Horrible experience! Worst vision care customer service in Gainesville. The vision care office has significant billing issues and engaged in borderline insurance fraud. Pay attention to your credit card charges/statements and random charges being submitted to your health insurance without patients approval and authorization. 3/28/2025 - First billing scam/issue. Had appointment on 3/28/25, eye where dilated by dr., was incorrectly billed and credit card over charged. Used my VSP vision insurance, w/ copay $10. Dr office billed a subtotal of $50 for 3 line items. My credit card was charged $120.00. Dr ended 3/28 appointment early and requested a follow up refraction appointment one month later. Dr. Office refunded $120 back to credit card. And then charged my credit card $60 even though invoice subtotal was $50. Patient paid $60 in full at time of service. 04/28/2025 - Second billing scam/issue. Had appointment on 4/28/25 with Dr. Starlings for the 3/28 appointment she ended and then requested a follow up exam and refraction. On 04/28/2025 Dr. Starling completed refraction, new contact rx issued, new and trail contacts ordered. Dr was fully paid at time of service. On 4//29 one day after my appointment, Dr. Starling dropped me as a patient! WTF, what horrible service and experience. Next Dr. Starling, canceled the new contact rx she wrote the previous day, cancels my trial contacts she ordered, and has her front desk tell me that they are refunding for the services they rendered. I questioned and complained that the 4/28/25 $45 copay was a second copay being charged for the first visit on 3/28 which Dr. already collected the copay when processed under VSP. Early on 04/29, I spoke with Lauren from Dr. office about 04/28 charges. At that time I asked Lauren if my VSP insurance was listed and billed. Lauren confirmed yes it was for 3/28 DOS charges. I asked Lauren if my Florida Blue Insurance was listed on my account profile. Lauren lied to me telling me no. I advised Lauren my VSP is the only insurance Im using and should be the only instance listed. I asked her to please remove my health insurance information from their system if listed. Next, Lauren said my health insurance wasn't billed for 04/29/25 DOS charges. According to my health insurance, Dr Starlings office billed my health insurance $80 of my copay 04/28 and then billed me $45 as patient responsibility. Why am I and my health Insurance being charged a second co-pay on a secondary follow appointment and services originally postponed by Dr Starling on 03/28/2025 until 04/28/2025? read more

Have had good experiences here. Recently was disappointed. The optometrist has a new machine that measures beta carotene from a skin scan and my (free) test showed a deficiency ... for which she sells vitamin supplements. Hmmm. I don't like health care providers who sell what they prescribe. She was a little pushy about them when I declined. That felt sketch. I'll let my MD manage my blood or other diagnostic tests and monitor supplementation as those products affect more than eye health and Dr. S was not interested in what other vitamins and such I was already taking even though she's aware I have challenging health conditions. It really put me off. A pity as they are very thorough otherwise. My physician suggested we switch to an ophthalmologist/medical doctor instead as we age and if we need more attention for potential health issues and a deficiency such as this. I would have been grateful for this information from the optometrist along with encouragement to explore such deficiencies with my doctor. Also the young lady who manages the eyewear fitting and sales is inconsistent in her customer service although good at fitting. She can be sweet and friendly or seems annoyed and impatient from past experiences. I have spent lots of money with her in the past so I'm a solid long term customer. Her demeanor this visit made me feel awkward and since this wasn't the first time, it led me to purchase eyewear elsewhere for a more pleasant experience. read more

Update: The actions of their retaliation has been reported to the FL Dept. of Health. I was retaliated against for leaving a review on Google (original review attached in pic). In the review, I had praised the staff for being both kind and professional with all my tests and procedures. They really were. The doctor was also professional, but ended our session in such a hurry that she didn't show me my eye pictures ($50 prepaid upgrade) nor answer a couple big questions I had provided multiple times beforehand. What concerns me... instead of the owner reaching out to discuss my visit (I voiced a concern at the practice) or wanting to find a solution to my review or offering any kind of option... they instead punished me by cancelling the prescription order that I waiting on and telling me to find treatment elsewhere. read more

Starling Eye Group - In retaliation to this Google review, they punished me by cancelling the prescription I was waiting on - Optometrists Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

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Great eye exam and staff was awesome. Assisted me with insurance options to save money and I ordered my glasses with them. Happy to find a great eye doctor and glasses vendor. read more

Starling Eye Group has a very nice staff and doctor. I will say it is on the expensive side but overall it's worth it because the team genuinely cares about what they do. The ambience is really nice, and they have an amazing selection of eye wear to choose from. The process was extremely fast from getting an appointment to getting my glasses shipped the next day. They let me choose from their glasses selection online before my first appointment, which made the process a lot faster. They also have state of the art equipment that scans your eye to help detect any potential eye problems, it's really cool. I would definitely recommend Starling Eye Group! read more

