Deborah Prince OD

Ms [redacted] purchased glasses using a benefit through a vision insurance company (VSP) more than six months ago Our office explained to her several times that the insurance company guarantees the products for days After that, they do not issue refunds We also offered to examine the patient's eyes to see if her vision had changed since it had been a while since her last eye exam She was happy to schedule an appointment until she found out that her insurance company would not be paying for it and there would be a charge for an office visit It is extremely unfair for a small business and a professional care provider to be maligned and slandered by patients who are unhappy with their own insurance company benefits They take out their frustrations on the office staff and demand money from us that we in fact do not have! The money they pay to us in co-pays is given to their insurance company immediately after their visit to our office All we are paid is for the eye examination and a small dispensing fee Service fees are not refundable to the patient since the eye examination has occurred, and the time frame for reevaluation has lapsed by many months Any request for refunds for glasses must be directed to the insurance provider and they have already told Ms [redacted] NO This is yet another case of misdirected anger, and leaves everyone, patient and staff alike, feeling frustrated Sincerely, [redacted] OD And staff members of Midway Optometry

Ms. [redacted] purchased glasses using a benefit through a vision insurance company (VSP) more than six months ago.  Our office explained to her several times that the insurance company guarantees the products for 90 days.  After that, they do not issue refunds.  We also offered to...

examine the patient's eyes to see if her vision had changed since it had been a while since her last eye exam.  She was happy to schedule an appointment until she found out that her insurance company would not be paying for it and there would be a charge for an office visit.  It is extremely unfair for a small business and a professional care provider to be maligned and slandered by patients who are unhappy with their own insurance company benefits.  They take out their frustrations on the office staff and demand money from us that we in fact do not have!  The money they pay to us in co-pays is given to their insurance company immediately after their visit to our office.  All we are paid is for the eye examination and a small dispensing fee.  Service fees are not refundable to the patient since the eye examination has occurred, and the time frame for reevaluation has lapsed by many months.  Any request for refunds for glasses must be directed to the insurance provider and they have already told Ms. [redacted] NO.  This is yet another case of misdirected anger, and leaves everyone, patient and staff alike, feeling frustrated.
Sincerely,
[redacted] OD
And staff members of Midway Optometry

