Aspen Dental

9am monday, dec 3rd 2018. Location at 8143 agora parkway ste #105, selma tx 78154.

We were locked in a closed aspen dental office for over 3 hours with the office manager doing her high pressure bait and switch tactics to coerce me into co-signing for a friend/ house sitter. I was told not to worry the credit check was only to be used to reduce cost of treatment. I told them not to use the credit line I would send checks.

They charged and got paid for the proposed treatment plan $7198.00 the night we walked out of the office. Called 2 days later to cancel appointments and tell them not to use my credit line again! She did not mention the fact I had been charged for the work before rendered and was already liable for $7198.00.
Every bill sent by aspen has charges for future appointments that were scheduled. But had been cancelled and work was not done - example a total of 9 painful bone removal extracts in 2 day. They tried to imply that the work was done, but I want the bills that were signed at each visit, because I know for a fact that the 12/31/18 and several others appointments were cancelled. They scammed me by high pressure sales tactics & lied, charged me for work that was never done, committing consumer fraud.

In addition, the work was shoddy and his temp flipper broke in 2 days. He was in tremendous pain due to his teeth being sawed down in prep for a proposed treatment, but having the roots exposed it was tremendously and highly sensitive.

Since writing this complaint I made a formal complaint to aspen about the billing, and they said it checked out but never provided me with any records just to comenity bank. The records I have are not legit, because they are projected appointments. So comenity deferred my account for several months. I thought it was over, not so now I am being charged 29% is that not usury?

So once again have made several calls to aspen dental and they say they will get back to me but don't.

The latest was with the new assistant office manager, jennifer, when she looked at the file she noticed several treatments that had not been preformed. She gasped at the fact I was being fraudulently charged for services not rendered! She hasn't gotten back to me as of 2/14/21.
I want the signed appointment documentation, and treatment notes of the day of appointment that he went to.

I just hope that they have not doctored the records, why I mention that is because she said that there was a signed bill on the 12/31/18 for $7000 + but he had not gotten that much work done as of that date. Since making the formal inquiry of having the records reviewed, I would not put it past them and their unethical tactics, especially if "alissa huerta" is relying on the money as her bonus or covering up her fraudulent behavior to do just that!

