Dr. James Cutler OD

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 13, 2015/06/30) */
I wish to apologize for not responding right away regarding a letter you wrote regarding a patient who was requesting a refund. I had been out due to a back injury and I am trying to catch up on things like bills. I wish to investigate the...

situation very soon, but I did not want more time to pass ** make you think I am ignoring your letters. It's at times like this when I wish I had insurance for time missed because as you know, when you are in business for yourself, every moment you are away, sick, on vacation, or whatever, your money flow is in the negative. Add in the very bad economy plus I just fired a man who had been in my employ for almost 5 years because we discovered he had been embezzling thousands in cash from our office and this had been going on for at least 3 of those 5 years. My wife had to come back to work in the office because we could not afford to hire another employee.
I will say a couple things about Mr. [redacted]. I know just a couple things right off the top. I know he was a new patient on December 3, 2014 which happens to be my birthday. And I also remember that we gave him a refund of $42 because we found that we had accidentally over-charged him for something on his glasses- I believe it was a coating on his lenses. I remember because I wrote the check. That check sat at the front desk in an envelope with his name on it for about 2 months waiting for him to pick it up. I also know I got a phone call from a Citibank Visa Credit card representative telling me Mr. [redacted] wanted a refund. I told the representative that I did not know why he wanted a full refund when he had not even called us to let us know he was having a problem with his glasses. And in our office the patient is always free to call or come in and see me for a free follow up visit in order to solve any problem. He never called and he never came in to talk to me or make an appointment to check his eyes or his glasses.
In all the 26 years that I have been practicing optometry we have not had anyone call or complain to the Revdex.com about us, me, or the office. Mr. [redacted] is free to come in and request our help in order to re-check his eyes within the 90 days we offer. We do not tell our patients they can come in a year later for a free follow up visit and I don't think anyone in the business would find that to be reasonable. We expect our patients to let us know there is a problem within a month or two, or even three, but after three months, we do charge a nominal fee (about $30) for a follow up visit.
Once again, I apologize for having not gotten right back to you earlier. Since my back surgery in 2000 I have had episodes of back pain which are almost unbearable. Every once in a while my pain is so bad, I have to stay home until it gets better.
I will research this case further with my wife and my only other employee. They will have more light to shed on the matter I am sure. I wish that Mr. [redacted] had used any of the avenues we offer to help our patients. We make it very clear in beginning with all paperwork which they sign along with all the HIPAA forms what our office policies are. And we do not have high fees. I have been in this business for over 26 years and insurance companies have not increased their reimbursement to us for eye exams and materials in that entire 26 years. If anything they pay us less. And the economy is horrible for us independent optometrists. I sure feels like someone is trying to put us out of business, including the government. It's just my view on what I have seen over the last quarter century. Gone are the days when a doctor could make a decent living. Last year my net income was less than $50,000.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 15, 2015/06/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Immediately after I picked up my glasses, I was away on business for an extended period. When I returned, I visited the office to have my eyeglass prescription adjusted. The glasses were giving me headaches. The office said they would not adjust my prescription unless I gave them more money. The office said there was a 3 month time limit. The office indicted the discussion was over and there would be no exception. THE END.
When I purchased my glasses there was never anything said about a time limit for prescription adjustments when I purchased the glasses. I returned after approximately 4 months. These are progressive lenses and I've had adjustments go on for 6 months or more with other optometrists. Extended adjustment periods are entirely normal
I've been wearing glasses for 50 years and done business with dozens of optometrists. This is the first I've heard of this kind of policy. An honest optometrist would have simply fixed my prescription.
The optometrist provided the wrong prescription and now will not adjust the prescription unless I give them more money. I do not trust this office any longer to provide eyeglasses. This is too important to mess around with. Please refund my money.