My experience with Southwest Dental Group has been a complete disaster; I have never experienced such egregious customer service in my life. Their administrative staff is baffled at best, and do not keep track of phone calls made or balances paid to the companys full advantage.
This began when I was referred to their office for endodontic work; I came in for an oral evaluation on February 22nd and was given an estimate for a long overdue root canal. After insurance my total was to be $198.60 which seemed reasonable enough so I made my next appointment for the root canal to be performed. My root canal was performed on March 1st and I paid the full $198.60 the same day.
In April I received my Explanation of Benefits from AETNA stating that the services rendered would not be covered due to an applicable 12 month waiting period. Shortly thereafter I received a call from someone with the Southwest Dental billing department stating that I needed to pay the full amount or be sent to collections. After explaining the situation to her, she reviewed my records and called me back stating that this was an incredible office error and that the amount would be paid in full by them. Panicking about the thought of being sent to collections I did not receive anything in writing or get any name or phone number, never imaging the non-stop harassment that would follow.
The following month I received a bill from Southwest Dental claiming a balance of $866.40 that I was under the impression had been resolved. On June 7th at 2:14 PM I spoke with a customer service representative (Tracy) about the issues, attempting to determine if fault fell on my insurance company or Southwest Dental Office. Per Tracy from Aetna I could enter a conference call with the office manager of Southwest Dental (Rebecka) so that the two of them could discuss what went wrong. Terry from Southwest Dental took the call over Rebecka, as she was not available. Per Tracy with AETNA Laurie from Southwest Dental called Aetna on February 21st (the day before my oral evaluation) to receive the Explanation of Benefits and was told twice that there was an applicable 12 month waiting period for major services due to no documented previous coverage. An accurate estimate could not be given due to the fact that Laurie did not provide the codes for the work that was to be done; an estimate was given for "Endo work". I was told per Terry that she would take this information to the head of the billing department to determine where the fault lied and I would be contacted regarding any account adjustment.
I received a call from Terry that though there were admittedly flagrant errors on their part, responsibility fell to both parties due to patient responsibility to understand benefits. On June 21st I spoke with Rebecka regarding remaining balance, per Rebecka $144.40 would be adjusted off of account upon signing the financial agreement leaving a balance of $400 to be paid by myself. The following day I came into the office and paid the full $400.00 balance, when I requested an invoice showing that my debt was paid and that the $144.40 had been adjusted I was told that was not possible, and that invoice would not be viewable until 3 months afterward when it would be mailed to me. On July 18th I received the financial agreement from Candace in billing via fax; signed and returned it the same day.
And now, November 24th I receive another bill from Southwest Dental stating that my balance is 120 days overdue, and that after receiving 3 notices to pay (which I never received) if I do not pay in full within the next 10 days I will be sent to collections for $153.11; the exact amount (plus interest) that was to be written off by the office manager in June.
I am doing all that I can think of to counter this injustice by contacting their administrative offices in Tempe, the Attorney Generals office, the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners, the Arizona Dental Association. I have also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and notified local news stations KPHO, KNXV-TV, KNAZ, and KTVK. I am also going to file a complaint with my insurance company, and try my best to make sure that they are no longer contracted with Aetna as they need to lose customers because of this.
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