On 5/4/13, My wife and I visited Visionworks for an eye exam. It was our first visit to Visionworks, as we had recently moved. I received a prescription for glasses and my wife received a prescription for glasses and contacts. We both saw Dr. Robert Silverman for our exam.
On 4/3/2014, I placed an order with Vision Direct for contacts for my wife. My wife told me today (one day later) that the order was rejected because Vision Direct was told the prescription was more than one year old and had expired.
During lunch, I called the local Visionworks and received a busy signal. I called again and again and received a busy signal on three separate attempts at different times today. I called the 1-800 number for Visionworks on their website, and spoke with someone who put me on hold and patched me through the branch.
The first person I spoke with was confrontational and told me that it was the doctor's decision whether or not a prescription was still valid. I explained we had visited 11 months ago, that my wife was out of contacts, and asked why the doctor's decision was that the prescription was no longer valid. The woman on the phone explained that if we ordered contacts today, we'd be using them after May 4th (one year after the exam) so the prescription was considered invalid. I asked for a manager and was put on hold.
While on hold, the hold music turned to silence after a few minutes while my wife and I were talking about the issue, but no one on the other line spoke. I said hello, waited, then said hello again, and the hold music resumed a few seconds after the second hello. The hold music stopped again with no one saying anything, going back on hold after a hello. The third time I was told that the manager was not there but that I could speak with Heather. Heather told me that she could get me a copy of the prescription, but that she would need to wait for the doctor to come out, and then she could fax me the prescription.
Two hours later the prescription still hadn't arrived, so I called and asked to speak with Heather. Heather said that she would get me the prescription shortly, and a few minutes after that I received a copy of the prescription, but in the Remarks area the doctor had written: "* only authorized for 1 box total until next exam".
Looking into New York's Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act, and just using common sense, it seems wrong and unethical to have the extreme push back of telling a contact seller that my prescription is expired and then telling me they cannot issue me my prescription because they don't want my wife wearing the contacts past the 12 month window since her last exam. I am very frustrated by the actions taken by Dr. Robert Silverman and this Visionworks. My wife has worn the same contacts since 2005, and the same prescription for many more years before that. We have never had this problem with any past doctors who, like Dr. Silverman, all said her eyes were in very good health. Every doctor she has seen in the past decade has given her the exact same prescription and a clean bill of health.
I feel this doctor's behavior in withholding my wife's prescription is in violation of the New York Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act and my wife's rights as a consumer to purchase contacts with prescription that should be valid. The inability to reach the store by phone, the behavior of the first woman I spoke with, and the frustration I've had with this store ensure that my wife and I will never do business there again. read more
