ComplaintsforThomas Eye Group

• Initial Complaint

  02/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On February 1st **** I went to this business for an eye exam and to purchase eye glasses. I picked out two glasses and I was informed that it take up to 2 weeks before they make my lenses. I left both pair of glasses at the eye doctor never took them home. I call back the next day to cancel my order because I found some place else that could make my lenses the same day. This lady I spoke with said there is no refund and it says no refund on her desk. So I call my insurance company and they informed me that the same lady says she's not canceling my order

  

  Business response

  02/14/2024

  On February 8, Mr. ***********;and his wife came into the office in the morning and he asked if his glasses were ready. ***** greeted him and said,like I explained on your initial visit, Im trying to get the first pair expedited within **** days as she was hopeful the lab could get them here this week. She also reminded him that she had asked him before finalizing the purchase if he was okay with the wait time on the two pair of glasses, and if he understand our policies in detail. He said yes, he remembers the explanation and our policies. 

  Mr. ****** picked up the first of his two pair of glasses on Friday, February 9. The Thomas Eye Group team purposely expedited a pair for him to meet his needs of having lost his glasses.
  He said they were perfect and walked out wearing them. 

  The second pair is set to be delivered this week. Our Practice Manager, ****, will be on standby to speak with the patient as well if and when he comes to pick them up.
  
  Senior Manager, ***, attempted to reach out to the patient once more to see if there was anything else we could do to try to rectify the situation. The patient did not answer and there is no record of the patient calling back to speak with *** or *****
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went in for a new glasses prescription on 12/15/2023. I was told by the person (****) who placed my prescription order that he would text me when they were ready. He did not provide me with any estimate of time when that would be. I called in January after having never received a text message. I finally received a call back on January 11, **** from **** stating they should arrive within a few days and I would receive a text message. On 1/22/24 I called back twice, the first time no one in the entire office could tell me where they were and on the second time I was notified by someone in the office they had been sitting there the entire time but no one had any intention of letting me know they were ready for pickup. I called back the next day to inform them their hours of operation conflicted with my work schedule and I would need to arrange a delivery perhaps. The office worker ************** spoke with requested the name of my doctor. I informed her it was ****************** and she suggested I must be hallucinating because no doctor of that name works there. Despite ********************************** name and signature being all over the receipt I was provided on 12/15/23. Across the board the experience at this location has been beyond an incompetent failure. I am reduced to writing this review, because this office failed to send a text message and the employees either do not know the names of the doctors working at this location or they enjoy wasting the time of their patients. Regardless, this office seems intent on scamming their patients, because they have no intention of providing the service I paid for.

  

  Business response

  01/25/2024

  Patient, *****************************, was seen at Thomas Eye Group,******** location on December 15, 2023 by ***************************. She ordered glasses with us on this day with the optician, ****. Unfortunately, our team did not submit the glasses order until January 4th. Because there is a two to three week window from ordering the product to delivery from the lab, that combined with the delay in placing the original order caused a significant delay in the overall process.
  
  The ******** team has been in communication with he patient throughout this process. At the patients request, the glasses have been shipped to her home through **** (tracking # **********************) on Monday January 22nd.The expected arrival date is Thursday, January 25 (see attached).

  -Thomas Eye Group

  Customer response

  01/25/2024

   
  Complaint: 21186295
  
  I am rejecting this response because: everything disclosed in the response is not my problem. I as the patient made every attempt to contact the office regarding the item I purchased and no one I spoke to had valid information for me so for weeks I was met with lies because of this incompetent office staff. The response does not even begin to address the horrible customer service I received when following up. This office has no intention of remedying the experience I had at this location. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  

  Business response

  02/01/2024

  The Practice Manager of the Thomas Eye Group ******** location spoke to this patient on January 22nd when the patient called to check on the glasses. The patient did not want to speak to the optician on staff, so the Practice Manager obtained an update about the patient's glasses and called her back the same day to let her know the glasses were ready. Patient called back the next day and asked that the glasses be mailed to her which was done (glasses have since been delivered to the patient).A tracking number was provided by staff, as well as via the BBB response.
  

  Since the prior BBB response, the same Practice Manager reached out to this patient on January 26 to offer a partial refund which has since been received. Documentation is attached. Thomas Eye Group has met the original patient request which was for the patient to receive the glasses, while also offering a partial refund. 