Aspen Dental has about ruined me financially by causing my credit rating to go from Excellent to a Bad risk. This has caused tremendous stress, financial hardship and emotional pain due to the harassment of their partner, Comenity Financial Credit Collectors, during the lockdown period, which has been a major source of negative stress affecting my physical, emotional and mental health. They are very persistent and really turned on the pressure during the pandemic, with 1 to 2 calls a day, each time a different person you have to tell that you don't have the money to pay that bill. Overnight my vacation rental income was eliminated, booking's into the summer were canceled. That was depressing enough and the added stressful pressure from Aspen Dental, - Dental First - Comenity Financial Credit Collectors harassing phone calls that have caused me to feel shameful and hopelessly depressed. Let me start at the beginning of this nightmare.
My partner (Louie) and I had planned and scheduled a long overdue camping trip to my land in Terlingua TX a beautiful but very remote area. We had arranged for a manager to take care of our vacation rental business, and someone to house sit. We were really surprised to hear our cell phone ringing for the first time on the trip, Friday Nov 30th. It was shocking news that Louie's best friend had passed away, and the funeral was to be on Friday Dec 7, 2018 in Atlanta GA. We immediately packed up camp and headed home. In our vintage camper it would take us a good 36 hours, drive time. On the drive, out of the mountains and closer to civilization we were able to get cell service, I had several frantic messages from family, informing me that my 96 year old father had been admitted into a San Antonio Hospital. So we drove through the night, stopping only for gas, exhausted, hungry and grief stricken, we made it home around noon, Sunday Dec 2nd.
We came into the house, to find our house sitter "Russell King" with his face swollen, sick to his stomach and in excruciating pain from an abscessed tooth. He had not eaten for a few days, and self medicating on alcohol, which was not working because he needed a dentist, antibiotics and some pain meds. Like they say trouble comes in threes, so I search the web for a dentist, and found "ASPEN DENTAL" they would take patients without dental insurance, next day appointments, prices looked fairly reasonable and was on the way to the hospital my father was in. Problem solved, I would drop Russell off early and then go visit my father for a few hours. I made the appointment for about 9am Monday, Dec 3rd 2018. Such a convenient location at 8143 Agora Parkway STE #105, Selma TX 78154.
I was able to catch a few winks after unloading the RV, researching for a dentist, and making arrangements to get to Atlanta before the funeral, with all our musical instruments and such. We realized that driving was our best alternative, because we needed to visit Louie's 97 year old parents and do a wellness check, since they were living at home alone and having a few health issues too.
Monday morning arrived way to quickly, caught in rush hour traffic with road work and detours in the big city, was a rude awakening. I got lost, my GPS was not finding the address, we were not able to get a live person to answer the phone at that location. My lack of sleep, worried about my father, lost, late for the appointment, and dealing with the traffic was nerve racking! On top of it all, my mind was racing with all the things that needed to be taken care of before we left.
We finally made it, and I dropped Russell off at the clinic, probably around 10 am, went on to visit my father. Spent the day with him, waiting on test results, I returned much later than I intended to pick up Russell. It was 15 minutes before the office closed. Since he had been there all day I thought he would be ready to hop in the car and go. He asked me to come in, because the Doctor wanted to talk to him about his treatment plan. We waited for the Doctor, but It turned out that it was the office manager, "Alissa Huerta" and another office worker who wanted to talk with us. They closed and locked up, sat us down to talk about Russell's care. They acted very concerned and wanted to do whatever it took to get him the dental work he needed.
That treatment plan was to the tune of $20, 000 dollars. I was shocked, not knowing what to say, I only agreed to pay to get him out of pain. She said "let's look at what we can do to reduce the bill." She left us sitting while she went back to her cube to look over the charges, doing an another work up to reduce the amount which came to $15, 000. Still too high! This was not my problem, he only worked for me, she just kept making me feel that I had to take care of him. The other girl left and Alissa just kept on her high pressure sales spiel, since he did not have any insurance or credit she couldn't reduce it any lower, BUT if she could run my credit, she was sure the charges could be discounted more. I told her I did not want to use my credit, and would write a check for the work. She told me that would be fine, the credit check was only to get the bill reduced. I wasn't thinking straight or asking questions, I had not eaten all day, I was dehydrated, emotionally and mentally drained.
The last three days of stress, grief and worry was catching up to me, I started to see flashing lights around me, as my head began to pound, and my stomach was getting very nauseous, all familiar telltales a migraine headache was coming on. We had been in that hot stuffy, closed office for over 2 and half hours, She kept on talking about how important it was for Russell to get this treatment plan and she mentally and emotionally overwhelmed me into submission, so I gave her the information to run my credit.
She left us waiting again, acting like she really was working to get a better discount, I wasn't very present with what was really going on, with my head spinning and feeling faint. She never offered us any water, and now I see that as a way to make us more compliant. I did ask to see the charges and wanted her to compare the different treatment plans, but she would not do that, making excuses she needed those papers to do another price work up. Guess what? My credit worthiness would allow for a $10, 000 line of credit, and, you guessed it! that just happened to be the amount that would cover all the work Russell needed.
She pulled Russell aside writing down the different monthly plans and amounts he would have to pay. Assuring him that he would be able to make the low monthly payments for the 60 month plan. She did this in a manner that his manly pride could not disagree to the fact he would not be able to pay that amount. She began setting up several appointments a week and insisting that he could make them, when I knew he would not. she made it seem like it would be no problem for him and got Russell to agree at that time to the 60 month deal. He hadn't been to the dentist in ages and it was obvious by the state of his teeth. I had made several attempts to leave, but she would somehow distract me to stay. I signed papers without reading them, trusting what she was telling me, Oh what a fool I am! I asked her if they charged for missed appointments, and she assured us they did not charge for cancellations.
After we were finally released, I told Russell that I could not pay that much, or would I and, he needed to re-evaluate the work they wanted to do on him. The teeth they wanted to save would be painful, and in the end not worth the money that he would pay. I told him he needed a second opinion, and when I got back we could find another dentist. I said I was only willing to get him out of the pain, and would write up some checks before I left which I did.
The day we were leaving, Wed 12/05/18, two days after the appointment, I repeatedly called the dental office, it took many attempts to finally talk with the office manager, Alissa Huerta on the phone. I REITERATED THAT I DID NOT WANT MY CREDIT LINE TO BE USED, AND I WOULD PAY IN CASH SENDING A PRE-SIGNED CHECK. SHE HAD BOOKED SEVERAL APPOINTMENTS THAT WEEK FOR RUSSELL, AND FOR ALL OF THE WORK TO BE DONE REALLY FAST, REQUIRING HIM TO BE IN SAN ANTONIO TWO TO THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR THE NEXT MONTH. AND I TOLD HER TO CANCEL THE APPOINTMENTS, AND JUST DO WHAT HE NEEDED TO GET OUT OF PAIN. She was so insistent that the plan they had worked up was what he needed, and she kept talking AT ME not letting me get a word in. I TOLD HER I DO NOT WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS BILL, AND NOT TO USE MY CREDIT LINE. she said that they needed that to make the appointments, AND I TOLD HER TO CANCEL THEM ESPECIALLY, THE ONE FOR NEW YEARS EVE. I TOLD HER TO CANCEL THE APPOINTMENTS FOR THAT WEEK the antibiotic's they prescribed had not had a chance to work yet. I told her he would get in touch and I would send him with a check. I had to end the conversation, because she just kept on repeating that he would need the appointments. I said very clearly, " not to use my credit line, if I was the one being made responsible for the bill, she came back with some excuse so I said a little louder "DON'T USE MY CREDIT LINE. PERIOD!" I thought I had made myself clear that my credit line was not to be used.
