It's rare that I leave a place feeling aggrieved enough to write a scathing review- but here goes. Whilst Lotus Clinic has the sort of Art Deco interior design and lovely soft-lighting to suggest a professional approach to cosmetic therapy- they have a very underhanded and untrustworthy approach to dealing with their Customers. Avoid.
Expect a perfunctory level of service, fraudulent marketing, a lack of transparency and lots and lots of hidden costs.
I booked a simple dental hygiene visit with them on a lunchtime, for £90 according to their online brochure. When I called up on the phone, they mentioned I would have to pay an additional £45 for a compulsory initial dental consultation with Dr Michael Frankl. I asked for a quote on the phone for how much it would come to and I was told £135 in all- reasonable for private treatment.
What I didn't expect was how quickly a simple dental hygiene consultation would rapidly spiral into hidden charges for unwanted treatments. Dr Michael Frankl seemed like a genuinely nice person, albeit very disinterested. I spoke to him for about ten seconds in my initial 'consultation' when he asked me if I had any health problems, before asking me to take a seat in the dentist chair. He prodded away for about three minutes, muttered to himself- and said he needed some xrays.
What they don't tell you, is that each 'all-inclusive' XRay they take can cost you anywhere from £15 - £40 each.
What they also don't tell you is that the £45 minute 'consultation' is actually just the single bizarre question at the start where Michael Frankl asks you if you are healthy. One question! Once you are sat in the dentist chair- the whole thing becomes an 'examination' which costs £130 for- and this is no exaggeration- about three minutes of looking at your teeth.
This last price is not listed anywhere on the website or in the Lotus Clinic catalogue. You have to painfully discover it yourself.
Once I realised the extent of these hidden costs, I sheepishly asked to cancel the hygiene treatment and XRay scans- as the final cost would have come to well over £300. Luckily I opted out of these 'forced-optional' services before they were completed, so I was asked to pay just for the consultation and 'examination'. When I told the receptionist lady at the counter I would be cancelling the hygiene treatment which I originally came for- because of the hidden costs, she started acting very odd and apologetic- which makes me wonder if they've had these problems before and are wary about getting poor customer reviews. Since it was painfully obvious I had spent just three minutes in the doctors chair- she said she would discount the final payment to just £95.
Now, with the benefit of hindsight and a hard copy of their rates- I know that I was obviously missold- even after the 'discount', but at the time I felt so embarrassed and dazed- I would have paid anything to get out of there.
In short, Lotus Clinic are very deceitful, employ hidden costs as a sales strategy and overcharge for services not listed on their rates. Avoid them like the plague. read more
