POSTED UNDER Dermal Fillers REVIEWS
Office review: Unethical Business Practices
ORIGINAL POST
Unethical Business Practices
SJ2022September 26, 2022
This is the most unethical medical practice I have ever dealt with. They overbooked my appointment, left me waiting in the room for almost 3 hours, didn’t provide a service, refused to immediately void the $6500 ACH payment when I walked out at 8PM, two days later demanded I sign a release form before they would give a refund, repeatedly lied to me, ignored my requests and still attempted to charge my account 3 days later. Details below.
I went Dr. Emer for dermal fillers a few weeks ago in his Los Angeles office. The initial visit would be $10,500 but I was told by Dr. Emer I may need to come back for a touch up and/or more filler in 6 weeks which I was already prepared for based on my research. They tried to sell me a $2,000 more expensive permanent filler, $800 for skin products to aid in healing and a $250 light for pain which I politely declined. I gave them my banking information to save 3% transaction fee and I had the procedure that day. I was there a little more than an hour total.
Everything went well and up to this point I was completely satisfied. Two weeks later I received a follow up call to check on me, however, looking back this was nothing more than an attempt to get me back in early to upsell me. I was told that if I came in later that day for “filler night” and allowed the procedure to be filmed for social media I could get the same amount of filler for only $6500.00. Dr. Emer was leaving town the next day for two weeks to NYC and Dubai but his coordinator said that he informed her that I could come in early but there may be more inflammation than before. I asked if she could send in the prescription to the pharmacy downstairs before they closed so I could pick it up before I came in. She said she would send it in immediately. I agreed to a 5:30PM appointment that same day (Tuesday). After I hung up she emailed me a quote that included the more expensive permanent filler that I didn’t want for $10,400.00.
I arrived at the location at 4:30 to pick up the prescription which hadn’t been called in. I called the office and waited for 30 minutes for them to fill it. My first clue of how the evening was going to unfold. When I arrived at 5PM they did not have my name in the system to check in electronically so I had to fill out the intake forms manually. My second clue. They took me back right away. The coordinator came in a few minutes later and tried to collect $10,400 for the other filler. I declined again and she used my banking information to charge me $6500 instead. She then asked me to change into a gown and apply the numbing cream. After about 45 minutes she came back in, told me to hang in there and then asked me if I wanted a water or a snack. Third clue. I was then moved to another room. About 30 minutes someone else came in with numbing cream and asked me to sign a few more papers. She was surprised to learn that I had already applied the cream an hour earlier. I was already concerned with the time because it was getting late and I had an hour drive home. About 7PM I finally opened the door and asked an employee how much longer he was going to be because I had been there since 5. Her response was that she didn’t know but another lady had been there since 3PM. She must have said something because the coordinator came in a few minutes later to apologize. She said that they told her it was going to be another 30 minutes. She also said she didn’t realize he was going to be this busy but she clearly knew he was overbooked when she made the appointment. I asked her if she was sure because I needed to get home to see my child before bed. She said that is what they told her so I waited another 30 minutes.
Just before 8PM I got dressed and walked out to the lobby where his coordinator was talking with someone else. I told her I couldn’t wait any longer and she said she would honor the price whenever I could come back in. I told her that was fine but not to charge my account. She looked very surprised. Said she already ran it and couldn’t do anything because the ‘accounting’ department had already left for the evening. I asked her to please void the transaction the next morning. ACH payments take 3 days to process so I knew there was time. I sent her a text when I got to my car expressing my dissatisfaction and reiterated that they were not to charge my account because no service was provided. She said she would take care of it.
The next morning (Wednesday) I didn’t hear anything so I sent a follow up email at 10:20 AM. She responded and said her ‘CFO’ was trying to see if they could void the transaction and she was waiting on a response. At 1:30PM she sent a text message asking to speak with me. She called me with her another woman, maybe the office manager, who said Dr. Emer would prefer to make it up to me instead of voiding the transaction. I told them no and not to not charge my account. I was not going to pay $6500 and then wait for two weeks while he was away in Dubai. She said she would talk to her supervisor and get back to me. She then refused to allow me to speak to her supervisor. I immediately called my bank and told them what had happened. They put a stop payment in for Dr. Emer’s office so that I could not be charged.
Thursday morning I received an email saying they couldn’t void the transaction because it hit their account immediately. They instead were authorizing a refund but I had to sign a Separation Agreement per their policy. I told them my account still had not been charged and there was no need to issue any refund. I also questioned them when they said they didn’t have time to stop the transaction. I knew they were stalling to give the ACH time to process and now they were trying to withhold my money unless I signed an agreement to not share my experience on any social media accounts. I told them again not to attempt to charge my account.
