You were excited to receive your retainers after all that work to get your teeth in the perfect position. You don’t spend a lot of time researching retainer companies, but you come across SmileLove and their retainers. You aren’t sure about it, but you order SmileLove retainers anyway. A few weeks later they stop picking up the phone and your order goes into a black hole. What happened to SmileLove retainers?
If you haven’t heard the news, SmileLove retainers went out of business in the Spring of 2020. The disappearing business left many of their customers without refunds and wasted wallets. Retainers and Aligner treatments are very popular and there are start-up companies that promise to be there for you. They offer unbelievable prices and have flashy marketing campaigns for a few months. The problem is retainers and orthodontics, in general, take many years of experience and dedication to grow in business. SmileLove started in 2017 and only lasted three years leaving thousands of customers without retainers and an empty wallet.
Sporting Smiles is the original online manufacturer of DIY dental retainers having been in business since 2009. We’ve taken extra precautions and careful business models to our approach. SmileLove retainers depended on rapid growth from their customer base and at some point, it stopped growing. Customer service suffered severely and eventually stopped responding to emails and phone calls. Here are some real reviews on SmileLove from ex-customers on the better business bureau.
“I paid $100 for a replacement retainer from SmileLove in December. It took about 2 months to finally get the retainer and once received the top retainer was actually separating my teeth instead of keeping them in the same place as the old retainer. I reached out to the company and sent them a photo of both sets as requested but never got a response after. I disputed the charge since the retainer was not performing as it was supposed to but they refuted it claiming no refunds on custom items. I paid $100 for a retainer only to have it be nonfunctional and am now having to seek treatment through a new company to undo the damage the faulty retainer did. Their lack of response and a faulty product is costing me $2000.”
“I paid fully for my retainers, over $1000 a year ago. I have never received the retainers and have not been issued a refund.”
“SmileLove of took my money and never sent me my aligners and retainers and refused to give me a refund and now refuse to answer my emails regarding a refund or my aligners and retaineThe total amount paid $1495.00 February 16 of 2020 and I only received my free impression kit and nothing more. I also sent a complaint to them and they deleted my account I never responded back a couple of weeks ago.”
What happened to SmileLove? A business model that was only successful with rapid growth, poor navigation through a pandemic, and missing customer service resulted in them going out of business. Be wary when trusting new online dental companies, and make sure to do your research and see if there are other companies who have a better track record.
Sporting Smiles continues to grow and offers our customers new and innovative products. This Spring, we’ve introduced lifetime impressions for our returning customers who want to make a long-term commitment to our company. Your impressions will be scanned in 3D and uploaded to our secure servers protected by firewalls to keep for you whenever you need to reorder. We’re here for the long haul, and our history speaks for it. You can trust us with your smile and dental needs.
1 comment
My wife and I switched to Sporting Smiles after the disaster of SmileLove. We’ve been happy ever since. Thanks for always answering the phones and returning our emails.