Bad dental work consumer protection?

[Don Chance]

I had some work done at a fancy clinic a couple of days ago. The dentist was young and inexperienced. I was just to remove some bone pushing out of the gum. He didn't do a good job and the bone is still sticking out. I went back and complained they said he wasn't coming back till next week. I ask for a refund they refused. She said it was the law in Thailand not to refund. I made a bit of fuss they offer to call some 'government official.'  I declined.

Do there really have a government official on call at 7:00pm to settle consumer disputes or would this be their buddy the cop?

Edited September 9, 2019 by Don Chance

[metisdead]

Moving to the Health forum for advice on this. 

[poohy]

Sadly dentists buy their degree  like everyone else best to get references before hand

Theres some good and some bad the chances of a refund from such ones  are Bob hope and no hope !

[Sheryl]

Obviously there is no law against refunding and no "government official" in charge of such issues at 7 PM.

There is also no easy recourse.

Or any other time really.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Don Chance]

7 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Obviously there is no law against refunding and no "government official" in charge of such issues at 7 PM.

There is also no easy recourse.

Or any other time really.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

So, what she really meant was she was calling the manager and a cop to come and throw me out?

Thai's really don't like farangs complaining or confronting them.

There is consumer protection in Thailand,

https://pugnatorius.com/consumer/

[steven100]

So you had some dental work done that took the dentist possibly 1-2 hours to attend too.

However, you consider the work done was not good enough so you go into the dental shop and make a fuss and big fuss and Hoo Ha and expect the receptionist just to say ' ok ' sorry sir here's all your cash back.

Are you dreaming  ??   there are correct ways to go about things in Thailand, and while I don't disagree with your complaint, the way you handled it certainly isn't correct.

Go back when the dentist is there and sit down quietly and discuss the problem so he can do more work and remedy the bone issue. It's not his fault just because he wasn't there when you went back to complain.

[Don Chance]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

So you had some dental work done that took the dentist possibly 1-2 hours to attend too.

However, you consider the work done was not good enough so you go into the dental shop and make a fuss and big fuss and Hoo Ha and expect the receptionist just to say ' ok ' sorry sir here's all your cash back.

Are you dreaming  ??   there are correct ways to go about things in Thailand, and while I don't disagree with your complaint, the way you handled it certainly isn't correct.

Go back when the dentist is there and sit down quietly and discuss the problem so he can do more work and remedy the bone issue. It's not his fault just because he wasn't there when you went back to complain.

You didn't read what i said. It took him 5 minutes, it is just a bit of bone coming out of the gum. But he did not grind down enough bone, so it was still sticking out. He was a young guy with little experience.

 

This clinic has hired this guy to do the work and he is incompetence. I came back the next day and the other dentist checked but she was also young and clueless. She actually said, well what do you want me to do? Like i am a dentist. Like a piece of bone coming out of your gum is not a problem.

 

Now i have to go and pay again for a real dentist to do it. Why should i pay twice? It is like i buy TV and it doesn't work so i return it, but they say come back next week and we will fix it and i say no i want a refund and buy another TV at better store. So then they refuse when i get angry they threaten to call the police (aka a "government official") to help them with their scam. It is completely unprofessional.

 

It is not the money i was angry about but the principle and poor ethic of this place that bothered me. The rudeness of just shooing me away when i returned with the same dental problem.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by Don Chance

[georgegeorgia]

I have found all the dentists i used in Thailand incompetent,( Pattaya)

 

My last one i went in there and asked for a teeth polish , he used toothpaste and a toothbrush , no machine and after 5 minutes wanted 700 baht !

I wrote about it on this forum

 

then one in 2016 used a machine and broke off the front of my tooth , as i was leaving that day i had to wait until i got back to Australia to fix it 

 

Even getting a x ray I nearly swallowed the bloody thing n my mouth they put in 

 

Better if i pay more in Australia i know its done properly 

 

Edited September 12, 2019 by georgegeorgia

[RJRS1301]

7 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I have found all the dentists i used in Thailand incompetent,( Pattaya)

 

My last one i went in there and asked for a teeth polish , he used toothpaste and a toothbrush , no machine and after 5 minutes wanted 700 baht !

