This review is based on my experience with Bell Family Dentistry. On July 25th, 2019, I went in for my first visit with Dr. Moore (she goes by the name Moore because her name is unique), and was greeted by the office manager, whom I believe is Darlene. Everything started off well, I went in, did the paperwork, and was immediately brought to back where in a two-hour time frame, they managed to only take x-rays. After the x-rays, Dr. Moore came and spoke with me, not really about my teeth, but about her background (like I want to hear your resume), then briefly said I need a deep cleaning and a mouth guard. Dr. Moore then went into the new laser technology they have for deep cleaning and how much it'll cost me out of pocket.
The total was around $1,600.00 after my insurance pays their part. That's a lot of money for a deep cleaning, so I started calculating figuring out activities I should cut out for a month to pay for this. I needed to make sure it will not interfere with my savings plan because I'm preparing to purchase my first home. Now I was willing to pay the $1,600 that day because I went to Dr. Moore to get a deep cleaning in the first place. Then Darlene comes to me and says they have a payment plan where so long as you pay within the first 12 months, they will not charge me interest. After recently having several surgeries (within the past 1.5 years) hospitals and other doctor offices also offered a payment, so I'm think this is cool. Darlene then has me sign a piece of paper.
Approximately 15 minutes later Darlene asks me to come to the desk to confirm my identity. I thought that was weird, but didn't say anything because it's a dentist, you don't expect these tactics at a dentist's office.
It turned out that their "payment plan" is a credit card. Darlene came back to tell me my credit limit and that's when I realized what the "payment plan" really was. It wasn't explained to me as a credit card or line of credit or anything having to do with my credit or them needing to pull my credit. Granted, I'll agree that I should've read what I was signing, you don't think a dentist or doctor would try selling you a credit card. That's something you expect when you walk into a bank or a clothing store. What's next? Bankers are going to triage your health while you're at the bank?
I was so appalled that I started to leave. While I was in the office, on the phone attempting to cancel everything because it happened less than 20 minutes ago. I was speaking with a representative with Synchrony Bank, where the credit card was from, who completely understood what was going on. The Bank representative even said, "I don't know why people keep misrepresenting this product." On my out the door, I told Darlene what that representative said.
I thought it would be a good idea to call Dr. Moore and speak with her directly to explain why I will never come back to her practice and to cancel my next appointment. A few days go by and Dr. Moore and I finally connect via the phone. During the conversation, Dr. Moore continued her verbal resume. There was one part of the phone conversation I found even more interesting, and it was when Dr. Moore admitted that they have been explaining this product this way for years. That's a HUGE red flag. Our conversation ended with no resolution.
Let's fast forward to today, August 15, 2019. Darlene calls to remind me that I have an appointment tomorrow. After I explained that I cancelled it and really don't want to anything to do with Dr. Moore or Darlene, she then started to say that she NEVER called it a payment plan and that she called it the Care Credit: credit card. When I explained that she's now lying to me, she said "I'm sorry you feel that way" which puts the blame on me and not her for her actions. Shortly after she hung up in my face.
Bell Family Dentistry gets a one star because of dishonest practices by misrepresenting a product, lying to me and calling me a liar. read more