I went to Ophthalmology Associates of the Valley a little over a month ago because I had a blurry spot in my right eye.
In brief: I paid for a full visit and got less than five minutes with the doctor. I feel I was scammed out of $50 for an eyeglasses prescription I did not want, need, or ask for and they attempted to pressure me into buying frames. Additionally, the reason I went to the doctor in the first place (the odd blurry spot) was not addressed in any meaningful matter and still persists to this day.
My appointment was with Dr. Aizuss, but that is not who I saw initially. I am not sure the doctor I first saw, but he was much younger. He was really friendly, and did all of the preliminary work--going over my medical history, etc. He seemed nice and asked if I needed an eyeglasses Rx and told me it was going to be an additional fee if I did and that it was his opinion my existing prescription was fine. I told him I didn't need a new prescription, but that I'd come specifically because of the odd blurry spot in my vision.
After the first doctor saw me, I had a very long wait in an intermediate waiting room where it seemed I was forgotten. Someone arrived to take me to have pictures of my eyes taken, but the machine was apparently broken. Then they were interrupted and told by a nurse/assistant that no, I wasn't to have any pictures of my eyes taken.
Finally, after almost an hour from when I first arrived, I saw Dr. Aizuss, who I had booked my appointment with. He looked in each eye very quickly and said he saw nothing wrong. Then, without telling me he was testing me for a prescription (I thought it was part of the exam), he had me look in the refractor and, after less than a minute of swiftly doing, "Which one looks better?" he wrote me a new eyeglasses prescription. Dr. Aizuss, without really listening to my problem, dismissed it as a problem with my glasses prescription and suggested I buy new glasses through the company. This all took 5, maybe 10 minutes tops.
Afterward, I found out that I had no choice but to pay the additional $50 fee for the "optional eyeglasses RX." When I told the person at the front desk I had, in fact, said I didn't want an eyeglass prescription more than once, they told me that it was the doctor's discretion and I *had* to pay the fee. But, that I would get a discount on new glasses, which I didn't want, need, or ask for.
So, bottom line, I was essentially forced to pay $50 for an RX the doctor spent LESS than 2 minutes on and that I had no intent of using (sorry, I trust the original prescription from the doctor who spent more than a minute total going through the slides with me, which was less than a year old).
Worst of all: Dr. Aizuss was not unfriendly, but he gave no explanation for the blurry spot and strongly intimated that it was in my imagination. It's very frustrating to be patronized and told that your actual health problems are imagined. Especially given how little time the doctor spent with me and the lack of explanation he gave beyond, "I don't know, maybe your glasses prescription is wrong." (even after I tried to explain that the blurry spot exists even when I haven't worn my glasses for a few days).
Most aggravating, since my visit, the blurry spot has become worse and more distracting. Going to the eye doctor is expensive, and after being treated so dismissively, I really hesitate about going to a new doctor. So now I'm in a quandary. It's already difficult to find time during the work-week to visit a doctor, not to mention expensive. read more