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Want refund from Chiropractor.

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Queensnake

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan.

I went to see a chiropractor in november and december 2011 because my family doctor told me to. I had to pay cash for the chiropractor, since it is not covered by insurance. I found a chiropractor in the phone book that offered an online new cash patient deal with a money back guarantee. the offer reads:

New Patient specail offer!..... Consultation, examination, xrays, first adjustment all for $99.00!**************100% risk free, money back guarantee. (next part in " " in the offer)
"if you are not competely satisfied with our service or your results AFTER your first week of SCEDULED CARE, we will cheerfully refund all you have paid." no questions, no excuses, no restrictions apply.

So I went to this chiropractor and paid with my credit card cause I'm unemployed. I went on 11-30-11, 12-2-11, 12-7-11, and 12-12-11 for "scheduled care" the last appoointment, before I payed I asked one receptionist about the refund, since my back still hurt and the doctor didn't know why and the office service was not up to standard on 2 occasions. the receptioned acted like she knew nothing about the refund and said she had not seen the online offer I had printed and in my hand showing her. she wrote down my name and number on a post it and said the office manager would call me. so i paid for the appointment--you know "pay when services rendered"? (they later said since i paid for this appointment that I was happy with the service ." I emailed the main office email from thier website 3 times and they would not email back or call me back as requested in the emails. I also canceled an appointment they made me set up for more care by email and they said I never canceled. I finally got a voicemessage i left them to get a return call from the office manager.
she left me a nasty voicemail saying i was not getting a refund cause i took too long to ask for it (!!), and I paid for my last visit. (!!)

so on 12-31-11 I filed a complaint to the better business bureau to get the refund I feel I deserve. The bbb website said most complaints are resolved in 30 days!! The chiropractor would not work with the bbb correctly and purposely made it take way longer to do. I finally got a "we can't help you" letter from bbb on 9-4-12!!! Nine months and no refund! There's more to the story as far as emails to the bbb and from the chiropractor to the bbb, but basicly the chiro would no release my accounting records because it was part of my medical file and needed a release form. so i had one from my normal doctor's office and filled it out and sent it to the bbb to get the records to continue. well, this wasn't good enough for the chiro, so they sent their own release form, which i sent back. They sent a letter that really pist me off to the bbb. They made things up in the letter, saying I asked for a 60 day money back guarantee, which i never said because I had the printed offer in my habd in the office when i asked for the refund; they said they never got the 3 emails I sent to them and didn't get the email canceling the appointment they just made for me after i paid; they said I was in their care for 11 days not 7 or less, which is true if you include weekends when they arte closed; they messed up the refferral for more xrays at a hospital and said the refferal was done right and I didn't answer the call to make the appointment for xrays--I didn't get a call and they gave me the wrong number to call myself after i ask for it in the office on the 7th of december I believe--so i had to get a referal from my regular doctor later; the biggest piss me off part was this
"there is an aspect to this case which i believe bears signficant relevance to this pateint's motivation in requesting a refund and filing a complaint; primarily, that she has applied and denied SSA disability benefits. it was highly unusual that on her very first visit, before a full assessment and develpoment of a treatment plan could even be established, Ms. Smith requested that her medical records be released to Disablity determination services. Ms. Smith did not report this information either in her case history or verbally, and upon questioning, denied her claim was related to the low back condition that i was treating. this would be pertinent information for any doctor to know. she stated that her application was related to a seperate and unrelated condition, however, the fact that we since recieved two additional requests for such records and the patient's written statements from 5-8-12 (see attached) suggest otherwise. it appears that ms. Smith's primary objuctive may have been to obtain disability benefits, as she discontinued care prematurely during the active assessment phase immidiatly after her application was denied. rather than commit to the LONG-TERM care that would likely be necessary to resolve her condition, she moved on to a different doctor, which is a common pattern in most cases.
For all of the above reasons and based on the evidence provided, we refute ms. smith's claim that she is entitled to a refund. we believe we have provided complete and non-refutable documentation to support our decision, and therefor, will not be resonding to additional correspondence form BBB related to this case."

