Warning signs of a new client

[CYNOSURER]

I would be hard pressed to believe that the patient who already has a mouthful of your work did not already pay for it....so to expect them to pay again...regardless of how small a sum it is in comparison is in my opinion wrong.

I hope you're not under the impression that 'legal' has anything to do with right and wrong.

 

[TECHARTISAN]

I hope you're not under the impression that 'legal' has anything to do with right and wrong.

NO I am quite aware that morality and legality rarely coincide anymore.
I was merely stating that personally I would sooner eat the debt than join in on the abuse of responsibility I was criticizing in the first place. The dentist who filled his pockets with their (and your) money, not the patient who paid for services rendered should be held responsible. You shouldnt have to pull teeth to get paid....especially from a dentist

 

[AJEL]

Just got an e-mail with this thought I had to share.
Elderly woman, dentist fight over dentures - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com
Elderly woman, dentist fight over dentures
At one point, 85-year-old tried to climb out window to escape, affidavit says
I just had to wonder if the DDS had paid for the teeth yet ;>}

 

[CShof]

But a bankrupt dentist or other licensed professional should have their license suspended and should have to go work as a cook, janitor, car salesman...something else....for a year before they reinstate his license...

First lab I ever had a job at had an absolutely horrible dentist. He was there for about my first two years then he ended up losing his license to practice dentistry in Illinois but that didn't stop him. He just moved to New York and opened right back up. You'd think there would be a law against that.

 

[hydent]

screw all of that legal stuff, I know a couple of Italian guys that will get you your money... really quick too LOL :hat:.....but really that does suck and I hate to hear people being treated like that. The law doesn't protect us so it's up to us to think of everything to protect ourselves unfortunately you can't always for see a boobie trap, you were tricked. I have to be honest I would have done the the same thing you did with the situation.

 

[Hary]

Hi John its to bad that this kind of people take advantage by going bankrupt.what i will do is i find this dentist i'l send a friend in need of major reconstruction in his mouth and then go bankrupt. .

 

[MasterCeramist]

Just saw an ad for this in the new JDT.

DeadbeatDentists.com

 

[rkm rdt]

wow

 

[subrisi]

DeadbeatDentists.com
That is a steep price $50 Sign up and $99 monthly fee. You might use the site only once a year. They don't really have to do some research. All they do is collecting reports from other labs and have it available for searching labs.
He said something about under five bucks in his video. I guess he was talking about $5 daily. It would be fair to charge by inquiry but this is street robbery in my eyes. A criminal background check is cheaper and a bankruptcy inquiry is free.
I have one new very busy client who accumulated $15.000 so far and has not paid his August bill yet. He is not really that late, but after reading your posts, I am worried.

 

[Bobby Orr ceramics]

crazy cost ......

 

[smile4me]

So stressed out we started getting business from a Doctor In Aug 2011 she was referred to us by one of our reps we trust. This doctor is a good producer around $2500 a month average but still owes us half of her Nov bill n all of Dec and Jan her outstanding balance is close to $8,000 she pays a little at a time but we have been having to call her once a week for a payment. She hasn't sent us a new case in over a week which is really odd. I have cases that are done that I have been sitting on that were due yesterday and today and a whole bunch due this month should I hold her cases hostage until she pays us? not sure how to handle this as this is kind of the first time. I am planning on marketing this month and visiting new accounts and thought maybe I should join that deadbeat dentist website to avoid those types of doctors is anyone here a member of that site and is it worth the $100 a month fee? any advice greatly appreciated. We are just a small family owned lab and can not afford to be having outstanding balances as we count on every dollar to get by each month.

 

[Gita]

refer the dentist to china lab...

 

[araucaria]

employ collection service people asap, and close acct. hand over the unfinished stuff when paid up. 2c.

 

[amadent]

So stressed out we started getting business from a Doctor In Aug 2011 she was referred to us by one of our reps we trust. This doctor is a good producer around $2500 a month average but still owes us half of her Nov bill n all of Dec and Jan her outstanding balance is close to $8,000 she pays a little at a time but we have been having to call her once a week for a payment. She hasn't sent us a new case in over a week which is really odd. I have cases that are done that I have been sitting on that were due yesterday and today and a whole bunch due this month should I hold her cases hostage until she pays us? not sure how to handle this as this is kind of the first time. I am planning on marketing this month and visiting new accounts and thought maybe I should join that deadbeat dentist website to avoid those types of doctors is anyone here a member of that site and is it worth the $100 a month fee? any advice greatly appreciated. We are just a small family owned lab and can not afford to be having outstanding balances as we count on every dollar to get by each month.

maybe put her on C.O.D for the work you still have
it will not help you collect your balance due
but atleast she wont fall any further behind

not sure if your doc will go for it - just a idea

 

[Mark Jackson]

Thanks for the condolences guys, the reason I posted this is that I am just trying to nail down a way for this not to happen to me or anyone else. Spurring conversation on this type of topic doesn't happen often.

An iron clad customer agreement like the one I have shared a thousand times will NOT protect you from bankruptcy. All you can do is budget for bad debts and have spatial awareness as you clearly did. 45 days is not too bad.

You must be VERY careful how you handle cases once the BK notice is received. The Safe Harbor law will come back and bite you if you try and play hard ball with a BK account.

 

[NicelyMKV]

A lab owner/ super stressed technician got in a lot of trouble here years ago for that. The Doc filed bankruptcy on him and continued to work and used another lab. He went nuts and went in the Docs office and messed up some equipment etc. lol. Extreme but can't say that I blame him.

 

[CYNOSURER]

When I need to put an account on COD I ship it. Even if it's in town. UPS collects better than putting my delivery tech on the spot... or have to wait for the doc to get free.

If they are past due I include 20% of the outstanding balance plus UPS fees.

 

[RDA]

I just came across this thread, and have an account that I am battling right now over his balance. If we have the patients contact information, can we send the bill to them? I have done this to labs that I have done work for. When I take a case from another lab, I always make them put the doctor's information on the lab slip. It has made collections from other labs go well when I inform them that I am sending their account a bill for the work that I performed, 100% payment to date using that method. Now I'm wondering if I can do the same with this lame a$$ prosthodonist's patients. Thoughts, legalities???

 

[AL1]

Years ago my mother went to a dds that had his patients pay the lab directly.

 

[CYNOSURER]

RDA, you'd think that would be the case but it's not. My parents got sued for an air condition system that they paid for in full to the installer. The installer never paid the AC company so they sued to repossess. They hade to pay them to keep the unit then sue the installer for a refund... which he didn't have. They got screwed. But with dentist it's different as for most legal purposes the dentist is defined as the end user... even though they clearly are not. You're screwed.