Martin Family Chiropractic Center

I felt so annoyed at the farmers market inBrentwood when this business ha a booth and were like Carnie’s at a fair trying to get you to come in for a free evaluation and would not want to accept no for a answer! I politely declined and the woman followed me telling me how they could change my life and continued as I walked several yards away from her! Another man standing close to me said to me he could not believe how aggressive she was and it was with anyone in her hear shot! It was so unprofessional I would never do business with this business!

I visited Dr Martin after a referral from a friend, for pregnancy related hip and pelvic discomfort. I was very impressed with the professionalism of the front staff, and the overall friendliness of the entire staff. Dr Martin made me feel very comfortable, and was very knowledgeable with my issues. I have been leery of chiropractic care in the past, its important to find the right doctor that you can trust, and I felt comfortable right away with Dr Martin. The fact that her staff was able to entertain and keep my son occupied during my visit was a plus. Very kid friendly office. I would highly recommend their services.

I was recently approached at the Pleasant Hill Jazz and Wine Festival with an offer of a $ 30 gift certificate valued $ 350 or so for xrays and evaluation. So, i had no prior experience with this office. What struck me how slick this office not only looked (framed testimonials on all the walls), videos to prepare you for what was to come, and then the big sales pitch. Having been in real estate before, I remember the sales seminars I had to attend learning some of these approaches. Going over the xrays, I was made to believe that my situation was serious and that I needed 57 sessions over a 4 month period, costing over $ 4000, offering a 20% discount if I paid up front. I noticed that the office was crowded letting me to believe that they were successful. Since I don’t jump into anything that quickly, I will definitely seek a second opinion.

Nice people working in the office. Really turned off by telling me they can fix my problem with 3x per week for 6months at the tune of 6,000 dollars! that I have to pay up front so I keep my appointments. I’m a grown man I know how to keep my appointments. They told me to bring my wife in to go over the X-​rays with me. She did not want to go and told me what they were going to do before we even went in. and she was 100% dead on. Then I went to Unilocal (I should have done first) and read how many other people get the same 3x per week and 6000 for 6months treatment. I guess it’s just standard money making practice. If they really cared about the patient I think they would try to do other plans like coming in less than 3x per week and pay by appointment but they didn’t even give me another option even when I told then I was in a part time position. Felt like a pushy car dealership… the search continues and my arm is still numb after paying $ 280 for X-​rays and my reflexes tested… Thank you.

GET A SECOND OPINION
My initial impressions were very positive and up until the «sales pitch» from Dr. Zimmerman, I would have rated this chiropractic office much differently. They were very insistent that I bring my husband in to review my x-​rays, which I thought was annoying. I realize now that it was probably so I couldn’t give them the, «I’ll have to discuss this with my husband» dismissal when they asked me to fork over $ 4k.
I was not in any pain, my back just felt a little «off» after carrying around our young children, so I was surprised to hear how serious my condition was in her opinion. She prescribed me three visits a week — for five months! At $ 62/​visit! I’d been to chiropractors before, and none had tried to talk me into months of care. This was a first. And the, «just take an aspirin», philosophy to pain-​management care is fine in theory, but comes off as very glib.
Knowing that I needed to do some comparison shopping before making such a huge purchase, we left. A few days later I got a letter from Dr. Zimmerman again stating how serious my condition was and that I needed care. Pushy. It made me feel like she was patronizing me, like I was a simple child who didn’t understand what was good for me.
Well, I got a second opinion and it turns out I am not a walking time-​bomb. I got a month of chiropractic care including physical therapy for a fraction of the cost (under $ 500) and I feel fine.
And after sharing my story to friends, it turns out this business (like many other chiropractic offices now-​a-​day) is a one-​song band giving the same pre-​pay-​us-​thousands-​pitch to everyone who comes to them for care. Be warned! — and if you do see anyone at Martin Family Chiropractic, get a second opinion.

