The Natural Health Center of Austin

I’m giving such a low rating really for their account management and some of their customer service.
I had prepaid for a set of sessions for myself and another set of sessions separately for my son. My son used most of his sessions; I did not. When I asked for a refund for my sessions, they only sent me ¼ of what they said they would send. I called and talked through how they had made a mistake. They said they would send the full amount, but they never did. I left a few more phone messages checking in about them sending the rest of my refund, but they did not reply or call back or most importantly no full refund. I would be very careful before prepaying until you’re sure you will use the entire amount, otherwise the 20% pre-​pay discount isn’t worth it.
For customer service, they generally had a rushed approach and when I challenged Nicole with questions, she seemed to have the attitude of «shut up and trust the expert». I also didn’t like it when I found out that they were billing my insurance for a neck issue when we were actually going for NAET allergy treatments. They had insurance pay them directly when I had already PRE-​PAID them for our services — why wouldn’t the insurance reimbursements come directly to me?
The NAET treatment was ineffective for myself and my son even though we were very diligent in how we approached it and followed through on all their instructions. They had the attitude that we just had to do more of it and never acknowledged the possibility that it doesn’t work for some people. How about citing some clinical studies that shows how often and how well it works?
All this together was a lot of aggravation and frustration and I don’t want aggravation or frustration when I’m paying a lot of money to a business called «The Natural Health Center», which to me implies a nourishing and healing experience. I will not return.

Nicole is a great acupuncturist/​herbalist who really knows her stuff. Her prices are reasonable and all-​inclusive. I highly recommend her.

This a great place, I just finish treatment for carpel tunnel, and wrist pain. I was a cook for 14 years; my hands were in constant pain due the repetitive movement.
After I started sessions at The Natural Health Center of Austin, I started to feel relief almost immediately, the pain started to diminish with each session, and most of it has vanish now, and my hands do not lock anymore as they use to.
I am able to push my workouts to a higher level (I am a Martial Artist) since I don’t have to worry of chronic pain.
Nicole and all her staff have been always professional and courteous, the clinic is always clean, and you never have to wait. Highly recommended.

They’re lovely people… but the treatments did nothing for me. They kept saying that I had to stick it out, just a few more treatments, just a few more treatments, but honestly, how long do you keep doing something that shows zero signs of success before you figure out that maybe you’re the one it doesn’t work for? And I went into it whole-​assed for months. No half-​heartedness for me. I followed every direction to a T, and they even told me that they had only had one patient who had ever done their NAET treatments as enthusiastically as I.
They got a little snarky when I left their treatment. I was very polite and didn’t deserve nor appreciate the ‘tude. Hence the star ding from 4 to 3. As an aside I would give NAET zero stars. Did zippo.

Unfortunately I also had a series of bad experiences here over about a years time. I went in to hopefully treat my allergies and such. I didn’t want NAET, but after she explained that I could do accunpuncture with the NAET, that’s how it works, then I decided to try it. I did have one other doctor, a Chiropractor, who I trusted, do NAET on me of some variety and thought it worked then, so thought her variation could help. Well, after a year of treatment, I have no idea if it did or not. I’ve changed my diet a lot since my last appt. and noticed more improvement from that, than I noticed from any treatment here. I also had an abrasive experience with Nicole and her staff. It ranged from sketchy treatment experiences (once Nicole came in after the other girl had put in the needles and done treatment. She looked it over and began correcting her, rudely, in front of me. While I was supposed to be relaxing on the table) I left feeling like I didn’t get treated properly and was left with a negative residue of that. Then I began to experience money issues: They said my insurance would pay, and eventually when they wouldn’t, and I got a letter telling they wouldn’t, the NHC front deck people told me not to worry. They would take care of it. Then at my next appt. I was told I would have to pay more, my insurance wouldn’t cover it. It became so confusing as they kept going back and forth, then just tell me not to pay, they’d handle it, and once it was figured out, then we would figure out what i owe. What the heck is that? That’s NOT what I want going on around my acupuncture treatments. It is supposed to be calming and a nurturing experience. Subsequently, my husband also then had bad experiences, and I decided I had enough. I decided I could now afford China Health Center with Dr. Xhang. He’s wonderful, worth every penny and I’ve never had a bad experience there, have been going over a year now. That really says something. It’s a sad ending to what could have been a great situation. The location is great, I liked treatments by Nicole in the beginning, she’s actually a very talented acupuncturist. Too bad something changed all that.

I agree with the angry poster that it is a lot of money, however after my 4 months were up and i had not reached the results that they were looking for, they have continued to follow up with me completely free of charge. I think that shows a real commitment to the patient, not just to the bottom line. And their hourly rates are not much different than any other location I’ve seen, they just ask that people come more often for intensive treatment if the person is not in good health. In fact, at $ 70/​tmt, Plum Blossom is actually more expensive per session.

Yikes! The other reviewer seems kind of hostile. I actually stopped going to the NHC mostly due to the fact that my insurance stopped paying what they felt was adequate and wanted me to pay out of pocket. At the same time I discovered the China Health Center run by Dr. Zhang, who is absolutely amazing. A consummate professional who was the former dean of the school of acupuncture and has helped me through a number of issues via acupuncture and Chinese herbs. I definitely still love the staff at NHC but for the money I am paying I think the switch was worth it.