aimee a Aio
map-marker Mission Hills, California

SMILE CARE DENTAL - MISSION HILLS - WORST COMPANY

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Ive been trying to get my refund I am owed going on 3 years!!! ridiculous!! EVERY SINGLE PERSON I have dealt with has dropped the ball. Ive called 10 times in the last 3 days leaving messages. Corporate does not answer phone or return phone calls. They are all useless. Nobody can give me a good explanation as to why they feel I am not owed a refund. Nobody knows what they are doing. My blood boils just driving by the place on Sepulveda Blvd. Dont EVER EVER EVER sign up your family at SMILE CARE DENTAL, you will regret it!!
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Loss:
$780
Cons:
  • No do not deserve 1 star
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Full refund

3 comments
Guest

Coast Dental Inc: The CDI Group, Inc: Gold Plan: My Smile: Gentle Dental: Smile Generation Financial: Pacific Dental Services: THEY ARE ALL THE SAME GROUP!!

Advertised $59 ended up paying much more. Sold me Dental insurance, but it isn’t really dental insurance.

DECIET, MISLEAD, UNINFORMED. My email address is: stopdentalscams@***.com This is what happened to me. I found this place online while searching for an affordable dentist. Their advertisement was “$59 Cleaning, Exam & Digital X-rays, regular value of at least $290.” WOW that’s a great deal right… I made my appointment in no time flat.

Once I arrived there they took x-rays of only one side of my mouth. From there I was put into the exam chair where I was instructed to wait for the dentist to come in and evaluate/read my x-rays. The dentist explained that I would need a series of expensive dental procedures done of which he would be able to start treatment that day. The front desk gal then came in and explained to me my total cost would be $3553.

But they can sign me up for Dental insurance right then and it would lower my cost to only $2406.. The one time cost for my Dental “Insurance” was only $111. Wow Dental insurance for only $111. and my dentist office can sell it to me…

I was in severe pain that day and went ahead and signed up for my dental insurance and started my first treatment.

I was not provided any information or discloser about this “Dental Insurance”. At the end of my visit I was given something called “Financial Arrangement” which listed the treatment plan expected treatment and cost along with “DENTAL PLAN ENROL 1”. I was then asked to pay my office visit total for that day which came to $256.. After I paid it they gave me an itemized receipt showing I paid FOR: a single x-ray, additional x-ray and photo intra oral cam for a total of $256.

They also, gave me a copy of my 2 page “Financial Arrangement”. (3 pages in total)

After getting home I realized I had no idea the name of my new Dental Insurance company. About two week later I receive a membership ID card from “my smile dental plan”. On the back of my ID card it says, “DISCOUNT DENTAL PLAN”, in smaller print it says, “THIS IS NOT AN INSURANCE PLAN’, and in even smaller print it says, “Administered by The CDI Group, Inc.

At that point I knew something was not right.

After doing some research I discovered that CDI Group, Inc. is “Coastal Dental Inc”, “Coast Dental Inc”, ”CDI Group”, “Coast Dental Plans”, they own the company “my smile dental plans”. They are a Dental management organization that provide administrative and management services to dental offices and groups.

The gal who sold me this “Dental Insurance” at the dentist office is an employee and/or independent contractor employed by Coast Dental Inc. They have many partner companies including but not limited to, Pacific Dental services (this is who does the billing and collections), Smile Generation Financial (their credit card), Heartland Dental, Option One Dental Plan. There website is www.cdidentalplans.com. I took this information to a Class Action Attorney along with hundreds of reviews and complaints about the questionable conduct and practice of these companies nation wide.

He has agreed to file a class action case against them on behalf of the consumers. If you are a consumer that has been deceived, mislead or tricked into signing up for any of their services such as, Dental Insurance, Dental Plans, Dental Credit Cards or have been told you need unnecessary expensive dental work by any of these groups. If you would like to join me in a class action against these entities, or know someone that would, please email me at: stopdentalscams@***.com If you would like to find out if your dental office is contracted with these group you can go to www.mysmiledentalplan.com/summary.aspx and search the “FIND A PARTICIPATING OFFICE”. For those of you who would just like to report this group for wrong doing, they are Licensed in the State of California under the name CDI Dental, Inc.

and DENTALPLANS.COM. The state website is www.hmohelp.ca.gov PLEASE HELP ME SPEAD THE WORD BY CUTTING AND PASTING THIS REVIEW ON FACEBOOK!

