Ascent Dental Care Solihull

Wow. How can any company get that many 5 star reviews on Google, and no 4 star or 3 star reviews? It’s impossible, really, unless the company is writing their own reviews and getting rid of any negative reviews. I am a low income NHS patient, but I was forced to go private to have a tooth extracted, because it was bothering me, and because the NHS was taking too long to arrange an extraction. When I booked the appointment by phone, I specifically said that I needed a tooth extracted, and asked how much it would cost. The receptionist told me it would be around £180. She mentioned that included a brief assessment prior to extraction. I also asked about the dentist. She told me this dentist was excellent, top notch, highly experienced. So I said okay. I booked, and paid the £30 deposit online after the phone call. The day before my appointment, they phoned me, and stated, matter of factly, that I hadn’t paid my deposit. I said to them “erm, yes i have. I paid it right after i booked the appointment.” They then put me on hold, and came back, laughing, and said “oh, sorry, yes, you paid.” I said “why didnt you check that before you phoned me?” They had some lame excuse and I said “whatever” and ended the call. I turned up for my appointment the next day. I told the receptionist that i was there for my extraction. she checked the computer, and said to me “was it an extraction?” and i thought that was weird, but i just said “yeah.” she didn’t explain why she wondered what it was for. So I am called into the dentist office. The dentist, who looks pretty young, tells me she wants to examine my tooth. I say fine. She looks at it. She says she wants to take an xray just to be sure, and that it will cost me an extra £13. I’m not thrilled about this, but I say okay. She takes the xray. She confirms that my tooth needs to be extracted, only she says that she’s not qualified to do it. I say “excuse me?” She explains that a more senior dentist would have to do it in some separate appointment. I couldn’t believe this. But I remained polite. I said to her “no offence, but i came here today for an extraction, and i was told that you were highly experienced.” She just said again how a more experienced dentist would have to extract the tooth at a later date. Then they told me I owed them another £39, for a total of £69 for this little chat. Again, I couldn’t believe it. And I politely challenged this. So how did they handle it? I was escorted to a room upstairs as if in police custody, where they shut the door, and i was shut in with this dental assistant who had a face like an Alsatian. I was made to wait half an hour and they didnt explain why the long wait. I became distressed and got teary. This Alsatian showed zero empathy. Finally, the practice manager came into the room. She sat down and explained to me, lying, that I had been told when I booked the appointment that it would only be an assessment and it would cost me £69. This was a total lie. I was never told any such thing. I still tried to challenge the £69 (I had already paid £30) and she said that if I refused to pay what I owed that she would have to phone police. Unbelievable. So I had to pay. They messed me about, humiliated me and robbed me. I have no idea why I was brought upstairs and put into that small room when I was not making any scene and it felt like i was in police custody. Is this how they treat all NHS patients? As if we’re criminals? All I had done was challenge what they were saying and not happy that they wouldn’t do the extraction that I had booked and paid a deposit for. Absolutely disgusting. Beware of any company where they only have a load of 5 star reviews and no 4 star or 3 star. AVOID at all costs. Just another UK company that is incompetent and rips you off. And it’s terrible that they pull this with low income NHS patients who only go there because they can’t get their issue sorted with an NHS dentist. I expect they will try and have this review removed, but it shouldnt be removed because it’s real and truthful.