Avoid, avoid, AVOID North Arlington Orthodontics at all costs if you're someone who values ethics…read morein your medical providers.
On 4/1/21, I was seen by Dr. Rana at North Arlington Ortho for an Invisalign consult. My experience at the consult ultimately led me to choose another provider for Invisalign, as it was clear to me at that time that the number one priority at this practice is the money patients bring in, not the patients themselves.
Before I had even consulted with the doctor, the office manager requested payment from me for the consult fee, which felt a little hasty. Things got very awkward very quickly when I pulled out my credit card to pay just to be told that the office doesn't accept American Express. It's pretty uncommon for businesses in the Tri State not to accept Amex, so you can understand my surprise, as well as my concern, considering that was the only form of payment I had with me.
The situation escalated & truly felt like a standoff, with now several employees standing around me in the consult room, driving home the idea that they somehow cannot process a $50 Amex payment, while I'm helplessly 40 minutes away from my home & any other forms of payment. Always remember that businesses can take Amex, but choose not to because of the fees associated with card. You'd think in this scenario, they'd make an exception to ease the tension & make a new patient more comfortable in a clearly uncomfortable situation, but instead, the group proceeded to ask me for my bank routing information to process the payment that way. Of course, I wasn't comfortable with that seeing as this was my first time ever stepping foot in this office. They finally backed down & said they'd 'allow me' to call the next day to pay over the phone with my debit card, & even then, they beat me to it & were quick to call ME the following day requesting payment remittance, to which they tacked on a processing fee for using a card. Typically debit is as good as cash, so that's bizarre and frankly, cheap. Long story short, it's easy to see what a money hungry practice this is, so I chose another provider who's primary focus is patient care & well-being.
THEN... it gets WORSE.
I happened to log in to my dental insurance providers site last week for an unrelated reason, & noticed that North Arlington Orthodontics billed my insurance for, & I QUOTE, an 'unspecified orthodontic procedure'. I guess they forgot that my dental insurance doesn't cover orthodontia, so there is now a $302 patient liability on my explanation of benefits summary that they claim I owe to them. Of course, when asked about why on earth my insurance would have been billed following a consult that I paid out of pocket for, I was told the office manager who handles insurance was 'out of office' & the front desk staff had 'no idea!!!!!!!!!' what the reason for billing my insurance would have been. Why would this office bill someone's insurance who is not their patient? I'll tell you the reason--they hoped they could quietly squeeze a couple hundred dollars out of Delta Dental & I'd be none the wiser. Sorry Dr. Greenberg, you targeted the wrong individual.
This is fraudulent & unethical, so think twice & vote with your dollar with this information in mind like you would any other business that is morally questionable.