Well I have quite a story to tell regarding Dr. Crisler. In fact, I created an account here simply to post this and get some feedback.
Basically, I have a doctor where I live that I have been working with for quite a while for my hypothyroidism and low testosterone levels. However, I was curious about trying HCG along with the testosterone to see if I would gain any extra benefits (like getting rid of my remaining spare tire), and so I found Crisler's website and decided to give him a go based on some good feedback I found elsewhere.
BIG MISTAKE!
We live in Missouri, and my mother had to have wrist surgery in Colorado (like a 14-hour drive from where we live) back on the 18th. I had paid for my appointment with Crisler which was supposed to be today (12/27) before we left for Colorado. I had also received the paperwork I needed to fill out and had returned that before we left. While we were in Colorado, we paid for an appointment for my father (who suffers from some of the same issues as myself) for the same day as Michigan is also about a 13-hour drive from where we live.
We ended having to stay in Colorado longer than expected as my mother's surgery was more extensive than the surgeon initially thought it would be, and she needed some more intensive physical therapy directly afterward from their specialist team there (by the way, the surgeon was from the Steadman Clinic in Vail, CO, and the rehab team is at Howard Head Sports Medicine -- highly recommended for anyone suffering from any sort of orthopedic problems for which surgery is indicated). We got back home late on Tuesday (12/21), and I called Crisler's office Wednesday to inform them that we would not be able to make our appointments the following Monday (12/27) due to the fact that my father and I both had to take more time off from work than we expected for the surgery. They were not there, and so I left a message. Having heard nothing, I called again on Thursday, and once again, no one was there.
This morning I get a phone call asking me if we were having trouble finding their office. I informed the receptionist that we were not even in Michigan as I had explained in my voice mail from last week. She asked if I wanted to reschedule, and I said that I would but that from the looks of things it would be a few months down the road before I would be able to make the trip up there (my mother has to have another wrist surgery at the end of January and then a hip surgery in March, both requiring more time off from work to help transport her). I then asked for a refund of my money until such time as I could actually make it up for an appointment. She said I would have to talk to Ryan, the office manager, and that she didn't know what he was going to do about that. Okay, fine. Well, he wasn't in yet, so I waited for a phone call from him.
Ryan finally called and once again asked if I would like to reschedule. I reiterated to him the situation and once again asked for a refund. He said he would have to ask the doctor to approve that. Okay, fine. Once again I waited to hear back.
A while later I get a phone call back from Ryan saying that Crisler did not approve any refund in my case but that I could reschedule my appointment. At this point I was getting pretty irate, as you can imagine. I explained to him that it was ridiculous to have $1000 worth of charges on my credit card for the next few months until I could actually come up there and get the services I paid for. He then explained to me that Dr. Crisler had already reviewed my medical records that I sent in (I didn't send any medical records but only filled out the paperwork they sent me) and that because of the amount of time he had invested in doing so and in order to recover the costs of the credit card processing fee and other fees associated with my appointment they could not refund my money as it would represent a net loss in their case.
I tried to explain to him that if they would work with me on this they would definitely have me for a patient but that if they were not then I obviously would have no desire to deal with someone so unyielding for my physician. He seemed unfazed and just continued to tell me that was their policy and his "hands are tied."
After demanding my money back again, he tells me that in the paperwork I filled out there is a clause that as soon as Crisler even looks at your paperwork you automatically owe him your entire consultation cost. I checked the paperwork and sure enough, buried in the legalese, is the clause.
I realize that I made a mistake in not reading the paperwork thoroughly enough, but at the same time, I was never told this on the phone with his receptionist prior to making the appointment, and I can't find it anywhere in plain site on Crisler's website either. To me it seems pretty shady to conduct business like that.
Basically as it stands now the charges are in dispute status with my credit card company pending an investigation into it, but I'm just curious if anyone else has had this kind of problem with Crisler or has any pointers on how I might go about getting my money back.
