This letter is in regards to my recent visit at Aspen dental, McKinley Parkway Blasdell, N.Y. 14219. At my first visit to aspen dental I had made the appointment for a routine cleaning. When I arrived I was asked to fill out paperwork and have a seat and wait to be called. I waited at least 15 minutes to be called. I was finally called; they took me in back to get x-rays. They had to have taken 25 x-rays which I though would be good considering that I hadn’t been to the dentist in a while. After my x-rays were taken, I was told to have a seat in the waiting room again and they would call me back to see the dentist. Once again it had to have at least been 15 minutes before they called me back. I went back to have a seat in the dental chair, the dentist came in and informed of what she thought I should have done. I was unsure about the healthiness of my teeth and wasn’t sure if I would need dentures. She rudely told me that dentures were out of the question. My teeth were too healthy for that. As I was waiting for the dentist I looked around and saw the filth around me, there was a film of something on the floor in all the corners and there were crumbs and all kinds of nastiness all around the chair I was sitting in. I could have done without the rudeness. After that I was swept away to the office managers office where I had to discuss payment options and pricing with him. He informed me of what the cost of what I needed done. The prices were way too high compared to any charges that I saw on in the booklet that I was given by our Gaurdian rep so I questioned him. He told me the prices were correct and that would be what I would have to pay if I wanted the work done. I left the office at least 2 hours later and had no cleaning done. The first visit is a consultation; I had to reschedule an appointment to have my teeth cleaned. I was very upset when I left. The office manager made me feel like I was poor and had no means to pay for the work I needed. I was also disgusted by the overall cleanliness of the place. It was very poor. I decided I would not go back there. After I got home and thought about it I decided to call Gaurdian and ask if the charges were correct. When I spoke with the rep, we soon found out that the prices were not correct and I faxed over a copy of my estimate. I didn’t hear anything for a long time, at least a month or maybe 2. I then received a letter stating that they needed more info. I was so aggravated by then I did nothing and figured I would pay full price somewhere else just to have piece of mind.
Then at the end of January my partial broke and I needed a new one asap as the break was in the front and could be seen when I smiled. I called all around before I actually called Aspen because of the poor service I received the first time I was there. However, they were the only ones in the area that could fix my partial while I waited so I decided I would give them another chance. Well, I was wrong. When I got there it was the same thing, had to fill out paperwork, then wait to be called. Waited around 15 minutes before I was called, the girl wanted to take more x-rays. I had just had 25 taken at the end of October, so I declined. She then took me to the dental chair and took my partial. She came back after a short while and informed me the partial could be temporarily fixed but I would have to order a new one. I thought that might be the case because my old one was very old. So I had to talk with the office manager again. But before I talked to him I had to have another seat in the waiting room to be called. He came and got me probably 15 minutes later. He informed me of the pricing again and I told him that I called the ins.Co the last time and that he may have put in the wrong codes because the price quotes were too high. He got very nasty at that point and stated that the prices were correct and that was what I would have to pay if I wanted them to fix my mouth. I then asked him if he could call the ins co. To straiten out this misunderstanding in which he said yes. But he wasn’t going to call, he would have the receptionist call. Well, he left the room for maybe 2 minutes, came back in and said that she had called and the prices were confirmed. They were correct. I had no other choice but to order my new partial and spend well over $800.00 by the time he was finished. The partial was $756.00 and then I had to add a cleaning and fluoride treatment, by the time he was finished, the total bill was almost $900.00. So then came the point where I had to have my old partial fixed so I had something to wear in between. He was going to charge me $100.00 for that. I declined and said I would wear it like it was until my new one was finished. He then said he could do me a favor and only charge me $29.00 since I ordered my new one. I agreed and they took it away to fix it. Then after that came the discussion about payment. He said I needed to pay for ½ at that time. I said I didn’t have that much money with me at that time and I wanted to pay cash, I didn’t want to charge it. He then tried to get me signed up for care credit and some other form of credit. I declined. I wanted to pay cash. So then he really made me feel poor, like I didn’t have any money and I couldn’t pay the bill. But after a while he agreed that I could bring the deposit back in with me when I had my teeth cleaning at my next visit. Then after that I had to have a seat in the waiting room and wait again. They finally came back out and got me and took me to the dentist chair again. They had to take impressions for my new partial. I waited there forever before they came in. As I was waiting I started to look around and again the dirt, film in the corners, I looked up a little farther towards the top of the molding and there was a splatter mark that looked an awful lot like a blood splatter. Then I looked around more and discovered a huge blood splatter have way up the wall in front of me. I was disgusted. I wanted to leave on the spot but I needed by impression for my new partial so I stayed. They took the impressions and then finally I was finished. They took me out to the reception desk where my next appointment was to be made. I asked then if all appointments take as long as the last two did and she said no, it took so long this time because I had the old partial fixed. (That only took 45 minutes) My appointment was at 3:30pm and I didn’t leave there until 6:05pm. Way too long if you ask me for an appointment to last.
I was so disgusted at the cleanliness of this place that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Not to mention the way I was treated. That office manager has no bedside manner and should not be in the position he is in. He should want to help their clients not make them feel the way they made me feel. The Dr. That I saw that day was very nice and so was the nurse assistant.
This was on Wednesday. I waited until Monday and by then I had gotten a chance to read up on Aspen and I was horrified at some of the stories that are out there. I called immediately and cancelled my partial and my next appointment. I will never go back there or to any other Aspen Dental location. I am not the only one at my work that has had bad experiences with them and just not that office. There are worse Aspen’s out there.
Aspen should be fined or closed. For such a big company, they have no customer service all the way around.
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