Lakeridge Dentistry Complaint

Ever feel like you just need to vent? Here is me venting because it just makes me angry how some companies treat their customers. So here is my complaint about Lakeridge Dentistry.

So my wife has been going to this dentist, Lakeridge Dentistry PLLC which is owned by Dr. Carla Yamashiro located in Bonney Lake, WA. Every time my wife goes she walks out upset because she either feels ripped off, or high pressured into getting something that we feel we don't need.

Now don't get me wrong, this company is not doing anything illegally, it just feels like they are trying to milk you for as much as they can. My wife actually liked the hygienist that cleaned her teeth which is one reason she has gone their a few years.

However, every time after she leaves she feels like she has been taken advantage of when she sees the bill. For instance, Lakeridge Dentistry keeps trying to push my wife into getting Dental Patient Direct, which will help reduce the bill. It is not insurance, but a discount plan you purchase which will allow you to pay for services from select dentists at a discounted rate. That is fine, so we researched it and found that we do not want it, but every single time my wife goes there they really high pressure her into getting it. My wife explains how we researched it and we just feel for our situation we would rather not have it, but every single time they go on and on and on telling her that she needs to get it. Even when she calls Lakeridge Dentistry to confirm her appointment, they will mention on the phone how they notice we don't have Dental Patient Direct, and then goes in to the high pressure sales pitch again on why we should get it. They should just respect their customer's decision and stop pressuring or they are going to lose their customers to other dentists.

A few appointments ago Lakeridge Dentistry convinced my wife to get a mouth guard because she grinds her teeth. Now I am not going to complain that this hasn't helped her, because in fact it has. However, they pressured my wife to making the decision that day so when she came home we had a bill for about $732.00. It would have been nice to be able to discuss this with each other first so that we could make an informed decision, weigh our options, maybe even get a 2nd opinion. Now my wife is partially to blame for this because she did agree, however, they are constantly trying to upsell to sell you as much as they can.

So today we made the decision to stop going to Lakeridge Dentistry because it makes my wife uncomfortable to be pushed to do something she doesn't want to do. All she wants is her teeth cleaned, not all of this extra stuff. Today they convinced her to start doing fluoride again, and even though she had no cavities, complaints about teeth hurting, they still took 6 x-ray shots (technically four bitewings films, and two intraoral-periapical films on tooth 24 and tooth 8). Now I know different dentists have different procedures or practices, but I called my dentist to just get their input and they said that typically dentists will only do those extra films if their is a complaint that a tooth hurts or something in an area needs to be looked at more closely. So again, with all of the other high pressure things that keep happening, this just goes along with our impression that they are simply trying to make as much money off of us as possible. Whether that is true, I don't know, but that is how it appears to us when you combine the whole picture.

Their lady at the front desk seems to not take "NO" or "I am not interested" as a correct answer and instead tries to argue or change your mind. I have been going to my dentist for my entire life (a different dentist), so probably around 30 years as of this writing, and I absolutely love them. I never feel high pressured, if they feel something needs to be done they recommend it and have the choice to make the decision I want. They have never high pressured me. On top of this the bill from my dentist is always much lower.

So if you are out there researching dentists looking at reviews and don't want to feel pressured by your dentist or told that you need something even though you have communicated you don't want it, I would suggest looking for the next dentist. In my opinion I would avoid Lakeridge Dentistry. I called them and complained and they wouldn't work with me period. In fact when I was complaining on the phone she was constantly trying to talk over me, what kind of customer service is that? I felt like they didn't care, didn't listen, and just refused to make you feel like they were at least trying to work out some sort of solution. So they seemed to just not care, period. When you goto this dentist they always give you a couple of referral cards to try and spread the word to use them (and I think you get a credit for every person you refer), which at the time we did and know someone else that goes there still. So my wife called her today and she basically confirmed that they do the same with her with trying to upsell as much as they can. This is what she said exactly: "Oh yeah... they're always doing extra screenings and asking if I want special treatment... I'm like no!"

Now in conclusion I do understand sometimes extra things do need to be done, however, when you are always trying to upsell everything it starts to make so you feel you cannot trust your dentist and instead they are just trying to make more money off of you.