I applied for disability for depression and anxiety problems that prevent me from holding a fulltime job and being able to care for myself financially. I was denied on
12-12-11, but didn't get the letter in the mail for denial that day!!! I asked for my records to be released to SSD becasue they told me to report ANY NEW DOCTORS I SEE during the case. Am i suppsed to tell my dentist about the SSD case too, even though it's not about my teeth? My back started huting in the begining of oct 2011 for no reason. I applied for disability months before oct 2011! I quit getting the chiro's care because I wanted a refund like the offer said: not happy with the service or the results after 7 days, no questions asked! Why would I want a longterm care plan with someone that can't figure out why it hurts? they couldn't even get a referal right. I moved back to the same doctor that said i need a chiropractor--my regular family doctor and they got my referal for xrays done. I still have back pain to this day and my regular doctor doesn't know why. my doctor said I need phsical therapy, which is not covered by my county low-income health plan, so All i do is take pain pills and muscle relaxers for it, along with strecthes at home.

I had my therapist read the letter and some info about this chiropractor and the BBB and she agreed with me: they owe me a refund. (my therapist I've seen over a year for depression and anxeity!) I feel like defamation of character comes into play with them calling me a doctor hopper looking for disablity benefits! it is totally not true and my boyfriend was witness to all this.

so, I have evidence of all this on paper. I feel like they owe me a refund of the $220.00 I spent there, plus maybe for calling me a doctor hopper when it is not true.

Do I have a good case for small claims court? would I win the case? I'm still unemployed and waiting for disability appeal with a lawyer, so no money to fool around in court for no reason (fees to file in court). I tried to explain some of this to a lawyer I just called for free advice and he wouldn't help at all. my disability lawyer's assistant said she wouldn't look at it either. I just want real advice for this before it's been too long to go to small claims court. (any idea how long I have to file in court when it happened dec 2011?)
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan.

I went to see a chiropractor in november and december 2011 because my family doctor told me to. I had to pay cash for the chiropractor, since it is not covered by insurance. I found a chiropractor in the phone book that offered an online new cash patient deal with a money back guarantee. the offer reads:

New Patient specail offer!..... Consultation, examination, xrays, first adjustment all for $99.00!**************100% risk free, money back guarantee. (next part in " " in the offer)
"if you are not competely satisfied with our service or your results AFTER your first week of SCEDULED CARE, we will cheerfully refund all you have paid." no questions, no excuses, no restrictions apply.

So I went to this chiropractor and paid with my credit card cause I'm unemployed. I went on 11-30-11, 12-2-11, 12-7-11, and 12-12-11 for "scheduled care" the last appoointment, before I payed I asked one receptionist about the refund, since my back still hurt and the doctor didn't know why and the office service was not up to standard on 2 occasions. the receptioned acted like she knew nothing about the refund and said she had not seen the online offer I had printed and in my hand showing her. she wrote down my name and number on a post it and said the office manager would call me. so i paid for the appointment--you know "pay when services rendered"? (they later said since i paid for this appointment that I was happy with the service ." I emailed the main office email from thier website 3 times and they would not email back or call me back as requested in the emails. I also canceled an appointment they made me set up for more care by email and they said I never canceled. I finally got a voicemessage i left them to get a return call from the office manager.
she left me a nasty voicemail saying i was not getting a refund cause i took too long to ask for it (!!), and I paid for my last visit. (!!)

so on 12-31-11 I filed a complaint to the better business bureau to get the refund I feel I deserve. The bbb website said most complaints are resolved in 30 days!! The chiropractor would not work with the bbb correctly and purposely made it take way longer to do. I finally got a "we can't help you" letter from bbb on 9-4-12!!! Nine months and no refund! There's more to the story as far as emails to the bbb and from the chiropractor to the bbb, but basicly the chiro would no release my accounting records because it was part of my medical file and needed a release form. so i had one from my normal doctor's office and filled it out and sent it to the bbb to get the records to continue. well, this wasn't good enough for the chiro, so they sent their own release form, which i sent back. They sent a letter that really pist me off to the bbb. They made things up in the letter, saying I asked for a 60 day money back guarantee, which i never said because I had the printed offer in my habd in the office when i asked for the refund; they said they never got the 3 emails I sent to them and didn't get the email canceling the appointment they just made for me after i paid; they said I was in their care for 11 days not 7 or less, which is true if you include weekends when they arte closed; they messed up the refferral for more xrays at a hospital and said the refferal was done right and I didn't answer the call to make the appointment for xrays--I didn't get a call and they gave me the wrong number to call myself after i ask for it in the office on the 7th of december I believe--so i had to get a referal from my regular doctor later; the biggest piss me off part was this
"there is an aspect to this case which i believe bears signficant relevance to this pateint's motivation in requesting a refund and filing a complaint; primarily, that she has applied and denied SSA disability benefits. it was highly unusual that on her very first visit, before a full assessment and develpoment of a treatment plan could even be established, Ms. Smith requested that her medical records be released to Disablity determination services. Ms. Smith did not report this information either in her case history or verbally, and upon questioning, denied her claim was related to the low back condition that i was treating. this would be pertinent information for any doctor to know. she stated that her application was related to a seperate and unrelated condition, however, the fact that we since recieved two additional requests for such records and the patient's written statements from 5-8-12 (see attached) suggest otherwise. it appears that ms. Smith's primary objuctive may have been to obtain disability benefits, as she discontinued care prematurely during the active assessment phase immidiatly after her application was denied. rather than commit to the LONG-TERM care that would likely be necessary to resolve her condition, she moved on to a different doctor, which is a common pattern in most cases.
For all of the above reasons and based on the evidence provided, we refute ms. smith's claim that she is entitled to a refund. we believe we have provided complete and non-refutable documentation to support our decision, and therefor, will not be resonding to additional correspondence form BBB related to this case."

