Charged $331 for a Consultation After Being Told It Was Free

A friend recommended me for the pellet therapy and told me that it was a free consultation and that the pellets are $400 and done every 4 months. When I called to schedule an appointment I asked the receptionist to verify that it was a free consultation and the pellets would be $400 which she said yes, that is correct because it’s not covered by insurance. I scheduled the consultation and when I went in I sat in a room with the nurse practitioner who spent maybe 20 minutes if that going over how the pellet therapy works. She gave me a script to have bloodwork done that was done at labcorp and was told to call in about two weeks once my results were back. When I called to schedule for the pellets, I was told that I had a balance of $200 that had to be taken care of prior to scheduling for the pellet therapy. I was completely confused and when I asks she said that it was my deductible for the consult that I was told was free. Then she ignorantly spoke loudly over me telling me that there is no such thing as a free consult and proceeded to tell me that the girl who I scheduled with was fired do to messing things up at the office and that she is sorry for the false information that I was given and that I have to pay the $200 or will be put into collections. I told her that I was going to call my insurance since I had no idea that they were even submitting a bill to my insurance. Now I received a bill in the mail that my insurance was billed $331 for a 20 minute consultation that I was told was free. This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable!! I was fine and willing to pay out of pocket the $400 every 3-4 months for the pellets but am not ok with this being charged for a consultation especially when I asked to make sure it was free before scheduling. Plastic surgeons do not charge for consultations. I work in dentistry and we do free consultations. I will not recommend this place and will tell everyone to be careful if they are planning to go.