When we finally returned home from our trip, and addressed the dental bill situation: Russell told me that when he went to the next appointment, that is when they told him that they could not take the check, because they did not take cash. Needless to say I was totally shocked, and rather angry. That night in the office she never said they couldn't take a check, I was insistent on that detail because he did not have any ID or driver's license. As I look at the paperwork it states that payments are to be made on line, over the phone or mail. Russell did not have a computer or checking account. The other thing was that they put me on a 18 month deferred interest with 29.99% if not paid in that time frame. I did not know that was what they were signing me up for. When i called her she could have told me that I was already charged for his treatment plan and my credit line was used but she did not.
I was fit to be tied when I discovered the bait and switch, and for days kept calling the manager, leaving messages for her, but never got a response back. I had gotten 2 bills in the mail. I did get a bill from Aspen Dental and a bill from Dental First - Comenity Bank, I talked to someone in the office and they acted as if they were separate bills and they wanted me to pay both. They wanted me to pay twice for work. I told Russell I wanted them to give me a full accounting of the work they did on him and what those itemized charges were. I never got that either. He did go and get a bill on the 12/21/18 that bill was only for $270 and projected amounts for future dates he never went to. The bill was made 12/21/18 at 6:40 PM Friday. Another after hours bill that was not signed either. I was so enraged about the bill, I wrote a review to warn others of their tactics, but that review was immediately taken off their site. I contacted Dental First to stop the credit line and not allow anymore charges to it. It was $7000+ at this point and I did not want it to go up to $10, 000. I was so emotionally charged about the situation that I did not handle it very well. I have an amendment of the emails I sent and their response.
Looking through the paper work, I discovered that leaving the office on Dec 3, 2018 the last bid was recorded to be after 7:30 pm, and of course there was more time spent to sign papers and such, that all happened two and a half to three hours after they closed the office. I also realized they charged me $7, 198. before we ever left the office. How is it legal to charge someone for work before it is done? Obviously they immediately charged Comenity $7, 198 and Aspen sent me a bill for $5, 181.44. for work that was not all done? I know he never was able to get the crowns installed that they charged him for, because they never would call back or answer the phone for him to make an appointment.
I did not know this was to be a credit card, just a line of credit that was open till 02/01/2019. I was under the impression that an open charge transaction account would be charged as you went along with the work done. That is not what happened at all, they signed me up for a dental first credit card and charged the first day the total amount of PROPOSED WORK to be done.
Looking through the screwy way they do accounting, I believe to have overpaid and certainly do not owe them any more money. The forecasted appointments that they charged for, many of them Russell never showed up for to have the work done. Also they had him scheduled for 3 extracts with bone removal on 12/10/18 and he was to come back the next day 12/11/18 for 6 more bone removal extracts. A TOTAL OF 9 PAINFUL BONE REMOVAL EXTRACTS IN 2 DAYS. seems absurd to me and knowing Russell I doubt that he would get up and drive the 90 minutes to another appointment. I want the bills with his signature of each of his visits, because I know for a fact he didn't go on 12/31/18. I believe that they have charged me for work that was never done and committed consumer fraud and I do not feel that I should be held responsible for this bill.
At this time I cannot get into the original Aspen Account because they have no record of log in account or password, how convenient. The Dental First will only show transactions back to 06/20/19. They were so caring wanting to make sure Russell got the care he needed and trying to make it affordable attitude quickly changed. After that phone call telling her not to use my credit she became unavailable and after returning from my trip, Russell was having a hard time contacting them to arrange an appointment to finish the work, and his temporary crowns and fillings had fallen out, his flipper also broke within a week or two. He was never able to schedule an appointment to get his crowns or the permanent flipper. I wanted to make sure that the account would be closed so no other charges could be made on it, but they did not do that, but no other charges were made. I was out and out scammed, and hood winked to take on this bill, and I cannot afford to pay any longer. It was painful for Russell whenever he drank or ate anything hot or cold. He was getting very angry at the situation and at me for taking him there. He took off in my truck and never returned with it, essentially stealing it.
I feel like they cheated me and most certainly scammed me into this agreement even though I said over the phone and in the office, Not to use my credit line.
Since I stopped making payments in 3/20/20 Comenity Collections have harassed me with 1 to 2 calls a day to 4 - 6 times a week. Every day of the lock down I would get a call from them. I made the fatal mistake of getting mouthy with one of the collectors saying to him "What can you really do to me? All my property is paid off and I don't have the money to pay this bill." Funny thing after that remark my credit score started going down daily 15 points from excellent to now bad. Two other collections showed up on my report one from a Children's Hospital in Austin (don't have kids and have moved from there) another for a city of Austin Bill that was paid by a tenant but the recording of it was not logged in. That was not my bill either, but in my name.
Then my lines of credit on credit cards were cut back to a few hundred dollars over what I owed at the time. Example I had a $20, 000 credit line that was cut to about $4000 and I owed $3600 at the time and if you check it out I never have late payments. So if I go over the amount they jack the interest rate up to 29% or more. It felt like I had gotten on a list of some sort, and this is all happening during the lock down of Covid 19 virus. I feel very harassed and condemned by these people - Aspen Dentist - Dental First - Comenity Bank Collections. Now that my credit rate is so low it effects everything like insurance, getting loans, all so it attracts an increase of calls trying to sell me things unneeded: warranty companies, debt consolidation companies, loan companies all trying to get my data and scam me. They affected my livelihood, I was unable to get a loan for an HVAC system in a rent house that I was finishing remodeling. That has caused me to lose three month's rent. Creating other financial problems for finishing the job, all this occurring during Covid-19 pandemic.
Due to the quarantine, losing most of my income source, and not having the money to pay this bill along with the harassment from Aspen Dental, - Dental First - Comenity Financial Credit Collectors angered me enough to tell my shameful story, (nobody likes to fess up to being conned). All of 2019 I was out of town quite a bit due to my father being in and out of the hospital in Louie's parents in and out of the hospital till his father passed in 9/20/19. so it was a very emotional year and a lot on my plate I just paid the bill because I did not have the time or energy to ask for justice. What I paid to them is $3428 not including late fees and such. I paid $1000 one month thinking that would be for three months plus, but they would not credit my account in that way. This whole situation is unfair, unjust, and their practices are dishonest and fraudulent, You don't lock the doors and keep patients in the office after hours, with only the Office Manager, Russell and I for a good 3 hours talking at us, mentally over whelming, without water and fresh air, and misrepresenting their services, which amounts to lying to us! Charging for services never rendered or giving truthful and honest accounting bills
Quarantine gave me the gift of time and allowing me to focus on the problem, to speak out exposing the fraudulent practices that manipulated me into this situation, and that anger has driven me to tell my story so others won't be scammed and conned as I have been. I want some justice!
I want my excellent credit rating back, and taken off of whatever list I have been put on, that has caused my credit lines to be cut back with higher percentage interest rates. I want money returned to me for services not rendered.