Firstly, be aware that this chiropractic center is a ‘corrective care’ chiropractic center. This means that they will develop a plan of treatment for you that spans a period of months and is quite ‘intensive’ (i.e. 2 – 3 times a week) and costly (i.e. $ 1500 or more for the full intensive therapy), and will not treat you just once or twice to help with pain. As someone trained in massage therapy, I understand the theory behind this, but find it in practice quite unpractical as people just don’t have that kind of cash.
I went in nearly disabled with pain from a vertebrae in my upper back that I know usually goes out of alignment once every year or so, as well as some related pelvis issues. I have received ‘pain management’ care before, and the one thing I’ll say for that is that is has never ‘fixed’ the problem (i.e. made it disappear forever).
However, after doing an expensive evaluation and first few treatments with Martin Family Chiropractic– being shown all the bad scenarios about what not treating my back COULD lead do and basically being scared that if I didn’t get this problem properly corrected now, it could lead to some serious consequences in the future, here’s what I came away with:
— They cannot guarantee your results. If, after 6 months of intensive 3 times a week therapy your spine hasn’t reached X% improvement– that’s just how the cookie crumbles.
— This intensive 3 times a week therapy that is very expensive will not ‘fix’ you permanently. You will still have to continue coming in for weekly or monthly adjustments (now I don’t disagree with this– it’s your spine, it moves, welcome to life. I just find it hard to believe they can justify having ‘intensive’ treatments at the beginning when it’s not going to actually lessen the ‘maintenance’ treatments you have going forward)
— I couldn’t find any conclusive evidence for or against ‘corrective care’ chiropractic as opposed to normal once-​every-​few-​months visits.
For the record, I now see a chiropractor once every 3 months, my back is doing very well– and I’ll let you know in 10 years if I’m totally disabled from not getting the corrective care I needed (which I’m obviously hoping is not the case).

I have mixed reviews about this place but ultimately when I weighed things out i realized that this was the worst chiropractic facility I’ve ever been to. Now I’ve been involved in foot ball injuries, car accidents, and overall clumsiness. With that being said, I’ve been to quite a few chiropractor’s offices depending on what city i was currently living in. I’ve always had great luck with chiropractors, they’re usually very kind and caring.
Now with every place of business you are going to have your good and your bad, this place is clean, and they are professionals… that is all.
Now for the bad, they seriously try to pressure you into signing up for the deluxe package here. They scare you into assuming you’re going to die without chiropractic care and that you’re quality of life will be non existent without their help. All they did was try to scare me into believing something that was not, I don’t know what it is about a sales person but when they’re hurting or when they need a sale and they’re desperate and willing to say anything it takes to get you, its very easy to sense their desperation. The Dr. was in the politest way trying to steal your wallet, she was quoting us outrageous numbers! they wanted us to come in for over 5 months and charge us over $ 6000 unless you wanted to pay the full amount in advance in which case they were willing to make you a deal, especially if you paid in cash? I’m not sure what that was about. But all in all, I’m sure they are good Dr. s but that is not the way to do business, I feel that what they were trying to do was hustle you into over care.
I sincerely would recommend anyone who asked me to go the other way. Go somewhere else, go somewhere you’ve heard better reviews for, go anyway but here. This place will not make you feel comfortable. you are a dollar sign to them not a human being.

The office is nice. The staff are nice. Dr. Martin is very nice.
Before my exam they put me in a room to watch a video. I felt like I was being prepped to buy a time share. The x-​rays were taken, and she did an exam. We scheduled an appt. for two days later and she was very insistent that my husband come. That bugged me. I believe that she really just wanted him there so he would understand what’s going on, but it still bugged me.
We returned today, had to wait quite a while even though I had an appointment. Watched another video and then went over my x-​rays, and it’s pretty much what I thought.
Her plan was 3 visits a week for 7 months. And she was pretty sure that she’d be able to right the wrongs in my spine and hips. Pretty sure. And she wanted almost $ 7000. But she would knock off $ 1300 if I paid today. Or we could split it into two payments, or I could finance it at over $ 300 a month. Uhmmmmmm…
Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.
I told her I was going to my regular doc on Monday and that I would tell them what she said and hopefully they could refer me out. If not, well, I find a different chiropractor that won’t charge me $ 62 a session, on top of $ 89 for a re-​exam every other month or so, and $ 280 for x-​rays. There is actually a program that offers discounted services because of my insurance and there are max limits they can charge.
I’m glad that she’s around for people who can afford her services. I think that she is probably a good chiropractor. However, that she didn’t even ask if I wanted to pay by session and come less often kind of upset me. If it’s really about getting me better, I would think that something is better than nothing.

