Feller Medical - Be Extremley Careful Paying Over Deposit

[dingdong12]

dr feller may indeed feel he is right and that is admirable but by refusing to read the thread in the way he did is not in my opinion ,and could have elaborated more on his decisions not to after hearing what others had to say.

[Gandolf]

dr feller may indeed feel he is right and that is admirable but by refusing to read the thread in the way he did is not in my opinion ,and could have elaborated more on his decisions not to after hearing what others had to say.

You can rest assured that he is at least going to read the thread, the comment about not reading it is about as believable as his comment about losing money on the OPs deposit.

 

I think this thread would also be a valid place for me to comment about my recent experience with a consult I had at Feller Medical last month. I had my appointment (which was set up about 2 months in advance) cancelled at the last minute not once, but twice. The 2nd time I got a call literally 24 hours beforehand and was already on the road, I had left work early and was in the process of driving to NYC. When I set up my appointment with the clinic, I made it very clear that I was driving in from out of town and even asked about hotels and such. On the first cancellation phone call I received from their clinic, I had a few days notice so it was pretty easy for me to rearrange my PTO at work and change my hotel dates but I wasn't able to do it the second time around because I was literally due that same day at the hotel and they charged me for that night. I explained the ramifications of the last minute cancellation to his office rep who called me, but her response was essentially "oh well, too bad for you." So, in the end I lost an extra day and a half of PTO which didn't cost me money per se but it's a scarce commodity that's valuable to me and I had to pay for the hotel a 2nd time when I actually ended up going out to NY the following week.

 

Obviously the fall out for a patient like myself is much less than it would be for a clinic who has to pay staff and pass up the opportunity to do a surgery, but I did lose 100 bucks on the hotel and the PTO is worth about 500 bucks if calculated based on my wages. If something like this is "about principal and not money" as one of the previous posters said in his post then shouldn't things like this work both ways? I chose not to air any of this on the forum last month after my consultation with Feller as he seemed like a nice guy and because I know things happen and I'm sure he had a reason for cancelling my appointment. I am only doing it now because I think it was wrong to talk to the OP in the arrogant, self-aggrandizing manner that he did here when the situation was essentially reversed. I also want to add that none of the cancellation stuff was mentioned in my consult with Dr. Feller so he may or may not know the details of the calls I had with his staff, but I believe it reflects on him and his practice nevertheless.

[Shampoo]

I explained the ramifications of the last minute cancellation

to his office rep who called me, but her response was

essentially "oh well, too bad for you."

 

If that's true that borders on ridiculous.

 

If you were charged a hotel night because Dr. Feller's office

cancelled last minute then I would ask Dr. Feller to pay the hotel fees.

[dingdong12]

gandolph ; of course it refects on feller medical even if dr feller did not know about your situation personally.i appreciate how frustrating that must have been for you and is yet another example of how the common man is supposed to adhere to all instructions dealt out by organisation but as soon as the tables are turned and the organistions break there end of the bargain its a aw well tough luck and take it on the chin . absolute rediculous. its getting to the stage that we all need a signed discalimer before we do anything!

 

you were genuinely put out by fact your appointment was cancelled

[Gandolf]

If that's true that borders on ridiculous.

 

If you were charged a hotel night because Dr. Feller's office

cancelled last minute then I would ask Dr. Feller to pay the hotel fees.

I didn't bother doing that as I'm sure it wouldn't have resulted in anything being compensated by them. For me it just wasn't worth worrying about. And yes, my story is 100% true.

[Shampoo]

Dr. Feller has a great reputation and he may not even be aware of this. Maybe his staff over-booked or something. I would bet Dr. Feller would gladly compensate you if it was 100% their fault that you had to pay for a hotel because they cancelled. Dr. Feller didn't get to where he is by not treating his patients right.

[dingdong12]

well as he wont be reading this thread i guess he wont know !

[Gandolf]

 

well as he wont be reading this thread i guess he wont know !

Yeah and plus I'm not a patient of his, I ended up going with Dr. Rahal. Either way I'm not asking for my money back as life is too short and stressful enough to make a federal case about a few hours worth of salary, I only got into this stuff with the lady on the phone to try as hard as I could to get them to honor the appointment but she made it clear that it wasn't going to happen so I had to chalk it up to bad luck and make another appointment and luckily the 3rd time was the charm and they honored the appointment.

[dingdong12]

im glad worked out for you in end gandolph.

[theportchesterpirate]

You can rest assured that he is at least going to read the thread, the comment about not reading it is about as believable as his comment about losing money on the OPs deposit.

