SmileDirectClub

I worked with the team in Lincoln, Nebraska. They were great. The liners are working amazingly for my 13-year-old daughter. The dentist has been amazed. SmileDirect has saved us thousands of dollars since our dental insurance only covers a max of $1,200 per person. I would recommend these to anyone.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Based on my three separate consultations for invisible aligners, the in-person experience with SmileDirectClub was by far the most comfortable. My first Invisalign consultation was with a young dentist who nearly ripped my mouth apart trying to get a good 3D scan. They wanted $4000 up front with no payment options, and treatment would be six months. My SmileDirectClub consult was with a younger, less experienced dental student, but she was all about that customer service - super positive and reassuring that I would be happy with my results. I walked away with a free whitening kit (which works great!) and an affordable payment plan.

They emailed me a link to see my 3D month-by-month results. I noticed my teeth would develop what’s called an "open bite" - my front top and bottom teeth won’t close all the way by the time the five-month treatment was complete. I was surprised no one bothered to tell me I’ll never be able to bite into a sandwich properly again, but at least my teeth will be straight, right? So I called and canceled, which they tried hard to convince me not to do.

I would recommend SmileDirectClub to anyone with few and minor problems, like if your teeth are spaced too much, or you have a little crowding on the bottom. Otherwise, you’ll probably end up getting Invisalign anyway.

My third consult was with an orthodontist for Invisalign. It was magical, and her wealth of knowledge and experience are the reason I will have her straighten my teeth.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

My daughter and I had an awesome experience, there was lots of information that was given about the pros and cons with using Invisalign. It’s affordable and convenient to use and buy. There was a nice and friendly consultant named Ladiya - she was so helpful in giving us all the information required to use it.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Every REAL person who has reviewed this company is disappointed in some way. I’ve mainly experienced a high number of two month "mid-course corrections" plans due to MANUFACTURING ISSUES, and one course because my two front teeth were moving outwards. This pushes back your treatment plan extremely, I was told a 6 MONTHS treatment plan and it has been A YEAR AND 2 MONTHS. When this happens, you have no choice but to wear the same trays for WEEKS, and they get very worn out, discolored, sometimes crack.

I would have reps giving me dental advice, sometimes two different reps would tell me two different things. Also, there has been a rep who never actually put my order for retainers in after a full phone call. The new order of retainers is now over 4 weeks late. I can’t believe their website has 5,000 perfect reviews, I’m definitely going to be looking at bank statements because with how badly this company is ran, I DO NOT TRUST THEM.

If you are looking to straighten your smile, it’s so true that you need to be constantly checked. My smile is straighter, but I have had my trays out for only a few hours and teeth shifted because when I put trays in they were so tight, this is concerning. I think my teeth could look better. You get what you pay for (cheapness). I think it’s a great concept but should not have its costumers be test dummies for a company that needs to be HIGHLY readjusted.

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

First off, I ordered their impressions kit and never received it, even though they charged me immediately. I sent several emails and never received a reply. When I called to complain, they told me a dentist said I wasn't a good fit. I have no idea how they would know this since I didn't see a dentist or send anything in (since I never received my impressions kit). I mentioned this to the person on the phone and he ignored it and said I will be getting the refund I requested. No apology for not sending my kit and no apologies for nobody sending an email in response to mine. He then said they are processing my refund, which could take several days, and then it would take about another week to actually see my refund. Horrible experience, and I didn't even get started. Horrible customer service.

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

I'm towards the end of my treatment and I do notice a significant difference in my smile. It's great seeing it work. But I will say their customer service, website, and overall concept need a lot of "work."

I've had multiple issues with them. Their dashboard system is all over the place and can become very frustrating. It needs major work. Plus their "catch up if you're behind" concept is terrible. It's not as thorough as I thought it would be. I had to do a lot of the backtracking myself, and my dashboard screwed up the eta of my smile. And having to stare at "welcome to the club" (on end of 5th month by the way) for three weeks just because I ordered retainers, so I can't see anything, no progress or how many days until I switch or anything. That's ridiculous. And not having a very important item to the treatment process available online to purchase yet having water bottles, t-shirts, lip balm, etc. Each of my experiences is in detail below:

- My experience at the SmileShop was weak. I had to come back the next day to get my teeth rescanned. They messed up the 3D scanning, yet the way I found out was an email saying I needed to redo my home kit impressions (that I didn't do or even order) and that I basically screwed up. I had to contact the shop myself and make another appointment to fix their mistake. The problem there is that they don't have a better system on the case that THEY screw up the scan...not the customer. Plus they weren't that sorry about it when I had to go back, but I knew they should have been more apologetic because of the way I got that email saying it was my impressions' fault (which I didn't order at all), I'm guessing that shouldn't have happened on their part. It made me feel kind of like I was the first that's happened to or something because of the way that all went down.

- The "Get back on track button" is useless. I didn't think I would need that button ever, but I unexpectedly became pregnant and couldn't keep the aligners in due to morning sickness. I tried as long as I could but had to stop for two weeks, thinking well, at least they have a "get back on track" button. Wrong. It's not as thorough as I thought it would be. I had to do a lot of the backtracking myself, and my dashboard got screwed up my eta of the treatment. They don't tell you what aligners to start back with or how long you were off track, nothing that helpful on truly getting back to treatment. Literally, the only thing they had was having you put in what day are you starting on again...Well, how would the customer even know which aligners to start back on since missing that long, there's just not much help there, so I don't know why they'd advertise that button when you have to talk to a dental professional anyways to start up again.

