Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was not happy with the first ********* they matched for me and requested to change to another ********* who is available on the days I'm able to have sessions. However, they matched me with a ********* who has limited availability of only three days a week and is not available on the days I requested. When I asked for a refund for the remaining portion since I had already paid for the month but could not continue the sessions due to their lack of *********s who have availability when Im also available, they just told me to complete the sessions when the ********* was available and refused to issue a refund. I find this unfair as I can't skip my work to accommodate their *********'s schedule because they dont have enough available *********s after I already paid them. I had high hopes for this service when I signed up and tried to continue the sessions even after I was not satisfied with the first *********, but it was just a waste of money. I would recommend others finding a ********* who will let clients check the availability before paying for the service and issue a refund if the availability doesnt work for both the ********* and the client.

  Business response

  11/04/2024

  Hello MJ,
  
  Our sincere apology for any difficulties you've experienced with our service. We understand the frustration you must feel.
  
  Upon review, we see that you initially signed up on 11/12/2023 and completed one session on 11/18/2023 before requesting a rematch. We matched you with another SLP, though you updated that her availability did not align with your schedule. 
  
  As outlined in our billing policy, refunds are only issued for missed sessions due to the therapists absence, not for unused sessions. As a courtesy, we have offered flexibility by allowing you to use the remaining sessions. 
  
  On 9/26/2024ten months after our last contactyou reached out to reactivate your service. As promised, we reactivated your account and ensured access to your remaining sessions, despite the extended time since your initial sign-up. We matched you with another available SLP, but you reached out again advising that the ***'s schedule didnt align with your availability.
  
  In both cases, we do have therapists available, though we understand that the schedule options may not fully align with your availability. Similar to scheduling an appointment with a doctor at a clinic, where patients align their availability with the doctors schedule, our clients generally coordinate their schedules with their therapists available timeframes to ensure continuity of care.
  
  We still want to ensure you can access the services you signed up for and support your therapy needs so we are happy to keep your account active until the end of the year so you can use your remaining three sessions.
  
  Thank you again for your understanding, and please let us know if theres anything else we can do to support you.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

  Customer response

  11/05/2024

   
  Complaint: 22380807
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Better Speech's response and subscription model is unfair and unreasonable when they already accepted the payment but do not have available therapist that meet the schedule of the patient. 

  Ive never encountered a medical practice that requires upfront payment, asks patients to attend sessions on days theyve already stated they cannot, and refuses to issue a refund. Typically, medical practices allow patients to schedule appointments based on mutual availability, with payment made after the appointment.

  Even when prepayment is required to secure a spot, its usually after the patient has confirmed the doctors availability and selected a suitable time.
  In my case, I requested to pause my subscription in December 2023 when I decided to switch therapists but had not yet been matched with a new one. I specifically asked for a therapist available on certain days, as those are the only days I can attend sessions. However, Better Speech matched me with a therapist who wasnt available on those days. The therapist had only 2-3 days of availability out of the 7 days, and even those days were the ones I had already stated I was unavailable.

  After several back-and-forth exchanges with customer service, they admitted that they dont have any other therapists in my state who could meet my scheduling needs. So the reason why I could not continue with the service is not because I just didn't want to but because Better Speech did not have the therapists and availability for me to be able to continue, which I was not disclosed until after I already made the payment. 

  Its incredibly unfair that Better Speech takes payment upfront but refuses to issue a refund when they cannot provide the service I paid for, asking me to be available on days Ive already told them I cannot attend.

  Therefore, I am requesting a refund for the remaining sessions that I could not use due to Better Speechs inability to provide a therapist who can practice in my state and accommodate my availability.

  Sincerely,
  
  ** ***

  Business response

  11/25/2024

  Hello MJ,
  
  We truly regret that your experience with Better Speech has not met your expectations. 
  
  Regarding your case, we acknowledge the challenges you faced with scheduling and therapist availability. We have processed a refund for the remaining unused sessions.
  
  Best,
  The Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Sunday 3/24 at 8:15pm CST I had my initial phone call with Better Speach. The lady told me that I could do 7:30pm CST or later and weekend appointments to accommodate my schedule. I agreed and they charge me the $244.80 amount. Now none of the times I am available they can do and yet they have charge my card and will not provide a refund. Why can you meet for the first meeting at 8:15 CST on a weekend but cannot meet at that time after I paid the amount?

