I decided to go to Western Dental after it was suggested by co-workers as an easy, quick and cheaper option. I was feeling soreness in my gums and wanted to take care of it right away. Everything was fine, until my second visit, after having a confrontation with the manager.

My sudden realizations against the company are as follows:

Western's payment plan contract includes the work that is going to be serviced at an estimated price with a monthly payment plan; but it does not explain what work is actually completed with each visit and its related cost. You are simply billed for an item such as "Periodontal Scaling & Root Plan" at an extended plan co-pay rate and then given a monthly installment pay plan for an extended/final cost.

After my second visit and after having a petty dispute with the office's manager, I was questioning how much of my service plan had actually been completed and how much I was obligated to complete paying. In other words, there was the projected and contracted cost of the plan which was billed, and then there's the actual cost of each job that has been completed in that work plan as of the given date of the last visit. With Western's contact, it is hard to tell where you are within that scheduled project and which costs have been incurred and which are not.

Why this is of concern to me is because I was truly not interested in returning to the facility after confronting the manager. I was asked by the doctor to return in two weeks, but I didn't want to return to that office, after being treated so rudely, unprofessionally and with lack of sympathy and disregard by the branch manager. It just gave me a really bad vibe, like I was unimportant to them and simply a means to a profit. I was so disgusted that after planning to take off, I then turned around and walked back into the office and cancelled my next appointment. I expressed my disgust to the manager, at which she actually just stood there and tried to ignore me! That just angered me even more and showed me that this office had absolutely no professional integrity or sympathy for its patrons. Not only that, but it appeared as though she had practiced such demeanor with her customers before. She thinks she can just stand there stone faced and focused on something else, when she is only about four feet away or so, behind a counter with other staff sitting right nearby. It concerned my worst assumptions and took my concern to the next level: this was not just simple disagreement, but truly lack of respect and utter disregard. The last thing I expect from a practicing doctor's office is to be ignored by the manager or the staff! I have zero tolerance for such behavior. We all go to a doctor to be cared for and most of us spend plenty of money with them and place our trust with them, so such attitude is completely unacceptable. It goes against the ethics and concern I expect from any doctor or practice and which takes such oath.

I next thought that I could complete my work at another Western Dental location here in San Jose, but the 1-800 telephone customer service tells me that I have to complete my services and pay my balance due before I transfer to another location. Yet, it appears that they believe that they can treat me with less than respect. They can disregard my complaint. They can have limited access to their facility and/or high parking rates. Despite all that dissatisfaction, I would still be obligated to that same branch location, even though they are a large corporation servicing at more than one location in a given city. That doesn't seem fair. If I don't like a given manager, staff or location, I should have the option to transfer or negotiate. But Western appears to be uncompromising.

Presently, I am questioning wether I would like to return to this location, if even to any Western Dental facility at all. Because of the way that the contract plan is written, it is hard to tell what you are getting for your money, what has been completed, what maintenance shall be done, how many visits you will be afforded and so on. This is all determined by Western Dental. When you call the office, you are asked to call a specialist or talk to a remote corporate business office as of Monday.

I am guessing that I am suppose to have one more visit, or perhaps more, but this is not clear. I am somewhat sure what has been completed, but I am unclear what work is not. If I choose not to return to the office, as far as I can tell, there seems to be no clear compromise by Western Dental to discount the rest of the cost of the plan for work that has not been provided. It seems that they would intend to keep billing me, regardless.

I am glad that most of the agreed work seems to be done and that I only agreed to a cost that was not substantially high or extended out over a long payment plan for several months that I couldn't pay off. I only owe another 700 dollars approximately, but I have already learned a valuable lesson in dealing with this company and I don't think I shall continue with them.

Oddly, what led me to the more profound realization was something that was actually a rather petty concern. When I arrived at the branch location, downtown San Jose has quite a few parking garages and open lots, but it appears that Western Dental will not validate any garage. They paid for my first visit, but were unclear about where I should park on my second visit. They said to park in the city garage at Third St., which I did. The problem is that there are more than two garages on that street nearby, so I was rudely surprised when I returned to the garage and realized that my parking fee had to be paid out of pocket. Not only that, but I saw another Western customer who was there at the garage and very upset, because she appeared to have limited income and no cash on hand to pay for the parking. (After all, the current economy has put lots of low-income families into real hardship). Like me, she felt misled and poorly regarded by the management and staff at the office who do not make it clear at which garage to park. She was so upset, because she had her daughter with her, wanted everything to go comfortably and alright and yet she could not pay and was stuck inside the garage. She actually began crying. Myself, although not as dramatic, I went back to the office and asked kindly for validation and explained to them that they were not very clear as to where to park, because there are two garages on the same street.

That's when I started getting very upset, because the manager simply disregarded my complaint and refused to pay for the validation. Most businesses in downtown San Jose have validated parking, especially for city garages, which is where I parked. So, I thought it was extremely petty for her to refuse my validation, after having spent over an hour in the office and spending a few hundred dollars on dental work. I can afford to pay for parking, but downtown parking can easily add up and its quite standard and courteous for businesses to validate a customer's parking in any circumstance. Why else would most people in San Jose even consider parking downtown, when there's plenty of places across the valley to go with free parking? The city actually encourages business to validate to stimulate business in the downtown district. But Western doesn't seem to care.

Indeed, this is not just about a silly parking fee. It's about receiving respect fron your practitioner. Its about fairness and clarity in contracts. Its about services rendered and value and appreciation for the money you pay and the business you provide. Its about comfort, assurance, sympathy and easy and affordable access, which is what I expect from my doctor.