If I could give a 2.5, I would, but I'm left with whole numbers so I'm rating a 3. While the service was exemplary and Dr. Garrett does a wonderful job, his "Go Team" of accountants is astoundingly disorganized and uninformed. If I were to break down my rating further: 5/5 for Dr. Garrett and 1/5 for his account managers, who bungled my insurance (costing me hundreds of dollars more than quoted) AND applied one of my payments to someone else's account.
During my consultation in Spring 2020 (just before the pandemic), I was told that my dental insurance would cover a majority of the cost, leaving a nominal monthly payment. Knowing I had plans to leave my job for other employment, I asked the account manager (Janet, perhaps?) how my care and payments would be affected if I moved and changed jobs. She assured me nothing would change and care could continue as normal. But when I left my job in August and accepted new employment with different insurance, unbeknownst to me, my orthodontic care ceased to receive insurance payments. During the consultation, I was never informed that insurance pays quarterly and not all at once. So when the fall payments came due, Garrett's team instead contacted me to tell me I owed an unexpected $1,100 additional. I contacted my new dental insurance about the issue, only to learn that I'd missed the deadline to request the orthodontic care takeover... because Garrett's office didn't tell me until late December that my insurance was no longer paying.
Furthermore, as I was leaving one of my appointments, the front desk associate asked to speak with me "privately" about an "embarrassing matter." Confused, I said "just tell me what it is." She explained my account was past due and I hadn't made any payments in months. I told her that wasn't true, I'd sent a check recently and it had been cashed. Flustered, she asked me for the details of the check number, date it was cashed and amount paid, which I provided. After a week or so of looking into it, I was informed my payment had accidentally been applied to someone else's account. This was disturbing but not surprising, considering the amount I was told I owed changed countless times without reason -- after I called and expressed anger at the changing amounts, I received a follow up call from a woman who started with "I hear you don't like our accounting." Just baffling, the hubris.
Finally, after my last visit in March, where I paid $1,000, I asked to have an updated statement emailed or mailed to me. It never came. Instead, just this week I received a notice of past due payment including three late fees. Whoever runs the billing and account management here is maddeningly terrible at their job. I've never dealt with such frustrating professionals in my life.
To complete this review, I must say Dr. Garrett and his orthodontic team did an outstanding job on my teeth. They changed in an obvious way, reshaping my smile for the better without any pain or discomfort. Dr. Garrett even had my new trays shipped to my home after I moved so I wouldn't have to drive to SLO as often. He is congenial and his orthodontic team is, as well. It's a shame his front desk is so disorganized. read more