I was held for 2.5 hours after the dental office closed, only to be deceived into using my credit rating to help a friend get a better discount. It was high pressure and misleading when I was in a highly emotional grief stricken state as well as tired, hungry, and dehydrated. She mentally over whelmed me and It was highly irregular.
I dropped a friend off in morning at Aspen Dental and returned much later, 15 minutes before the office closed. Since he had been there all day I thought he would be ready to hop in the car and go. He asked me to come in, because the Doctor wanted to talk to him about his treatment plan. We waited for the Doctor, but It turned out that it was the office manager and another office worker who wanted to talk with us. They closed and locked up, sat us down to talk about his care.

She acted very concerned and wanted to do whatever it took to get him the dental work he needed and could afford. I was emotionally drained, tired, I had not eaten all day, I was dehydrated and they did not even offer any water which was a tactic to get me more compliant.
The cost of the work he needed would cost $20, 000 dollars. I was shocked, and didn't know what to say, I only agreed to pay to get him out of pain. She said let's look at what we can do to reduce the bill. she went over the charges and did another work up to reduce the bill. He did not have any insurance or credit. She said if they could run my credit, she was sure they could get the charges even lower. I told her I did not want to use my credit and would write a check for the work. She told me that would be fine, the credit check was only to get the bill reduced.
I was not thinking properly and allowed her to run my credit which came back to a $10, 000 credit line. Guess what that just happened to be the amount needed to do all the work he needed. By this time my head was pounding, I felt a migraine coming on and I just wanted to go, but she was very persuasive, telling me they would not use my credit line it was just a formality. She gave him a 60 monthly payment amount and told him he surely could pay that. Proceeded to schedule all the appointments needed, 2 to 3 a week in an unfamiliar big city. I didn't realize it but the document's she gave us closed in a folder, already charged the credit company over $7000 for work that had not been done. How did she know we would even come back. He was charged for services not rendered. I was liable for a bill, I told them not to use my credit line. I called 2 days later repeating to her not to use my credit line. I thought I made myself clear, but when I got back from the funeral I attended. I was shocked and angry, feeling like I had to pay this bill and did for a year, until the virus lockdown came and my vacation rental business went bust with cancellations for 3 months. At the time I felt that I had no options, but is that really the truth?