  
  

  Customer response

  02/01/2024

   
  Complaint: 21186295
  
  I am rejecting this response because: the optician I refused to speak to is the person named in this claim (****, the previously mentioned incompetent failure) for failing to do their job and blatantly lying to me. They also failed to mention I had to call back numerous times because no one bothered to gather accurate information to complete the delivery. It is irrelevant at this point as I have now tirelessly received my glass at long last and have no intention of ever visiting this location or referring anyone to it. In fact, I will actively disparage it in conversation due to the responses I have received from this business that were prompted by the BBB.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  09/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Im completely shocked at the way ******************* treats her patients and the people providing transportation for those patients. Ill probably suffer from retinal detachment soon. I will gladly do this instead of ever setting foot in your practice ever again. Once again I was there till nearly closing and my appointment was for 2:35 I was there early. My mother provided my necessary transportation and was suffering leg pain because of the extremely long wait. This is the second time this has happened with Dr. or whatever she is ********. When I went in the procedure room and saw a large needle and asked why I wasnt informed of this I was told that I was. Okay being accused of being a liar isnt the worst that had happened to me then when I was told it would take 15 minutes for the injection to take effect I had a full blown panic attack. I also suffer from extreme anxiety that I am being treated for. This was not taken into consideration and I feel very mistreated. Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

  

  Business response

  10/02/2023

  To Whom It May *************************** you for reaching out about ******************** experience in our practice. We understand that coming to our office for medical conditions that impact your vision and the treatment can be stressful for our patients and do everything we can to alleviate their concerns and stress. ******************** is a specialist in her field and sees many emergent patients in a day that are experiencing sudden vision loss. We do our best to manager her schedule accordingly, but we are not able to predict what emergencies may arise and how many patients need to be worked in the same day for same day treatment. **************** became verbally abusive and aggressive towards employees. We will be taking care of **************** through the contractual time for his post operative care, but will be releasing him from the practice for his behavior. We have done our best to provide **************** with excellent health care for his eyes, but we do not tolerate abusive behavior towards our employees. Patients have every right to voice a complaint and seek resolution,but they also have a responsibility to behave appropriately. 
  
  Please let us know if you should have any further questions. 
  
  Thank you, 
  ***************************
  VP of Operations

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went to Thomas Eye Group 6/15/23 for 1 test to determine if I was covered by ******** for an eyelid surgical procedure - see below:"What are the criteria for blepharoplasty with ********?******** requires that eyelid surgery procedures meet specific criteria to be covered by ******** Part ** This criteria includes: The excess eyelid skin is diagnosed by physical examination. There must be proof of at least 30% or 12 degrees of obstruction of the visual field caused by the underlying medical condition. Mar 6, 2023"I have a $25 co-pay for specialty doctors. Instead, I received a bill for $95 - almost 4x that amount. The Dr. did tests that are usually done during an annual visit (which had been done earlier in the year by my ophthalmologists). They did not need to be repeated. They also did a visual field test which is only for severe cases - see below: "Visual field test A visual field test is typically performed only in severe ptosis cases. The goal is to determine how much of an individuals vision is inhibited by the droopy eyelid. This is sometimes called a ******** visual field test because the ******** Visual Field Analyzer is the most popular device used to perform this type of test."I did try to resolve my issue with the company but it has been more than 2 months and I am no further ahead. Very frustrating. They say everything had to be done and those are the charges.Also, I have not heard if the surgery was approved - or not!I appreciate anything you can do to get the price adjusted to the expected - and fair - price of $25.Thank you.Let me know if you need any more information

  

  Business response

  08/28/2023

  To Whom It May ****************** have reviewed the charges for this patient and also our Revenue Cycle Billing Manager spoke with the patient regarding these charges.All testing and examinations were standard of care and appropriate for determination of the patients request for this surgical procedure. We bill and collect from our patients based on the explanation of benefits that we receive from the patients insurance company. The patient should also receive a copy of what the insurance will cover and what they are expected to pay out of pocket.We have attached a copy of this information for review and reference that our billing was accurate. While the patient may have had these tests before, our doctors will not proceed with surgery without confirming and performing their own tests. We hold a high standard of care and take great care in having the most accurate information to move forward and perform surgery. Because our services were rendered and accurate, we will not be adjusting or discounting services for this patient. In addition, ******************** is questioning the knowledge of how to proceed with care and treatment of ****************** and we believe that it would be in the best interest of all involved parties to not move forward with performing her surgery with our doctors or facilities. We wish ****************** this best and will be happy to provide her a copy of her records in her search of another provider.
  
