Office review: Poor Customer Service

Let me just start by saying that my consult with Dr. Kerr was excellent. I met with him last week to discuss tummy tuck, brachioplasty, and lipo back/hips. He was very knowledgeable, and answered all of my questions and concerns. I've met with 3 other surgeons prior to this consult and immediately felt that Dr. Kerr was the surgeon for me. I felt relieved that I'd finally found my surgeon and made it clear to his patient care coordinator (Vlasta) that I wanted to lock in a surgery date asap, so I could make all the appropriate preparations on my end. Initially, she was very accommodating and worked to secure a date in September for me. I was delighted, and ready to proceed pending an updated quote with additional services and discounts that we discussed.

Now this is where the plan fell apart. Following my consult, Vlasta agreed to send me the updated quote and call me for follow on Monday morning. On Monday, I never got a phone call or an email from her, so I called their office, the call went to voicemail and I left a message. Minutes later, I received an automated text message from their patient commumication app (Klara), it advised me to send them a message for a faster response. I sent a message via Klara for Vlasta. On Tuesday morning, I still hadn't heard back from Vlasta, so I sent a 2nd message through Klara. Late Tuesday afternoon, I decided to call their office again. I was able to reach Vlasta this time, she was pleasant and apologized for the delayed response. She explained that she never received my voicemail and that the office was having some technical issues with Klara, and the office was working to fix this.

I was still interested in scheduling surgery with Dr. Kerr, and she agreed to send me the updated quote via email by 5 pm and follow up with me in the morning. She even explained that she had a meeting at 0900 so I can expect to hear from her between 0930-1000. I received the quote as promised, reviewed it with my husband, sent her an email with a couple of questions (Tuesday evening). Vlasta didn't respond to my email nor did she call me on this morning (Wednesday). Later this afternoon, I called and left a message for her to call me. I then sent her an email expressing my concerns with the responsiveness of her office. She responded to my email and explained that she thought that she left a message for me this Morning and she was planning to follow-up with me later today. I assure you that there were no missed calls nor voicemail messages on my phone, so I don't know what happened with this.

Choosing a surgeon is a major decision. I don't take this decision lightly and the repeated instances of Ms. Vlasta being unresponsive and not following up as promised was a major red flag for me. I've previously had breast augmentation with another surgeon, and I work in healthcare, therefore I'm going into this situation knowing that there is a risk for potential complications even under the best circumstances. I need my surgeon and his office staff to respond promptly and follow-up as promised. This is something that I cannot compromise on so I've decided not to schedule my surgery at this time. This was a tough decision, because I was really set on Dr. Kerr. I'm so disappointed.