Guest

I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS REVIEW HAS THE "MISSION VALLEY" OFFICE ON THE TITLE WHEN THE REVIEW IS FOR ONE OF THE LOS ANGELES OFFICES.

I HAVE GONE TO THE MISSION VALLEY CLINIC SINCE 1998 AND I LOVE IT. THE ASSISTANTS ARE GREAT, THE MANAGER, SUSY IS AWESOME AND THE DOCTOR THEY HAVE RIGHT NOW, DR. WOODS IS THE BEST EVER.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS LOCATION.

Guest

Going thru the same thing. They want to give credit back to a benefit card that is closed bc my husband changed employers.

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Anonymous
map-marker Poway, California

Smilecare Dental - Dental Service Review from Poway, California

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Smile Care in Vista charged for services agreed upon, but they never performed. They said it takes 90 days to process a refund. It has now been 10 months. They have told me a check has been issued and mailed to me for each of the 5 last months now. Lately, they do not answer their phone and do not return messages. The office is very dirty and personnel are rude. Someone should shut them down! They are very dishonest!
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Reason of review:
Problems with payment
Anonymous
map-marker Santa Ana, California

Smilecare Dental - Braces Review from Santa Ana, California

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SmileCare Dentistry is by far the worst Dentist office I have wver been to!!! They ripped me off out of $9,000!!!! I got general dentistry swrvices which were subpar and i was suckered into into braces and promised a ferari look! I was told constantly that I would be happy with my smile! A year into my treatment, my jaw starting cracking and I was getting a migraine everyday!!!! I told my ortho and he said to drink wine and relax! I was too uptight!!! I was so upset!! Ao u peofessional!! Then he has the nerve to remove my braces a month earlier without a refund for the additional month that was prepaid!! And he messes up my retainers to align my teeth and now my teeth are getting crooked again!! I now am very self conscious and SmileCare wont do anything about it!! To top it off!! They have different dentists and orthos wvery so often!! I had 4 working on my teeth in a matter of 2 years!! They are not dedicated not care about the patient!! Salespeople all the way. Please stay away!!
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2 comments
Guest

I wish I would have read this im about 5000 dollars in with my daughters braces and now if her braces are still on after the 2 years we need to pay for visits! This place is a rip off!!!if you don't have medi-cal they will rip you off!!! Stay away stay far away!!!

Guest

I had the same issue with SmileCare in Carson, Ca!!!!!

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Lateesha Rbj
map-marker Santa Ana, California

Smilecare are crooks! Had to take them to court, AND won my case!

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My daughter had to have her wisdom teeth removed. smilecare was an in network dental group so that's why we went. The cost was to be 99.00. Our insurance company requested a copy of the dentists license from them. Apparently they didn't do it in a timely manner and our insurance company, in the interim, had changed. So smilecare didn't get paid. 4 years later I was refinancing my house and smilecare dinged our credit for them not getting information to the insurance co. They just dropped the ball regardless of the repercussion to me. I had to pay over 1000.00 to clear it off of my credit. When I called them no one could care less. So I took them to small claims. I hired a company to file the paperwork for me. It was only 100.00 I think. I added that cost to my law suit and was awarded what they owed me, court costs and the co. I hired to file for me. The judge was PISSED at what smilecare did to me....it was pretty awesome! I would highly recommend taking smilecare to court....they can not continue financially hurting people, and my opinion is that they know most people aren't going to hassle with taking them to court. I think if more people held them accountable they would be much more diligent in properly taking care of these matters.
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Anonymous
map-marker San Diego, California

Dental Work Review

I am very disappointed with smile care they charged me hor stuff that was not really needed & took forever to get back with me. I'm will be asking for refund of the money I spent . I will not recommended anyone else to you guys
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Reason of review:
Problems with payment
Anonymous
map-marker Folsom, California

Liars and Thieves in Folsom Ca.Low grade dentists.

Not one person in that office knows how to work with even one insurance company. Over a period of 18 months, they charged me for services that 'were not covered' according to the 'billing expert',totaling just under $2,000.00 . I later found out they received all those payments and kept the money.At first I thought they were just plain ***, now I know they are also criminals.I have been fighting with them for 2 years. They acknowledge owing it to me, but will not pay me.(I stopped going there 7 months ago because the dentist was incompetent, unable to diagnose even the simplest things.) I have filed complaints with the Dental Board and the fraud division with my insurance company. I am now getting my facts together for a major law suit. All they had to do was send me the reimbursements my insurance company paid.I am still having pain from the damage the dentist did while preparing for a crown that I later found out I did not need.This place needs to go away.
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Loss:
$2
1 comment
Lateesha Rbj

Took smilecare to small claims and won easily! The judge was not amused with their incompetence!

