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Dental Clinic Overcharge and deletes reviews
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Hi Reddit, I'm posting on behalf of my friend whose mother was overcharged at Smile Central Clinic (Aljunied). We are facing a classic bait-and-switch situation and need advice on escalation.
The Situation & Timeline
My friend's mother has a CHAS Orange Card. She saw the clinic's online ad (image 1) promoting a full dental package for just $43.73, which includes: Consultation, X-ray, Scaling, Polishing, and Topical Fluoride. The ad states, "Mention 'ORANGE CHAS PACKAGE' when making an appointment."
My friend's mother is not fluent in English, so she kept the booking simple. She asked via WhatsApp: "Can use the orange card?" (Image 4).
Clinic's Response: The clinic staff replied: "yes there will be partial subsidy with chas orange card for scaling and polishing." This confirmed the card was relevant to the service requested (scaling and polishing). An appointment was then booked for Dec 1.
The Visit (Dec 1, 2025): The mother received a Consultation, Scaling, Polishing, and Topical Fluoride (she did not receive an X-ray).
The Bill: Despite getting the advertised services (minus the X-ray), the total bill was $194.57. After the CHAS subsidy, she was charged a final amount of $134.07 (Image 2).
The Clinic's Excuse (Over $90 difference!)
My friend contacted the clinic to ask for a refund of the difference, pointing out the false advertising. The clinic's response: The patient did not use the EXACT PHRASE "CHAS Orange Package" during booking.
Because she only asked for "scaling and polishing," they billed her at their normal, non-package rates, even though she showed her Orange CHAS card and received almost the exact package contents.
This feels like taking advantage of a technicality/linguistic barrier:
The T&Cs do not state that failure to use the exact phrase results in being charged over $90 more.
The clinic was explicitly told about the Orange CHAS card and the services (Scaling and Polishing) which align with the package. They confirmed there would be a "partial subsidy."
When my friend's mother mentioned the "orange card," why did the clinic quote her the normal rates leading to the $190+ bill? Wouldn't an ethical clinic inform the client about the heavily advertised $43.73 package when the client clearly mentions the specific card that qualifies them for it, especially since the mother is middle-income and likely seeking affordability?
The final services received were less than the package (no X-ray), yet the cost was almost triple the advertised price.
We've seen similar reviews online, suggesting this is not a one-off. My friend has left a Google review to warn others about this, but the clinic deletes all negative reviews.
Need Advice: Has anyone had a similar experience with dental clinics and package deals in Singapore? Is the clinic legally justified in refusing the advertised rate because of a "magic phrase" technicality, even after the card eligibility was raised?
Any advice on navigating this dispute would be greatly appreciated!
My friend’s mum is affected quite badly by this as the money really means alot to her. It really feels like they took advantage of her linguistic ability. Continuing to just delete Google reviews just adds to this situation.
