So, I made an appointment for an eye exam as I needed contact lenses and glasses and was way…read moreoverdue for an exam. The price for the exam was $65 which seemed reasonable compared with $125 at an place closer to my apartment. I showed up for the first appointment and while Kim, the receptionist, was nice enough, she claimed she had left me a message saying my appointment was delayed and I wouldn't be seen for another 3 hours. I don't drive (am disabled after a broken neck and multiple TBI's) so I didn't really have a choice; I opted to wait the 3 hours till the doctor would see me.
This was the first time I've ever had a contact lens fitting where the doctor used his own, unwashed hands to put the contacts in my eyes. A week or so later, during this trial period of testing the lenses, I developed a discharge from my right eye and the lens itself was likely defective as it kept popping out of my eye.
I called to make another appointment and explained the issue with the lens popping out. The doctor and his son (I'm guessing they are related somehow) didn't seem too happy to give me another pair of lenses to try out. It's like jeeze, you guys aren't paying for the lenses, what's the beef? Oh and then I was shamed for having Medicaid. They apparently saw me as some kind of "free loader" and treated me rudely. My case worker was with me for the second appointment and we both looked at each other like is this really happening? Are we really being treated like this? The doctor made a particularly rude comment to my case worker and then plainly ignored her when she asked him a question. He muttered some off color joke under his breath - it was super uncomfortable.
The really fun part was when I went to choose a pair of glasses from the Medicaid section of available frames. I prefer to have larger lenses/frames as they help me see much better. I picked out the biggest frames in the Medicaid selection and boy, the man who "helped" me was not pleased at all. Again, these are glasses for me, not this dude. Why was he so upset I chose glasses which were covered by Medicaid and available in the section of their store FOR MEDICAID GLASSES. This guy kept telling me, or trying to tell me, there was no way they could put lenses in the frames I had chosen, and seemed appalled overall by my selection and persistence. He then tried to charge me an additional $40 bucks (talked down from his original pitch of $60) to put lenses in the frames. Dude, the glasses are covered by Medicaid, you can't charge people for glasses that are covered by this plan. Ugh.
When I went back for the last time to get the new trial lenses and get a copy of my prescription, the Medicaid nazi was again seemingly appalled by my presence. How dare I have an eye exam, a trial pair of lenses and a pair of glasses covered by Medicaid? When I asked for a copy of my prescription, he struggled to use the printer/copier, I assume it hadn't been used for a long time and/or the guy just didn't know what he was doing or how to operate the machine. He begrudgingly gave me my prescription, though of course the doctor failed to indicate which eye had whatever number the prescription is. Really not looking forward to calling for clarification but oh well, looks like I'll have to.
I obviously won't be going back to Shalmar for further eye exams, and can't recommend this place to others. It's unfortunate as they do have a nice selection of eyewear but meh, you can find great glasses elsewhere and be treated with respect, regardless of what insurance you have.
One and only star goes to Kim, for at least attempting to be pleasant. I can't imagine having to work in such a small space with that doctor and his rude son. She's probably seen a lot.
