Horrible experience, Doctor admits treatment did nothing

Provider Review

• 28 Mar 2018

I want to start by saying this was my first time going to Doctor Burke’s office. I have always wanted to remove the fat under my chin. After two years of calorie control and exercise with minimal results I decided to try another approach. I decided on Coolsculpting instead of Kybella because I really do not do well with needles. I made an appointment for a consult and was excited to start the prosses of finally getting rid of my double chin. During the consult I did not actually meet with Doctor Burke but instead with her PA (don’t remember her name) and Sam the tech who was trained in Coolsculpting. They both assured me that I was a perfect candidate for Coolsculpting and that I would have great results. I asked to see the doctor as well since I wanted her opinion on all of this but was told that I couldn’t and that this is how it’s done. I was quoted at $2,400 for three treatments. One each on the left and right jaw and one in the middle. Everything seemed good so the next day I booked the treatment. Left and right side done first with the middle following a month later. On the day of the procedure the receptionist (I believe her name was Kris) tried to over charge me not once but twice. My quote was for $2,400 and she tried to charge me $2,500. I almost didn’t catch this but lucky me my card was declined. I put exactly $2,400 on the debit card so it should have been fine if I was charged the correct amount. I told her the number was wrong, so she redid it. This new charge was $2,650. Wow we are getting more expensive by the minute! I again told her this was not the right number. Only then did she bother two pull out my chart and check the price. I think she got offended that she was wrong twice. My file proved that $2,400 was the correct amount. Needless to say she was not very friendly to me after that. I know how to use a credit/debit card machine. You need to actually type in the numbers. How can you mess it up twice in under a minute? Anyway, on to the treatment. Sam the tech was very nice. Answered all my questions and generally seemed like she cared about the patient’s comfort and concerns. Procedure was as expected. Cold at first but then the area becomes numb and you don’t feel anything for the remainder the time. She only did the left and right sides. A month later I had my second treatment for the middle. I asked her why I wasn’t seeing any results yet, but she said that its normal and they will really start to show in the third month. Two months later I had my follow up to check on the progress. No change happened at all. Unfortunately, they convinced me I would need another zap in the middle to really start to see changes. So, I payed another $400 for another treatment on the middle section. They wanted to schedule me for 2 months from the second treatment for a follow-up, but I could not make it till 3 months because I was lucky enough to get picked for grand jury duty. I also had to wait 20 minutes at the frontt desk to schedule my follow-up because no one was at the desk. Only when one of the office people (not the receptionist) happened to walk by and notice that a line of 4 people waiting to be helped was forming did I finally get my appointment scheduled. Three months pass and I am still not seeing any results. I am still doing my daily workout of running 5 miles. Still doing light weights. Still watching my calorie intake. I went to my follow-up appointment and the PA (first time I saw her since my first consult) was not very shocked that I had no improvement. When I asked why I didn’t see even the slightest of improvements she said that that can sometimes happens. WHAT??? SERIOUSLY?? Why was I not told this from the start? I thought I was a “perfect candidate” and I would see “great results”. She admitted that the Coolsculpting did not work on me. Now your only answer is oh well that’s too bad? I’m sorry but that’s not good enough. Only after she saw I was getting mad did she suggest I talk with Doctor Burke for other options. Finally I get to talk to the actual doctor. She basically rehashed the same thing the PA said. She suggested a different procedure (Liposuction) since she also admitted that the Coolsculpting did not work. I was offered a small discount on the lipo but that’s it. So I already gave you $2,800 for something you yourself admit didn’t work and now you want me to spend even more money at your office? I understand that this treatment does not make you a lot of money. However, I am still a patient, and this was my first time at your office. It seems that if you are not doing a big money-making procedure they don’t really care about you. Very disappointed and I will not be returning for additional procedures like I had originally planned. TLDR Almost overcharged twice Coolsculpting did not work and doctor admits to it If you are not a big spender stay away