  Thank you,
  
  ***************************
  VP of Operations
  

  *items have been blacked out to prevent the sharing of patient PHI.

  Customer response

  09/01/2023

  I received a notarized letter from the Dr. - actually 2 (one was sent registered mail) with details of the examination. I think there was some confusion because what I needed from the visit was an evaluation to see if I qualified for blepharoplasty. I did not receive that information and I just checked with the insurance company and they have not received anything.

  I appreciate his professionalism and detailed approach but do not want to pay almost 4X more than expected and not receive the required information.

  He said it would "be in your best medical interest to seek the services of another ophthalmologist". He also reminded me "of the importance of seeking regular eye care and maintaining the continuity of services". I had told them that I get an annual eye exam plus an annual exam from a retinal specialist so I'm not sure why that was added. As mentioned previously, I went only to see about the blepharoplasty qualification.

  I can honestly say I have never had such a confusing and convoluted doctor's *********** with apparently negative results for all concerned. 

  I will add that I did see another eye doctor this week and have already received the required information. The insurance company received it as well.

  Thank you for your consideration.

   

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  09/07/2023

  This patient has been dismissed by the practice. No additional adjustments will be made.

  Customer response

  09/07/2023

  Not sure what that means. I was charged for a service but the insurance company never received the test results that they performed (nor did I). So how can I pay for a service that was never performed? Not very professional.

   

• Initial Complaint

  05/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The complete neglect of people who are waiting, no communication on whats going on and why people are in certain rooms I was in there for three hours in one room and certain people didnt know what they were doing where they were going and there were a lot of elderly people as well as I surgery people and when I finally did ask about it, I was ignored and then basically told you should know these are three hour appointments, but it was just a matter of communication. It just breaks my heart to see people treated Support *** if theres an incident that caused appointments to be backed up 2 to 3 hours just let people know when they come in just communicate communications to Chi the links this all together, and at this location in *******, ******* that really needs to be addressed because of all the workers were good but theyre treating as poorly just not having an option

  

  Business response

  05/18/2023

  We try our best to avoid long wait times but unfortunately sometimes it is unavoidable. 
  Due to the nature of the specialty of retina, we have unscheduled emergency patients that must be seen immediately which increases wait times.  When we have emergency patients they are usually being seen because they are at risk of losing their vision.  We do make announcements when situations happen that make ** run behind so I am not sure if this patient did not hear the announcements because they were in a room or bathroom.  
  We appreciate the feedback; we are always looking for opportunities to improve patient care.  We take this complaint as an opportunity to explore ways to improve our processes.  

• Initial Complaint

  04/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On March 30th, I had an yearly eye exam , at the ****** ** location and was seen by my regular doctor for the exam. During the exam my doctor said my eyes had not changed and I did not need an New prescription . So I left but before leaving I asked ****** the Contact lens employee how much are the Fresh Looks (*****) Contacts, she stated that the contacts were $83.00; I was hesitant about purchasing the Contacts for the cost of and then I just Ok, I will get them and because since the doctor ***** give me a New prescription, I would have to wait for her to write one, to take somewhere else to purchase my Contacts!A few weeks after my Contacts arrived I received an email that read: ***************************** you have a balance $35.00. I immediately called Thomas ******** and told them I should not have an balance my insurances usually pays for entire visit. The girl , *** said, the charge was for a Fitting. I did not receive a Fitting because I did not receive a New Prescription so if I ordered from their Eye Group my Contacts lens sizes were already in the computer. Thomas Eye Group always creates this false fraudulent charge of $35.00, the company did me the same way in 2021 attempted fraudulently charge me with a $35.00 fitting fee. I also back then had to fight to get Thomas Eye Group to remove and correct the charge and eventually after arguing, denying the charge, the $35.00 was removed, I also did not go back for an eye exam in 2022 because of this Fraudulent charge that they were insisting that I owed them. I am demanding the Thomas Eye Group remove this Incorrect Billing charges from my account as they did back in 2021! I DISPUTE this account and have not received any Fittings, during my visit on March 30th!!

