My initial visit was for an ophthalmologic exam and a refraction test for a new prescription; the latter became the problem issue. There were clearly problems with the inital exam and technician, because after struggling to make adjustments, she left to seek assistance. After a 15-30 minute wait another technician came in and conducted the exam for a few minutes and wrote the prescription. The attending ophthalmologist, conducted his portion of the exam but did not confirm the results of the refraction test. I do not know if this is standard for the practice. I used this first prescription for glasses, which proved to be inferior to my existing prescription. I returned to Coastal Eye Care to question the results of the first refraction test, which was ultimately confirmed to be wrong after re-exam. Unfortunately, Coastal Eye Care made it difficult to get the correct prescription and offered no admission of their mistake. When I called to discuss the problem with the prescription, I spent 10-15 minutes waiting while they discussed charging me for a second visit. I was told the second visit would be gratis; however, when I arrived they asked for the co-pay. I refused and another round of waiting ensued. Ultimately, they allowed me to be evaluated while the topic was discussed. Another technician conducted a more comprehensive exam that exceeded the previous cursory session, and even repeatedly compared the previous and new prescription in a blind comparison. In each case, the original prescription that I had received was clearly inferior. Dr. Muth then came in and conducted a hands-on verification of the new prescription. After getting the new prescription, I was told to speak to the practice manager regarding the issue and the inconvenience (I had paid several hundred dollars for a useless prescription, needed to take time off for the re-exam, and later travelled 4 hours (2 more roundtrips) to obtain new glasses.) It's been several weeks, so I'm guessing she isn't returning my call. As a sidebar, the office staff at Coastal Eye Care repeatedly suggested that the optician should replace the flawed glasses free of charge, even though it was not the optician's error. I regarded this minimally as a warped sense of fairness. Despite Dr. Muth's conscientiousness and one quality technician, I regarded the practice as generally inconsiderate and inconsistent in technical prowess. Accordingly, I cancelled my subsequent appointments. read more
