No, thank you. I'll be buying my eyeglasses elsewhere -- from a provider whose staff respect my intelligence, aren't completely officious and condescending, don't behave unprofessionally in front of me, and don't spend the entire session trying to upsell me on unnecessary products that are neither covered by my insurance nor whose utility the staff can even articulate or explain.
Let me state at the outset that I have no complaints about the vision exam or the optometrist. He was fine.
The problem was the collection of officious, condescending, rude optical staff. I have never seen such unprofessional behavior in a healthcare practice, and I work in the field.
The staff were having inappropriate conversations about another staff member (who was not on duty), and disciplinary actions related to that person -- right in front of me and the other customers who were in the waiting area. When it was my turn to be served, one of the staff referred to me as "that young man over there"...I happen to be turning 50 soon, and while it may have sounded like a compliment, I know full well that it was all part of the staff's collection of condescending behaviors.
When I sat down with the technician to go over the optometrist's prescription and the available products and services, I started the conversation by making it EXTREMELY clear that I only wanted to discuss services that were covered by my fairly generous optical insurance plan. Instead, my request was ignored, and the upselling overflowed. The technician immediately started checking off boxes for additional services and products with copayments and charges on the order form, right in front of me, and with blatant disregard for the request I had just made. When I asked him to explain to me the technical, MEDICAL reason why he thought I needed ultra-progressive lenses (which were not covered by my insurance) and why standard progressives wouldn't suffice, his oh-so-professional opinion was "because they're crap".
I then asked him to show me where in the shop the set of frames that my insurance covers (and requires be made available) were located. With an eye roll, he pointed me to a dusty rack in the corner of the store.
After I selected some frames -- and already having decided that there was no way in hell this practice was getting my business -- I claimed needing to run to another appointment and asked one of the technicians to write down the catalog numbers of the several frames I liked, and to make a note of them on my chart so that I could save time and place an order when I returned. (This is something EVERY optical practice I have ever been to has been willing to do.) Instead, I got an attitude from the staffer, who acted put-upon, and scribbled some numbers down on a Post-It note that she handed to me, and proceeded to made no notations on my chart whatsoever.
As I stated above: no, thank you. I'm going elsewhere. read more