Review: My old glasses just had a lot of scratches on them so I wanted to replace the lenses. I brought my prescription to Midway Optometry, Dr. [redacted] office to have them produce two sets of lenses while in San Diego for the summer. After 3 attempts and over 3.5 months to make my new lenses with existing frames Midway Optometry was unable to produce usable lenses. They kept blaming the lab for the problems. The site line was consistently placed during each production cycle in the wrong place in the lineless bifocals. My Optometrist in [redacted], TX had no problems making these lenses a 1.5 years ago with the same prescription and same frames. Now I am out-of-pocket $613.00 and my VSP insurance benefit has been used by Dr. [redacted]. I have glasses that I am unable to read out of and are completely useless. I have been extremely patient in waiting for three production cycles for my lenses. It was clear to me that Midway Optometry was simply unable to produce the product. When the second attempt failed (End of August 2013) I respectfully asked for a refund. The office manager refused to provide a refund stating that Dr. [redacted] does not provide refunds, end of story. I was unaware of any policy at the time of purchase, on Dr. [redacted] website, my receipt or any other printed/public material that Dr. [redacted] had a "no refund policy". The "no refund" stance only appeared once they had problems making my lenses multiple time. So they attempted to produce the lenses again for a 3rd time. I received a pair of glasses and a pair of loose lenses the first week in October 2013 with the promise that these would now be corrected. The glasses had exactly the same problem, and were completely unusable. I began repeatedly calling Dr. [redacted] office after receiving the defective product for the third time. I was ignored. No returned calls. Finally I did get thru to the office manager who promised me that Dr. [redacted] personally would call me shortly. No returned phone calls from Dr. [redacted]. After multiple voice mails and no return calls, I sent my husband over to the office to see if they were still in business or to help determine why there was no response. My husband met with the office manager the week of 10/21/13 who said Dr. [redacted] would return my wife's call on Monday 10/28/13/ Monday came and went, as did Tues, Wed, Thursday that same week. On Friday 11/01/13 My husband and I were both in San Diego and decided to visit Dr. [redacted] office with the hope that we would get a chance to have a face-to-face discussion with Dr. [redacted] and to get her approval for a refund on the defective lenses. When we arrived Dr. [redacted] was at the counter with her office manager and one other clerk. We approached the counter and the clerk engaged us. We asked to speak to Dr. [redacted]. Dr. [redacted] hearing us and standing just a few feet away but without looking at us asked if we had an appointment. We said no we did not but that we just needed to talk with her an issue that [redacted] (patient) was having. We stated we would be glad to wait and we did. When Dr. [redacted] concluded a discussion with the current client she was talking to she immediately left the counter, told her staff that she had another client, and proceeded to walk to her office and close the door. To our knowledge there were no other clients in her office. [redacted] then respectfully walked to Dr. [redacted] door, gently knocked on the door and asked to speak to her. There was no response. [redacted] then told the clerk that she has attempted multiple times to get a return call about the issues with her glasses which are currently unusable. In the meantime, as the current client was leaving the office [redacted] asked the client who was leaving if he was ever told about a non-refund policy at Dr. [redacted] Office, he said that he like us was never told about that policy and that he's been coming there since "probably before I was born". Upon hearing [redacted] ask this question the office manager threatened [redacted] by calling the police and asking [redacted] to leave. As a result we respectfully asked to follow their procedure and asked for an appointment to see Dr. [redacted], preferably today 11/01/13. The office manager then gave [redacted] a 1PM 11/01/13 appointment time and asked us to return to see Dr. [redacted] at that time. [redacted] & [redacted] thanked the office manager and then left the office with the promise that we would return then. 12:50 PM PST 11/01/13: [redacted] and [redacted] arrive back at Dr. [redacted] office for our scheduled 1PM appointment. We were met at the door by a very large man who said that Dr. [redacted] hired him as security to keep us from entering her office. We stated that we had a scheduled appointment. He said that Dr. [redacted] does not wish to see us. [redacted] then asked if his wife ([redacted] - Patient) could come in alone thinking that perhaps they did not want [redacted] in the office. The answer was still the same that neither of us could come into the office for our appointment. I then asked the security guard if he would ask Dr. [redacted] if my wife could call her on the phone to discuss the problems she's been having and resolve [redacted]'s refund request. The answer came back again as "no". To this day, after going on for nearly 4 months now, the patient [redacted] has yet been able to speak to Dr. [redacted] to resolve her unusable glasses. We now are out $613.00 with no other recourse but to file a lawsuit which we plan to do.Desired Settlement: Refund of $613.00 to [redacted]

Business

Response:

November 30,2013

Midway Optometry

3145 Rosecrans Street

Suite C

San Diego, CA 92110

###-###-####

Dear Sir or Ma'am:

I am writing in regard to the above referenced complaint which you received from a customer. My office received an email message from you only, no written correspondence. Unfortunately, the details of the events that have been.presented to you are not representative of the facts and are untruthful. Please permit me to give you an accurate description of events that unfolded in my private practice. A customer by the name of [redacted] presented to our optometry office requesting to purchase new ophthalmic lenses for her own two pair of eyeglass frames on July 16, 2013. She had not had an eye examination in our office, but chose to use a prescription from her own eye care provider. Mrs. [redacted] used an insurance benefit to offset the cost of one pair of the lenses. The total office charges for lenses, including insurance co pays was $613.00 which the customer paid by credit card. Our office ordered the lenses on the customer's behalf from her insurance company's fabrication laboratory and when they both jobs were completed the patient was called. Mrs. [redacted] picked up the glasses and she did not make any complaint but left the office without incident. The next day she phoned the office to say she could not see out of the glasses and asked for her money back. Office staff politely explained that sometimes a new prescription takes a little time to get used to, but we suggested she return to the office so we could evaluate the fit of the frames to see if they needed adjusting. Office staff even went so far as to contact the optical office where Mrs. [redacted] had her eye exam and prescription written. Using some of the measurements from the patient's chart at her prescribing optometrist's office, both sets of lenses were sent back to the laboratory and remade according to her former doctor's recommendation.

