This is a poorly run business with unprofessional and uncommunicative staff and owners. They do not have any office staff, which they use as an excuse for their poor communication. I called and left multiple voicemails before I received a call back from the owner. She said she'd call me back to schedule and would send me a link to the portal where I could upload his information.
I never received the email with the link to the portal. I called another 3 times and left voicemails where I spelled out my email and asked her to call me back, but I got no reply. Finally after the third voicemail she called me back and said she had sent the link to the portal to the wrong email multiple times. She sent it to my correct address while we were on the phone and I was finally able to schedule the appts. She said that I would receive a confirmation email, which I never got.
The appt today was at 9:30 and arrived at 9:15. The building was locked and the lights were off. There are no hours of operation posted on the door. I called and left a voicemail asking to verify the appointment since we had never received a confirmation email as the owner had said we would.
The owner arrived, let us into the building, and asked who we were there for. I didn't know, I was never given a name and didn't get a confirmation email. We sat in the waiting area for a while. She gave me paperwork and said that Michelle would be here soon. We then noticed a sign on the wall that said it's a shoe-free facility. That would have been great information to put in a confirmation email.
We asked the owner about it, and she said they have socks we could use (gross). We asked why we would have to take off our shoes for a speech appt, and she said they play first. I said I never got a confirmation email as she said I would, and she referred to her previous error of sending me the portal link to the wrong email. I don't know how that was relevant to her not sending a confirmation email. I eventually got access to the portal. If she had actually sent a confirmation email from the portal or posted anything there, I would have received a notification.
At 9:30 a woman walked through the door and said abruptly, "Are you [son's name]? What do I need to know?" I was caught off guard and said that I put all of his info into the portal. She had a very unprofessional demeanor and I don't see how she works with children. We had to ask if she was Michelle; she never introduced herself. She never bent down to my child's level nor did she attempt to engage with him in any way. She then said she had to go back and get ready.
At this point it was well after 9:30, which was when our appt was supposed to start. Due to the lateness and jarringly unprofessional behavior of the therapist, we were hesitant about staying.
The owner and therapist then came back out and said they could sense we were uncertain. I asked what happens in a session, and the therapist got defensive and said they work through play and she follows the child's lead. I then asked about the tardiness, and the therapist and owner both became defensive and just plain rude. The therapist said she had to drive a 30 mins but today it took 40 mins because of shore traffic. I said we drove 30 mins too, which she just shrugged off. The owner then said that we were making her therapist uncomfortable and told us to leave.
As she was kicking us out for daring to question the therapist, she said they have a great reputation. I don't see how that's possible when you're unprofessional, overly defensive, uncommunicative, and can't be bothered to show up on time for sessions.
It's not my responsibility to make her therapist feel comfortable. In fact, quite the opposite is true. It's the responsibility of a clinician to make their patient feel comfortable. Asking a clinician who is going to be working with my child what they'll be doing is a simple question that any professional therapist should be able to answer without getting defensive and snarky.
And if I'm paying for a session that is supposed to start at 9:30, you should expect to be questioned when you're delinquent.
I took over an hour out of my workday for this--my lunch time today plus some of my lunch time tomorrow. And after all the owner's insistence that a confirmation would be in the portal, I logged in when we got home and there was nothing there. No appointments listed, no messages--nothing.
Lastly, I sent this information to my insurance company and let them know the owner told us to leave. She better not try to bill insurance, because they're aware that she cancelled the appointment and an attempt to submit a claim would constitute insurance fraud. read more
