Epstein, William M.D.

I am rejecting this response because:The business response is falseI was not cancelling theee appointments under hours noticeI called at 11:00am the day before my scheduled appointment to RESCHEDULE one of my daughters appointments due to her being out of townI was placed on hold and had to disconnect my cal due to having to be back into workI then received a reminder voicemail (which I still have) at 2:54pm reminding me of our appointmentsI then called back once again to try and reschedule my daughters appointment and to confirm my appointment and my other daughters appointmentThis is when I was told there is a HOUR cancellation in effect and that I was mis-informed by a new employee that it was a hour cancellation notice and even though it was an error on their part I will still be charged a $feeThe representative was very rude and unapologetic to me for their errorThat is when I said my daughters and I will not be keeping our appointments at their business due to how rude and unprofessional the rep wasThe person who responded to my complaint, ***, is going by what her rude employee is telling her that happened rather then looking into the factsI am 100% agitated with this situation due to the fact I have had to take time from my schedule to prove my case to rude employees when all I needed to do was reschedule ONE APPOINTMENTI went against my better judgement by making an appointment with this business due to the fact I have not heard positive feedback on their customer serviceThe whole reason this problem has occurred is due to the rep stating I needed to call within hours and now they are back tracking staring it really is hours and saying I did not call within the time frameThis is all very unacceptable

I am rejecting this response because:The business response is false. I was not cancelling theee appointments under 24 hours notice. I called at 11:00am the day before my scheduled appointment to RESCHEDULE one of my daughters appointments due to her being out of town. I was placed on hold and had to disconnect my cal due to having to be back into work. I then received a reminder voicemail (which I still have) at 2:54pm reminding me of our appointments. I then called back once again to try and reschedule my daughters appointment and to confirm my appointment and my other daughters appointment. This is when I was told there is a 48 HOUR cancellation in effect and that I was mis-informed by a new employee that it was a 24 hour cancellation notice and even though it was an error on their part I will still be charged a $35 fee. The representative was very rude and unapologetic to me for their error. That is when I said my daughters and I will not be keeping our appointments at their business due to how rude and unprofessional the rep was. The person who responded to my complaint, [redacted], is going by what her rude employee is telling her that happened rather then looking into the facts. I am 100% agitated with this situation due to the fact I have had to take time from my schedule to prove my case to rude employees when all I needed to do was reschedule ONE APPOINTMENT. I went against my better judgement by making an appointment with this business due to the fact I have not heard positive feedback on their customer service. The whole reason this problem has occurred is due to the rep stating I needed to call within 48 hours and now they are back tracking staring it really is 24 hours and saying I did not call within the time frame. This is all very unacceptable.

Our practice rarely makes 'family' appointments because with less than 24 hours notice, we are unable to fill those spots.  This is a loss of production time for the doctors. When the appointments were originally made, the patient was told there would be a charge if less than 24 hrs...

notice was given, which is our protocol.  Three appointments were made back to back starting at approx. 1:20 pm.  We made a confirming phone call to the patient, via voicemail, the day before, again stressing the importance of a minimum of 24 hrs notice if cancellation was needed.  At 4pm, the patient called to cancel.  This was less than 24 hrs notice.  I approved the charges to her account because with the cancellation of the three appointments, the doctor lost a total of 3 hours of productivity.  This was not acceptable.When the patient called me today, I said I needed to look into the details of the cancellations and did with one of my schedulers.  I had one more area to look into and said I would call her back on Monday.  She demanded an immediate resolution (now) - she wanted the charges deleted.  I again said I would call her back on Monday - I had in fact done some research and had called her back as I said I would today.  I also offered to discount the charges by 50% but she refused and became  more agitated.  She also refused to listen  to why 'family' cancellations impact the doctor's time.  She just wanted the charges to go away.  She 'blamed' my staff for how it all went down.  She was unapologetic.  When I again said I would call her back on Monday she shouted on the phone, cut me off and said she was going to report us to the Revdex.com.

Complaintant was seen in our office 4/18/16 complaining of decreased distance vision. He hadn't been seen for two years.  We performed an exam with a diagnosis of cataract, and also had a refraction for new glasses.  We billed his Medicare for the medical portion of the exam for which...

heowes his 20%. He also owes $61 for a refraction which Medicare doesn't cover.  We make this clear at check in and have everyone sign the waiver.  The glasses were not purchased in our optical dept.  He went elsewhere to have them made. Pt was seen again on 7/11/16, three months later, stating his distance vision was poor.  Refraction was rechecked.  Minimal change was made but he stated he liked this new refraction better.  The doctor notes there was a discussion that his vision wasn't as good as it used to be.  He was asked to return in one year.   Appointment was made.   He was not charged for this visit.He has refused to pay anything on his bill.  He even told our billing person that he didn't want to hear anything she had to say as far explaining the charges and billing.  He told her all he wanted was a refraction, something we don't 'just do' without an exam.   He demanded his money back and said he was going to tell everyone not to come to our office.

