I had an all-around terrible experience at RPVS. From Dr. Hyatt and the receptionist being incredibly disrespectful, to being charged more than 10 times the cost I was quoted over the phone, nothing about the appointment went well, but I was particularly upset about being overcharged after confirming the quoted cost before the appointment. Being ripped off seemed quite deliberate, and I expect they use this scheme regularly to get people in the door and then overcharge them once there's no backing out.
My experience was as follows:
I have contact lenses, and usually go to Costco each year to get an exam to get my prescription updated/renewed. My work just recently provided us with EyeMed insurance, and Costco is out of network so I decided to try someplace new to save money. Roland Park Vision Services was the worst choice I could have made. My insurance covers exams with a $10 copay. When I made the appointment (which took nearly a week -- I filled out an online appointment form and didn't receive a call back until all the slots I had listed as preferred had passed) I confirmed on the phone that I had EyeMed and it would be a $10 exam copay. I mentioned at that time that I wore contacts.
After arriving for my appointment and being asked to take my contacts out, as is typical, they asked to see my glasses. I said I wasn't looking to get the prescription updated for them, I just needed a prescription for contacts, and was told to hand them over anyhow. I was then left sitting and waiting for 20 minutes, unable to see, which is an uncomfortable and headache inducing experience.
After about 5 minutes of the exam, Dr. Hyatt stepped out to take a phone call for about 5 minutes. I found this to be quite disrespectful -- I was missing work for this appointment, and this was inconsiderate of my time.
At the end of the exam, Dr. Hyatt told me he uses eye drops in place of the standard air puff test. He put the drops in my eyes and my eyes immediately felt extremely strange and I was having trouble keeping them open. I asked what the drops were - he now tells me it's an anasthetic and should wear off in 5-10 minutes. It took 4 hours before I felt like I could put my contacts back in because I still felt anesthetized for hours after.
The kicker though, was when I went to pay. The receptionist tells me it comes to a total of $135. I protested, saying my insurance had a $10 copay for eye exams, and I had given them the info. They went on to tell me that the $135 was the $10 copay plus a $125 "premium contact lens fitting fee" which is not covered by my insurance. I protested, saying that I was told on the phone that it would just be a $10 copay. They responded quite rudely, retorting "how are we supposed to know if a patient needs contacts or not prior to the exam"? I had told them when I scheduled that I had contact lenses so this was a ridiculous response. When I insisted they should tell customers with contacts in advance that there's an additional fee, I was scoffed at and asked if I was paying via cash, check, or credit. Dr. Hyatt then came out to say that because I have an astigmatism, it was the premium rather than standard fitting, which was why the cost was so high. They also knew I had an astigmatism prior to the appointment as I'd given them my current Rx. Ultimately I paid because I couldn't figure out what else to do.
RPVS will leave out vital information about their cost structure to rip you off. Based on their response it was clear to me they do this regularly, not that it was a mix up, as no one was the least bit apologetic. I highly advise that you find a different place to get your eye exam. read more