 

I think this thread would also be a valid place for me to comment about my recent experience with a consult I had at Feller Medical last month. I had my appointment (which was set up about 2 months in advance) cancelled at the last minute not once, but twice. The 2nd time I got a call literally 24 hours beforehand and was already on the road, I had left work early and was in the process of driving to NYC. When I set up my appointment with the clinic, I made it very clear that I was driving in from out of town and even asked about hotels and such. On the first cancellation phone call I received from their clinic, I had a few days notice so it was pretty easy for me to rearrange my PTO at work and change my hotel dates but I wasn't able to do it the second time around because I was literally due that same day at the hotel and they charged me for that night. I explained the ramifications of the last minute cancellation to his office rep who called me, but her response was essentially "oh well, too bad for you." So, in the end I lost an extra day and a half of PTO which didn't cost me money per se but it's a scarce commodity that's valuable to me and I had to pay for the hotel a 2nd time when I actually ended up going out to NY the following week.

 

Obviously the fall out for a patient like myself is much less than it would be for a clinic who has to pay staff and pass up the opportunity to do a surgery, but I did lose 100 bucks on the hotel and the PTO is worth about 500 bucks if calculated based on my wages. If something like this is "about principal and not money" as one of the previous posters said in his post then shouldn't things like this work both ways? I chose not to air any of this on the forum last month after my consultation with Feller as he seemed like a nice guy and because I know things happen and I'm sure he had a reason for cancelling my appointment. I am only doing it now because I think it was wrong to talk to the OP in the arrogant, self-aggrandizing manner that he did here when the situation was essentially reversed. I also want to add that none of the cancellation stuff was mentioned in my consult with Dr. Feller so he may or may not know the details of the calls I had with his staff, but I believe it reflects on him and his practice nevertheless.

 

 

Gandolf it does work both ways or at least it bloody well should do. My wife had a appointment for lipo back in May last year and the clinic cancelled at one weeks notice. She had already booked seats on the Eurostar for her and a friend and the clinic paid up ?300.00 with out any quibble,that's how it should be. It sounds like Feller medical seriously need to address this issue because, any company CANNOT cancel patients appointments and let them foot the cost of travel arrangements, hotels etc. This is extremely poor customer service and unprofessional if it's happened to you then I'm guessing it's probably happened to other patients as well.

[Bobilero]

I agree with Bob that his warning is not pointless. It's a shame what's happened here for both clinic and Bob. There was lack of communication on both parties where each party had the wrong assumption.

 

We happen to refund deposits if we're given two weeks notice and we tell each patient this at the time of the deposit. We can generally fill a date within that time span so not all deposits are non-refundable.

 

 

Thanks for your useful input on this Janna. This certainly kaputs several other posts on this thread. I know from my research Shapiro is a top class clinic.

 

It's good to hear a top class clinic WITH an honest fair and transparent deposit policy.

[HARIRI]

I agree with Bob that his warning is not pointless. It's a shame what's happened here for both clinic and Bob. There was lack of communication on both parties where each party had the wrong assumption.

 

We happen to refund deposits if we're given two weeks notice and we tell each patient this at the time of the deposit. We can generally fill a date within that time span so not all deposits are non-refundable.

 

I do admire Janna's opinion and Shapiro's policy. There is always unforeseen circumstances that should be taken care of for humanity reason. Dr. Feriduni refunded all my deposit because of a critic family situation that forced me to delay my scar revision from July 2012 to July 2013 without a single debate. This doesn't worth a big fight and debate. What is a $1500? Very good point Janna.

[Longpig]

Bob,

Spex has informed me of the situation concerning you and I wanted to address it myself. I felt my input is warranted.

Deposits are non-refundable, that is the nature of deposits unless otherwise specified. We do not take deposits to trick future patients or take advantage of them as you now contend. We do it to make sure patients live up to their end of the agreement should I secure a surgical date exclusively for them thereby rejecting all other potential patients for that day.

From the moment you paid your deposit my staff were obligated to that day and I was obligated to pay them REGARDLESS of whether you decided to back out or not. That's what it takes to keep a highly experienced and competent staff. I don't expect everyone to understand that, which is why I simply state that deposits are non-refundable.

Of course there are patients with extenuating circumstances and there are patients who back out within days of booking. I return deposits to such patients immediately. You, however, do not fall into any of these categories.

