SmileDirectClub Reviews

Even though they acknowledged their mistake, getting a refund was a nightmare. They insisted on proof of the charge before issuing the refund, adding insult to injury. It took almost a week and numerous threats to finally get the money back. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed with my experience. Instead, I sought out a competitor and have nothing but positive things to say about them. Their communication has been exceptional and they seem to care about their customers genuinely. Steer clear of Smile Direct Club and avoid the headache that I went through.

Before signing up, their customer service and attitude were drastically different. They painted a rosy picture of how their service would transform my smile, showing me well-edited videos and detailed treatment plans. However, once I committed and became a paying customer, it was like they flipped a switch. Suddenly, no one seemed to care about my progress, and my inquiries went unanswered.

It's apparent now that all those impressive visuals and promises were nothing but a scam to lure unsuspecting customers. SmileDirectClub's advertising is everywhere, and I wish I had done more research before falling into their trap. If you're considering SmileDirectClub, I implore you to think twice and explore other orthodontic options with proven track records. Don't let their flashy marketing fool you like it did to me. My experience with SmileDirectClub has left me with nothing but regret and a persistent gap in my teeth.

In addition to the issues with their treatment effectiveness and customer service, I've also been facing significant problems when trying to request a refund. Despite numerous attempts to contact them regarding my refund, SmileDirectClub has been unresponsive and continues to deduct money from my account without explanation or resolution.

Adding to my frustration, during my last contact with SmileDirectClub, they claimed they would send more aligners, which, in my opinion, is a complete waste of time. According to my rights as a paying customer, I expected to receive the service I paid for, but it never materialized. It's become abundantly clear that SmileDirectClub's business practices are questionable at best, and they seem more interested in retaining my money than providing the service they promised.

I am now left with no choice but to seek legal means to reclaim my money and challenge their service. Please be aware that their flashy marketing is a façade, and their promises are empty. My experience with SmileDirectClub has been nothing short of a disappointment, and I urge you to explore other orthodontic options with proven track records. Falling for their deceptive tactics has left me with nothing but regret and a persistent gap in my teeth, along with the ongoing frustration of trying to secure the refund I rightfully deserve.

I wasted countless hours and money, all for my teeth to have now shifted back to where they originally were. To their customer service, left is right and up is down. There is no reasoning with them and they will not uphold their side of the “lifetime smile guarantee”. I am happy to finally be free of dealing with their incompetence and I have made an appointment with a real dentist. I am hoping this review helps people not make the same mistake that I did.

Well here it is, almost 3 years to the day, and I give up. I requested a refund last round (May 2023) and was told they'd only refund me $170 because I'd had so many refits. I refused and decided to continue, and now I'm just done with it. My front top 2 teeth are NOT STRAIGHT. They still overlap and overall, I am not happy with my smile. Yes it is much better than when I started, but they've not accomplished straightening my teeth and are no longer answering emails or honoring any kind of so called warranty, stay far away. My teeth were not that complicated, but it didn't work for me and I'm out $1700 because they refuse to honor their guarantee or give me a full refund.

But the issue here comes from the so-called Lifetime Smile Guarantee and how ambiguous is the information they provide, creating a complete confusion for the users. Whenever you call or when someone from the company calls, you have questions and everything is "ok", "yes, of course" and "don't worry", and this and that. But not having evidence of these conversations, will be then turned against you.

Regarding the Lifetime Smile Guarantee, the company sells it as the best thing they offer right behind the low-price treatment compared to Invisalign. I'm pretty sure paying more for Invisalign and not having issues regarding guarantee could be way better. Smile Direct Club will find any way to void that Lifetime Smile Guarantee, either by making up excuses regarding treatment and by not informing users clearly. I asked for an aligner touch-up right about the end of my treatment while still wearing my last aligners, they were approved but informed me that I had to pay $300 because I was outside my Lifetime Smile Guarantee.

When contacting customer service regarding this issue, most of them were very rude, acted like if they were right next time every single day of my life during the treatment and basically just said it was my fault. Not even asking me for evidence of emails received or anything were I can show that I was either never informed or that was told that I would be able to do an aligner touch-up free of charge. Information about the Lifetime Smile Guarantee could be interpreted in so many ways, that it creates so much confusion for the user, and if you call to clear any doubts, their replies are that there won't be any problems and most of their words are ambiguous as well and are open to interpretation.

Some features are allowed within the app that tracks your progress and nowhere it notifies of any issues those features could bring to your treatment and/or your Lifetime Smile Guarantee. The importance of ordering the retainers or applying for an aligner touch-up before those retainers or a specific date, is not informed nor advice as some other stuff that is in fact optional like whitening kit, wax or anything else they sell on their store.

