ComplaintsforAlsip Dental Center

• Initial Complaint

  12/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been going to Alsip dental for over 15 years receiving dental cleaning extractions. on December 13, 2023. I had an appointment to get a routine cleaning but I also had a new insurance. For some reason that I just cant understand they ran my insurance and said that I did not have coverage for Dental, so I asked the receptionist, could she tell me how much would it cost out of pocket. The receptionist told me several different prices for x-ray, cleaning, extractions, and office visit. Next I asked her again how much would it be to get just my teeth cleaned today out of pocket. She proceeded to tell me that it would be $85 plus $50 and I asked her again how much is the bottom line for me to get my teeth clean today. She told me that I needed to figure it out on my own and that it wasnt her responsibility to give me the exact price. So after this happened, Im of course upset and angry that me as the consumer couldnt get her to do her job and give me my bottom price. Finally she said well. You will have to have a seat and speak to the dentist but hes probably not gonna see you because youre being rude and I asked her Im being rude because I need to know how much the bottom line price is going to be to get the cleaning today. Well were not gonna see you today, why youre not gonna see me because I need to know the price with with everything being so high right now I wanna make sure that I have enough money to pay. Then she still refused to allow me service, and the dentist refused to see me because I wanted to know the price of how much it would cost for my teeth to be clean out of pocket. I feel that I was discriminated against as African-American woman I was pled as the angry black woman and the police was called on me just because I needed to know how much it will cost for me to get my teeth cleaned. I will be filing a discrimination lawsuit against the Dental and the receptionist Due to the net due to their negligence of treating customer unfair

  

  Business response

  12/21/2023

  I am ********************** of Alsip Dental Center and *************** to the complaint given by the patient *****************************. The patient stated that she has been coming to our office for 15 years which is not true. The earliest registration of the patient was from 2015 only 8 years. The last time the patient was in was 2020 for dental procedures. She has not been back since then. She had an appointment for an exam and cleaning. Someone who hasnt been back after 2 years is typically treated like a new patient. Things like their medical history or their insurance could have changed over that long period of time. Her appointment was on December 13, 2023. She was scheduled for an exam and cleaning.  Her appointment was at 1:00 pm but showed up between 15 to 20 minutes late. When she came in she was greeted from the front desk. She said she had an appointment somewhere else needed to be seen and out of here as soon as possible. The front desk person asked her for her insurance information and social security to look up her insurance information to see whether the patient had active insurance. The patient refused to give the front desk all the information. She refused to give front desk social security number which was needed to look up her information. The front desk person could not retrieve the information without all the patients information. The patient became irritated why we were not able to find her insurance information. Without her social security it was difficult. She reluctantly gave her social. After looking up the information the patient apparently didnt have any coverage 
  She asked the front desk how much it would be to pay out of pocket. The front desk said it would be $85 for the cleaning and $50 for the exam. The patient said what is the bottom line and the front desk said the same things for cost of treatment. The front desk due to the patient being late and time to verify her insurance she was informed that we would not have enough time to see her. This is when the patient got upset and angry because she was not going to be seen. The patient loudly said that I want to be see the dentist and want to be seen today.  The front desk asked her to sit down and the dental would come and talk to her after finishing with a patient. The patient said Im not leaving until I see the dentist 
  Apparently the patients prior appointment she had to go to was not as important as she claimed when she walked into our office 
  The patient was yelling again and this could be heard through out the office. So I the dentist excused myself from the patient I was working on to go out to the reception room to see what was going on. As so as I went out to the reception area she started yelling and saying the front desk would not tell her the price of her treatment. She started yelling at me stating she came all this way wanting a cleaning. 
  She said that she has been coming here for over 15 years which our records show differently.  She also claimed that were racist based on the way people were able to pay. 
  She claimed we were racist against her. If she has been supposedly coming here for 15 years and thought we were racist the question would be why would you come here ?  Our practice is multicultural and has been from the beginning
  We welcome the opportunity to serve our community with such a diverse backgrounds 
  We strive at providing the best care possible disregarding the financial situation of the person. The patient claims that the police was called due to her being discriminated.  The front desk called the police doe to the fact that the patient was threatening her, yelling and cursing at her, and threatened to kick the door down.  This was what prompted the call to yhe police. The patient also say that she will be filing a discrimination lawsuit against the front desk and dental . In my opinion that is not the case. Again if she felt discriminated why would she be part of our dental practice for so long as she claims to have been . Also our practice is over 60 to 70% African-American . We feel grateful and privileged to have the opportunity to treat them as our practice and dental family 
  Also our staff is mostly Hispanic. This gives our practice the diversity to experience different cultures and different backgrounds which enriches us all.  We do not have any ill feelings towards the patient. We wish her well and hope she finds dental practice which will fulfill her needs 
  
  ***************************;
  Alsip Dental Center 

• Initial Complaint

  04/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On the Phone: I was asking about a ****, Originally I had a tooth filled, It chipped in front, they had fixed it. They garanteed it for a year and less than a year later it chipped, I asked them to fix it as it was guaranteed, They called me in to look at it but made no repairs and charged me 48 dollars for the appointment. Then they called several months later for the appointment to fix it and they charged an aditional ****** for the repair, I asked them about this and was told I could not come back anymore becuase I was asking too many qustions, and I was treated very dismissively as a 79 year old citizen and I felt they were biased and rude because of my age. I paid them becuase I did not want my credit report affected. The billing is incorrect. We had our teeth cleaned during ealier separate visits, by a woman who stated she was not a certified dental hygenist and this was during the pandemic.

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