Friday morning, after repeated instructions, they did in fact attempt to charge my account but the bank refused to process the payment. Later that day I offered a compromise to them: if they would apply the same discount to my initial visit and give me an actual refund then I would sign their Separation Agreement and not share my experience. They declined saying “we should go our separate ways” and they would only give me a refund when I signed the agreement. Apparently they thought they had me.
I went Dr. Emer for dermal fillers a few weeks ago in his Los Angeles office. The initial visit would be $10,500 but I was told by Dr. Emer I may need to come back for a touch up and/or more filler in 6 weeks which I was already prepared for based on my research. They tried to sell me a $2,000 more expensive permanent filler, $800 for skin products to aid in healing and a $250 light for pain which I politely declined. I gave them my banking information to save 3% transaction fee and I had the procedure that day. I was there a little more than an hour total.
Everything went well and up to this point I was completely satisfied. Two weeks later I received a follow up call to check on me, however, looking back this was nothing more than an attempt to get me back in early to upsell me. I was told that if I came in later that day for “filler night” and allowed the procedure to be filmed for social media I could get the same amount of filler for only $6500.00. Dr. Emer was leaving town the next day for two weeks to NYC and Dubai but his coordinator said that he informed her that I could come in early but there may be more inflammation than before. I asked if she could send in the prescription to the pharmacy downstairs before they closed so I could pick it up before I came in. She said she would send it in immediately. I agreed to a 5:30PM appointment that same day (Tuesday). After I hung up she emailed me a quote that included the more expensive permanent filler that I didn’t want for $10,400.00.
I arrived at the location at 4:30 to pick up the prescription which hadn’t been called in. I called the office and waited for 30 minutes for them to fill it. My first clue of how the evening was going to unfold. When I arrived at 5PM they did not have my name in the system to check in electronically so I had to fill out the intake forms manually. My second clue. They took me back right away. The coordinator came in a few minutes later and tried to collect $10,400 for the other filler. I declined again and she used my banking information to charge me $6500 instead. She then asked me to change into a gown and apply the numbing cream. After about 45 minutes she came back in, told me to hang in there and then asked me if I wanted a water or a snack. Third clue. I was then moved to another room. About 30 minutes someone else came in with numbing cream and asked me to sign a few more papers. She was surprised to learn that I had already applied the cream an hour earlier. I was already concerned with the time because it was getting late and I had an hour drive home. About 7PM I finally opened the door and asked an employee how much longer he was going to be because I had been there since 5. Her response was that she didn’t know but another lady had been there since 3PM. She must have said something because the coordinator came in a few minutes later to apologize. She said that they told her it was going to be another 30 minutes. She also said she didn’t realize he was going to be this busy but she clearly knew he was overbooked when she made the appointment. I asked her if she was sure because I needed to get home to see my child before bed. She said that is what they told her so I waited another 30 minutes.
Just before 8PM I got dressed and walked out to the lobby where his coordinator was talking with someone else. I told her I couldn’t wait any longer and she said she would honor the price whenever I could come back in. I told her that was fine but not to charge my account. She looked very surprised. Said she already ran it and couldn’t do anything because the ‘accounting’ department had already left for the evening. I asked her to please void the transaction the next morning. ACH payments take 3 days to process so I knew there was time. I sent her a text when I got to my car expressing my dissatisfaction and reiterated that they were not to charge my account because no service was provided. She said she would take care of it.
The next morning (Wednesday) I didn’t hear anything so I sent a follow up email at 10:20 AM. She responded and said her ‘CFO’ was trying to see if they could void the transaction and she was waiting on a response. At 1:30PM she sent a text message asking to speak with me. She called me with her another woman, maybe the office manager, who said Dr. Emer would prefer to make it up to me instead of voiding the transaction. I told them no and not to not charge my account. I was not going to pay $6500 and then wait for two weeks while he was away in Dubai. She said she would talk to her supervisor and get back to me. She then refused to allow me to speak to her supervisor. I immediately called my bank and told them what had happened. They put a stop payment in for Dr. Emer’s office so that I could not be charged.
Thursday morning I received an email saying they couldn’t void the transaction because it hit their account immediately. They instead were authorizing a refund but I had to sign a Separation Agreement per their policy. I told them my account still had not been charged and there was no need to issue any refund. I also questioned them when they said they didn’t have time to stop the transaction. I knew they were stalling to give the ACH time to process and now they were trying to withhold my money unless I signed an agreement to not share my experience on any social media accounts. I told them again not to attempt to charge my account.
Friday morning, after repeated instructions, they did in fact attempt to charge my account but the bank refused to process the payment. Later that day I offered a compromise to them: if they would apply the same discount to my initial visit and give me an actual refund then I would sign their Separation Agreement and not share my experience. They declined saying “we should go our separate ways” and they would only give me a refund when I signed the agreement. Apparently they thought they had me.
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