  Business response

  04/06/2024

  Hi *****,

  We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the scheduling issues you experienced with Better Speech.
  
  Upon reviewing your concerns, we noted that you contacted our customer service team on 3/26/2024 regarding the scheduling problem. We responded promptly on the same day, providing details of your assigned therapist. We understand your frustration in not being matched with a therapist who could accommodate your preferred session times. Typically, when a client's schedule doesn't align with their assigned speech-language pathologist (SLP), we swiftly reassign them to another therapist who can meet their availability. However, before we could proceed with reassignment, you had already decided to cancel your account and requested a refund on the same day.
  
  Upon receiving your cancellation request, we promptly processed the refund and canceled your Better Speech account.
  
  We apologize once again for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding in this matter. Should you require assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  03/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I signed up for Better Speech on February 24th, 2023 for my son. The billing cycle is every four weeks. I signed up for their initial session for Thursday February 29th. The therapist I was assigned cancelled this appointment due to a Speech Therapy conference.She rescheduled the initial session for Wednesday March 6th at 5pm. We agreed to sessions from then on out that we would meet on Wednesdays at 5pm. The following Wednesday 13th 2024 - my son and I waited for our next session. She did not show up. She reached out to me Thursday March 14th apologizing for the confusion. I called Better Speech because per their contract you get four therapy sessions and you are billed every four weeks. My next billing cycle is coming up and I've received one session. According to them - if the therapist cancels it's their fault. Better Speech on March 15th told me they would find a new therapist, "extend" my billing date, and I would receive an email. So, I waited. There was no email. I checked my child's Better Speech Dashboard. I find it empty of any information including billing. I receive an email saying that my subscription is paused. I didn't request a pause and that wasn't what I was told. Now my information history is completely blank and now I have an autogenerated response telling me they will resume payments in 2 weeks. I haven't received services for the $244. Per Better Speech you are supposed to receive four sessions and be billed every four weeks. I currently have no therapist assigned.

  Business response

  03/21/2024

  Hello Malina,
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and frustration you've experienced. We understand the importance of consistent and reliable therapy sessions for your son and deeply regret the series of mishaps that occurred.
  
  Upon reviewing your account and the timeline of events you provided, it's evident that there have been significant lapses in scheduling and providing the sessions, miscommunication regarding rescheduling. The situations you've encountered with your assigned therapist and subsequent handling by our Customer Support fall short of these standards, and for that, we sincerely apologize. Know that we are reviewing our internal processes to strengthen our communication protocols and improve the overall customer experience.
  
  With your decision to cancel the service, we have canceled your speech therapy service with us and have provided you a full refund last 3/18/2024.
  
  Please let us know if there's anything else you need help with.
  
  
  Sincerely, 
  Better Speech Team

  Customer response

  03/22/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company has charged ** for 4 sessions and advertised that the first session was a free assessment. We had the assessment which was very poorly executed with poor video and audio on the speech therapists end. The therapist provided very poor follow up and has failed to meet with us three times now. My daughter finds it very upsetting to sit and wait for her 'teacher' to come online and then getting stood up. It's a lot of work to prepare a three year old child to sit for any meeting. The online library is beyond awful, all of the games and activities did not function well on a desktop or mobile phone and had little to not instructions. The therapist said she would send us resources and we never got any. We have received absolutely no value from this company and have lost valuable time and money.

  Business response

  03/13/2024

  Hi *****,
  
  We sincerely apologize for the challenges you have faced during your experience with our speech therapy services.
  
  We have investigated this issue and found that the *** assigned to you had a family emergency causing the missed sessions. We also want to acknowledge the technical difficulties you encountered during the initial assessment session and are aware of the challenges you faced with our online library. We are actively working to enhance the functionality of our games and activities, ensuring they work seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices. We understand the impact this has had on your daughter and your family and we are truly sorry about that.
  
  Please be informed that we have already provided a full refund to your account last 2/14/2024. This should be already reflected in your bank's statement. 
  