We saw the patient originally in April, performed the exam and billed his insurance and him appropriately. The patient waited until July to come back in with a complaint about his glasses which we did NOT make for him.  In July, we rechecked his refraction, informed him again that he had cataracts and gave him another Rx that he said was better for him.  We did not charge him for this visit. When we make glasses for our customers, the lab we use allows one redo at no charge to us or the patient.   I do not know what the remake policy is at wherever the patient chose to have his glasses made and I don't know if the patient even took the new Rx back to them.The patient is expecting us to write off the balance which is not appropriate since the comprehensive examination was performed and documented.  We made a slight correction to his script and that was also documented and done at no charge.  We didn't make his glasses so that is our of our hands.

I am rejecting this response because: (1. I cannot see well with the prescription given by the company  (2. they lied to me about charges and used intimidation to get my signature on an illegal fine print agreement.  i will go to another optical group for a second opinion and will resist equally any and all collection procedures.  their aggressive unprofessional business practices against senior citizens and perhaps all visually disadvantaged clients will not be allowed to go unnoticed in our community.I did not say the RX "was better".  i cannot read and understand an RX.  this complaint is obviously not being handled by an optical professional, but rather by an uninformed and unqualified administrative assistant.   of course, they "did not charge him for this visit", though I would not have been surprised at this time in our efforts to resolve.  if they feel it is necessary for them to MAKE the glasses that they prescribe in order to complete a transaction for good vision, that should be clearly stated.  i presented the glasses to their personnel who said they were correctly MADE.  there was no mention of cataracts until my vision was not corrected by the first RX.  their "comprehensive examination" was faulty hence I could see better without the glasses.

Review: the doctor's diagnosis and prescription are incorrect and damaging to my vision. efforts to reexamine and provide corrected lenses are met with resistance and refusal to reimburse. ugly collection efforts against me continue while I have attempted to work with them to resolve this vision health issue.Desired Settlement: first, refund the amount of the charge and stop ugly collection.

second, find the reason for the inaccuracy and correct it

OR just allow me to go to another doctor for a second opinion and possible correction for my vision.

Business

Response:

Complaintant was seen in our office 4/18/16 complaining of decreased distance vision. He hadn't been seen for two years. We performed an exam with a diagnosis of cataract, and also had a refraction for new glasses. We billed his Medicare for the medical portion of the exam for which heowes his 20%. He also owes $61 for a refraction which Medicare doesn't cover. We make this clear at check in and have everyone sign the waiver. The glasses were not purchased in our optical dept. He went elsewhere to have them made. Pt was seen again on 7/11/16, three months later, stating his distance vision was poor. Refraction was rechecked. Minimal change was made but he stated he liked this new refraction better. The doctor notes there was a discussion that his vision wasn't as good as it used to be. He was asked to return in one year. Appointment was made. He was not charged for this visit.He has refused to pay anything on his bill. He even told our billing person that he didn't want to hear anything she had to say as far explaining the charges and billing. He told her all he wanted was a refraction, something we don't 'just do' without an exam. He demanded his money back and said he was going to tell everyone not to come to our office.

Business

Response:

We saw the patient originally in April, performed the exam and billed his insurance and him appropriately. The patient waited until July to come back in with a complaint about his glasses which we did NOT make for him. In July, we rechecked his refraction, informed him again that he had cataracts and gave him another Rx that he said was better for him. We did not charge him for this visit. When we make glasses for our customers, the lab we use allows one redo at no charge to us or the patient. I do not know what the remake policy is at wherever the patient chose to have his glasses made and I don't know if the patient even took the new Rx back to them.The patient is expecting us to write off the balance which is not appropriate since the comprehensive examination was performed and documented. We made a slight correction to his script and that was also documented and done at no charge. We didn't make his glasses so that is our of our hands.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: (1. I cannot see well with the prescription given by the company (2. they lied to me about charges and used intimidation to get my signature on an illegal fine print agreement. I will go to another optical group for a second opinion and will resist equally any and all collection procedures. their aggressive unprofessional business practices against senior citizens and perhaps all visually disadvantaged clients will not be allowed to go unnoticed in our community.I did not say the RX "was better". I cannot read and understand an RX. this complaint is obviously not being handled by an optical professional, but rather by an uninformed and unqualified administrative assistant. of course, they "did not charge him for this visit", though I would not have been surprised at this time in our efforts to resolve. if they feel it is necessary for them to MAKE the glasses that they prescribe in order to complete a transaction for good vision, that should be clearly stated. I presented the glasses to their personnel who said they were correctly MADE. there was no mention of cataracts until my vision was not corrected by the first RX. their "comprehensive examination" was faulty hence I could see better without the glasses.