I applied for disability for depression and anxiety problems that prevent me from holding a fulltime job and being able to care for myself financially. I was denied on
12-12-11, but didn't get the letter in the mail for denial that day!!! I asked for my records to be released to SSD becasue they told me to report ANY NEW DOCTORS I SEE during the case. Am i suppsed to tell my dentist about the SSD case too, even though it's not about my teeth? My back started huting in the begining of oct 2011 for no reason. I applied for disability months before oct 2011! I quit getting the chiro's care because I wanted a refund like the offer said: not happy with the service or the results after 7 days, no questions asked! Why would I want a longterm care plan with someone that can't figure out why it hurts? they couldn't even get a referal right. I moved back to the same doctor that said i need a chiropractor--my regular family doctor and they got my referal for xrays done. I still have back pain to this day and my regular doctor doesn't know why. my doctor said I need phsical therapy, which is not covered by my county low-income health plan, so All i do is take pain pills and muscle relaxers for it, along with strecthes at home.

I had my therapist read the letter and some info about this chiropractor and the BBB and she agreed with me: they owe me a refund. (my therapist I've seen over a year for depression and anxeity!) I feel like defamation of character comes into play with them calling me a doctor hopper looking for disablity benefits! it is totally not true and my boyfriend was witness to all this.

so, I have evidence of all this on paper. I feel like they owe me a refund of the $220.00 I spent there, plus maybe for calling me a doctor hopper when it is not true.

Do I have a good case for small claims court? would I win the case? I'm still unemployed and waiting for disability appeal with a lawyer, so no money to fool around in court for no reason (fees to file in court). I tried to explain some of this to a lawyer I just called for free advice and he wouldn't help at all. my disability lawyer's assistant said she wouldn't look at it either. I just want real advice for this before it's been too long to go to small claims court. (any idea how long I have to file in court when it happened dec 2011?)


The BBB has no regulatory authority whatsoever - they cannot (and do not) promise ANY sort of refund.

I'm afraid you also have a very unrealistic expectation of how chiropractic treatment works.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
It also appears you exceeded the week of treatment, thus invalidating the refund offer. You should have clarified the cancellation period beforehand. They would then likely not have treated you.
 

Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
It also appears you exceeded the week of treatment, thus invalidating the refund offer. You should have clarified the cancellation period beforehand. They would then likely not have treated you.
I disagree.

The offer states "if you are not competely satisfied with our service or your results AFTER your first week of SCEDULED CARE, we will cheerfully refund all you have paid." no questions, no excuses, no restrictions apply."

There are two times you could request a refund, before the first week of scheduled care, or after the first week of scheduled care. Since the present timeframe is after the first week of scheduled care, OP should be entitled to a refund.

I think it's foolish to publish an offer like that, but if OP relied on that offer, the doc should abide by it.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
I disagree.

The offer states "if you are not competely satisfied with our service or your results AFTER your first week of SCEDULED CARE, we will cheerfully refund all you have paid." no questions, no excuses, no restrictions apply."

There are two times you could request a refund, before the first week of scheduled care, or after the first week of scheduled care. Since the present timeframe is after the first week of scheduled care, OP should be entitled to a refund.

I think it's foolish to publish an offer like that, but if OP relied on that offer, the doc should abide by it.
OP exceeded the 1 week of treatment by her appointment on 12/12. The offer was good for a week of treatment. OP exceeded that. She cannot argue the service was bad, otherwise she should not have gone for the last appointment.
 

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