The best way to communicate to a company how you treat your customers is not right, is by going to someone else. Hopefully one day Lakeridge Dentistry will actually care and treat their customers a little bit better. If they are trying to be in business for the long run people are not going to put up with this. I hope they change and make their customers feel a little more appreciated or respected.

An anagram of LakeRidge Dentistry is:

Rated: Greedily Stink

I cannot work out how these kind of businesses think they can get away with what they are doing for prolonged periods of time. It's actually a form of bullying, picking on a character because of who they are and exploiting everything they can just to make more money. I certainly would have left that Dentist alot sooner. Going to your Doctor or Dentist should not be a stressful experience, the second it becomes stressful then that is the second you should find somewhere else to take your business.

I am not entirely sure how the system works in America, but over here we have Private dentists and Dentists on the National Health Service. I know you don't have an NHS type system in America (yet), so that leads me to believe every dentist is private. Do no dentists offer a monthly fee which is respectable without having to ask for more money every month? I pay just shy of 20 pounds a month for my dentist, i don't go to them much however i am happy paying this because the service is fantastic. In fact, my dentist at this precise moment is in a city 150 miles north of the city i currently live in...that's how highly i rate them.

In saying all that, i am actually looking at changing my dentist purely for the reason that my other dentist is too far away and it's not ideal in the event i need something done in an emergency...especially as i am now without a car. Lets hope my new dentist is nothing like LakeRidge Dentistry.

Just noticed as I was reading SB's reply:

I think one of the reasons you're not getting pressured at your dentist, is that you've been going there your whole life. They likely have extensive records on you and trying to upsell you would almost be saying they suck at their job.

It would be like buying a car and then having the salesperson tell you your tires don't look safe and try to sell you tires.

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When I was a teenager the guy I worked for used to get charged more for things than everyone else constantly because he acted like he had more money than he had things to spend it on. He was always coming into work and complaining about how someone talked his wife into buying something they didn't have a use for, let alone need.

Their problem was that they were too polite, and they gave salespeople the opportunity to harass them.

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A good way to keep people from trying to sell you stuff, is to talk on your phone. Who interrupts someone talking on the phone to try and sell them something ? Nobody. You can't talk someone into something without their undivided attention. It throws them off balance, their goal shifts from trying to get you to buy something else, to just trying to get you to finish buying the stuff you already want.

You just have to make sure you pay attention to the bill, make sure they don't just try and slip something on there while you're not paying attention.

// Edit -- I forgot this was the dentist. I guess it's kind of tough to use the phone trick here.

Lakeridge Dentistry in Bonney Lake, WA pretty much sucks! They are very unprofessional.

My neighbor actually went to Lakeridge Dentistry once. I took a quick video of his tooth extraction...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hoa_oNQLeo

assneck

Bigweb, it looks like you aren't the only one complaining about Lakeridge Dentistry PLLC:

http://local.yahoo.com/info-22225039-haake-angela-lakeridge-dentistry-pllc-bonney-lake

Lakeridge Dentistry better get their act together and fast if they want to stay in business. You would think that not pissing off customers would be on the top of their list instead of trying to upsell some crappy "insurance" or whatever they call it. What a bunch of losers.

assneck

Interesting, it appears that the review by sailor was complaining about the front desk person, I am willing to bet they are complaining about the same exact lady that was also completely rude to me.

Well just had an update, they seemed to finally settle with us and apologized for how they treated us and gave us a refund of $66.00 for some of the charges which I felt were bogus. Here is their letter:



So that makes me feel better that they did take the time to apologize and refund some of our payment. I do consider things resolved between Lakeridge Dentistry and us, but will still be taking our services elsewhere. I hope in the future they change their practices some, treat customers with more respect, and don't let things escalate over the phone like they did with us.

Am I the only one who thinks that reply felt like a cookie-cutter apology?

It's analogous of the typical insurance-carrier methodology. You charge people and give them the run around as very few will take the time to actually complain.

Proven fiduciary gain, even with the bad press. Awful.

I would reply, thanking them for their consideration but your intent is to find your wife a new dentist, as this comes too little, too late.

Going by that reply i do get the impression it was mentioned already that business was being taken elsewhere and they acknowledged it. If it were me i'd leave it at that and move on.

No doubt one day they will go home and go search google for their practice only to discover this topic has been created