Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called this business to get info on prices for an examination to acquire an official diagnosis and was told that the first visit costs $650 with subsequent visits costing $275. The would not provide service until after I paid them for my visit which happened on 03/09/2022. After the visit, I was told they would need another session which I scheduled. They did not complete the evaluation since they spent time asking me questions that were unrelated to the evaluation. I was not updated on the price on the second visit and I was not told to pay before the visit. My second visit happened on 03/18/2022. After the visit, I was billed for $650 again instead of $275, a price that was never discussed with me. When I took issue with the price change, they told me to look on their website where they hid the pricing policy in the FAQ section where they manipulated definition of the word 'initial' when they said "Please note that occasionally it can take more than one visit to complete a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and the patient will be billed again for an initial visit." I was told that the psychologist working there always state this to patients. However, this was never stated to me, and reviews online make it clear that it has not been stated to others. They used a faulty definition of the word 'initial' to mean something different than the commonly accepted meaning, attracted me to the office to begin with by using that language to make me think that subsequent visits were different than initial visits while actually defining them in their website's FAQ as overlapping definitions, and refusing to either tell me the price beforehand verbally or through a bill before my second visit, and now they are withholding my desperately needed diagnosis paperwork until I pay them the higher-than-agreed-upon fee. So, I am trying to pay them the agreed-upon $275 instead of the never-mentioned second initial visit price in exchange for my completed evaluation paperwork

  Business response

  05/05/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2022/04/15) */ Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2022/04/19) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) They claimed that I refuse to communicate. This is not true. I have reached out to them in email and they refuse to communicate in written form. They have ignored my messages except to tell me to talk over the phone, but I want our interactions to have a written record. They claimed that I signed a document on the fees but my claim is not just that they lied to me verbally but that they used written language meant to convey one meaning but that they define in a hidden way which has tricked myself and others, namely how they define 'initial' which in common parlance means first but to them it means more than one appointment as they see fit. They do not want to work with me, so I am looking for the BBB to back up my claim and help me pay them the first agreed upon amount in exchange for the documents they are withholding, which is what I paid for. Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2022/05/04) */ We would love to communicate with the patient via phone or email and we do keep records of the conversation happened between the patient and the practice. We are not trying to with hold the information. A letter of diagnosis was provided to the patient due to the tone of the language the patient used via email. If the patient is willing to talk to us in a properly we will be delighted to communicate with her. This is why we have not responded to the patient via email because there is a way of talking. Thank you!

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