  

  Business response

  04/24/2023

  Thank you for your feedback. The referenced charges were not fraudulent as they were based on the services rendered during her exam. Please note that a fitting is not the same as an I&R. The fitting takes place when a contact lens fitter or doctor physically looks at the patient while they are wearing the contacts. During the patient's exam, her contacts were checked for centration, comfort, movement, as well as accessing her vision wearing the contacts. The contact prescription was determined to not have changed from the previous year. In the ****************, a contact lens prescription is only good for one year. For the patient to be able to purchase contacts, a prescription would also have to be given, thus incurring a $35 charge for an updated prescription on her contacts which includes the fitting.At this time, we have decided to remove this charge as a show of good faith.

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband began seeing a retinologist at Thomas Eye Group in ********* of 2021 for Diabetic Retinopathy. All his bills were paid by insurance up until ********* 2022. The final bill in October 2022 was also paid. I called our insurance company several times and each time, they told me it was a coding issue that they were promised would be corrected. The last time I called my insurance company because instead of getting corrected coding the bill had doubled to $5,200 and I was told that was not a duplicate but a facilities charge. We had never been charged that before. Then insurance said they had not approved the ********* services and we should have been told it was self pay prior to services by the provider. We were never told anything. Further, why have all other services been paid, but this one month, ********* was not paid. We have made numerous attempts to resolve the issue to no avail. Today, I sent a certified return receipt requested letter to the billing manager. I hope she responds. However, my husband and I are more than willing to go to court regarding this issue and have consulted counsel.

  

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  After meeting internally, we have determined that more time is needed to review this specific issue. There are a few different teams involved in this process, and we'd like the opportunity to research each patient appointment and work with our teams to determine next steps. Can you please send an updated timeframe?

  Customer response

  03/20/2023

  We have no idea what you mean by updated time frame.  TEG is the party who is requesting more time to investigate.  Please be more specific.

   

  Thanks,

   

  Mette

  

  Business response

  03/31/2023

  Thank you for your patience. We have reviewed the patient's account. Based on the *** we received from the patient's insurance (UHC), the patient is responsible for the full $5200 balance.However, we have agreed to a 50% discount. The original $2600 was adjusted off,and the patient will be responsible for the remaining balance of $2600. We are willing to set the patient up with a payment plan upon request.

  Customer response

  03/31/2023

   
  Complaint: 19600613
  
  I am rejecting this response because we were NEVER informed of the self pay decided by our insurance company.  We will agree to pay $300 which is around what we always pay.  We were to be informed prior to services being rendered.  WE WERE NOT.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  

  Business response

  03/31/2023

  Thank you for your response. A Thomas Eye Group team member called UHC on 8-8-2022 in which they were told that no authorization was required and the patient cost would be $60.00.  Once the claim was processed after the patient visit, UHC listed $5200 as the patient responsibility. We understand your concern, but believe the issue should be addressed with UHC. As a courtesy, we have applied a 50% discount to your account leaving a remaining balance of $2600. Again, we are happy to set up a payment plan upon request.

  Customer response

  03/31/2023

   
  Complaint: 19600613
  
  I am rejecting this response because I don't do medical coding.  The provider (Thomas Eye Group), should contact the insurance company to work it out.  I've been dealing with this nonsense since October.  I'm not paying $2,600 and working out a payment plan is not equitable considering your staff did not inform my husband or myself of this.  Have you read your reviews all over the internet?  You should! Your practice is well known for this nonsense.   You promised our insurance company on three separate occassions that your office would corret coding and according to UHC, you NEVER did.  Again, I'm glad to settle this debt for $300 which is what our usual out of pocket was, but we absolutely will never be extorted of $2,600 for your office staff errors.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

   

