Riverside Eye Center is a small operation. It is currently staffed only by Dr. Dye (the optometrist) and a few assistants, only one of which I have actually ever met. The smallness is just the scale of the operation, though. The service at Riverside is great, and it's very easy to schedule an appointment.
A few things I liked about Riverside:
+ The staff are very laid back and helpful. I had a rather unique situation involving a contact lens fitting that I couldn't have done at the same doctor that did my eye exam, and after Glenda (receptionist / "optical manager"--she's actually an optician) passed the message on, Dr. Dye called me back himself. No other place in town could help me out because of ridiculous in-house policies. Dr. Dye was perfectly willing.
+ During my contact lens fitting, Dr. Dye told me about a few of the brands that might make good picks for me. All of them were from the 1800CONTACTS website. Pretty handy. Some doctors try to screw you by recommending a brand you can only buy through them.
+ Dr. Dye is a very nice and reasonable guy. Glenda is nice too, but she sometimes comes off as a little cold. It's nice to have a doctor you know you can work with if something doesn't turn out as expected.
+ Everything turned out as expected.
+ It's super easy to make appointments. The office is open until 7:00 on some nights, and the staff have no problems staying later if you're in the middle of something. And because this business is damn near impossible to see from the road unless you know exactly where it is, it's unpopular, despite the quality of service there. This means there are usually lots of time slots available for making an appointment.
Things I didn't like:
- The office is damn near impossible to see from the road. The first time I went there, I passed it three times before I finally got fed up and parked at a shopping strip near the intersection of US33 and Fishinger. I walked the rest of the way, which helped a lot for finding the place. Trouble was it was about half a mile down the road. Tip for finding it: Look up "Cats Only Veterinary Clinic" on Google Maps. It's in the same plaza. DO NOT look up Riverside Eye Center. The map marker for it is wrong at the time of this writing.
- The waiting room is super small, more like a corner than a room, and it's right in front of the service counter. If no one's there, you can sometimes make conversation with whoever is at the counter while you wait, but if someone else is there, it can get awkward. Take a book.
- Prices are a tad high compared to chain places like Pearle Vision. They're about on par with or slightly cheaper than other local non-chain offices, though.
- The office is right off US33, which gets clogged with traffic pretty often. If you need to go south on US33 after your appointment, you really should consider going north instead and doing a loop around Fishinger or I-270. It's really friggin hard to turn left onto US33 without a traffic light (especially during rush hour).
- It's on the edge of Upper Arlington. If you don't know your way around Upper Arlington, take a map or a GPS unit. Seriously. If you get lost in UA, you may never find your way out.
All in all it's a great place. I definitely recommend it. I also recommend you go there once before your appointment, if only so you work out ahead of time where it is. read more