I was amazed to hear from Spex that you had actually left your deposit back in 2008 for a surgical date in early 2009. Be that as it may, you had secured a hard date which was the 16th January 2009 and then later backed out, this is exactly why I and every other clinic take deposits. This goes double for UK patients I haven't yet met, such as yourself, where I employ my entire crew because I simply don't know how big your case is going to be or how many staff I will need.

We did hold your deposit outstanding for you to use at some future date, which I was under no obligation to do, but you never pursued it until recently. And now I'm told by Spex, 4 years later, that you don't want surgery anymore and want your deposit back for whatever reason. You lost that deposit years ago as I did pay my staff for the date you obligated yourself too but failed to attend.

It is immaterial that you called to change it months before because almost EVERYONE books cases SEVERAL months in advance and it's these far dates that most patients have to choose from for their own procedures. In short, patients who wanted the same day you booked could not get it because you had already locked it in.

Rest assured that I did not profit from your deposit. Rather, I lost a day of surgery in which I not only could have earned far more, but also been able to help a more willing patient.

I trust this will bring closure to our relationship and I truly do wish you the best in future endeavors. I will not be responding or even reading this thread anymore and have asked Spex to do the same.

Dr. Alan S. Feller

Feller Medical, PC

 

I've just spent the last half hour reading through this topic and as others have pointed out, the paragraph in bold really troubles me. Frankly I'd say it stinks.

 

Are we really to believe a top clinic cannot fill a cancellation spot despite having four months in which to do so? This is what Dr Feller is claiming. He will know whether they performed a HT on a replacement patient on that date so unless he is being untruthful he is expecting us to believe that he and his team sat around twiddling their thumbs the whole day cursing Bobilero. I'm not saying the doc is lying, only that I would have thought that three to four months would be ample time to find a replacement patient for that date.

 

Looks like we won't get an answer on this though. Shame, as Bobilero has been accused of being economical with the truth, maybe the same can be said about the clinic themselves.

[ej]

deposits basically are a commitment for both parties involved , i have always worked on the basis that they are non refundable .

 

The emails posted contain the term ` mate ` , i believe this to be a freindly term , perhaps after 4 years of ` should i , shouldnt i ` the clinic felt they had some sort of ongoing freindly working relationship with the op ,and that one day he may actually proceed with a procedure

 

Perhaps the clinic after 4 years designated the op as some sort of `timewaster ` and didnt respond to his correspondance quick enough for his liking ? perhaps this then resulted in the op as he stated threatening to go online re the non return of his deposit

 

Dr Feller doesnt do intimidation , from what ive seen on this forum, that was probably a bad move on the part of the op , resulting in a point blank refusal ,

 

perhaps the clinic felt let down and dissapointed also, after 4 years of emails, calls, and back and forth ,

 

i wonder how many other clinics would just pay to silence a poster ??

 

regards

 

ej

[Bobilero]

If you've read my posts you'll know there were genuine reasons which delayed my procedure.

 

All I ever did was try come to an agreement in having at least something returned. I was point blank ignored for 5 months and then no.

 

Sure I told them I would hate for this to sour my opinion of them and share my honest experience on a forum. Who wouldn't ?

 

I sincerely hope this helps other guys out there and clinics to get their act together and inform prospective clients re their deposit status in an appropriate manner.

[Gandolf]

Dr Feller doesnt do intimidation , from what ive seen on this forum, that was probably a bad move on the part of the op , resulting in a point blank refusal ,

 

Do you honestly consider this to be intimidation? It sounds to me like the OP exhausted all options to try and resolve this amicably before coming here to the forums. Dr. Feller can certainly make a cogent argument for not refunding such an old deposit, but if he truly ducked all the phone calls by the OP (and since Dr. Feller himself didn't try to dispute that claim when he posted here I would assume that its true) then I don't see anything at all wrong with coming on here.

[ej]

i have read the thread , thats why in the interest of fairness i felt the need to reply .

 

Your email sent is the end of january this year ,relating to a date this coming September , its now five months later from the sent email , i find it hard to believe you were ignored from the date of that email , surely there was ongoing communication after the email re the Sept date ? Im aware your circumstances changed ,however leaving a deposit with a clinic for 4 years is a strange thing to do if you dont mind me saying so , when we book things with our credit cards surely it is up to us to be responsible for our actions ?

 

As i said earlier perhaps the clinic were equally dissapointed with what can only be described as a ` veiled threat ` to go public over a deposit that ,you paid , you left there for 4 years , you re arranged a date , you cancelled that date , you then asked for your deposit back whilst infering to go public if it was not returned , surely you cant be that suprised at Feller medicals response ?

