Should I get I refund from this dentist

SORN

I was charged £70 without fixing my tooth

It was the first time I was seeing this dentist: she said she could not fix my tooth because she did not have an X-ray, I told her I was going to pay to have an X-ray that was not a problem, but she didn't want to do that, so I told her, I can call my previous dentist now to have all my X-ray sent to us, (which is what I did when I got home I sent all my X-ray to them in a minute), but again she did didn't want to. I told her I was going on holiday the next day and then in my return I was moving to another city, I told her I will never see you again, she saw I was not happy and she said: next time I will not charge you.

I did call them and I also email them to ask for refund, they said they were short of staff they could not reply to my email, and they said they were going to reply as soon as the could but they never did.
What do I need to do to ask for a refund should I write a letter to them
Thank you in advance for your support

elsien

I'm presuming this is a private dentist.
You show up, possibly for an emergency appointment, the dentist is not able to treat without a clear idea of what exactly is going on; you insist on x-rays already taken elsewhere which may or may not show the cause because they're not necessarily current, then announce that you're moving so won't be coming for any further appointments.
My guess is you're not the only one who is not happy.

Did you see and agree the consultation charge beforehand?
Any particular reason you didn't go to your own dentist?

However if you're unhappy with the outcome you need to use their formal complaint procedure as a starting point.

Toothsmith

There is way too much going on there that isn't being told!!

If you have sat in the dentists chair, you have used surgery time. Surgery time is not free. It sounds to me like you were dictating to the dentist what you wanted, and for some reason the dentist was not happy to do what you wanted with the information they had to hand. That is perfectly fair enough, as if they did the wrong thing just based on your demands, they really would be wide open to a complaint.

£70 would probably buy you 15-20 mins in the dental chair. If you chose to waste it by arguing over x-rays, that's up to you. I think the dentist offering to see you without charging once you'd sorted the x-ray problem is fair enough. But if you were in the surgery, then the meter was running.

Undervalued

Toothsmith wrote: »

There is way too much going on there that isn't being told!!

If you have sat in the dentists chair, you have used surgery time. Surgery time is not free. It sounds to me like you were dictating to the dentist what you wanted, and for some reason the dentist was not happy to do what you wanted with the information they had to hand. That is perfectly fair enough, as if they did the wrong thing just based on your demands, they really would be wide open to a complaint.

£70 would probably buy you 15-20 mins in the dental chair. If you chose to waste it by arguing over x-rays, that's up to you. I think the dentist offering to see you without charging once you'd sorted the x-ray problem is fair enough. But if you were in the surgery, then the meter was running.

Where does the OP say that?

I told her I was going to pay to have an X-ray that was not a problem, but she didn't want to do that

I can't easily see where the OP is "dictating" either but as you say we don't know the whole story....

I always find it interesting that when dealing with a mere tradesman (e.g plumber, electrician, decorator) it is normal to get several "free" estimates or quotes. However, with a "professional" how dare one question their expertise and they are so revered that the client / customer / patient should expect to pay them simply for the privilege of being told how much the job will cost!

Toothsmith

Well - let's see if the OP comes back with any clarification of what actually went on. Until then, we can't really tell very much.

brook2jack

[QUOTE=Undervalued;76629112

I always find it interesting that when dealing with a mere tradesman (e.g plumber, electrician, decorator) it is normal to get several "free" estimates or quotes. However, with a "professional" how dare one question their expertise and they are so revered that the client / customer / patient should expect to pay them simply for the privilege of being told how much the job will cost![/QUOTE]


When a tradesman gives a quote there is only the cost of their time (with very little overheads) and no investigations to make.

When a dentist gives a quote they need to thoroughly understand the persons general , oral health, dental and medical history . This may involve x Rays , models being made , vitality tests , investigations into bite etc . A comprehensive treatment plan for a complex case may take hours to provide and a couple of visits . It is not possible , often , to provide a definitive treatment plan on a first visit .

People will say they only want a quote for , say a filling. But without investigating you don't know if a filling is the right treatment , how large or small the problem is and what other things might need addressing before the treatment can be done.

A single surgery in a dental practice will cost £150 to more than £200 and hour to run. Those costs need to be paid by someone , so if a practice does not charge for examinations which are necessary to provide accurate estimates then they have to pass the cost onto those who go on to have treatment.

Obviously it is fairer that everyone pays for what they have done. In private practice you pay for the time you are in the chair , whether you have treatment or are being examined by a dental professional , assisted by a nurse in a practice with equipment and overheads which is extremely expensive to run.

Toothsmith

Shuush Brook! Let him think 'free' estimates are really free if he wants to!

Undervalued

Toothsmith wrote: »

Shuush Brook! Let him think 'free' estimates are really free if he wants to!

I did put "free" in inverted commas. :rotfl:

Undervalued

brook2jack wrote: »

When a dentist gives a quote they need to thoroughly understand the persons general , oral health, dental and medical history . This may involve x Rays , models being made , vitality tests , investigations into bite etc . A comprehensive treatment plan for a complex case may take hours to provide and a couple of visits . It is not possible , often , to provide a definitive treatment plan on a first visit .

I wonder how much of that happened in this £70 visit?

brook2jack

It is difficult to say, only the op will know.

However to put into context the op had a problem they wanted sorted out there and then, was going away on holiday the next day and was moving away afterwards so wouldn't see the dentist again. This was the first and only visit the OP had ever made to this dentist.

They had had a previous dentist but for whatever reason did not book an appointment with them.

As toothsmith has said £70 will buy anything from 15 to 30 minutes of a dentists time. At a minimum with a new , unknown patient you will need to get a medical/dental history , chart tooth and gum health before even looking at the problem tooth.

Say then you can already see the tooth is so badly damaged it is either going to need extensive treatment that is going to take far longer than the time booked in , or is likely to flare up causing problems when the op is going on holiday the next day . All of that discussion and investigations will take time, and that is just for one tooth.

SORN

elsien wrote: »

I'm presuming this is a private dentist.
You show up, possibly for an emergency appointment, the dentist is not able to treat without a clear idea of what exactly is going on; you insist on x-rays already taken elsewhere which may or may not show the cause because they're not necessarily current, then announce that you're moving so won't be coming for any further appointments.
My guess is you're not the only one who is not happy.

Did you see and agree the consultation charge beforehand?
Any particular reason you didn't go to your own dentist?

However if you're unhappy with the outcome you need to use their formal complaint procedure as a starting point.

when I called them and told them I was not happy, they told me that, that was only £70 consultation with no treatment but, this is not true because in my recorded phone call, (my phone records phone calls automatically) we defenetely talked about treatment and extra charge which I did agree to pay after my visit, I paid the £70 on the phone before to see the dentist. I did not go to see my ordinary dentist, because I was leaving in a totally different part of the country 300 miles away from my previous dentist, I hope it is all ore clear now. Thank you for your support