- Three weeks ago I ordered retainers since I was close to the end of treatment. Since ordering it, my dashboard has been back to the page "Welcome to the club" that I saw when I first began before even receiving aligners. I asked someone about this and they said it was because I ordered the retainers and that my page should go back to normal after they shipped out. Well, it's been three weeks and I haven't been able to see my progress this whole time! It's become frustrating, and I'm not amused at all. It's unacceptable that a customer wouldn't be able to keep track of their progress simply because they ordered an item! That is a MAJOR flaw on their part. I think it's an insane excuse.

I got the email about three days ago that the retainers shipped and I still can't see progress today, so I contacted them again. A new representative responded that it was an easy fix, that all they had to do was update my page. She told me to log back in, but all I saw was a "your aligners have shipped." She responded saying she was going to escalate my case and within 24 hours should have my dashboard back up. I appreciate her taking care of it, I'm just wondering why someone else couldn't have done the same weeks before! It seems like the reps are very inconsistent with their knowledge about what is possible to help someone and what is not.

I'm hoping my page does come back up. This has angered me the most about SmileDirectClub...it's extremely unnecessary to have this happen and be an inconvenience to a customer. They couldn't even tell me my progress when I asked them if they could at least just let me know from their end if they could see it, but it seems they weren't even able to.

- The Chewies are wearing out after five months, I asked a rep if I could get replacements. She said I could purchase them through the accessories. I told her I looked and they weren't there to buy, everything else was there. She looked into it and told me I was right and that she didn't see them either. This is minor, but I can't believe something really important for the customers' treatment isn't available, yet t-shirts and water bottles were. I was able to order through the customer service. I hope the dashboard doesn't freak out yet again just because of this new order...

Again, the treatment is working quite well. These are major complaints toward the technical part of them that need attention. I'm hoping someone in the company reads this so that they can address these issues I've faced because they seem to be pretty avoidable if they just realized the position of the customer and all these small things that are frustrating for our end.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I went in for a consultation, and the staff was so welcoming and very educated and knowledgeable about the product and how it works.

Fern did a great job in explaining every step in detailed; I got started after she finished explaining.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Pricing seems okay, but don’t expect any customer service. I won’t get their aligners based on my SmileShop experience alone. Even though I made an appointment, checked in, and spoke with two associates, I waited 50 minutes for the scan. Someone who arrived 20 minutes after me was seen first.

Oh, and if you do make a SmileShop appointment, you might be pressured to provide credit card info during booking or scanning - I just ignored this, and the "requirement" was magically waived.

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

I went in for for the 3D impressions and ordered my aligners on October 19, 2018. Because I paid in full, my aligners were supposed to be "fast-tracked" and delivered within 4-5 weeks. As of today, November 30, I have no aligners. I called customer service on Wednesday to ask about the hold-up and was told they were being made as we speak. I accepted that answer until my friend, who ordered her aligners on November 02, received hers yesterday. I called back today and just told they are being made. The customer service rep offered to give me a free retainer and when I told him I'm already getting one for free, he was silent. He basically said there was nothing more he could do and would call me IF he received any info regarding my aligners or I can try back on Monday to see IF there are any updates.

I think I want a REFUND!

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

I began my treatment in January 2016 and was told my treatment would take three months. Almost three YEARS later I am still dealing with them. My teeth required very little correction. I just have a gap in between my front two teeth. My first 3 months there was a slight change, but there was still a notable gap, and my side teeth are now not aligned so they grate together. I contacted SmileDirectClub and they set me up with another 2-month refinement plan. This time there was no change at all. I contacted SmileDirectClub and was approved for a refinement plan again. They lost my impressions twice, and determined that two sets of impressions were unusable even though somehow my first set was received perfectly with no problems.

Because they typically take a month to get back to you, time passed and I didn't hear anything. At this point my last set of aligners are completely broken, I have had to book an appointment to go to a Smile shop because of months of issues with impressions. When I contacted SmileDirectClub for replacement aligners until my refinement ones arrive, I was told it wasn't possible.

I asked to talk to a manager to report the terrible service; I was told one will call me. Nobody ever called me. I contacted them again and again and was told I'd be contacted - nobody ever did. I have noticed a significant decline in the quality of service as they have grown.

Furthermore, I have a friend who went in for treatment with a dentist with roughly the same level of work that I needed. Their treatment was done in 4 months and they only paid $1000 more than me. This friend started treatment more than a year after I did, and finished over a year ago. I have so many regrets about wanting to be thrifty on this. Just go to a dentist and save yourself the headache.

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

My story sounds similar to those who are unhappy. I fall into the category of everything was fine until it wasn't. Giving your money to them is about the only easy part of this process. You better pray to the orthodontic gods that you never have any issues once you make a deal with the devil. My treatment plan was for five months. And I fully understand that it is not an exact science and adjustments may be needed. However, when a customer says they are unhappy with the results and no longer wish to continue, that wish should be honored by the company. Working in retail management for as long as I have, you need to do right by the customer even if it means you lose a little on the back end.

Customer service will be the death knell of this company. This isn't just money, these are people's lives you are messing with and holding up. If your product and your service is so poor that you cannot afford to honor the wishes of your customer, then perhaps it's time to reevaluate your business plan. A customer should not be forced to continue paying for a service that no longer adds value to their life or has created a hardship. In this case, I have sent several messages over the last couple of months asking that my plan be discontinued. I have one tooth that will not budge and I would rather make peace with it than continue this plan.

I am not asking for a refund. It didn't work the way it had been predicted, it is what it is. But forcing me to continue to pay by ignoring my requests is beyond unethical. Reading the reviews it would appear I am not alone in this. I guess I have no other recourse than to file a complaint with the BBB. It's a shame it has to be escalated to this degree.

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