I wrote about it on this forum

 

then one in 2016 used a machine and broke off the front of my tooth , as i was leaving that day i had to wait until i got back to Australia to fix it 

 

Even getting a x ray I nearly swallowed the bloody thing n my mouth they put in 

 

Better if i pay more in Australia i know its done properly 

 

My experience with dentists in Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok have been excellent, including a prosthodontist who rebuilt fractured teeth following a fall. 

I have friends who travel to Thailand specifically for dental work on a yearly basis.

 

[BestB]

You are in a very tough position. Legally you could take action, but would require other dentists from other clinic to back up your claims, which they will never do.

 

You can try to scare them by getting OCPB involved, it would be a bluff, they may fall for it or if they know the law, then you out of luck.

 

Even going to medical board, would require statement from another dentist which again highly unlikely you will obtain.

 

Sure you could get one from back home, but then they will not recognise it and will insist on the local dentist 

 

Only other recourse is going to the media but then you risk being sued for libel

[Don Chance]

2 hours ago, BestB said:

You are in a very tough position. Legally you could take action, but would require other dentists from other clinic to back up your claims, which they will never do.

 

You can try to scare them by getting OCPB involved, it would be a bluff, they may fall for it or if they know the law, then you out of luck.

 

Even going to medical board, would require statement from another dentist which again highly unlikely you will obtain.

 

Sure you could get one from back home, but then they will not recognise it and will insist on the local dentist 

 

Only other recourse is going to the media but then you risk being sued for libel

Forsure. I was not much money. Should have just left. Their whole attitude got to me.

Risky too because i guess i might have gotten arrested if they made a complaint. The place has 3 CCTV cam pointed at the front desk. It tells you something about a dental office.

We had a little argument not much, i didn't start yelling or threatening or anything. I raised by voice a bit, not much. Hard to believe someone could be arrested for an argument but i imagine it is so in Thailand. Perhaps "causing a disturbance."

The women was really tricky too because we were arguing and i said something like it was your company's fault and then she just walk away and said wait a minute.

Then after a while came back and said ok the manager is coming with a government official, just wait. So it sounded like they may actually refund me. When in fact she was setting me up to get busted!

For a minute i was going to wait but then instinctively i figured it out and said forget and walked out. I suppose demanding a refund was a little unreasonable.

 

Edited September 12, 2019 by Don Chance

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

Forsure. I was not much money. Should have just left. Their whole attitude got to me.

Risky too because i guess i might have gotten arrested if they made a complaint. The place has 3 CCTV cam pointed at the front desk. It tells you something about a dental office.

We had a little argument not much, i didn't start yelling or threatening or anything. I raised by voice a bit, not much. Hard to believe someone could be arrested for an argument but i imagine it is so in Thailand. Perhaps "causing a disturbance."

 

Highly unlikely you would have been arrested. when they offered to get government official, you should have agreed, instead of refusing.

 

Let me make you feel better, i was using same clinic for 8-9 years. Last visit, i did a crown but dentist did not put perm one in as he could not remove the temp one, so he told me when it comes off to come back and he will fix it .

 

So i paid in full, he did note in my patient history.

 

About 10 or so month later, temp one came off, so i went back. They read the patient history and said they would do it, but to come back next week.Clinic was empty, and i had to go away, and it would take no more than 10 mins, so i asked if they could do it now.

 

Sure, but you pay 500 baht. So next week its free but if you want now and we have no customers but will still charge you 500 baht.

 

Was not in the mood to argue, paid the 500 baht and never went back.

 

They made 500 baht, and lost 17000-20000 every year from cleaning, root canals, crowns and fillings.

 

 

[JamJar]

Did you seek a recommendation before attending or just walk into one that looked nice?

Always good to know which places to avoid.

[Don Chance]

Turns out it was bone fragment. I was able to flick it out with my finger nail.

They should have been able to remove it with tweezers.