Isaac T

Unjustified charges

I booked an oral hygienist appointment with Dr Laura(who actually did a good cleaning) and was informed upfront from reception that the cost would be R1700. During the visit, the doctor asked if I wanted x-rays as part of the appointment I said no I just want a cleaning, she briefly performed an oral exam and spent a 3-5 minutes discussing clenching and the possibility of a mouthguard. I asked what the cost would be and the assistant said R3750 for the guard, I declined it. No mouthguard scan was done and no mouthguard was provided as I declined it and said maybe another time. After the appointment, I was surprised to be charged an additional R700 ex vat for "oral exam" the total came to R2600 instead what should have been R1700. This charge was not explained to me beforehand, and I was not informed that this discussion would incur a separate fee. When I queried this at reception after, I was told the 'oral exam' charge related to the clenching and mouthguard discussion which took about 3-5minutes, despite no procedure or product being carried out. Had I been made aware of this additional cost in advance, I would have had the opportunity to make an informed decision seeing that I was paying out of pocket. Adding charges without clear disclosure or consent is disappointing and does not align with transparent billing practices. They then claimed that although oral hygienist appointment includes an assessment related to hygiene treatment and other consultation is billed separately. How am I supposed to know that before hand? So customers gets ambushed into higher charges they do not expect and they are in a position of power to vulnerable customers?!This is clearly *********. Fellow citizens do not allow any medical professionals or their staff in positions of power ******* unsuspecting citizens who work hard for their hard earned income, report it online directly to the HPCSA and for dentists report them to SADA(South african Dental Association). I know its hard to believe but see the invoice on Google reviews if you don't believe it.