Anonymous

Extortionists: Smile Care of El Cajon - Dentistry is not what it use to be!

Listen! Lodge a complaint with FTC.com on line. I did. Do something beyond your complaint. Help yourself and everyone else. Let's shut these bad companies down! I received a $1,240. bill 18 months after services rendered. No explanation, nothing. This was previously cleared totally with my insurance, who the dental office spoke to while I was waiting in the dentists chair, or I would never have agreed to the procedure. I quit this dentist then, 18 months ago. Here's why: High pressure tactics to have patients buy unnecessary products and services; Insistence for too many x-rays against patients wishes; Lousy "bedside manner" lecturing and belittling; Very long waits before and during procedures (6 hours once); $100.00 extra each time for cleaning above and beyond insurance coverage ("because I had good Insurance"); Prices are not competitive and remain unreasonable above and beyond insurance; Overcharge for 3 caps (my portion was over $3,000.00 which I paid in full); 3 future cleaning appointments made without consulting me on preferred time and date ("because I had good insurance") Moreover: The 3rd root canal I had done on the same tooth, didn't help the pain. I'm on antibiotics to hold off going to another dentist. The 2 caps they replaced, next to each other, on the other side, wobble, are sensitive to hot and cold and are difficult to chew with. The temporaries they made while waiting for the permanents, fell off twice (I was given glue and sent home to deal with them on my own -nice!) and then 1 cracked in half and was exposed for several days until the permanent caps came in. I have lodged a complaint, on line, with the FTC! You should too! I read all the reviews. These dental offices are lousy outfits. We shouldn't have to put up with this ***! Don't JUST complain, DO SOMETHING!
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Loss:
$1240
1 comment
Guest

I'm glad to see that someone else can confirm my accusations that they are thieves.

They charged me for something that the insurance company pays for in full, but I was unaware of that.

The first time I visited this place was when my 15 year old complained of a sore tooth.

I will make this very short, so many details will be omitted, but to get right down to it.

Full x-rays taken.

Informed by assistant, who I later found out that she was actually a finance/salesperson, that the necessary work to be done was 13 cavities, 1 of them root canal, and strongly recommended extraction of all wisdom teeth. ON A 17 YEAR OLD. She even stated they would have to reach down into the bone to extract them. Ridiculous.

I asked about the composition of the fillings for the 13 cavities and I was told that no fillings were necessary as the cavities were all surface cavities.

HUH??? They wanted to schedule her for those right away, then wisdom teeth one week later and THEN the address the pain in her tooth that needed the root canal. It was clear they wanted to get the unnecessary work out of the way, not covered by insurance and then do the actual problem last so they could collect the $7000.00 they quoted me and that I wouldn't have the need to interact with my insurance company until it was done, because they would have alerted me that something didn't sound right. Almost got me though.

I can't tell you how upset I get when I think about my ignorance to these things nearly cost my daughter weeks and weeks of unnecessary pain. I can assure you of this.

Had that happened, I would have beat the *** out of all those involved. Absolutely!

Anonymous
map-marker San Francisco, California

Major Insurance Fraud.

Had several appointments with Smile Care in 2012. After each procedure, I was told my insurance did not cover what I had done. I was out-of-pocket about $2,000. I complained to my husband's HR rep about the lousy plan. She told me it was a great plan and all the employees liked it. After I did some research with the insurance company, I found out the claims were indeed paid to Smile Care. So far I have proof they owe me about $1500.00. I have been fighting with them for over a year. I am convinced the "Corporate" office is actually someone's garage.They keep saying "it is our policy to wait for all claims to be paid before making any refunds." Liars. The office staff is useless. Mike is the one in charge of my claims and he is lazy and incompetent. There are no more claims. I no longer go there.It has been almost 2 years now. I am filing complaints with the Dental Board of Ca. I am also suing them.My insurance company is investigating them.I want people to know this company has a one star rating.(only because 0 is not an option.) Run fast and run far.
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1 comment
Phinehas Wpc

We are having the same issue except ours was much less. Only $500.

We keep getting the run around in the from Costal Dental (corporate), the office in which the work was done, and the account rep. Everyone is avoiding our calls.

Anonymous

Delta Dental Insurance through Kaiser.

