Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

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burnsh
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:09 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX

Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

Post by burnsh »

Here is the situation. We have a very good friend who is a great orthodontist, who just finished treating my first kid for braces for a very good discount. Unfortunately, although she is great, the company she works for is not. My second child is now ready for her braces, and thanks to my friend, we are going to be paying a fraction of the out of pocket cost compare to most people (my out of pocket after insurance will be $1300 for braces), but her company is now claiming that we can only start the treatment if we finance the braces through their in-house finance program, instead of paying a down payment and monthly installments throughout her treatment as we did before. When my wife took my second child in and was told this was the only way unless we wanted to pay for the full amount upfront, she told them it was ok, and scheduled my child to have the braces installed next week, in the mean time, I was supposed to go to their offices to fill out the contract for the financing which I have not done yet. My wife was not given any paperwork regarding the financing to include terms or fees. For all I know, it may be an interest free, fee free finance, but I simply do not know at the moment. What I do know, is that they require ACH payments for the financing, and that they already ran a hard credit inquiry on my credit based on my wife's ok, even though I was never asked or have signed anything.

Maybe I just needed to vent here, but I hate the fact that they are shoving down my throat a finance program and an ACH payment I don't want, plus they ran a hard inquiry on my credit I did not authorize (I specially dislike given them access to my checking account since I have experience multiple problems with overcharging and phantom charges with this company which I have had to dispute in the past). Then again, I also know I'm getting a great price from my friend, who has no control over the company policies. So I don't know what I should say to them when I take my kid this coming week and they asked for my signature on the finance paperwork.

Any ideas out there?
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archbish99
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Re: Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

Post by archbish99 »

Frankly, I think you're over-reacting a little bit. Realistically:
  • They want you to pay in full or finance it. What other options were you expecting? If you finance it somewhere other than through them, it looks like payment in full as far as they're concerned.
  • Before, you paid them in monthly installments. That's called financing. They've changed their financing process since you started with the last kid, and they were kind enough not to re-process your arrangement in mid-treatment. But new kid, new loan.
  • If you finance, they want to ACH debit your account so you can't forget or be late. Not the most trusting approach, but certainly not uncommon.
  • They're extending you credit, and they normally deal with amounts in the multiple thousands of dollars. Why would they not pull your credit report?
That said, if you've had problems with them before, by all means, watch carefully. Call and ask them to e-mail you a copy of the paperwork so you can look it over in advance and decide if it's something you want to agree to.

Or consider paying in full, with financing arrangements made elsewhere. Could you delay starting braces a few months and put the full amount in an FSA for 2015? That results in interest-free financing over the calendar year. My orthodontist gives an across-the-board discount for payment in full, though yours may not want to discount further than the friends&family price you're already getting.
I'm not a financial advisor, I just play one on the Internet.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

Post by cheese_breath »

The terms should be specified in the contract, so instead of guessing what they might be go read the contract. After you have this information maybe we can give you better feedback. I don't think the ACH requirement is unrealistic. They've probably had some payment deadbeats in the past and want to protect themselves from it happening again.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
toofache32
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Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:30 pm

Re: Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

Post by toofache32 »

Forget your friend the orthodontist because this has nothing to do with your friend. This is corporate dentistry and the orthodontist is an employee just like the lady at the front desk answering the phones. This is getting more and more rampant and the doctor no longer has any say in the financials. Which is appropriate since a DSO has fronted the money to build the practice and taken all the financial risk.

http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/201 ... -told.html
john94549
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:50 pm

Re: Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

Post by john94549 »

Many dental professionals offer discounts for cash (mine did, 5%, for implants) or financing options.* It's not a huge corporate conspiracy, it's just business. You might find a better option by tapping a HELOC to pay up-front, get the discount, then pay off the HELOC as you can. Our HELOC rate is prime minus 20 bps, for example. We have a modest amount drawn against the HELOC ($5K) just to ensure its availability. But the HELOC is a worthy alternative to purchases one might finance otherwise.

More creative options certainly exist. Those "zero percent" credit cards (for 18 months) come to mind. Although you won't get the discount if using a credit card, it might pencil out. Some folks (rather creatively) even suggest a used-car loan through PenFed (for your currently-owned vehicle), which is a head-scratcher to me, but I guess it works.

*Old-fashioned dentists use the "pay as you can" approach, with no interest, but one wonders why.
dickenjb
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Location: Philadelphia PA

Re: Ortho/Dental Forced Financing Dilema

Post by dickenjb »

You are getting upset over nothing. They are not forcing you to finance, you can pay in full upfront.
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