The jig is up JR.
After years and years of purchasing my hard contacts from them, I found they were charging more than TRIPLE the cost as you can get them for online ($300 vs. $90), and that cost didn't include the eye exam!! I know about overhead for a b&m, but triple? The owner even suggested I purchase "backup" lenses at this ridiculous cost! He really must feel his clientele are naive.
I was referred to a Dr. Nieder by their staff when I first called for a hard lens appointment/fitting. To my surprise and confusion, Dr. Nieder complained about my prescription being so complicated while examining and fitting me. I actually ended up with horrifically fitting lenses while being assured by Dr. Nieder they were the best available on the market for my eyes.
Those lenses constantly popped out at the most inopportune times, in front of clients, at the beach, at dinner parties, while riding a motorcycle!.. Spending the entire day seeing out of only one eye was not fun, to say the least. The lenses caused severe redness, irritation, made my eyes tear all the time and just never performed. All normal and best available, I was repeatedly told by Dr. Nieder, year after year. I accepted this as gospel since a "doctor" was telling me and I just lived with them due to the superior vision of hard lenses over soft for my eye issues.
I found out YEARS later, by accident, that Dr. Nieder was NOT the hard lens specialist at JR!! I was flabbergasted. On my yearly appointment this time, I was referred to a different doctor, Dr. Wilde. It turns out Dr. Wilde had worked there all along and WAS their hard lens specialist but Dr. Nieder nor the staff never mentioned him!! Dr. Wilde was surprised that Dr. Nieder had never referred me to him but more importantly that he fitted me with such ill-fitting lenses.
In other words, instead of referring me to his associate, who was an expert in the type of lenses I needed, Dr. Nieder, not knowing anything about hard lenses, went ahead and guessed my prescriptions himself year after year, INCORRECTLY! Of course they fit terribly, the science is different! I wore (and over-paid!) for those horrible fitting lenses for years before stumbling across Dr. Wilde. Infuriating.
JR's sole star is actually earned by Dr. Wilde, a doctor who sadly is retired and no longer works there, but who was a caring professional, unconcerned with money and committed only to quality care and comfort of the patient, much to the chagrin of the owner! Dr. Wilde was an absolute gentleman every time I dealt with him and elevated the caliber of this place when he was there. However, it was uncomfortably clear on several occasions the owner at JR was not pleased with Dr. Wilde spending so much time with his patients!
Dr. Wilde invested many visits and trials of different shapes, diameters and brands before finally fitting me with hard lenses that were light-years better fitting than what Dr. Nieder tortured my eyes with for so long. I could finally wear my lenses all day comfortably without them popping out and making my eyes blood-shot from irritation. It was satisfying and infuriating at once.
Dr. Wilde even ordered one in b(L)ue and one in g(R)een to easily differentiate between the Left and Right lenses. Pretty clever I thought! I had not been presented with this option in some 28 years of going to eye professionals for my lenses!! The owner had never heard about the Blue/Green thing when I mentioned it to him trying to give Dr. Wilde props, yet on a future visit he tried to take full credit for the idea stating it was standard practice at Jamie Rose.
Dr. Wilde also called me, his patient, several times, during the fitting process to check how it was going! Another unprecedented experience in 28 years of going to eye doctors! I had never received a follow-up call from a doctor, in any field! He will be greatly missed.
JR even went as far as giving me the run-around when I asked for my prescription so I could order my lenses online, which they are legally bound to release to the patient, no questions asked. It required several days and many, many calls to actually get them to issue it to me, including calls from the online retailer. I received every excuse in the book: their fax was down, their internet was down, their computer wasn't working, the online lenses would be inferior, the materials would be different, the vision would be compromised, etc. Quite underhanded.
One star overall is actually quite generous for this place considering everything. They can thank Dr. Wilde.
Do you notice the string of one-star ratings? It's not coincidental. read more