If it were up to me, I would really like to finish the treatment the right way, fixing any aligner problems I may have and probably continue with the retainers when my treatment and/or aligner touch-up are done, but as of now, I am planning to cancel and moving on. I would not recommend this company to anyone. I read the bad reviews before joining but still gave them the benefit of the doubt and now I am regretting it.

Round 1: The teeth were being moved around top and bottom. The front teeth were starting to sit lower. With the movement the front 3 teeth no longer were touching so biting is off. Zero success for the tooth. No refund option.

Round 2: Same as before. No movements at all. I could feel the changing and pressure with other teeth, but the tooth would not budge and was not forming to the thin plastic. Was told they could fix it. So try again. Was given a small refund option. I wanted it fixed so we continue.

Round 3: The front bite is off and the teeth do not touch in the front so chewing is not good. The front tooth is not turning and there is not enough room being made. It is dropping down more. Now that it is obvious that this is not going to work either, I complained. I'm giving up. This is not going to work for something simple. Was offered a partial refund.

Once I stopped using the front teeth are getting better with touching. I was worried I would have to go to an orthodontist to fix what they messed up and possibly sue for the costs. The plastic is thin and cheap. It does not even come close to comparing to other retainers my family uses. The retainers are a joke. Very thin and do not last as you need to replace them every 6 months. Yes I paid for those as well as you need to order them in advance so that they are ready at the end.

The only guarantee is if you walk away within 30 days. There is no way to tell if it is even going to work in 30 days. Once you try it out and they fail you do not get refunded for their failure. A larger refund should be due if they can't deliver on a promise. Touch-ups are great if they worked, but what if they fail as well. Just providing touch-ups is not a guarantee. At some point you have to give up.

By the end of treatment, they were not fixed and my bite was messed up. I requested an adjustment which was approved. Did the full adjustment treatment and still no results on closing the spacing. I requested an additional adjustment and they denied it. They say that they can not fix this issue. This was the whole reason that I signed up for this treatment. Had they told me in the beginning they could not fix it, I would have never started treatment. They say your smile is 100% guaranteed, but they lie. Do yourself a favor and go to a real person. This whole thing is a sham. They don't know what they are doing and they can do more harm than good, by messing up your bite.

I called back a 4th time and was told my refund was processed on June 28th and I would receive my refund within 5 - 10 business days. Today is July 14th and still no refund. Just called customer service again. This time I was told a manager was supposed to call me before my refund could be processed. Please! do not do business with this company. Does their product work? I don't know because I've been so discouraged and pissed off with their shady business practices to try. They are nothing but thieves. My next step is to take them to court.

Well, I had a really negative experience, but I didn't get a refund, so I can't be hushed up. I actually didn't know you could get a refund if you complained enough and I was not about to lose all my money, so I stuck it out and kept insisting that they adjust my smile plan until I was satisfied. I never got 100% what I wanted, but it was about 80% in the end, and I was okay with that. The thing is, what was supposed to be around a 6 month treatment turned into 18 months and it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life.

At one point I had gaps that I never had before. At another point, they actually moved the OPPOSITE tooth in the OPPOSITE direction of what I had explicitly asked for. I dealt with people writing down my concerns who seemed to barely be able to write English. I literally had to tell them what to write word for word, because what they wrote didn't make sense and did not communicate my actual concerns. I had one customer service rep actually refuse to tell me what she had written down after I had spent half an hour trying to explain it to her. (There were a lot of problems and they were complicated.)

Here are the main things I learned in those 18 months: 1. You will NEVER SPEAK TO AN ORTHODONTIST or DENTIST either directly or indirectly. You won't even speak to a dental assistant. You will speak to customer service reps who summarize your concerns and pass it on to your "team", whoever that might be. 2. Your smile plan is based on a formula, not your actual specific concerns. If your concerns fit into the formula, they will be addressed. If they do not, they will be ignored. You will have to complain to ALL HELL and let them know that you have everything in writing for them to address anything that doesn't fit their formula. (So make sure to use email and keep everything.)

3. Their formula is that your teeth should create a smooth arch along their bottom edge. But that bottom edge is not what people see. So having that arch doesn't mean that your teeth will necessarily look good if they have an unusual shape or alignment. But they don't care about that because straying from the formula means having to do extra work that they don't get paid for, which brings me to....4. The ortho who does the smile plans gets paid per case, not per hour, so their incentive is to do as many plans as possible in the least amount of time. That means they are going to apply the formula whenever they can get away with it. They're not paying attention to your concerns unless they absolutely have to. I had to write numerous emails and spend literally HOURS on the phone to get them to deviate from their "bottom arch" obsession so I wouldn't end up with two snaggle teeth.

5. The impression kit is NOT accurate when it comes to bite issues. The 3d model I saw online after doing the impressions completely shrunk my overbite, which would have led to serious issues down the road if I hadn't noticed it. Only the 3d in-person scan can accurately capture your bite and this is REALLY IMPORTANT. If your bite is messed up by the aligners it can cause pain and even tooth loss down the road. And if the smile plan does not accurately capture your bite to begin with, there is a good chance it will screw up your bite down the road.

