Upon entering the establishment, I did not receive a warm welcome from the front desk staff. My inquiries were met with indifference, leaving me feeling like an inconvenience rather than a valued patient. Additionally, I was unexpectedly charged a $30 cancellation fee, despite following the 24-hour notice policy as stated in a text message. When I reached out to address this issue, I was informed that the fee would still apply due to it being a weekend. The lack of clarity regarding weekend exceptions to the policy was frustrating. The unhelpful and rude attitude of the staff further added to my negative experience, with the exception of Dr. Bowden himself. Unfortunately, the unprofessionalism displayed by the staff has led me to seek medical care elsewhere, despite my visual impairment. It is evident that there is a need for improved training in customer service and communication skills at St. Johns office. This experience reflects poorly on the leadership within the office.ere no noere no no r. Bowden was great, but unfortunately this is a reflection of his leadership in his office. I will not be returning back to this particular doctor because of his unprofessional and lack training. read more

This practice truly cares about their patients and the health of their eyes! Highly recommend!

I can't express in words how truly horrible this office is, but I'll try. I came in September of 2021 to get an updated eyeglass prescription. I didn't have insurance for a little while, so I needed a new prescription. I only have one set of glasses and the coatings on my lenses were starting to wear out causing marks to appear in my vision that won't wipe off. My last appointment with them was March of 2022 and I still don't have an accurate prescription. I made appointment after appointment. Took more and more time off work to make these appointments and Bowden couldn't get it right. The prescriptions I received gave me headaches, nausea, migraines, dizziness etc. I spent weeks of my life wearing these various prescriptions hoping I would adjust to them and trying to make them work. Do you know how incredibly difficult it is to go to work like this? Over and over again I would get a prescription from Bowden, go to the local eyeglass store to give them a new prescription. The store was able to measure my frames and cut the lenses on site. (I only have one pair of frames and couldn't send them out for a week). I would wear the new prescription for about 7 days before I couldn't take the pain of wearing them and had to go back to Bowden. They check the lenses, confirm it matches the prescription they issued and did it all over again. I had 5 separate prescriptions until I eventually gave up and asked for a refund from Bowden so I could go elsewhere and get a second opinion. They refused to refund me anything because they didn't cut the lenses. Despite confirming each time that the lenses I had were exactly what they had prescribed. I even had to have my eyes dilated for 72 hours for a special appointment so they could try to get a more accurate prescription for me. No one bothered to tell me in the waiting room that these eye drops can make you light headed, which I found out after trying to stand up and nearly fell over. The time and money I've wasted, the pain and suffering I've endured just to be able to see clearly is incomprehensible. These people are complete monsters and I can't recommend you avoid them enough. read more

Loyal patient since January 2013 To my surprise, my visit on 11/04/2021 took an unexpected turn for the worse with an employee by the name of I would be remiss if I did not mention before my experience before Nov 4th has generally been okay. I know some employees by name and I had a pleasant relationship with my previous provider, Dr. Sarah Darbandi. The hospitality & empathy has been pleasant as well. I am not required to pay out-of-pocket costs unless t Additionally, I have paid up to $20 for my doctor's signature and $55 for a refraction. It was not until my visit on 08/20/2021 that I noticed a pattern of surcharge requests every years since I could recall from 2018. I was never given prior notice about new charges especially for this in-network provider. I have never seen any list of an individual charge for a refraction. I do receive periodic correspondences when there are updates to my health plan, but it has never been a time that I was responsible for an annual exam copay with Bowden Eye. It's routine for my appointments to occur every 3 months. My first encounter with Bobbi Jo was 3 months ago at reception. I had not met her before. I noticed there were other employees that I assumed were new, too. Bobbi Jo gave me a few pages to update my chart. She told me that I owed $55 for the visit. I asked her why and she said it was for my refraction. I was disturbed because my last refraction was exactly 1 year prior to me meeting Bobbi Jo. From then on, her volume elevated and tone became condescending in the presence of others in the open waiting area. I most certainly felt attacked for no reason. She continued to say that it was required by federal law that I could not be seen unless I pay. My response was that I visit BEA" ever 3 months and I did not agree to pay. She did call me "baby". She rolled her eyes a couple times. I turned around to take a seat as she continued being brassy with me. i didnt want to waste time at the office because my husband needed to get back to work. He stepped outside once I began filling out the paperwork. Bobbi Jo addressed him when he came back and he told her to discuss my personal health information with me. I walked up a few feet from the desk where she was standing behind the desk. She chose to still be speaking in an elevated tone and my husband politely told her that she did not have to speak to me that way. The moment went on too long for me to mentioned every word or action that happened. I did not want to waste time at the office because my husband had to postpone his obligation elsewhere to escort me. He stepped outside once I began filling out the paperwork. Bobbi Jo addressed him when he came back and he told her to discuss my personal health information with me. I walked up a few feet from the desk where she was standing behind the desk. She chose to still be speaking in an elevated tone and my husband politely told her that she did not have to speak to me that way. Eventually, I reached the back to wait for the doctor. I was first greeted by the student resident and I described the disgraceful moment. She patiently listened & apologized to me and my husband. I mentioned the same grievances with the doctor and she reacted in the same manner. I also reported the incident with my health insurance immediately after I checked out. The representative confirmed that I should not be required to pay Bowden Eye and there was no law stating the same if I choose to be seen by an in-network partner. My second encounter with Bobbi Jo went almost the same way. I and my husband was not greeted this time. It could be that there were others in front of us. We were addressed by a lady next to Bobbi Jo. I felt that Bobbi Jo inserted herself with the intent to be difficult with me. She told me that she had papers for me to fill she needed my ID and insurance card. I told her I did not have the cards. My issue is with bj. She did not have to get indignant with me especially in front of the entire waiting room. She also threatened to call the police and I insisted because I wanted the incident to be documented in real time. She also lied to the rest of the room that I threatened her. It is at this time that I told my husband let's go because this is probably going to turn into a profiling situation. To this day, I have not received a pieology from BEA. The patient care team should have followed up with the phone call just as they do if I had an appointment. I have never been moved to just walk out of a facility such as this. I know that I am one in a couple thousand other patients, but this is not a good look. read more