  If you have any further questions or if there's anything else you need help with, please don't hesitate to reach out.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

  Customer response

  03/15/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 11/9/23 I decided to sign up with Better Speech to correct my lisp and improve my overall speech. After processing my payment I was an assigned a therapist shortly after. I scheduled my 1st appointment for that evening. I logged onto the zoom meeting at my scheduled time excited to get started. The 1st 15 minutes of my appointment was spent with my therapist trying to correct her volume and headphones (at some point she requested that we end the session and rejoin; which corrected the issue). When we finally got started with content my therapist played 2 minutes of a ******* video and had me mimic what I heard. Shortly thereafter the appointment ended. Initially, I requested a new therapist and credit for my horrible 1st session. But at this time Id like to request my full payment of $279.80. Im a mental health therapist so I know from experience that 1st impressions count. My 1st impression of Better Speech is not a positive prerequisite of whats to come. My therapist did record the video, so if I dont receive a full refund I will be opening a case with my bank and informing them to request the video if need be during the investigation.

  Business response

  11/27/2023

  Hi ******,
  
  We want to extend our sincere apologies for the technical issues you encountered at the beginning of your appointment. We understand how frustrating that must have been. Technical glitches are certainly not the experience we aim to provide, and we assure you that we are taking steps to prevent similar issues in the future.
  
  Indeed, we could have provided you another session in lieu of that session and can assigned you another therapist to help with your speech needs however as per your final decision of canceling the service, we have canceled your account and have processed a full refund on your account last 11/13/2023.
  
  Again, we are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. If you have any further questions or if there's anything else you need help with, please don't hesitate to reach out.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  09/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We sought Better Speech for my daughters speech issues. We were told that our insurance was accepted during our consultation meeting. Better Speech advised us that they do not bill insurance directly, but rather sends us a bill to provide our insurance for reimbursement (seemed odd to us). Better speech advised they send a bill referred to as a super bill. With our insurance being accepted we decided to sign up. We had to pay each month up front and then submit at the end of the month to our provider for a refund. Our first month was $225 if I recall. The therapist was great. After we paid up front we received our *********** bill to provide insurance. Our monthly billed was automatically renewed for the next month at $275 the day we received our *********** bill. The first issue was that the super bill was not really an itemized bill. Yet, it was just some numbers listed in a email. No itemized list with any billing code. We attempted to contact Better Speech for a legitimate bill to submit insurance, but never could get a return call. The therapist and better speech are clear to not ask the therapist about billing issues. I attempted to submit this super bill to my insurance and was laughed at. They had no idea what this super bill was. They advised that this was not a acceptable document, let alone that this is not how refunds are handled. They advised that better speech needed to send the bill. My insurance also informed me that Better Speech was not an approved provider. With this I canceled Better Speech and was advised by customer service that a prorated refund could be done. Fast forward 2 weeks I hear nothing. I call and spoke to a different person advising that they do not issue refunds, the therapist was wrong about our insurance being accepted, and we needed to use our remaining sessions. By this time my daughter was in with a different company. I keep calling, but no return calls. I just want my refund since better speech falsely advised.

  Business response

  10/11/2023

  Hi ******,
  
  We want to start by expressing my sincere apologies for the frustration and inconvenience you've experienced during your time with Better Speech. We deeply value our clients' trust and satisfaction. Please allow me to address your concerns.
  
  You were under the impression that your insurance would be accepted. It appears there was a misunderstanding regarding our billing process and the use of our Super bills for insurance reimbursement. Better Speech works with a growing number of insurance companies where we can help you get you reimbursed by your insurance carrier via providing you with a Superbill which contains the diagnostic and treatment codes (ICD 10 codes, CPT codes), the name of your SLP, the SLP's license number, the dates of each session received along with the amount you have paid. This also includes Better Speech's address, EIN #, and NPI # along with our contact information. While we provide you with all the treatment information, your reimbursement application is still subject to approval by your insurance company.
  
  Our Speech *************** is a subscription service so depending on the plan you have subscribed, you will be auto-billed on either every 7 days for the weekly plan or every 4 weeks for the monthly plan. You need to utilize the sessions included in your plan within the billing cycle. As per our Billing policy which you agreed upon sign-up, we do not issue refunds for failure to schedule sessions or failure to attend scheduled sessions. It is the client's responsibility to cancel or pause the subscription at least 24 hours before the next billing date so you will not be charged for another cycle. Your fee pays for unlimited access to our proprietary library of speech practices which you can use at any time during the billing cycle. A refund shall only be provided if our therapist failed to attend a scheduled session or provide services during the billing cycle.
  
  Based on our Calls Logs, one of our phone support representative tried to return your calls but have reached your voicemail. Eventually, you were then able to speak to ******* regarding your refund request which was followed-up by an email advising that your refund request was not warranted following our Billing Policies. Your refund request was re-escalated to Billing after another call. As a one-time courtesy, you were refunded for the 2 unused sessions last 9/19/2023.
  
  We have acknowledged the feedback you provided regarding our Superbill. While the same Superbill is accepted with other insurance companies, we recognized that improvements can be made to address this recent feedback.
  
  Again, we are sorry for any disconnect that *** have happened during the consultation call. Please let us know if we can help you in the future.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They have been charging me even though my account has been closed they also have not sent one email in regard to those charges. My account is closed to the point I do not have access to their webpage their site dont even recognize my email address anymore but they have been falsely charging my elderly father who thought we were still using this company. They have been charging him for almost 2 years not with absolutely no service provided. They are saying I never closed my account when I did even their own website does not recognize my email. You can not call anyone theres never a answer everything is communicated through email. I have emails from there website telling me to come back and get a free consult but yet according to them my account is active enough to charge me 400+ a month they tried refunding me 2 months when i have 2 years of charges

  Business response

  05/26/2023

  Hi ******, 
  
  We would like to express our sincere apology for any inconvenience this has caused you.
  
  We have communicated to you right away when you have reached out to Better Speech customer service.
  
  To clear things up, ********************* is in our system as the email address you have used in signing up for speech therapy.
  Contrary to what you think that your account is closed, the reason why you are not able to log in to Better Speech's dashboard is because you need to update your login information to get access to the dashboard. Even then, with or without dashboard access, you can still continue to schedule sessions as scheduling sessions is something that needs to be coordinated with the speech therapist. It was only recently where there is now an option to schedule sessions via the member dashboard yet most of our long time clients still continue to coordinate scheduling sessions with their speech therapists.
  
  As we have mentioned on our email communication, all emails and call contacts are recorded and as per system logs you have no prior requests to cancel the service may that be via phone or email which is why your speech therapy subscription plan remains active. If you have canceled it from before, you should have received an email confirmation of the cancelation with a confirmation number. It was only on 5/2/2023 when you submitted the cancelation of your speech therapy subscription under the email address, *********************. As you can see, after you have submitted the cancelation last 5/2/2023, your account is now in canceled status and there was no further charge on your account.
  
  As per our Billing policy, you are not entitled to a refund if you failed to schedule or attend a session during your billing cycle. It is the client's responsibility to cancel or pause the subscription and attend the session. Your fee pays for unlimited access to our proprietary library of speech practices which you can use at any time during the billing cycle. 
  
  Following our Billing policies, we regret to inform you that your refund request is not warranted however as a courtesy, we refunded the latest 2 charges on the account. We are really doing anything within our ability and would like to resolve this issue for you, therefore we provided you these refunds last 5/3/2023 for your last two payments that were still possible to be refunded.
  
  Again, our apologies for any inconvenience this has caused. Please let us know if we can help you in the future.
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  04/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On April 9, 2023 my account was debited $80 dollars, I had a previous session in which I payed $40 dollars already because it was half off to join, when trying to pause further sessions on my dashboard it would not allow me to do it, I tried calling and emails but no response. The therapist stated she has no control over the payment to go into my dashboard. It wont even allow you to delete your card. Would like a refund in the amount of $80 dollars. When trying to look up the address it was not listed

  Business response

  05/01/2023

  Hi *****,
  
  Our sincere apology for any inconvenience this has caused you.
  
  To better understand the situation, we investigated this issue you raised and found that you have emailed us on 4/10/2023 regarding a charge on your account. You were subscribed to our weekly plan of 1 session billed every 7 days. You signed up last 4/1/2023 and had your first session on 4/4/2023. As the billing occurs every 7 days for the weekly plan, you were charged on 4/8/2023. Please note that we have at least 24-hours notification for pause and cancelation of service and sessions. We received no cancelation request prior to 4/8/2023 which is why you were billed according to your weekly plan. Within 24 hours after your email on 4/10/2023, **************** has responded to your email. Our apologies that you may have missed this response.
  
