Business ProfileforThe Joint Chiropractic - North Shore

Deceiving advertising. I had heard great things about The Joint Chiropractic. I got an offer from social media claiming that I would get a free initial visit, so I decided to give it a chance. The email stated that the offer was valid for 30 days after the receipt of the email, and that an appointment was not necessary (as you can see below). I stopped by The Joint on October 31st, inquiring about the offer. I was told that I needed to make an appointment. Having to make an appointment raised a yellow flag, as the email clearly stated: “you never need an appointment or insurance to visit”. Nevertheless, I decided to book an appointment for November 2nd. When I arrived to the appointment, the lady said that I could no longer claim the promotion, as it ended in October 31st. This was the red flag. She offered to allow me to receive care but without the promotion. Here’s the important point: it is not about the money, but about the principle of honesty expected from a business, especially one that provides care. Needless to say, this is not a trustworthy establishment. In essence, I went by twice and was denied service from a clear written offer in both instances. This simply resulted in a waste of time and money. Here are the highlights of the email: You've successfully secured your FREE* Initial Visit, including a complete consultation, exam and adjustment. To redeem this limited time offer, simply present this email upon arrival. Remember, you never need an appointment or insurance to visit, and we're open evenings and weekends, so you can receive the care you need, when you need it. https://www.thejoint.com/16014 *Offer valued at $45. Valid for new patients only, at participating locations. Initial visit includes consultation, exam and adjustment. Offer expires 30 days from receipt of this email. See clinic for details. © 2022 The Joint Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Hello L***, we are very sorry to hear that you are disappointed with your recent experience at our North Shore clinic. It is always our first priority to treat our patients with care and respect. It looks like we have two issues we need to address. The first issue is you having to schedule an appointment. We reached out to the clinic for some feedback about this situation, and this was their response: "L*** came into the NS clinic on Monday. He came in at around 5:10pm and asked for some information about The Joint. I happily answered all of his questions. While I was discussing The Joint with him, our 5:15pm new patient appointment that had been previously scheduled came into the clinic. L*** allowed the patient to go ahead of him while he looked over some information, so I got the new patient checked in and started on his paperwork. L*** then asked if he could get adjusted that day. I said we would be happy to get him in, but that it would likely be around 5:45pm when he went back due to the new patient appointment ahead of him. He said he was unable to wait that long, so I offered to schedule him for an appointment on a different day. He was completely fine with that and we got him scheduled for Wednesday. He did not seem upset at all about scheduling an appointment because the only reason we could not get him on Monday was because he did not have time to wait." We apologize if this later upset you for having to return to the clinic. We strive to give every patient our full attention during their first visit which includes a consultation, exam and an adjustment. At an average rate of about 20 minutes per new patient visit, we try to be as efficient as possible while still delivering personalized care. In regards to the email that you are referring to, you will notice in the review posted, it clearly states that it must be presented at time of arrival to our Wellness Coordinator to confirm your personal receipt of the promotion. While our Wellness Coordinators do everything they can to save our patient's money, these types of promotions must be verified to be applied. Our Wellness Coordinator was unable to verify your receipt of this email when she asked you to present the offer that you received. Therefore, she was unable to provide proof of the offer, and so consequently she was unable to honor the offer. Our Wellness Coordinators are carefully trained on how to handle each promotion that is sent out as our Corporate offices send multiple messages. And due to strict policies, our Wellness Coordinator position does not have the authority to transact a Free Visit without verification. We hope that you understand our need to adhere to the policy. It seems clear that you received an email from our Corporate Offices and if you are able to present that email addressed to you with the date of receipt, and it is still within the 30 day grace period, we would be happy to honor it for you. We also would be happy to set another appointment time that would be convenient for you. We hope to see you take advantage of the offer while it is still valid and we invite you to give us another chance to heighten the quality of your experience and bring you the relief you seek through routine chiropractic care. Best in Health, The Joint Chiropractic

Here lies the issue: the front desk person (who I mentioned and showed the email to) never referred me to a Wellness Coordinator. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that such person was not able to validate. It appears that this is rather an internal issue at this specific location. The issue appears to be lack of training of front desk personnel. As a customer oriented business, it is generally a good practice to prepare these individuals as much as possible to ensure customer satisfaction. Sadly, due to this experience, I decide to pursue care elsewhere as The Joint has not proven to be a reliable business in my eyes. As I mentioned, first impressions matter and consumers are often guided by them. As mentioned, making an appointment was not a problem. The problem comes when the front desk individual (knowingly or unknowingly) encourages me to make an appointment for which I intended to use an offer that I will not be able to use. On the other hand, the second part of the problem is that, when I returned for the schedule appointment, the front desk person did not bother to refer me to the Wellness Coordinator. She simply denied the validation of the offer, which, as clearly stated in the email, should have still been valid. This is where the poor business practice comes from. I am an individual who values honesty, and I am sad to find that The Joint (regardless of reasons or excuses) is not able to be an honest establishment, even when it comes to a written proof. I had heard fantastic things about The Joint, and I am sure they are probably true for many other locations, but the Northshore location is definitely an exception to this.

Hi ****, We sincerely apologize for this situation and that the emailed offer you brought in was not honored. The Front Desk person gave us the impression that they were not shown the email, but it sounds like that was not the case. It seems that there was some confusion within our staff regarding an October promotion vs an offer valid for 30 days from receipt, and we will most certainly address this situation and provide additional training. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We sincerely hope you find relief and your care is important to us. We wish you the best in health. The Joint Chiropractic