Brownstone Dermatology

Horrible. Awful. The girls at the front desk are rude. They are college aged uncompassionate young ladies. I have gone to them a total of 3 times and during each of my visits I experienced their rudeness. Furthermore, the business is not customer based. They are all about the $. Now, of course a business must be concerned with money, but number one, without a doubt, should be customer service. Putting the rude girls aside, lets get into my biggest issue with this establishment. I missed my 4th appointment and they sent me a bill for $50. Now, I know this has become a common practice with some places, but don't we all remember when it wasn't?? It has only become so common because not enough of us fight it. Now, I didn't start off wanting to fight this, I started by doing what any one of us would do. I called and tried to apologize and make a new appointment. I asked if we could just forget about this $50 fee they wanted to charge me for missing my appointment. The girl who answered was just as rude as the ones usually running the front desk. She was very short with me and did not care to hear what I had to say. Terrible customer service. I pretty much decided right there that I would not be going back to them regardless. Very rude young lady. I tried to explain to her that the amount paid to them by my insurance and copay would far exceed the $50 they were trying to charge me. Her reply to me was that I couldn't schedule another appointment until I paid the $50. I though that she may have missed the point. I told her that if this was how they did business, not considering the needs and situations of individual customers, that I did not want to go back there. I tried once again to try and reason with her. Telling her that if I never come back they will get absolutely nothing. However, if they would just forget about the $50 they would get hundreds in a matter of days at my next appointment. Not to mention hundreds more in the following years. I asked to speak to a manager or the owner and the rude young lady refused. This seems like a combination of terrible business practice and a rude young lady on a power trip. This doesn't make sense at all. Like many people, I have missed appointments before and most of the time businesses, in good business practice, will wave these fees. Now, I got a letter saying they are turning this $50 over to collections. But wait, now it's not $50, it's $60!!! Without reason!?!? And that if the now $60 is not paid within 10 days when it is turned over to collections they will add an additional 23%. On of the fundamental problems with this is that they are sending me a charge when no service has been preformed. Then, they have to nerve to try and collect on a charge for no services. I will be putting my foot down and suggest everyone else do the same. If you do not already go here, I suggest that you don't, and if this place or any other tries to charge these ridiculous fees, try to reason, but fight if you have to. In my ""ten days"" they have given me before collections, I will contact them once again. If they will not reason with me I will be going to court. This is a spiteful charge and businesses survived long before these existed. I will not lay down and take a now $60 charge because a business, who's business is to help there customers, is grumpy with me and wont consider the sometimes crazy lives of their individual customers. Win or loss, I will not take this injustice and I hope anyone who reads this will be inspired to do the same. This practice needs to change. We all have a voice and if we each use ours more we can make a difference. I hope for a peaceful outcome. more

Although it is difficult to get in for an appt. I don't think any of the negative reviewers have been to the Dermo dept. the med center. They are very up front about there 24 hour policy and perhaps the person who called back in 20 minutes could have spoke need to the billing manager. \r \r I am happy with the doctor and everything else is minor. more

Made an appt and rescheduled it 20 minutes later. Was told I was going to be charged $50 and I was not allowed to reschedule. Very rude! more

DO NOT GO HERE! I really should have paid more attention to the negative reviews, they are all true. Today I tried to reschedule tomorrow's appointment, but because it was not 24 hours in advance, they want to charge me $50. What is even more arrogant, is they will not reschedule until I pay the $50. Customer comes first?? Not at Brownstone. I have a business that deals with customers first hand and it would never occur to me to have such a policy. Life throws curve balls at your customers, they should not be punished for this. Also, I had a question about some treatment I was receiving for warts. The Doc had instructed to call her if certain side effects surfaced. They did, and the person answering the phone tried to answer my questions and refused to have the Doc call me back. Ultimately I did get through, after 5 phone calls, and my concerns were validated. Perhaps I should charge them $50 for my time on the phone. Furthermore, Jessica is extremely impersonal. She made me feel like my concerns and questions were stupid. It was like she couldn't wait to get out of the room. If you want questions answered, do not go here. DO NOT GO HERE!! more

I received a bill from Brownstone Dermatology for a more

We took our son there a year ago for treatment of his acne. We have been back for several follow-up visits since then. He saw Jessica who prescribed medication and instructed him how to wash his face. Although he follows her instructions to the letter, there has been no improvement. At one point she seemed to be questioning whether he was being truthful. Another time, she almost seemed to be saying, kids get acne, what can you do? Finally at the last visit she prescribed another kind of medicine, equally ineffective. We missed a visit in July because we were on vacation. Of course, we will pay the $50 cancellation fee because as it was explained to me, ""that's our policy"". I wonder what their policy is for accepting accountability for ineffective treatment? They have quite the setup there....patients keep returning because their problems are not properly treated, they keep collecting fees for ""service"" and do not take any accountability for actually curing their patients! When my husband was young, he went to a dermatologist for his acne, was treated, and the acne cleared up. Why can't these people deliver the same results? Find another doctor, and save your hard-earned money. more