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I've been having blurry vision for about a month but it took me 2 weeks to get into see someone at Thomas Eye Group. I normally go to *********************, but was thinking Thomas Eye Group would be a good place to go since I was having so much trouble - blurry, strained vision, headaches, etc. My appointment was with ****************. I saw about 4-5 OTHER people before I got to him and each person, I told that I was having very blurry vision, both far sighted & near sighted and I was hoping to get it figured out today. Once I finally got to ****************, he quickly deduced that all my problems were due to dry eyes - and that I needed to consider a tear duct plug surgery to help. In the meantime, I grabbed some nice drops that were suppose to help with Dry Eye. Before we finished, I asked him, "do you think I might have astigmatism that is causing me trouble?" He said, no. Next I went to the contact fitting where I explained that I was still seeing blurry - he tried a few adjustments but it didnt fix much. I assumed that possibly a week or so of the dry eye drops would do the trick. It did not. A week after, I was still having blurry vision, strained eyes, and headaches. I decided to go to ******************** where I have been a patient for a few years, for a second opinion and in hopes to get my vision sharpened, finally. She spent some time working on my prescription - including a significant astigmatism that was causing the trouble. She also looked under my eyelids and prescribed an antibiotic for inflammation. Through my new astigmatism contacts, I am finally seeing again. I did not receive proper care at Thomas Eye Group. They did not listen to my concerns nor problem solve my eye issues. I maxed out my annual insurance at TEG and had to pay out of pocket at *********************. I would like to request a full refund of $116.94 AND for **************** to do a better job with his patients. Unacceptable.

  

  Business response

  02/09/2023

  Thank you for reaching out. We understand your eye care needs were not met at your most recent visit with us. Upon review, the testing shows that you did have the mentioned issues and we want you to know your chart is appropriately documented to reflect these concerns. In some cases, medical issues must be addressed before correcting vision issues. In the past, patients have given us the opportunity to address concerns regarding their visit which would allow us to bring you back in office for a no charge follow up appointment. Upon request, we could have paired you with another doctor for this visit. As a courtesy, we will issue a 50% refund as we were not given the opportunity to correct the issue or bring you back for a no charge visit. We will notify our accounting department to issue a 50% refund to you. Should you need further assistance, please let us know.

  Customer response

  02/09/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  11/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took my son ************************************** old) for Eye checkup at Thomas Eye Group in *********************************************************************************************. The nurse gave the eye glasses prescription without doing proper checkup. When I looked the prescription it appeared very high, I immediately said that the prescription of eyes looks incorrect, and asked the eye doctor, if she can properly check him again instead of a nurse, but the eye doctor said that the she is not going to look at him and the approved the nurse's prescription. My requests were dismissed by the Thomas eye group, so I went to another doctor *** Eye Doctor, in **************************************************************** *****) who gave correct prescription(check by Eye doctor & not a nurse) and also there was significant difference in the eye sight prescription between two doctors.I have eye insurance VSP, who paid bill for My Eye Doctor, they rejected insurance payment to Thomas Eye Group.I complained about this situation to Thomas Eye Group that your staff is giving improper prescription and asked them to waive the bill, but they keep sending me the bill.

  

  Business response

  11/29/2022

  We reviewed the account, and the balance for November 5, 2020 has been written off.  There is no longer a balance on the account.  We apologize for the inconvenience.

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company is part of a group that seems to make appointment like a manufacturing line. I was directed to this doctor. When I expressed concerns about my eyes he continued to tell me that they were all right and his area of specialty was surgery. When I got the billing my insurance did not pay. I talked with the ****************** and was told that the account would be sent to another section because there had been some billing issues with ********** Blue Shield. I was told I would get a call for an update. Less than 2 weeks later I got a collections notice. No return call with an update. I spoke with the ****************** this morning and was told they have to send an email to see who sent the account to Collections. I had only gotten 1 bill from this company. From the time the Dr saw me he was rude, non-chalant and obviously I had the wrong referral from their group based on my eye care needs. Seems he is only involved in surgery of eye lids. He never even looked in my eyes! RUN, too many doctors are wanting to collect and no long a part of medical CARE. I have had the same insurance over 35 years and a claim being rejected because of a doctors coding and then a collection is unacceptable. I bet they do this to a lot of patients. THIS IS WRONG!

  

  Business response

  09/06/2022

  We reviewed the account,and a corrected claim has been sent to your insurance.  The account was removed from TSI on 08-23-2022.  Our customer service representative attempted to reach you on 08-23-2022 to provide an update.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. 
  Thank you for your patience.  

  -Thomas Eye Group

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