**Before I give my great review about Dr. Seipel and staff, I want to suggest strongly that a sign be put on the door and lobby that no food or drink be allowed. The woman in the lobby eating Bojangles Chicken and sucking on her fingers was disgusting!! Then the staff had to clean her mess when she left. ** Our family have seen Dr. Seipel for over 10 years. He is just wonderful!! Never disappoints. The front desk staff and assistants are very pleasant, the people who walk around hounding you to buy new frames are annoying. Annoying. That would be my biggest issue with this practice. read more

If you go in and everything goes right, I would give them 4 stars. They are on the high end for glasses. If you have any kind of problem with your glasses, watch out because it is a hassle. I had lasik a few years back. I brought my boys in for eyeglasses and had no problems (first week of June 2018). I decided to come in myself, get my eyes checked out and get a pair of sunglasses. After my exam, I was told that I had a slight prescription and that would benefit from glasses at night with a special coating to help with halos and starbursts, as well as reading the street signs. This did not sit well with me as I had not noticed any issues with my vision. I went ahead and purchased the glasses on the advice of the "experts" at Southern Eyecare. The next week, I had received the glasses and gave them a few days trial. My vision was the same with or without the glasses and there was absolutely no improvement to halos or starbursts at night, which was the main benefit I was hoping to see. I took the glasses back and attempted to return them. I was told that they could only remove the coating and would not refund any of the money that I had paid (VSP did cover most of the cost, but honestly who cares about the insurance getting their money back?). Lacking cooperation from Southern Eyecare to return a product that was useless to me, I filed a dispute for the charge with my credit card company. This took some time to process. Southern Eyecare called me on Friday August 3rd, 2018 to come return the glasses on Monday. Sure, no problem. I became busy and forgot. I received another phone call today with a veiled threat to return the glasses before "further action was taken". I was planning to return them and get a replacement pair of sunglasses. Needless to say, I only returned the eyeglasses. Overall, I would not recommend Southern Eyecare Associates. You can get a comparable product elsewhere without the risk of having to deal with their horrible customer service in the event that an error is made with your eyeglasses. read more

I was experiencing severe eye pain for about 10 days, so made an appointment with Dr. Seipel. I recently got married, and am in an insurance gap until November 1st, so I was worried about the price, but I had to get it taken care of. Dr. Seipel was very kind, a great listener, and has an awesome "bedside manner." I really enjoyed seeing him. Unfortunately, he was unable to diagnose my problem. He did run quite a few tests and examinations, but in the end, came up empty. He told me that he was sure it was not related to any disease or injury of the eye, however, and that the eye pain was certainly a symptom of something else. It was definitely a relief to know I don't have any tumors, and wasn't going blind or anything, but I do wish I had gotten a definitive answer. The wait at the office was moderate. I was called into an exam room right at the time of my appointment, but had to wait about 10 minutes to see the doctor after each test (the nurses performed most of the tests, and the doctor interpreted the results). The price was very reasonable. I explained my insurance situation to the doctor, and even with all the tests he ran, the total came to under $100. When I need to get new glasses, or if I have eye problems in the future, I will probably visit Dr. Seipel. read more

Switched from my old optometrist to Dr. Dragon. Best decision! All of the staff here are so friendly. They are patient with you, they don't make you feel rushed and are always happy to answer any of your questions. The office is very clean and welcoming. I love their frames and when you order contacts they come in fast. read more

For the past few years I've been struggling to find a great eye doctor, and I'm really glad to have found Dr. Dragon's office! I requested for an appointment online through their website and received a response (via e-mail) in an impressive amount of time. The e-mail suggested me to provide insurance information ahead of time. On their website I found printable forms for new patients, and it noted that I could fax the forms to them when completed. I faxed the forms but also kept them to bring with me just in case. The office is located in the newer part of the Southern Shopping Center in Norfolk. I was surprised when I walked in. The office is way bigger than I expected and very clean. I signed in and sat down in the waiting area, which had a good amount of comfy seats. While waiting for my name to be called, I noticed that you can also purchase glasses here, which are brightly displayed on the right side of the office. Shortly after, the receptionist called me up and informed me that they already had my forms (whew! points for them. I was impressed, haha). I was then called to the back by one of techs, who was very nice, and I appreciated the fact that she had a lot to talk about LOL I can't stand awkward silences. Dr. Dragon was very professional and friendly, and he took the time to address any concerns that I had with my eyeballs. Overall, the experience here was great. Every staff member I encountered was super friendly, which I truly appreciated. I knocked off one star because the wait between seeing the tech and the doctor was a bit longer than I wanted, but that will not keep me from coming here. The quality in care and customer service is an A for me :) read more