I'm soon to be 74. At the first appointment they took xrays and said I should have two teeth extracted and they wanted to schedule me for an appointment with their orthodontist. I'm sure there are a very few cases where an orthodontist would make sense for someone my age. The second appointment was set to have the two back teeth extracted. They sent me a text that said "Press C to confirm." I didn't press C because my plans changed. Scheduled a second appointment and three days before called to reschedule. I was advised that I was in violation but she would let it go this time, but if I rescheduled again I would be charged $100.00. I asked her where that was written in the paperwork I signed. Of course, she couldn't respond. Next scheduled appointment was canceled by the dentist and rescheduled. Went in today to get the teeth extracted. I was told I would have to consult with the dentist about the extractions. The cost for the consult was $71.00, not covered by my insurance and required. I asked the receptionist if this was going to be all about implants, etc. She wouldn't give me a straight answer so I left. I'm sure I will be getting a bill for the missed appointment. It's just hard to believe that they want me to pay them so they can try to talk me into more expensive treatments.
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Anonymous
map-marker Temecula, California

Tried to Extort Money for Service

My wife got braces. Paid for 3 years. Insurance paid $1500.00 and I paid the remaining $2900.00. After two and a half years they claim we owed $133.00 and refused to check my wife's retainer until she paid the money. We already explained to them they were wrong and had proof that it was paid. They still claimed it was owed and when I asked them to show me they didn't/wouldn't do it. English is my wife's second language and they made her sit in the office for over 1 1/2 hours and wouldn't help her. She was so upset she left crying. I'm in the process of filing a lawsuit against them for breach of contract and trying to extort money from us for services that we already paid for.
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Loss:
$1450
Anonymous

They said they would sue us for having same name

Glad we switched our name--this company is a BULLY and rips people off! Nice! They made it clear to us they would take us to court. After reading what has happened to people they should be shut down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to write a 1oo words?? What can I say but this company gets the reviews it deserves. when you bully people and rip them off you are a disgrace to the profession.I have to get writing to get this number up which I have nothing futher to write oh well.I am almost to the number ok I got it.
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Anonymous
map-marker San Diego, California

Ripped off by Susana Celaya office manager

I went in and got some work done. The doctor was great, staff was very nice, but unfortunately the office manager Susana Celaya runs the show at this office and is a terrible person who lies thru her teeth besides not knowing how to do her job! She promised me a certain amount for monthly payments and how am I paying almost double now?? I went in to show her and she puts on this fake innocent act making me feel like I don't know what I'm talking about and blaming me for these problems. I cannot get a straight answer from her. Mind you while I'm waiting to talk to her the second time I went, I hear so much gossip in Spanish from her and I could have sworn she cursed at one of her staff members behind their back. Totally unprofessional! I felt so bad for the staff. Thank goodness my teeth feel good and I'm happy with the Dr's work and would recommend the Dr and staff to anyone but seriously the people handling the finances need to be competent for a good overall experience. The only reason I'd go back would be to see Dr, but I really hope they get a new manager. Stay away from incompetent billing staff like Susana Celaya, she will lie and ruin your credit and not help you. I'm in talks with corporate now about her...
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1 comment
Guest

Susana Celaya has ruined many,many,people's live's and is {{Redacted}} not to mention about to lose her license.ILLEGAL,LIARS,and they have perjured thereselves on my records,both the old staff and the new staff.Please call the Medi-Cal fraud hotline if you have visited Smile Care Dental in the last year,and or contact an attorney.After 4 months of asking for my records,I now have verification of fraud,and elder abuse beyond belief,date of total extractions 7/18/2017,date of asking for my paperwork with a witness and getting a mold made for new dentures 7/31/2017,date I was told I had to wait so mold (they never sent in) could be fitted to my mouth 8/21/2017.I was shown a mold they said would not work that was never made,old dentist and new dentist fraud and perjury ,total time without working teeth so far,4 months and 12 days TOTAL SPENT WITH TOTAL PROVABLE FRAUD AND ABUSE SO FAR $5,900.

Anonymous
map-marker Los Angeles, California

Smile Care / AWA Collections

On Aug 2012, got my son's teeth extracted and they told me that it was covered through my insurance. June 2013, I got a letter from AWA collection that I owe $800 from Smile Care. I called Smile care and that's when I found out that the my Insurance hasn't paid for that procedure. I called my insurance and said that all smile care had to do was to submit a packet to my insurance so they can get the bill taken care of. I've been calling Smile care for the status and the manager keeps telling me "I have not heard anything from the corporate".....It's now Sep 2013 and I still owe the Collection Agency and my credit report had gone down bad... I'm thinking about filing a complaint to FTC.
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Loss:
$900
2 comments
Guest

It sounds like you should check the financial agreement you signed with the dental provider. It may very well state that you are financially responsible for anything that your insurance doesnt pay.

