Where do I begin? I went to this office shortly before I was about to move out of the area. I loved Dr. Tolchin. Super friendly and took the time to explain everything she was doing. She suggested switching to different contacts, which I did. Then I met with a man (name?) who was also really nice to discuss frames. I left with an appt for two weeks later for a checkup.
The next day I was wearing my new contacts, driving around for work and I couldn't see ANYTHING. As in large green exit signs on the highway - I couldn't read the words. I called into the office saying I thought something was off and the receptionist said the Dr. said I probably just needed to adjust to the fact that there was more air getting into my eyes than with the older contacts. I tried switching the contacts into the opposite eye in case they labeled them for the wrong eyes. I tried turning them inside out incase I was crazy (I've been wearing contacts for about 15 years). Nothing worked so I had to revert back to my old contacts until my appt.
When my appt came, the Dr. first said things were fine when I left the office the first time -as if I lied about being able to see, but then said she may have given me the wrong thing after she double checked what my prescription should be. It seemed that the contacts were fine for up close but for anything farther away, they were horrible - so I didn't notice when testing them out up close that they were off. I got new contacts and left.
Two weeks later, my new glasses and new contact order were in. I go in, try on the glasses (up close in a mirror), and go to check out. The receptionist (not the same nice brunette I had before, but a different blonde lady) tells me a total for contacts. I tell her I don't think my insurance is applied (I have a % off of my contacts). She says it is. I say I'm pretty sure it's not because the normal price of the contacts was quoted to me on the phone and it was what she was telling me - before the insurance. After a few more minutes of insisting, she goes back and checks with the guy who calculates the numbers and finds that, no the insurance WASN'T applied and I owed less. No problem, I pay and leave.
Shortly after, my boyfriend had his appt that he had made after I referred him after my initial appt when I saw how nice everyone was. He went to pay when his contacts came in and found that his contacts were also too much (the same as my original price before they realized my insurance wasn't applied). He explained what I went through and that he didn't think his insurance was applied. This time, they kept arguing with him and never double checked. He had MORE insurance coverage than me, but ended up paying MORE for contacts because the receptionist refused to double check the amount.
So I move and...what do you know, I put on my glasses (which I barely EVER wear except when my eyes are bothering me) and find they are NOT the right prescription. They have the same effect that my eyes had when I got the initial contacts that were wrong. So the office finds that they gave me the wrong prescription, knows it was wrong and gives me a new one, but doesn't tell the glasses guy to adjust and they order me the wrong prescription. I have really bad eyes, so to get the lenses cut down for smaller, modern frames, they were like $300. And now I can only see to read up close with them.
It's unfortunate that all of this happened because the employees in the office are all REALLY nice people. But both my bf AND I both separately had experiences which led to us paying more than we needed to....mine being about $300 more than I needed to considering I can't wear the glasses and see anything but a book right in front of my face. So now in order to wear my glasses constantly to prepare for eye surgery, I will have to pay AGAIN to get new lenses. If the office is willing to fix their mistake I would be grateful, but if they insist on not even applying insurance for contact prices, I am doubtful I'll get help for my more expensive lenses. read more