Thanks if you took the time to read this far.
Basically, I have a doctor where I live that I have been working with for quite a while for my hypothyroidism and low testosterone levels. However, I was curious about trying HCG along with the testosterone to see if I would gain any extra benefits (like getting rid of my remaining spare tire), and so I found Crisler's website and decided to give him a go based on some good feedback I found elsewhere.
BIG MISTAKE!
We live in Missouri, and my mother had to have wrist surgery in Colorado (like a 14-hour drive from where we live) back on the 18th. I had paid for my appointment with Crisler which was supposed to be today (12/27) before we left for Colorado. I had also received the paperwork I needed to fill out and had returned that before we left. While we were in Colorado, we paid for an appointment for my father (who suffers from some of the same issues as myself) for the same day as Michigan is also about a 13-hour drive from where we live.
We ended having to stay in Colorado longer than expected as my mother's surgery was more extensive than the surgeon initially thought it would be, and she needed some more intensive physical therapy directly afterward from their specialist team there (by the way, the surgeon was from the Steadman Clinic in Vail, CO, and the rehab team is at Howard Head Sports Medicine -- highly recommended for anyone suffering from any sort of orthopedic problems for which surgery is indicated). We got back home late on Tuesday (12/21), and I called Crisler's office Wednesday to inform them that we would not be able to make our appointments the following Monday (12/27) due to the fact that my father and I both had to take more time off from work than we expected for the surgery. They were not there, and so I left a message. Having heard nothing, I called again on Thursday, and once again, no one was there.
This morning I get a phone call asking me if we were having trouble finding their office. I informed the receptionist that we were not even in Michigan as I had explained in my voice mail from last week. She asked if I wanted to reschedule, and I said that I would but that from the looks of things it would be a few months down the road before I would be able to make the trip up there (my mother has to have another wrist surgery at the end of January and then a hip surgery in March, both requiring more time off from work to help transport her). I then asked for a refund of my money until such time as I could actually make it up for an appointment. She said I would have to talk to Ryan, the office manager, and that she didn't know what he was going to do about that. Okay, fine. Well, he wasn't in yet, so I waited for a phone call from him.
Ryan finally called and once again asked if I would like to reschedule. I reiterated to him the situation and once again asked for a refund. He said he would have to ask the doctor to approve that. Okay, fine. Once again I waited to hear back.
A while later I get a phone call back from Ryan saying that Crisler did not approve any refund in my case but that I could reschedule my appointment. At this point I was getting pretty irate, as you can imagine. I explained to him that it was ridiculous to have $1000 worth of charges on my credit card for the next few months until I could actually come up there and get the services I paid for. He then explained to me that Dr. Crisler had already reviewed my medical records that I sent in (I didn't send any medical records but only filled out the paperwork they sent me) and that because of the amount of time he had invested in doing so and in order to recover the costs of the credit card processing fee and other fees associated with my appointment they could not refund my money as it would represent a net loss in their case.
I tried to explain to him that if they would work with me on this they would definitely have me for a patient but that if they were not then I obviously would have no desire to deal with someone so unyielding for my physician. He seemed unfazed and just continued to tell me that was their policy and his "hands are tied."
After demanding my money back again, he tells me that in the paperwork I filled out there is a clause that as soon as Crisler even looks at your paperwork you automatically owe him your entire consultation cost. I checked the paperwork and sure enough, buried in the legalese, is the clause.
I realize that I made a mistake in not reading the paperwork thoroughly enough, but at the same time, I was never told this on the phone with his receptionist prior to making the appointment, and I can't find it anywhere in plain site on Crisler's website either. To me it seems pretty shady to conduct business like that.
Basically as it stands now the charges are in dispute status with my credit card company pending an investigation into it, but I'm just curious if anyone else has had this kind of problem with Crisler or has any pointers on how I might go about getting my money back.
Thanks if you took the time to read this far.