In the end you are ultimatley responsible to know what your insurance will and will not cover. Its easy to blame a collection agency for doing their job, when the the ownership should fall on the consumer to know what their INS will and will not cover.

Guest

The same thing is happening to me right now. What did you end up doing after you called your insurance agency and they couldn't help? I really am trying not to get my credit report screwed up all for some rip off company please let me know what steps you took to take care of it I would highly appreciate it thanks.

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Brigida Aon
map-marker San Diego, California

Little things that add up to a bad experience

I admittedly hadn't visited a dentist in about 3 years. Last one I saw was my uncle, but he's two hours away. I went to Smile Care in San Diego (Mission Valley) and everyone was and has been super nice. I went in for a check up (last time I had zero cavities) and this time they found 6 cavities, and on top of that the two molars that had fillings were re-growing cavities. Yikes! they told me I had some infection on my gums for which they recommended not just regular cleaning but a laser treatment to *** the dead gum flesh. I approved that, the cleaning, they also said I'd need crowns for the two molars that are more than half made up of metal filling, so I chose to go with full porcelain crowns. Essentially they must've seen dollar signs. At the end of a 6 hour day I walked out with two temporary crowns, and my next recommendation was a root canal which the endo managed to check real quick and said I was borderline but headed towards needing a root canal, and if I needed it I'd have my $650 porcelain crown drilled through, so I approved the root canal. 2 weeks later..(yesterday) I had my root canal scheduled. I arrived 10 minutes before my 3 pm appt. I waited about 40 minutes before someone told me it would be an extra half hour wait. Then the office assistant calls me up to her to take care of the financials, and she's not only trying to charge me for a root canal for which I'd pay $350 out of pocket, but also for taking an impression of my teeth at $1000. I told her the very first night I was there I had like 4 impressions taken for my permanent crowns, and she checked, and confirmed I was correct. They told me they still had to do it, and I asked why and no one really answered. When the Dr. came in she explained that first night my gums were bleeding excessively so they could not use my impressions. (I was never called and asked to return to obtain more impressions, I think someone might have simply thrown them out). So this means I get to wait an extra 3 weeks with temporaries on, which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to eating normal food, but now I'm stuck with another 3 weeks of this torture. When they took the temp crowns off to take the new impressions, they had to clean. They didn't numb me well enough because I felt EVERYTHING (pick, water, air) on the nerve that would soon be getting the root canal, I was cringing, so the Dr. added more shots to numb, but it didn't really help or didn't have a chance to kick in, but I felt no difference. I just decided to tough it out to get it over with. After all this I had my left temp crown put back in and my right was purposely left uncovered and cleaned for the root canal. I quickly went ot the bathroom and upon my return a different assistant was in that room cleaning up. She asked if I had both crowns back in, and I told her just the 1. Then she hunts and pecks around her area that she's piled up to find my crown, and finds it. She then took it upon herself to add more cement and put the crown back on, not realizing it was left off for the root canal. They had to take the crown off again and numb me again for the root canal and the endo had to clean off the cement. From then on things went well, the root canal went well, I didn't feel a thing. At night as the numbing agent was wearing off, I finally had a little soup, and went to brush my teeth. The minute I put mouthwash in my mouth I felt an INSTANT AND AWFUL pain, as though someone was blowing cold air directly at my nerve. The side that hurt was not the side that got the root canal, but the other side. Now I have to go back again today for them to adjust the *** on the right temp, and I'll let them know that mouth wash hurt on my left. I've lost a lot of time and several hours at work now being there. And on top of that my bill has managed to climb to nearly $3000. I'm never going back once I get my permanent crowns back on. I don't doubt these people are incredibly nice and "want" to do a good job, but somehow there's too many cooks in the kitchen who don't know how to communicate with each other or their patients.
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Loss:
$3500
Anonymous
map-marker Rancho Cucamonga, California

Overpriced

My wife went to the office in Rancho Cucamonga Ca. with a tooth ache. It was decided to extract the tooth and have an implant put in. My wife has coverage thou Medicare and a supplement insurance policy. When they advised of the cost the total was out- rageous. Her insurance pays for extractions with a copay. They said we had to pay for the entire extraction. She went to her old dentist who is to far to travel. His (Dr Peter Liu in Chino Hills Ca.) price for the total procedure was $800 cheaper. They said this was to short so here are more words :)
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