DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia woman has been paying each month, for nearly a year, for a surgery she never had.
“It’s like I’m just throwing money in the air, $163 a month,” Douglasville resident Yvonne Tribble told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
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Tribble was scheduled to have breast reduction surgery at Lexington Plastic Surgeons, but her primary care physician recommended she cancel the procedure because of her diabetes.
Lexington had already processed her prepayment through a third-party payment company called Cherry.
“They said the check has been cashed by Lexington Plastic Surgeons,” Tribble said Cherry told her.
For nearly a year now, Tribble says she has been calling, emailing and sending letters to Cherry and Lexington trying to get her refund.
“They’re pointing the finger at each other, but yet I’m still paying,” she said.
Meanwhile, Cherry is charging 29.99% interest for a surgery that never happened.
“That could be groceries, that could gas in my car for a month,” Tribble continued.
Tribble says she chose to have the procedure done at Lexington because of the reputation of its owner, celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Michael E. Jones. Her procedure was covered by her insurance because it was deemed medically necessary.
But Lexington did not take insurance.
Tribble says she chose to go with them anyway and pay out of pocket because of Jones’ reputation.
Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard warns people against using third party payment companies like Cherry.
“You’re the one who over and over again gets left with a short straw,” Howard said.
The check from these companies goes directly to the provider, not you, leaving all the risk in the consumer’s hands.
“When they ask you to sign one of these instant loan agreements, you are asking for nothing but trouble,” Howard said.
On the Better Business Bureau site, Lexington Plastic Surgeons have an F rating, with complaints similar to Tribble’s.
“I never received the surgery or the service and now the loan company is trying to collect money from me,” one patient wrote last fall.
Howard says you need to dispute the bill in writing with the lender, in this case Cherry, within 60 days.
Tribble says she keeps paying each month because she does not want this to ruin her credit.
“If I never had the surgery, where is the money?” she said.
For nearly a month, Channel 2 Action News has been reaching out to both Cherry and Lexington Plastic Surgeons trying to get answers.
We even tried contacting the CEO of Cherry, emailing him multiple times but getting no response.
A lawyer for Lexington Plastic Surgeons finally responded and asked us not to air this story, telling us they won’t comment at all because of privacy rules.
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