Words can not so justice for the kindness, patience, professionalism, excellent facilities, customer service, I could go on about this wonderful organization. If you need their services, you owe yourself to give them a try. Thank you read more

Late on Friday afternoon I contacted the office on behalf of my dad. He had something in his eye. My dad was a NEW patient and the hour was late. The office staff were friendly and professional making an appointment right away. From the moment they answered the phone until my dad left the office everyone was kind, helpful, friendly and professional. Bowden Eye and Associates earned not one but four new patients that day as my dad, mom, my husband and me will all be patients! THANK YOU! read more

We are all the same it seems behind the eyes... however Eye Doctors are not. Dr Jerry Robben with Bowden Eye is thorough, kind, and funny. I haven't been to the eye dr in forever, but will be making my yearly visits back here! Check them out and you'll see eye to eye read more

I wish I could give these scammers less than 1 star. I went to Bowden Eye and Associates in December 2017 for an annual contact exam and because I was having some issues with small cysts on my eyelids. The doctor told me that my issue was that my eyes were producing too much oil and I was prescribed an eye wash, eye drops, an eye mask, and recommended additional photos of my tear ducts to determine why they were producing too much oil. My boyfriend was having eye problems at the same time so he saw the same doctor there and was diagnosed with dry eyes. Imagine our surprise when we compared our prescriptions and realized that my prescription for overly oily eyes was exactly the same as his prescription for dry eyes, right down to the additional photos of tear ducts. To top it off, I just received a bill for $81 for my visit from back in December. I have to contact my credit card company to get copies of my transactions from last year because they're no longer available online from that long ago. BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY! read more

Everyone at Bowden Eye & Associates is wonderful. The staff greeted me when I came in and took care of me immediately. I was called back to begin the exam. The ladies that did the exam knew what they were doing and explained everything to me. After choosing my new glasses, I saw Dr. Robben. He was very kind, and cordial. He did a thorough exam, then explained everything to me. He gave me written instructions so I would remember what to do and when. I would recommend Dr. Robben and staff to anyone. read more

If I could give no stars I would. Horrible service, billed my insurance company wrong and refuses to fix it. I'm not the only one I know that has had this problem. Do not go here!!! read more

I had a wonderful experience at Bowden on the northside. From check in to check out everything was great. Fantastic staff! Ashley, Liz, Debra, Dr Robbins, Randal and Amber all were pleasant & professional. I know that I got a complete eye exam and they were even willing to put my new prescription lenses in my old frames saving me the expense of new ones! Thank you to all of you. read more

What a ripoff! Went in for eye exam and contact lens fitting. They dilated my eyes, and then went into billing! I could not see anything! Randall tried to tell me their policy is any contact lens fitting requires a MINIMUM 2 box purchase of contacts! I told him no. They then tried to push $8000 implantable contact lenses! Uh, no. In order to get out the door, they forced me to pay the full amount for the exam and fitting. 2 weeks later, they billed my insurance for this, and got double paid! They promised my vision provider a check in 1 week. It has been a month, and they are now forcing me to file credit card fraud charges in order to get my money back because they will not respond to anyone. AVOID THEM! The Target on Beach and Hodges is AWESOME, go there and pay less, and not get scammed by scumbags. read more