6. They will pressure you to follow through with a smile plan even when you are not happy with it because it is more work for them to adjust a smile plan part way through than once you come to the end of it. Again, you will have to COMPLAIN. 6. Service reps have a 5th grade level command of English. Make sure you make them read back to you what they have written down. This applies when you get the scan in person and when you speak to them on the phone. Don't be afraid to tell them exactly what to write.

In short, I would say be very careful of using this service unless you have a very simple problem you want to fix. If your issues are complicated or numerous, you will likely end up having to fight tooth and nail for what you write and have to go through a treatment that goes on for a very long time because of all the plan revisions you will have to go through.

In the end, given how much it will cost you in time and energy to get what you want, you might be better off seeing a regular orthodontist who won't just be applying a one-size-fits all formula and who will also be monitoring the health of your mouth as the treatment progresses. SmileDirect does not give a damn about your dental health. I never had to see a dentist at any point in the course of my treatment. It was only recommended. What they care about is profits and efficiency.

SmileDirect Club's conduct has been utterly disgraceful. Their deceptive advertising lured me into a supposed 10-month treatment, which unforgivably turned into a 4-year struggle. The treatment plans they offered were not just ineffective but led to further health complications. Repeated attempts to communicate my concerns were met with indifference. Requests for a full refund were rejected, and instead, a paltry increase was offered. The lack of empathy and action from their side is appalling.

This experience has been a distressing, time-consuming, and unproductive saga, causing unnecessary strain and discomfort. If you value your oral health and time, I would urge you to think twice before considering SmileDirect Club. Their negligence and insensitivity have proven that they're ill-prepared to handle serious issues, leaving their customers to bear the consequences.

I call again. She says "Let me make a scan appointment for you." Nope. I've done that. They say "Did you know your touch-up will be $300." I say "No, they already requested it be waived. What's the update?" Put me back on-hold. Finally they are saying that the second touch-up is approved. It'll be a 3 month treatment. Let's hope this one works. I've wasted two years of my life. I don't understand how they are in business - just hoping people pay upfront and give up? So like, clearly the record-keeping is terrible and clearly the product doesn't work.

Joe informed me that to take advantage of the guarantee, I should have notified them within 30 days. How did I know this was not going to work in only 30 days? I have had the run around from multiple people. Aside from taking them to court, I am at a loss. I have spoken to others who informed me this company is a scam and I feel foolish that I bought into the whole thing. This has been a colossal waste of time and money.

I agree that these aligners were helpful in straightening my teeth for the most part. My teeth weren’t too bad to begin with. However, I feel that they definitely could’ve been straightened a little more after completing my 5 months. I just want people out there to know that it’s not just about straightening teeth. The way the aligners are set in your mouth will likely force your jaw to change depending on what the “professionals” create personally for you. I never had overbite or underbite issues which is why this baffles me. I still suffer with vocal issues to this day and jaw crackling in my ears and sinuses. My jaw is basically “trained” to stay the way the aligners left it and I’m really saddened by this experience. I truly would’ve gone to a real Ortho and spent more money on Invisalign if I knew I would’ve gone through this.

-You will also continue to pay for retainers for the rest of your life; one pair only lasts about 6 months.

Personally, going back, I would have much rather gone with another company or even gotten braces again for a small period of time. It's worth doing that than wearing these cheaply made aligners for the rest of your life. Also, be aware that if you don't wear these for 22-24 hrs/day, your teeth will loosen, and the treatment won't work. So big takeaway, be ready to wear these uncomfortable aligners and then retainers for the rest of your life, and be aware that you will be paying for retainers every 6 months after your treatment.

As far as the retainers, I wake up and then I take them out to brush my teeth, and I put them right back on. Then I just go about my day. When I wanna eat, I just take them out and put them back in my case. Then, around later on in the evening, I'll eat dinner and I'll take it out for an hour or so, and I'll clean it then. I'll go back to sleep with them in. The first time, the first pair was really bad. It was really weird but after that, you get used to it. On the third pair, it was like, "All right, this is how it is." The result is really crazy. I get complimented on it now, and it's really cool. I get told I smile a lot more now.

I used the online chat and that seemed to work. But you always lose connection so you never get an answer to your question and nothing ever gets fixed. I started calling and it was the same thing. After the fourth phone call, I figured that was a little odd. But other than that, SmileDirect was great in the beginning. The reps were very helpful and answered all my questions. I always got an email as well as a text message in regards to doing a great job and that it was time to switch to aligners. It was awesome. They did a great job but in this last piece, they shook their hands like they're done. I wish their customer service was a little bit better.