SmileDirectClub

All the "smiley smiley" and "smile journey" talk gets very old very quickly. I’d rather see quality materials and service than cutesy jargon. Into my second month, I ran into what appeared to be a manufacturing problem with one of the aligners. Rather than replace the aligner, they required me to get another scan or imprints, which held up the whole process. I did as requested and expected to hear something about the "reevaluation," and heard nothing. So, a few weeks later I open the next package of aligners, figuring I’d keep going with my program. Inside the package were two bottom aligners.

First problem: One poorly manufactured aligner.

Second problem: Incorrect packaging. For $1800?!

This is the second major problem I’ve had in a two-month period. I should be halfway through this torture at this point (torn up tongue, for one), and now I’m being told I need to wait at least another four weeks for new aligners to arrive.

Their mistakes put me at minimum two months behind schedule. This is unacceptable. The problem is they get your money up front if you go for the "full payment" deal.

My "smile journey" is a smile wreck right now, and I’m not even halfway there.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Would of rather spent the money and went with an actual Invisalign with an orthodontist then this online mess. My month 5 they originally gave me a completely wrong aligner and I didn’t know until a week of that my teeth were hurting and getting VERY crooked again. I reached out to them and they said one would be mailed out within 14 days. It’s been 3 weeks and I reached out again asking for a lead time and the "specialist" said "we will let you know when they’re ready when you get a shipping email." Major inconvenience, least they could do is pay for my retainer that I just spent $100 on. Or not charge me this month, but no.

I have 3 co-workers who referred me to this and one of them is still waiting for his retainers that he placed 2 months ago. The other finished his aligners and his retainer didn’t fit so now waiting for another set.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I am giving it 2 stars, here is why:

They have nice people in their office in Dallas, super friendly!

I started my "Smile journey" on Mach 2018, I was told it will be a 5-month plan, guess what, I am still wearing them. It was 60% effective so I did re-evaluation to get me desired smile. So far I did 4 re-evaluations, after each evaluation I was told that it will take 2-3 weeks to receive my new aligners but in reality, it took 6 weeks! So I had to wear the last set of my aligners for 8 weeks!

Right now I've been wearing my currents aligners since March 22nd, did my re-evaluation on March 30th, and still waiting for my new aligners!

Their customer service is very bad, they are very good with their new customers, but the current ones should wait forever!

Oh but good thing is they are super on time to charge your account every month!

If I could turn back time I would've never started my "Smile Journey" with SmileDirectClub.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

After I had finished through my set of aligners, I felt my teeth needed a bit more of adjustment. I went in for a check-up at the local store and the bee aligners were on the way by the next two weeks. However, FedEx by no surprise (I don’t have trust with them from what I’ve experienced too many times) lost my box and I had to reorder my aligners. It was from then that made me wonder how this company is operating production. I waited for months and months inquiring for update probably every three weeks, but every time they say they will escalate to the production but so far it’s been three months and they are still not here. I don’t understand why since the first refinement aligners didn’t take more than two weeks to get shipped, and why now it’s taking three months. I have explained my situation that I will be moving abroad soon, but that doesn’t seem to be taken in consideration to the production side.

I would say support representatives over the phone are nice and trying the best, but not sure how much control they have to production. (BTW I do not recommend using chat...Javier who I talked through chat a couple of times is not willing to do much from what I could tell.)

I’ve was told now that they cannot promise to get my aligners by the time I leave the States but just to cross fingers.

My teeth are much better than before, but definitely not somewhere that I can quit the treatment. I guess you get what you pay for, but I regret that I had just gone to a dentist from the beginning since that’s what I probably have to do now. I say don’t take the chance. You’re just losing money.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The process to get started is very easy.

I did show up to the first appointment and noticed they were triple booked so I rescheduled my appt. Next visit was easy and the staff was friendly. There have been more than a few things I was not pleased with.

I wanted to try them out to see if this would be a good option for my daughter but have decided not to use SmileDirect for her. The aligners were put in backwards in my box so the first ones I put on were the last ones and very painful. The box was very specific not to remove more than one set of trays at a time so after I figured out it was backwards and I had to take them all out.

When I lost a pair a couple of days before I had to switch them they said I couldn't go on to the next set but rather would have to order new ones for $100.

Many of the aligners are sharp and they cut your mouth making it hard to wear the 20-22 hours recommended. I noticed a video on YouTube of someone shaving them down. For the price, I think they should be free of sharp edges that would cut your mouth and be sterile when they are bagged.

I have had a couple of billing issues. On the first payment, my card was verified in person but still charged to the wrong card. Later I updated an expired card and they used it once but didn't save the information so they just started pulling it from another card without notifying me.