 

My view is that when making a deposit `ask` re the status of it ,to avoid all confusion , that said every deposit i have ever paid.. none have been refundable, nor have i expected them to be so

 

regards

 

ej

Edited June 9, 2012 by ej
spell check

[Shampoo]

If you've read my posts you'll know there were genuine reasons which delayed my procedure.

 

Bob....I am not against you and as this thread has evolved I have come around a bit to thinking you have a few valid points...at least in regard to the clinic should have if nothing else protected themselves from this type of incident by clearing stating in writing/e-mail exactly what their refund policy was. It appears other clinics do inform patients other than just on their website. From personal experience I know Hasson/Wong does and Janna stated Shapiro Medical does make it very clear to each patient when deposits are being made.

 

BUT.....do you really think "ooops the economy turned so I now can't afford a hair transplant" is a "genuine reason"?

 

To me most of your reasons are not the fault of Dr. Feller...they are your fault.

 

#1. After scheduling a surgery Bob can't afford it because of economy

#2. Bob decides to postpone.

#3. Bob decides he doesn't like propecia

#4. Bob decides he "wont consider FUT"

#5. Bob decides to leave deposit at Dr. Feller's for years.

#6. Bob decides years later he "no longer is a viable candidate".

 

Although I don't see anything wrong with what he said, I think in hindsight Dr. Feller should not have personally responded on this forum because of the emotional nature of this issue. Again in hindsight he probably should have agreed to a partial refund to bring closure and he can still do that after reviewing this thread and basically say "look we don't feel we did anything wrong, but would like to move forward and break our ties with this patient, we wish him well, and are going to refund half his deposit money". End of story.....

[Bobilero]

The reasons for the length of time the deposit was there and my changing circumstances have been repeated many times here. I dont feel it's necessary to keep repeating

Them.

 

The plain facts are the deposits non refundable status was simply not communicated. That is the gripe here and No amount of cheerleading noise can adequately excuse it.

[Shampoo]

The reasons for the length of time the deposit was there and my changing circumstances

 

But Bob...

Who upheld their end of the bargain?

Wasn't Dr. Feller ready to perform the agreed to service?

Who kept postponing the agreed to service?

Who caused this to not work out?

Do you agree that it's your fault?

[lorenzo]

Bob did you make this topic to warn people about Dr. Feller policy concerning deposit or to try to put pressure on him to give it back to you?

 

Dr. Feller in my opinion and experience doesnt back down to what he believes is correct or right. So even with 100% support that probaly wont change the present outcome concerning your depsoit.

No amount of cheerleading noise can adequately excuse it.

 

Understood, but no amount of support on your side will get you your deposit back either.

[ej]

I think trying to gather a factual account of events as they happened is only fair to both parties, and not " cheerleading noise " at all .

 

Its clear to me now that there was` not a five month period of silence` as stated earlier , and the relationship between clinic and patient ,up and until the request for the return of the deposit/ threats , was very likely ...` healthy`

 

 

I think in future regarding downpayments you need to ask when making payment ..." is the deposit refundable or not ? " if you dont ask this question then you have to accept some responsibility , and move on

 

regards

 

ejj

[Longpig]

I think trying to gather a factual account of events as they happened is only fair to both parties, and not " cheerleading noise " at all .

 

Its clear to me now that there was` not a five month period of silence` as stated earlier , and the relationship between clinic and patient ,up and until the request for the return of the deposit/ threats , was very likely ...` healthy`

 

 

I think in future regarding downpayments you need to ask when making payment ..." is the deposit refundable or not ? " if you dont ask this question then you have to accept some responsibility , and move on

 

regards

 

ejj

 

I agree to a point. However I feel strongly that all clinics have a duty from an ethical point of view to divulge this very important fact verbally and not just in witten small print.

 

If I was in business and taking deposits from people, I couldn't live with myself unless I made this fact clear to a customer. And HT patients can be a vulnerable lot sometimes and don't always think to ask the important questions in the stress of the moment.

[dingdong12]

ej . the duty of care is on feller medical to make sure patient is fully aware of deposit policy !

 

as i stated earlier a hair transplant can be an unnerving experience and the patient might not always ask the relevant questions. hair transplant clinics do this day in day out and are the professionals , they should be telling everyone there refund policy and not expect patients to read on website.

 

granted perhaps bob should have asked and a certain amount of responsibility lies there but paramount the responsibility lies with feller medical

[dingdong12]

who really cares if feller medical backs down, as bob says in previous posts as his thread title says, beware of deposit policy .

 

he is warning prospective patients to be careful when paying deposit. !