By Several thousand disgruntled SmileDirectClub customers are almost certainly smiling now. | Image: SmileDirectClub
SmileDirectClub, a mail-order orthodontic provider that sells cheap teeth aligners online, has agreed to release 17,000 US customers dissatisfied with its service from nondisclosure agreements that prohibited them from leaving negative reviews as part of a settlement with the District of Columbia’s attorney general. Announced on Thursday, the settlement requires SmileDirectClub to make changes to the company’s refund guarantee policy and inform customers who had signed such NDAs that they were now free to discuss their experiences.
A report from The New York Times back in 2020 revealed that SmileDirectClub had asked customers requesting a refund beyond the company’s 30-day guarantee policy to sign an NDA promising that they “will not…