Lastly, the retainer should be included in the price.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The service is initially alright and I had no major problems during the initial aligner process. However, once it got time to order the retainers that is when the issues started happening. Like many others on this site, I am beyond frustrated with the delays. If you're not going be able to ship a product, don't set false expectations.

I ordered my retainers a month ago and still have not received them. This leaves my teeth prone to shifting, erasing all that time spent aligning them. Their website is also terrible, it doesn't provide much information other than how to buy more items. There is no tracking information for your order or any feedback on your progress other than the initial 3-D model of your teeth adjusting. They also make it difficult to submit issues as you have to go through their customer service with different representatives handling each communication rather one streamlined portal on your dashboard. The customer representatives are friendly and it's not their fault that this company is so poorly run, but it is incredibly frustrating to have to deal with multiple people and get no resolution beyond a couple of trite standard lines about how there is a delay and they are on it.

My advice, if you are comfortable with a completely hands-off experience, with no guidance from a dentist, and are willing to spend almost $2000 for it, then this is the service for you. However, if not, definitely go elsewhere, especially for your retainers.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Two weeks later and I have not received my aligners, they have no been expedited as was promised, I have not received the $200 discount that I was promised, and worst of all have not received a call from the account representative who promised to call/email me back on May 30th (Tim). I've contacted customer service three times asking to speak with him and each time they said they would leave him a message and he would get back with me asap. No calls and no messages, no clarity on what's going on and it honestly seems like they just don't care to deliver on what was promised.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The customer service is pretty slow and awful. I had aligners that didn’t fit for month 2 and when I emailed them, they requested for a set of photos and I sent it to them. When I sent it, they said 2 business days later "sorry we can’t open these for some reason, can you resend" and asked for a set of photos that was completely of a DIFFERENT instruction than the first time around (4-5 business days of back and forth miscommunication), which means that that particular aligner was done for the week anyway.

Not saying the technology wouldn’t work if done right but the reviews are generally true that once you sign the agreement the customer service STEEPLY drops off and you better hope they make your aligners right the first time or you’ll never have them fixed.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I ended up having to go to an orthodontist and have the regular Invisalign because SmileDirectClub had shifted one of my teeth incorrectly and created a gap I didn't have at the beginning.

Now I am ending up paying three times as much.

Don't do it.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I, too, was overwhelmed by the number of emails I received from SmileDirectClub.com: "Thank you for visiting," "Here is your $25 gift certificate to use for any of our products," "Can't wait to hear how much you love your liners." UNTIL: "Sorry, you are not a candidate for our liners." When I went to use my gift certificate to order more whiteners, somehow ALL emails from SmileDirectClub.com were gone. POOF. I searched through trash, I knew I had "starred" them - nothing. The ONLY email I had from them was one that was directed to "Lydia, sorry to hear you are unhappy with your liners." I wonder what happened to ALL those emails? And why do I still have the one directed to Lydia?

Seems to me that once I no longer was a candidate - they pulled all the emails but forgot about poor Lydia's.

I contacted them about replacing the $25 - but you know "they can't do that...BUT what CAN she do to make me SMILE today?" I replied - give me the $25 that you promised...that would make me smile. Still waiting for a response.

But, alas, all I hear now is crickets!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

So far, my experience has been pretty poor. I received my aligners in the prescribed time window, but the first set was extremely painful. They cut my gums and my tongue in multiple places. There were huge gaps between the aligners and my gums that caused sores all around my mouth. I asked for a re-scan and they told me to cut the aligners down myself. I spent 45 minutes trying to cut excess plastic off, which improved the fit, but was still cutting my mouth. I also didn't want to be spending 45 minutes every week cutting the new aligners. I complained again, which they replied the aligners were the right fit...right, my mouth should be bleeding! Finally, they agreed to re-print my first month and see if it helped.

It took a month to get the new aligners shipped, and even though I had explicitly asked for them to ship to my new address and gotten an email back saying they confirmed the new address, they shipped to my old address.

I have tried the new aligners for two days. The initial fit was better, but still painful, cutting my gums, my tongue, and especially the tendon on the bottom of the mouth below the tongue. I cut the plastic again, which improved the fit, but still getting cuts. I've requested a new scan, because I think the original scan must be off if the fit is that bad, but have not heard back from SmileDirectClub.

I just looked at the return policy. Seems like they purposefully delay any responses past the 14-day return window. If they don't re-scan, I'm just SOL?

Oh, also the $25 Amazon gift card number they gave me is invalid.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend