The Bait and Switch

So if you talk to us on a frequent basis you are probably aware of our newest and largest by far dilemma. We got married in June and got dental and health insurance starting on the day of our marriage. Some might argue that this is marital bliss... however, we have reached the end of ignorance with the screwy world we live in. We both went to our new dentist with our new dental insurance to get our six month cleaning (something that is covered 100% by our insurance) and while we were there we set up three different appointments. One was for a simple filling for me, the second was for a simple filling for Chris, and the third was for a simple moulding of Chris' teeth to get crowns made. Prior to this dentist Chris had two root canals and crowns made for his farthest back molars. But because the last dentist he felt comfortable with drilled into his nasal cavity he has not returned to get any dental work finished. I don't blame him, its sounds pretty freaking painful and the worse experience I have ever had with a dentist is getting my wisdom teeth out and feeling them crumble underneath the dentist's giant metal stick. Anyways, when we made the appointment we talked to the receptionist/insurance lady to get an estimate. With all of our insurance information in front of her she quoted us $500 for the crowns and that the insurance would cover it. So we went ahead. However, after baiting us to make the appointment they have screwed us over completely. Chris went in without being told that they were performing more prep work (we understood the appointment was for mould to be made) and stayed there for an hour while the dentist did "extensive" prep work to his teeth. At the end of this "simple" appointment the receptionist informed Chrish that our insurance didn't cover major work for 12 months! And then they gave the bill $1480!!!!!! He had to take a loan our through their credit services before he could even leave.

Now I come into the story. I came home from school and found out what exactly they had done and was pissed. After crying for awhile I was a woman on a mission who was determined to let the f*cking receptionist now just how pissed off I was. We "chatted" to put it in lighter terms for about 20 minutes. I have replayed the conversation many times in my head and wont repeat it all because of censoring issues : ). However, all the work is stopped and the receptionist informed me that giving an estimate was a simple courtesy that they perform for their patients and it wasn't in their job description to inform us that our insurance wouldn't cover major work. Wouldn't you agree that it was in their job description to inform us that they were going to perform major work before he got the bill. They told us nothing! And they are a horrible example of a business. After many phone calls I found out that the only way for us to have known that we weren't covered for 12 months was by contacting Cafe Rio's human resource department and asking that very specific question. The insurance company didn't provide that information in our booklet or send out a letter stating that we weren't covered for a year. I was shocked out how horrible and twisted insurance and medical offices can be.

Thankfully we aren't going to pay the full amount and will of course NEVER go back to that dentist. Thanks for reading!