Went here yesterday for a medical eye exam. I was registered immediately and brought into the back to start the examination. They have new equipment to do the examinations, but Dr. Starling still wants to put the personal touch into play and get a good look inside your eyes even after all of the electronic gadgetry has done their work. I have never had an unpleasant experience here. They are professional and get the job done. The only issue I had this time around was that, as with all doctor offices, patients are requested to arrive fifteen minutes prior to their appointment. Well, my appointment was at 1pm, but they were having an office meeting from 12pm to 1pm that day, and the front door was locked up tight, so I had to sit outside waiting in the 90 degree Florida sun (I ride a motorcycle... no relief from the sun by using air conditioning!) until the opened promptly at 1pm. read more

I went to Starling Eye Group based on the recommendation of a friend. I was disappointed in the experience and will not return. The eye exam was adequate, similar to eye exams I had in the past. I'm uncomfortable with the business practices. I was subjected to the free antioxidant scan. I was told antioxidant supplements cost $80/month and must be bought from Starling because other sellers don't store them properly. When I indicated I wasn't interested Dr Starling tried to convince me to purchase them. I paid for the exam upfront, and that's fine. Then some time later I was notified by my insurance provider that they also paid Starling Eye Group. The sum total was surprisingly high. A few days ago I called the offices of 3 other non budget, non franchise optometrists in NW Gainesville and requested pricing for eye exams including eye dilation and retinal exam. The prices I was quoted are a third to half the price of Starling. You don't need 20/20 vision to see there's something wrong with this picture. read more

I'm about to make yet another appointment! I had nothing but professional and courteous service from everyone. As an RN, I have walked out of poorly run medical offices but this was certainly not the case. In fact, I couldn't believe how much time the Optometrist spent with me and how thorough she and her staff were. As I said I'm making my 3rd or 4th appointment with her in the morning! I highly recommend this place. read more

When I moved to Gainesville I was very concerned about picking the right place. I have been going here for over Two years and have never had anything less than excellent service and care. The entire team is excellent! read more

I have been a patient at Starling Eye Group for many years. I would highly recommend Dr. Heather Starling and her staff. They take an interest in you from the moment you come in the office. I tried a couple of other Eye Doctors in Gainesville due to my insurance plan at the time and were disatisifed with them. Doctor Starling is the best at what she does in Gainesville and is good as any health provider that I have worked with. I feel that I am well taken care of and can ask any question that I might have. read more

If I could give a minus review I would. This place is atrocious even though they have a lot of fancy machines and high prices. I was treated not only in a mediocre manner but with outright cruelty. After eye dilation I couldn't see well enough to drive, and it went downhill from there. At no point in several hours did they offer me dark glasses that could have greatly relieved the problem, although I complained about the bright lights. Eventually, they called the police claiming that I was unreasonable. They lied right and left and the stafff supported eachother's lies. At no point was there any concern for my safety. I was told that no one else ever had such a problem. They refused to show me my results until I paid, which I refused to do until they showed me the results since they had lied about so much. If you want humane professional treatment go somewhere else! The only kind and reasonable person turned out to be the policeman who made sure I got dark glasses and recommended a better optometrist. The comment from the office below is typically dishonest and self-serving. They showed no concern at all for my safety. read more

Starling Eye Group is always concerned about great service, my recent visit was very fast and I received excellent care.

Dr. Starling was kind, professional, and answered my questions even throughout my eye exam. Sarah was also extremely patient and understanding with me as I took a reallllllly long time to pick out a new pair of glasses! :-) read more

This place should be closed down. Chimney Clark wrote a script that was way to strong for lenses and then when confronted staff with this was told for $60 they could write another script. Worst eye company in Gainesville. Stay away or you could be next. read more

Dr. Clark was great -- very pleasant and took time to make sure I understood my diagnosis. The office is very clean and comfortable. One of the receptionists up front was also very nice, and so was the assistant who conducted part of my eye exam. The only thing preventing me from giving this five stars was an experience with a couple of the staff. The woman closest to the door completely ignored me when I came in and approached the reception desk. The woman in the optical section completely ignored me when I started browsing glasses as well. After about 20 minutes, she finally decided to get up and help me select a frame. My experience with the doctor, second receptionist and eye exam assistant, again, was super-positive -- so I would come back here. read more

Dr Starling and the rest of the crew are awesome. I have had nothing but good experiences with them, including for a rather emergent issue where my eye was swelling. Calm, easy-going, and thorough with explanations and plans of care. I would highly recommend them as a patient-centric healthcare practitioner myself. read more

I would have given them a 5 because most of the staff were super nice, however, Lauren who handled the glasses was extremely rude to me. That is why I will buy my glasses somewhere else. read more

Super pleasant experience each time I've been! Great prices on glasses compared to other places I've seen. Wide variety, very happy with my choice to join Starling as my eye doctor! My husband and I are very relieved that we can schedule appointments after 5:00 PM, making my schedule incredibly easy to come for exams! read more