PowellMinor ER is a fraudulent ripoff! Avoid it at all costs, pun intended!
In January, the receptionist told me, by phone, that the office visit charge would be $50.00, or higher, if lab work and X-rays were done. I scheduled a 2:30 PM appointment, for treatment for a upper respiratory infection.
Upon arrival, the doctor was alone, with no one else present. He asked for my debt card and driver's license, which I submitted. The doctor asked me to verify my debt card pin, after he swiped the card in the reader. I typed in my pin, thinking that it was for verification only.
The doctor handed me a receipt for $120.00. I asked him if he had just debted my card for $120.00, and he replied, "Yes." So, by fraudulent means, the doctor took $120.00 from me, without my clear authorization.
Since I felt so bad from the respiratory infection, and must not have been thinking clearly, I allowed the doctor to examine me for the $120.00, instead of asking him to refund my money.
After a quick examination, of under five minutes, the doctor tried to charge me an additional $125.00, to write two prescriptions, for an antibiotic and an expectorant.
At this point, I accused the doctor of fraud and demanded a refund of the $120.00. He replied that the $120.00 charge was for the examination only. He would not write the prescriptions unless I paid him an additional $125.00!
I walked out, $120.00 poorer but wiser.
See for a local news story: http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?s=5673091
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