Jessica was very short in my visit, very impatient, didn't have a lot of time to spend and didn't want to explain anything when asked. Pharmacy called 3x's to get additional infor for RX with no returned calls from Dr's office. I called very upset questioning why they have not returned calls to pharmacy and that my rash have gotten worse and that it was all over my face and a lot more on my body, and I have yet to get my script. I rvcd a call back stating a new script was sent with additional infomation, and to put vaseline or moisturizer on my face, I ask for what since my face wasn't dry. It was inflame and itchy swollen, she immediately took an attitude and said ""that's all I can tell you"" You can come in again. Why would I want to come in again? Nasty altitude like that why would I want to come in again. I later went to pharmacy to pick up RX, I asked pharmacist what would medication do, she said only help with itchy and redness, never mind the problem rash/infection. The next day, due to my not being all that comfortable with the care I was given, I called another doctor, and was seen and was surprisingly PROPERLY DIAGNOSED and MEDICALLY TREATED and SATISFIED. I called Jessica Rein office more

I've never had a wait of more than 15 minutes for my appointment. Everyone I've interacted with during visits to this practice has been extremely pleasant. This includes the receptionist, medical assistants, and the PA whom I generally see-- Jessica. They are very thorough in doing my annual ""mole check"" for any abnormal looking skin spots, and explain every visit what I should be looking for myself. As a previous reviewer mentioned, I also have comprehensive health insurance-- mine is a PPO through Highmark-- and I'm able to make appointments with Jessica Rein, so I'm not sure what the situation might have been where the other person was directed to a much later appt with Dr Mackley. I was seen within a few days the only time I've had to call with an urgent request for care. more

I actually thought the Doctors were great, but their policy and treatment of you regarding appointments and lack of respect of YOUR time is despicable.\r They think their time is more important than yours. You will wait forever, and if you have to leave, they charge you for cancelling.\r I actually got tied up one day in traffic and tried to reschedule, but instead they called it a cancellation and still charged me the $50 fee!\r Unbelievably arrogant -- Go somewhere else.\r I wish I could give it Zero stars. more

I love Brownstone Dermatology, and was quite surprised to read others responses. Who hasn't had to wait for a good doctor? I have seen both Dr. Mackley and Dr. Rein for a couple years now. They always are professional and have a very helpful and friendly staff. Multiple times I have had to call and schedule emergency appointments and they were able to get me in within a couple weeks. My whole family has in fact been seen by this practice at one time or another. They are fabulous with children!! About the wait time before appointments it's hit or miss. I personally don't mind waiting because I know once it's my turn they give me their full attention. I'm sure multiple times my appointments have kept people waiting, but I really appreciate their thoroughness. One missed spot or mole could lead to cancer or a whole slew of problems. Some people love getting there hair and nails done, I love going to the dermatologist!! I mean come on, who doesn't love beautiful skin. more

I will agree that it does take a while to get in to see Dr. Mackley. She's the original practitioner there and has a lot of regular, years-long patients. On the other hand. Dr. Rein has been there for 4 years now and is much easier to get an appointment with and is just as good. Rein's schedule is way more flexible, she's really kind and helpful. I've only had an appointment with Mackley once, but she seemed very nice too. My step mother regularly sees Mackley and LOVES her. If you're willing to wait (up to 2 months for Rein, more like 5 for Mackley), it is really worth it. In terms of the late fee, if you call them to tell them you're running late, they actually don't charge you, especially if you're one of their clients who is otherwise routinely on time. Having worked at a doctor's office myself, I understand that schedules are tight and one late person pushes the entire schedule out of whack. Almost every practice has a late fee. These guys may be stricter with it than others, but that just tells you to leave early. more

I had to wait five months for an appt. to see Dr. Mackey even though someone else was available earlier. I asked why. She said it was because I have Blue Cross coverage and Dr. Mackey takes those. We have good coverage (my husband of course pays alot for it) and the owner wants all the patients with good insurance. So I had to wait longer because I had good insurance. We are former Dr. Zampagno patients. I know she got herself in trouble but she was a wonderful caring doctor. I sure miss her. more

I could not agree more with the previous 2 reviews of Brownstone Dermatology. It really is apparent that their sole concern is about money and the sad thing is that they don't even hide the fact from their patients. I referred 2 other people there before I realized how uncaring they really are and both of my friends got the same vibe. Seriously, find a different dermatologist . more

Do not go to this practice. All they care about is the almighty dollar. They have rules about their time, not yours, are not flexible or understanding in any way and charge you if you are even 3 minutes late for an appointment. Proof of insurance is an absolute requirement or proof of payment upfront, at least, before they will make you an appointment. There is no care in this practice, only the worship of the almightly dollar and their schedule. more

Apparently, their time is m-u-c-h more valuable than mine. Doctors sometimes run behind schedule. And sometimes, patients are not able to wait for an undetermined amount of time to see their doctor, as they have other responsibilities...like their job. New to this practice, I arrived on time to see the physician's asst. After spending 30 minutes in the waiting room, I figured by the time I got into see the PA, I would be well over the extra time my boss allowed me for my appt. I told the receptionist I had to leave to return to my job. The receptionist and the office manager told me I would be charged the $50.00 cancellation fee. I told them I would not pay it because I did not cancel the appt. By not seeing me on time, they were the ones who cancelled the appt. This weekend, I received their bill for “Same Day Cancellation” in the mail. How tacky and unprofessional! I didn’t cancel. They were late. And patients are not obligated to wait indefinitely for a doctor who is late for their appt. Pros: n/a Cons: (see below) more