in and they cleared my entire debit leaving me to not be able to pay my bills

  Business response

  07/27/2023

  The reason there is a balance on the account is because insurance did not pay the claims due to being inactive at the time of service. If you would like to reach out to us to give us updated insurance information to bill these claims, that would be great. We did not charge anything when you came in for the adjustment and the account is collecting finance charges which is why you may see the balance go up. When you came in for treatment we collected your estimated patient portion that day and nothing more. Please feel free to reach out to us directly to get this issue resolved. We apologize if there has been a miscommunication regarding the balance on your account. 

  Customer response

  08/08/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution contains satisfactory potential. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

  Customer response

  09/18/2023

  My complaint is that Columbia Smiles Dental in *********, where I began by seeking a single, one-time checkup through Renaissance Dental via Stride through Instacart was first charging me amounts that I had to use all my money for considering my monthly money is between $400-$600 a month. That was not ideal but I accepted it considering it was a ONE TIME thing. I was first suspicious because of a potential referral to what could have become a surgery, I was told. I did not follow up.
  
  I had not seen a dentist in awhile as I normally take excellent care of my teeth and was experiencing homelessness longterm (something that's been becoming sorted throughout this entire dental experience) and they all seemed surprised my teeth were in decent health.
  
  I paid them, though I felt something was off and was defensive. They were calling and texting and I wasn't entirely sure it was actually them at first so I was trying to verify. I found out it was them by travelling to this other city, again, at cost to me and showing up in person. It was them.
  
  I switched insurance to another, state-based one.
  
  They were texting and texting me and calling me and escalated while I was dealing with some extremely heavy personal issues related to abuse spanning back to when I was in a child marriage.
  
  They harassed me into going back eventually while I was trying to exit an abusive situation and was being attempted to be taken by others as well was on the receiving end of physical violence (including weapons and threats and firearms) from, hopefully, unrelated situations to this dentist. I did go back in after enough wearing me down that ultimately caused me to be afraid. They sold me an item they claimed I needed that I may not have. Special toothpaste. That was an entire bills worth of money that month and brought me physical as well as emotional pain.
  
  They kept on doing it and said I needed to come back in for a procedure, suddenly I was told I had cavities. I tried going in for that and they did something that made my tooth hurt pretty badly afterwards so I had to travel back to ********* yet again. They did not ever once show me on any xrays that they definitely took or diagrams what the actual problem was.
  
  I received a sudden $400 bill via text. Each time the cost is higher.
  
  AFTER my initial complaint to the BBB, after saying I would attempt to resolve...
  
  I called to ask for the date of the bill and they gave me two separate dates. I let them know I just wanted to resolve and never wanted to be seen there again. She said okay and that I would be removed from their contact.
  
  I had to block them a few times through this process.
  
  After this... AS I was on the phone with the insurance trying to sort it... I got ANOTHER text from the dentist.
  
  Currently I had to file a grievance with the insurance because the person I tried to speak to at Advantage Dental via OHP was rude and unwilling to even listen to my complaint or questions and the connection was spotty. At the same time the dentist was texting me after my explicitly saying no more contact on at least one occasion regarding my returning there. The issue is now pending an extended investigation with the insurance company within their own framework.
  

  
  

*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. ↩