  When you joined our subscription service, you agreed that it is your responsibility to schedule an appointment, and cancel or pause the subscription as needed (similar to any subscription service) at least ********************************************************** our Terms of Use. Your fee pays for unlimited access to our proprietary library of speech practices which you can use at any time during the billing cycle. A refund shall only be provided if our therapist failed to attend a scheduled session or provide services during your billing cycle.
  
  Following our Billing policy, while we do not issue refunds for unused sessions which you were charged last 4/8/2023, we are happy to provide you a refund for this however, as further checked, you have disputed this charge to your bank. In this case, we will wait for the bank's decision and if in case the dispute result is in our favor, we will still provide your refund which we will communicate to you via email.
  
  Again, we are sorry for any communication disconnect. Thank you for your patience and please let us know if we can help you in the future.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  03/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was billed on 3/27 and had my exit/cancellation phone call on 3/24

  Business response

  05/01/2023

  Hi ******,
  
  We would like to express our sincere apology for any inconvenience this has caused you.
  
  We confirm that you had completed the Therapy Review Call last 3/24/2023 however the cancelation did not go through which is why you were billed on 3/27/2023. As we do our best to resolve ay concerns right away, we have resolved this by providing a full refund on your account the following day, 3/28/2023 in the amount of $212 and have canceled your account manually.
  
  Again, we are sorry about system issue. We would like to thank you for being a Better Speech client and please let us know if we can help you in the future.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My daughter was told that she could pause her sessions while she was out of the country traveling. This was a conversation with the therapist. She was not told that this was not possible. Charges continued. BetterSpeech continued to take monthly payments without any therapist ever scheduling any appointments. A cancellation request was made and the charges continued because they want to schedule an exit appointment. Since we have been paying since July 2022 for unused sessions the least they could do is not charge for the final month. BetterSpeech would have continued to charge indefinitely for services that were never used. They are taking advantage of the autobilling system.

  Business response

  03/02/2023

  Hello *****,
  
  Thank you for reaching out! At Better Speech we take customer satisfaction as our highest priority and we address our clients’ questions or concerns in a professional manner so we hope you find this answer satisfactory.
  
  You have raised an issue regarding continued charges on your Speech Therapy subscription. You mentioned that your daughter was told by her Speech Therapist that she could paused her sessions while she was out of the country travelling. The process of pausing the account is by submitting a pause request via this link: https://*************************************, not through verbal communication. To better understand what happened, we checked the history of the account and found that there was no pause request that came in the system for the account, ********************* for the year 2022. Without the Pause and/or Cancelation request, the billing on the account continues as scheduled according to your monthly Speech Therapy Subscription Plan. On 2/8/2023, we received a Pause request on your account followed by a Cancel request on 2/9/2023 to which you scheduled a Cancelation/Therapy Call review for 2/13/2023. A auto-subscription charge on 2/9/2023 was made to your account as the pause/cancel request came less than  24-hours before the scheduled bill date.
  
  When you joined our subscription service, you agreed that it is your responsibility to schedule an appointment, and cancel or pause the subscription as needed (similar to any subscription service) at least 24 hours before the end of your billing cycle as stated in our Terms of Use. Your fee pays for unlimited access to our proprietary library of speech practices which you can use at any time during the billing cycle. A refund shall only be provided if our therapist failed to attend a scheduled session or provide services during your billing cycle.
  
  Unfortunately, you didn't complete the Cancelation/Therapy Call until 2/13/2023. When this was completed, the auto-renewal for your speech therapy subscription has been canceled and therefore there is no additional charges on your account.
  
  Following our Billing policy, while we do not issue refunds for unused sessions, however, as a courtesy, we will refund you the latest two charges on the account and provide you free sessions whenever your daughter decides to return for speech therapy. We have emailed you directly on your email address, ****************** for this resolution to your concern. Kindly respond to that email.
  
  We would like to express our sincere apology for any disconnect on the pause/cancelation process and we do appreciate the feedback regarding our processes.
  
  Please let us know if we can help you in the future.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Better Speech Team

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