Is it normal to be charged for a "consultation visit" before a major dental procedure?

[sailin05]

For a consultation fee to be charged you need three things. A Reason. A Request. A Report. If they don't give you a written report then there should not be a fee. They are throwing their opinion out and not reducing it to a written report that you have concrete proof of what they say. That is not a bonafide consultation.

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by MrJohnQQQPublic

Its pretty obvious most of you who answered are dentists. So according to dentists logic. If I go to 3 oral surgeons for an estimate on work to be performed on my teeth; I should pay each one of them $125 or more just because I decided to shop around for a better price or a better plan of action. So even before I get any work done I am paying $375 to various dentists. Now we can look at normal peoples logic: Lets see, do contractors do that? How about lawyers? How about doctors? Maybe they should pre-pay qualified applicants for interviewing for a job. The ones who get turned down are wasting their time if they don't get hired. Maybe we should pay our politicians before they get elected.
Is this the capitalistic system at work in our democratic USofA?
Fortunately the dentist, who ultimately did the work on my teeth did not charge a consult fee. He looked at my teeth for free, X-rayed the bad tooth and sent me an estimate for the root canal. He was cheaper than the other dentist who still wants me to pay him a consult fee of $125. Here's the dentists own words in the bill he sent me, " Consultation Fee: If treatment has not been scheduled or has not been completed within 30 days of your initial visit, we will charge for the consultation. If you have insurance, we will bill them and keep you informed on the status of that payment. If you do not have insurance, we will bill you directly." He never tells me that the insurance company does not pay any consultation fees. He never does tells me that there is a consult fee of $125. This was given to me after the fact. Would you ever go to this dentist?

My electrician charges to come and give me as estimate. My lawn sprinkler company charges me to come to my house for an estimate. Most service providers charge for their time.

Doctors charge for second opinion consultations.

Who works for free?

[LookinForMayberry]

Originally Posted by FrankTheTank2

...

Any thoughts?

As the age old adage tells us: "Time is money."

You get the time, you pay.

[Brookboy]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Even attorneys don't even have the gall to charge for that.

That reminds me of the old joke where a person sees an expensive lawyer. The person asks the lawyer what he charges, and the lawyer says, “I charge $500 for three questions.”

The potential client says “Isn’t that quite expensive?”

The lawyer says, “It all depends. Now, what’s your third question?”