tldr; rude staff, half-assed dental work, I would go absolutely ANYWHERE else for dental care.
I had the worst experience I have ever had with any medical office or with any customer service provider at this dental office. The front desk staff are very abrasive and mean. They do not care about their patients' lives or well-being. Their goal is not to provide quality dental work, it is to make as much money as they can, as quickly as they can. There is poor communication amongst staff, as well as with patients. It is a tragedy that this office is one of the only two dental providers in Juneau that accepts Medicaid, because their staff and policies are not designed to be supportive of families or people with lower incomes. I am a single mother of 4 children & a medicaid recipient. An enormous amount of planning goes into the scheduling of my medical appointments. I waited months for my most recent dental appointment (to fix fillings that were done poorly at my previous appointment), arranged childcare for the appointment, arrived ten minutes early, and when I arrived at the office, I was told that I could not be seen until I paid a $100 "cancellation fee" because a year-and-a-half prior, I had rescheduled an appointment due to unforeseen car trouble. I woke up to go to my appointment on that day, and found that my car would not start. At the time, the employee I spoke with was understanding and did not say anything at all about a cancellation fee. In their computer records however, it stated that I was told about the fee over the phone (I absolutely, most certainly was not) so the staff treated me like I was lying to them when I told them I didn't know about the fee and I wasn't prepared to pay it.
The entire concept of needing to pay a $100 fee due to uncontrollable life circumstances seems cruel and inhuman. Especially for a provider that is supposed to offer care to families, and those on medicaid. I am a low-income mom of four, my car is a beater, and sometimes, life happens. I can't afford a better car, or a better dentist, and I certainly can't afford to pay a surprise $100 out of pocket for rescheduling an appointment.
Anyway, they refused to see me until the fee was paid. Had I been told about the fee in advance, I may have been prepared & able to pay it at the time of my appointment, but I was not told about the fee. The receptionist told me that I was lying, because someone wrote in the computer log that I was told about it over the phone... even though I was not. She was atrociously rude and patronizing. Since I was not able to pay the fee or be seen as planned, she told me they had to put me on a six month "probationary period" and I could not schedule an appointment again until the end of that six month period. Keep in mind: I've already been waiting months to have these fillings fixed, and have been nothing but kind to these people, showing up friendly, on time, and ready to go for all of my other appointments.
I did notice while I was there that they have several large signs around the office now, stating their new, and extremely strict cancellation policy in aggressive bold & highlighted letters. This was new to me since the last time I had been seen.
I understand the importance of keeping appointments, and honestly, it's something I feel I am very good at. I have a lot of different appointments to keep track of every week, and I am incredibly consistent and reliable. What it came down to is: the staff & the policies are blatantly unkind. The receptionist was not just following rules, she was unnecessarily mean. They did not treat me like a human; they treated me like dirt, and I left the office in tears.
I will never go back. Not in six months when my "probation" is up, not ever. I would rather save up all of my money and pay fully out-of-pocket somewhere else than go here ever again. I'd give them zero stars if I could. read more