For the second time, Mrs. [redacted] picked up her lenses and left without incident. Later that day she had her husband call our office. He was belligerent, used profanity and demanded their money back saying that "the glasses were still not right." Staff cordially attempted to calm Mr. [redacted] and encouraged him to have his wife wear the glasses for at least a few days as any new prescription may take some time to adjust to. Later that day, Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] presented themselves to our office while we had a crowded waiting. room full of people demanding their money back. Our staff politely explained that our office had already incurred the expense of making customized ophthalmic lenses for two pair of glasses for her, not once but twice. A refund would not be possible and this office policy is clearly documented on all receipts and at the front ·desk where glasses are sold. We referred them to the customer service department of their vision insurance company if they were requesting a second remake. We could find nothing wrong with the lenses that would warrant a remake. They refused anything we offered her, and in return offered us only belligerence, anger and hostility. In my twenty-two years of clinical practice, I have never had to call security to remove a patient, but this was the first time I had to do so. I believe Mr. [redacted] was under the influence and that contributed to his hostility.

Mrs. [redacted] still has the lenses that she purchased. She is most welcome to work with her insurance company on a resolution to the remaking of the lenses, and I suggested that she see her former eye care provider if she is unhappy with the prescription. We were willing to work with the customer in order to make the situation right, but they had a very negative impact on our small business when they came into our office shouting profanity telling patients to go somewhere else and that we don't know what we are doing .. We are a small business trying to survive in a very difficult economy. We have already received and paid a lab bill on her behalf and are unable to give her a refund. We would be willing to rectify the situation but the customer was unreasonable and would not work with us to resolve the situation despite our repeated attempts.

Sincerely,

Business Owner

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

Below is my letter in text. Attached is my letter to the CA Board of Optometry which also includes my credit card transaction receipt. The lenses manufactured are DEFECTIVE and the only resolution is for Dr. [redacted] to refund me $613.00

Review: I have made many attempt over the course of the past two years to receive a suitable outcome. I did not receive the proiduct I paid for. I received product that was unsuitable for use. When I complained, they told me it was just me and I would need to adjust to the shoddy product. Each time I went back to insist that the problem be resolved, the solution did not solve the problem. The entire process continues to draw on due to the lack of care of the staff.

Most recently, I was in to request an appoint and was given 10am on 5/2/2014. This morning I was told that I would not be seeing the professional responsible for my product, but they offered to pass me on to another staffer. Having recieived the run around yet again, I need to see [redacted], not a staff member. I have requested a call back from Ms. [redacted], but I'm sure I won't be receiving one.Desired Settlement: Refund so that I may purchase the product at a reliable professional as well as an apology for the inferior service I have been subjected to.

Business

Response:

Ms. [redacted] purchased glasses using a benefit through a vision insurance company (VSP) more than six months ago. Our office explained to her several times that the insurance company guarantees the products for 90 days. After that, they do not issue refunds. We also offered to examine the patient's eyes to see if her vision had changed since it had been a while since her last eye exam. She was happy to schedule an appointment until she found out that her insurance company would not be paying for it and there would be a charge for an office visit. It is extremely unfair for a small business and a professional care provider to be maligned and slandered by patients who are unhappy with their own insurance company benefits. They take out their frustrations on the office staff and demand money from us that we in fact do not have! The money they pay to us in co-pays is given to their insurance company immediately after their visit to our office. All we are paid is for the eye examination and a small dispensing fee. Service fees are not refundable to the patient since the eye examination has occurred, and the time frame for reevaluation has lapsed by many months. Any request for refunds for glasses must be directed to the insurance provider and they have already told Ms. [redacted] NO. This is yet another case of misdirected anger, and leaves everyone, patient and staff alike, feeling frustrated.

Sincerely,

[redacted] OD

And staff members of Midway Optometry