My experience with them was outstanding. Dr. Seipel was very honest with me and kept my best interest in mind. Although my prescription change a little, he explained that there was no need to rush and upgrade my glasses. Instead he recommend since I had no contacts, to use my vision benefits for that. In addition, the staff was very helpful and friendly. I am extremely please and will definitely recommend and will use their service again. read more

I've been to a few different optomestrists but none seem to make me feel like a human being and not another sale like these guys. They have an excellent selection of frames and coatings that are reasonably priced. They also have very fast turn around times. I was called back almost immediately after arriving. I see Dr. Dragon and would recommend him to anyone that isn't looking for the stale national chain feeling that I get when I went to LensCrafters. read more

The billing staff are deceptive and we're down right rude to my wife. I paid my bill over the phone, somehow they botched their records. So they called my wife and when she told them that her husband, me, had paid it already, they threatened her. This is not okay. I paid the bill over a month ago. Now they are refusing to return my call when I tried to provide them proof of their error. An apology is needed to me and my wife. The Dr was great though. My advice, get better staff. read more

The people here are nice, but $80 for a contact lens fitting? The contact itself is a part of a "free trial" so what am I being charged for again? Please go to America's Best where you can get $99 for 2 eye exams a year for 3 years and each eye exam already includes a "fitting." Sorry Dr. Seipel, but I am a military spouse on a budget! read more

I lost a contact on vacation and needed an exam for a contact. This place bent over backward to help me. They got me right in, the staff and Dr were great! Very friendly and caring. It was the end of the month so they were busier than normal, but that didn't matter! Great customer service! read more

I went to this practice for years and trusted them with my vision which is complicated by RK surgery and cataracts. The Dr.always appeared to do a thorough evaluation. However, this fall I went to them with eye pain and double vision, and the Dr. was flippant and acted like I was making a big deal of nothing. He said everything was normal. He didnt even suggest anything to relieve the pain. Fast forward 3 months and I saw an eye specialist who found optic nerve damage that he noticed in less than a minute after looking in my eye. The damage is now permanent. I would not trust them to do anything but a routine eye exam for eyeglasses. Which is a shame because prior to this fall, the Dr. always was nice, respectful and seemed to be knowledgeable. I wish he would have at least referred me to an opthamologist. The fact that he did not see the obvious optic nerve damage makes me question his capability. read more

I have been seeing Dr. Dragon for many years and he continues to give me his undivided attention when I am there. The staff is very professional and courteous. I would ans do recommend Southern Eye Care to many people. Thank you for the good service. read more

This is my third visit at this eye doctor and will be my last. The average wait time is 1-2 hours, so if you have nothing else to do that's ok. You really spent a halve a day here, which is ridiculous!!! read more

I have been a client at Southern Eyecare since I was 9 years old, my entire family including my grandparents had all been clients. Up until my most recent experience things seemed fine. Last week I called and made an routine appt. I alerted the receptionist that the name she had in the system was outdated and provided her with my married name and insurance information. I was called 2 days later and accused of providing false insurance since my provider could not confirm that I was covered, I let them know about my married name and the lady I spoke with was very rude, cutting me off, saying that they had doubled checked and still couldnt confirm my insurance. I assured her I had insurance which she then huffed and passed me to someone else without telling me she was doing so. The next lady started the same routine when I told her to check for a pre-authorization under my MARRIED name not my name as it appeared in her system (same thing I told the first lady)....she was very frustrated acting with me and ended up finding it. When she found it all she said was 'See you Monday' and immediately hung up on me. Fast forward to today....I had my eye appt today. I called prior to making my appt and was told by my insurance that I would only pay $20 total for my appt. When I went to check out there were trying to charge me $100....long story short they got me on the phone with the insurance who said they had no idea why she told me that (or why she told me we got discounted contacts through 1-800-contacts) and said I owed the full amount. I told the receptionist that I only had the copay available for me to pay today, and that I would pay the rest of it if they could send me a bill....she said I was not allowed to leave unless I paid the full total. I told her I didnt know what to tell her, so she said the only way I could get around it was to give back the new contacts I had been given. I paid $20, put the contacts on her desk and walked out..... I will never go there again. For someone who was a lifelong customer I would have appreciated some courtesy or even them acting compassionate. Instead they rolled their eyes and whispered as I stood there and heard every word. I will NEVER recommend them to anyone ever again. Apparently they have lost sight of the fact that RETURN customers are what will keep them in business by RETURNING and REFERRING others. read more