Redditor Claims Dental Clinic Charged Elderly Woman 4X Advertised Price For Not Using Exact Discount Code Phrase

Take this as a PSA to be extra careful next time you see a discount package that seems too good to be true.

Redditor howardstern266 recently shared on the platform something disheartening that happened to his friend's mum.

"I'm posting on behalf of my friend whose mother was overcharged at Smile Central Clinic (Aljunied). We are facing a classic bait-and-switch situation and need advice on escalation," he wrote.

According to the OP, his friend's mum, who has a CHAS Orange Card, saw an online advertisement on the Smile Central Clinic Facebook page "promoting a full dental package for just $43.73" for CHAS Orange Card holders.

It's stated that the advertised package includes: Consultation, X-ray, Scaling, Polishing, and Topical Fluoride. The ad also stated: "Mention 'ORANGE CHAS PACKAGE' when making an appointment."

His friend's mum decided to make a booking and as she is not fluent in English, she kept it simple by asking via WhatsApp: "Can use the orange card?"

In response to the lady's inquiry, the clinic staff replied: "Yes there will be partial subsidy with CHAS orange card for scaling and polishing."

"This confirmed the card was relevant to the service requested (scaling and polishing). An appointment was then booked for Dec 1," wrote the OP.

His friend's mum then went down to the clinic earlier this week where she received a consultation as well as treatments for Scaling, Polishing, and Topical Fluoride. She, however, did not undergo an X-ray that was purportedly included in the package.  

That's when things got suspicious. 

Despite getting the advertised services, sans the X-ray, the total bill came up to $194.57. After the CHAS subsidy, she was charged a final amount of $134.07. 

Noting the large gap between the advertised price and what was charged, the OP's friend contacted the clinic to request a refund for the difference and highlight the misleading advertising.

But the clinic's response shocked them.

"The patient did not use the EXACT PHRASE 'CHAS Orange Package' during booking," they asserted. 

They claimed that as she only asked for "scaling and polishing", they billed her at their normal, non-package rates, even though she showed her Orange CHAS card and received almost the exact package contents.

As a result, howardstern266 said that it "feels like [the clinic was] taking advantage of a technicality/linguistic barrier".

"The T&Cs do not state that failure to use the exact phrase results in being charged over $90 more. The clinic was explicitly told about the Orange CHAS card and the services (Scaling and Polishing) which align with the package," he wrote.

He also emphasised that the clinic confirmed there would be a "partial subsidy". 

"When my friend's mother mentioned the 'orange card', why did the clinic quote her the normal rates leading to the $190+ bill?" he then asked.

"Wouldn't an ethical clinic inform the client about the heavily advertised $43.73 package when the client clearly mentions the specific card that qualifies them for it, especially since the mother is middle-income and likely seeking affordability?"

He lamented that the final services received were actually less than what the package offered, yet the cost was "almost triple the advertised price" after the subsidy.

On top of that, howardstern266 claimed that they'd seen similar reviews online, suggesting that this is not a one-off incident at the clinic. 

"My friend has left a Google review to warn others about this, but the clinic deletes all negative reviews," he posited.

As a result, howardstern266 is now asking netizens for advice and wants to know whether the clinic is "legally justified" in refusing the advertised rate because of a "magic phrase" technicality, even after the card eligibility was raised.

"My friend’s mum is affected quite badly by this as the money really means a lot to her. It really feels like they took advantage of her linguistic ability," he concluded. "Continuing to just delete Google reviews just adds to this situation."

At press time, the $43.73 promo price advertised on the clinic's Facebook post dated Oct 26 is still up.