Apple Dentist's (South Glos)

Mr_Skint_2

Mmm getting a new patient to stump up £20 when registering is bad practice,
not only do you say that the £20 is for dental treatment you also say it is refundable.

Only if you are exempt of payment, well my GF is peeved off at this becasue
she will get a refund upon her first appointment when she fills out a claim form.

My point is this when I approached the dentist you told me the money was a deposit for dentist treatment, and when I pushed for a better answer the truth came out, you take the £20 in advance so that if anyone misses an appointment you keep the £20,, This is not Dental treatment is it.

And at your other branch they told me the same, so why is it you told my GF it is for dental treatment only as in it helps towards the cost of treatment and was in no way used for a downpayment towards missed appointments.

So in future if you are going to lie at least have the
decency to get your stories straight......

Davidboy

Mr Skint - Sorry to hear you have had probs with Apple practice, I have been with them for the past 14 years (Mr Walker) and have received excellent service at a reasonable price. I go to the one in Yate, I assume you use the one on the main road at ..Patchway/Winterbourne?

But if they have lied about this payment then yes I agree it is bad.

I think you'd find it really hard to find a better dental practice tho'!!

D

Mr_Skint_2

Davidboy wrote:

Mr Skint - Sorry to hear you have had probs with Apple practice, I have been with them for the past 14 years (Mr Walker) and have received excellent service at a reasonable price. I go to the one in Yate, I assume you use the one on the main road at ..Patchway/Winterbourne?

But if they have lied about this payment then yes I agree it is bad.

I think you'd find it really hard to find a better dental practice tho'!!

D

:wave: Hi there Ive had good service with them Its that I dont like these
new rules for new patients, I mean its a rip off....

Wellington Rd for me....

BFG_2

The only people who object to paying a missed appointment charge are those who don't value the dentist!!

If you don't attend, who pays the nurses and dentists and receptionists salary?

Surely you or your GF want to be paid when you're at work (if you work) irrespective of wether or not your boss gets a new customer in the door on time?

Mr_Skint_2

BFG wrote:

The only people who object to paying a missed appointment charge are those who don't value the dentist!!

If you don't attend, who pays the nurses and dentists and receptionists salary?

Surely you or your GF want to be paid when you're at work (if you work) irrespective of wether or not your boss gets a new customer in the door on time?

Its money paid upfront for the first appointment and that was it,
and as soon as you had your first treatment it was paid back to you.

If I missed an appointment with no reason and then they billed me
I would agree with that as thats what they used to do.

Toothsmith

Then how can it be such a frustration worthy of a vent?

Hardly the worlds biggest scam is it?

The most common appointment to be missed is a new patients first appointment.

The practice has absolutely no idea if that patient is a complete timewaster who makes an appointment when they have a toothache, and just don't turn up if it's gone by the time of the appointment, or a decent person.

Billing someone after they've missed an appointment is pointless if it's an irregular patient. What do we do if they ignore the demand? Small claims court is too tedious for £20, and there's still no guarantee of payment. If we refuse to see them next time they have a problem, they'll just bother someone else.

Billing for missed appointments works for regular patients who don't want to go elsewhere - and you'll probably find they've not changed that policy.

C-3P0

Toothsmith wrote:

If we refuse to see them next time they have a problem, they'll just bother someone else.

Stupid Biased opinion then.

Toothsmith

Biased certainly. Stupid?

SaraSeahorse

I think it is a sensible policy.

Not the same profession, but even hairdressers have started doing this in my area because of selfish people not turning up

Mr_Skint_2

SaraSeahorse wrote:

I think it is a sensible policy.

Not the same profession, but even hairdressers have started doing this in my area because of selfish people not turning up

I dont know about you but I wont give money away at the drop of a hat
if I was late for an appointment or never turned up then yes I am at fault
so I would pay, If however I am asked to pay before even joining as a fee
that is reimbursed, well thats bad practice.

I dont see anyone going to the Doctors giving them £20 and then
having a consultation in 2mths time, If you read the original post
you might understand more.

Toothsmith

It isn't bad practice at all. It's very good practice, and keeps the service running efficiantly with minimal wasted time, and the time that is wasted is paid for by the people who do the wasting!

Prehaps you would prefer 50p to be added to everybodies bill to cover this time? Or prehaps you are one of those people who think the world just goes into suspended animation if someone doesn't show for an appointment. The electricity meter stops going round, staff knock the time off their wages, Council don't wan't business rates for that time, .....


The only people who loose money are people who don't show up.

Why is that bad?

I think you need a large 'get real' pill Mr S.

Would you care to suggest an alternative way to pay for wasted time?