As a first time chiropractic user, I really didn’t know what to expect. One thing for sure is that I didn’t expect the car salesman like pitch.
The office is very pleasing and friendly. I can tell that the Martin’s are very business savvy. They have placed two good looking and very friendly blonds behind the counter. Customer service is great with plenty of good mornings, hellos and how are yous. Further, the visits were extremely organized and planned.
The initial consultation was very informative and I really felt like I was being cared for. She took measurements, asked many questions and took full spinal x-​rays (paid $ 380). I also enjoyed receiving a personalized pamphlet that showed exactly were I’m crooked and feeling pain.
Ok… Here’s where the profit motive takes precedent over the welfare of the patient and when I was turned off (I’m all for making a profit-​I just felt like they were too obvious about it –make sense?)… Once the x-​rays came out I watched my second video to soften me up for what was to come later. Dr Martin arrived giving me all the worst case scenarios with my spine and served up plenty of fear to get me to commit to what was to come next… Now that she thought that I had «buy in,» the quick-​sharp tongued Martin went in for the sale. She was now trying to close the deal. With an already prepared layout of the costs (quite impressive actually from a business standpoint), she then pretty much said, how would you like to pay for this… some $ 4k-​$ 5k for treatments over 6 months. Oh, and the payment was due today, but if paid today, a discount! And, if you choose differently, the health of your spine could be in jeopardy (but no guarantees either way).
Considering that I was fresh meat coming in, she probably thought that I was an easy sale. I said I couldn’t do it. Once she realized that I wasn’t going to go for the «package deal,» she let me go. Not even a «well let’s set up your next adjustment.»
I think based on her business plan, she can afford to lose 6 or 7 of «Me’s» as long as she can get 3 or 4 fully paid package deals.
Overall, I’m sure Dr Martin and her staff are fully qualified. Unfortunately though, I could not experience this because I was not willing to buy the total package or, by the way… $ 62 per adjustment.
Damn, my back hurts!

I couldn’t be happier with Dr. John Richardson at Advanced Chiropractic. I came in for knee and neck/​shoulder troubles. The first thing you’ll notice is how warmly you’re welcomed when you come into the clean, new, brightly painted office. Michelle and Morgan at the front desk truly make you feel comfortable and put you at ease. They have you watch an orientation video which explains the benefits and limitations of chiropractic and how it all works. Then you’re examined and Xrayed. They wanted me to come back for my «diagnosis» with my husband so we could look at the xrays together and so they could explain the treatment plan. That part did feel a lot like a sales pitch, and there’s another video to watch which stresses how important it is to keep coming in until your treatment is complete. Dr. John explained my several issues in a very straightforward but understandable way. He reallly took the time to let me ask any questions I had, regardless of how minor or seemingly insignifcant.
The way Chiropractics works is they make small adjustments frequently over the course of several months, so if you need something fixed, you’re going to have to commit to it. Its not necessarily «cheap» but here they offer a SIGNIFICANT discount for paying up front — for example my treatment for 5 months was going to be over 4 grand, but they discounted me over $ 1000 for paying upfront. That’s really decent of them because they pass along their savings from not having to administer a bunch of small payments. They have incredibly convenient hours and are really flexible — you can always adjust your appointment time as long as you still keep all your appointments! I get the sense that Dr. John is truly concerned with my health and making me better, which is rare to find in a doctor these days. I highly recommend you go see Dr. John and get yo’self fixed!