Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/17/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I made an appointment with this Eyecare company for a contact lens examination and to order contact lenses. After the examination I was given a bill of $456 to pay for the contact lenses that had to be ordered. Nothing else was explained, disclosed ort mentioned at this time. I was told that in a couple of weeks the contact lenses would be ready and they would call me to pick them up. They also required me to get an examination for glasses at the time even though I told them I had just received one a week prior from another doctor and received the glasses already from that doctor. They insisted that it be done anyway. After three weeks this company contacted me and said that I needed to pay an additional $170 in order to receive the contact lenses. I asked my husband to call them because it was his insurance. He called them to ask what the charges were for. They could not give him and answer and then decided that they wouldn't speak to him because he was not the patient. On 7/17 my husband and I visited the company in person and they explained to us that the charge was for a fitting and they would not give me the contacts or the prescription unless I paid the additional $170. I asked for my money back and was told that I would still have to pay the $170. I asked if I could at least get a copy of my prescription and was again told I would have to pay the additional $170 before they would do anything. I feel like they are extorting money out of me. They did not mention anything to me during my initial appointment when I paid for everything that there would possibly be additional charges. If they had I would have reconsidered using them. I am now stuck without anything and out $456 dollars unless I give them more money. In the office I spoke with ****** and ***** and they were of no help and did not offer any options other than paying the money.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2024

  To Whom It May ******************** patient was seen in our office on 06/19/24 as a new patient.  On the date of her visit, she was given all of our policy, procedures and agreements to sign and verbally communicated with her doctor and at check-out what to expect in her RGP contact lens ordering process.  She was specifically reminded when she came in and stated that she was just seen for an eye exam and didnt need a new glasses exam, that our office could not use another doctors examination. We also explained we cannot ONLY perform a Contact Lens fitting as she wanted.  
  
  Per the *********** of ********** we are unable to use another offices examination for glasses to determine, prescribe, or to fit and follow-up services for contact lenses.  The specific doctor must not only do their own refraction for glasses, but the fitting and follow through for the appropriate fitting for RGP specialty contact lenses.  This is why she came to our practice because the other office could only prescribe her soft lenses.  She was currently wearing soft lenses and wanted to be fit into RGPs. 
  
  She was also informed that we would file for any vision insurance benefits available per her vision plan at her date of service, but that she, the patient, is responsible for any amounts not covered or reimbursed by the insurance company.
  
  Please see the forms labeled REGARDING INSURANCE notification along with our ******************** Agreement, Notice of Privacy Practices (HiPPA), as well as returned check, return purchase policy, and pupil dilation retinal examination policies all signed or initialed by her on the date of service.  
  You will notice in the forms listed above that the patient did NOT list her husband as someone we can discuss her information with. My Staff followed their HIPPA training by not discussing her information with her husband per her consent when signing the form.
  
  This patient originally paid us $456.50 on 06/19/2024, the date her services were rendered.
  The total covered:
  $10 glasses exam co-pay set by her insurance company for a U&C $179 routine glasses examination. 
  $46.50 fee determined by her vision insurance coverage of her $290 contact lens determination, fit & services. (we also applied a discount of $73.50 after the insurance denial)
  $400 for RGP specialty contacts, her portion not covered by insurance.
  
  VSP (her vision insurance company) determined that the $170 fee for her Contact Lens fit and services was the PATIENTs responsibility.  Our billing company reflected the balance on her account.  Since services are due at the time they are rendered, and her insurance company did not pay us, she was told that she was responsible for the contact lens fit & service balance prior to the dispensing of her lenses and the finalizing of her Contact Lens Rx could be made.  
  
  When she came into our office with her husband on 07/17/2024 she yelled at my staff and made a scene, we tried explaining the financial situation to them, also letting them know that we would not be able to give a final CL prescription without dispensing these specialty lenses at an appointment with the Doctor, so that her fitting doctor can evaluate the vision and fit while wearing said contacts, make any changes necessary and to do the appropriate follow-up required before giving a final CL prescription.  It was her decision to not continue finalizing the prescription.
  
  Our reception staff *****, ****** and then ****, our Optical Manager, offered the resolution to the patient by 2 options:
  Pay the balance and continue with the dispense and finalizing of CL Rx or
  Get refunded for her contacts, deducting the service balance which had already been performed on 06/19/2024 by our Doctor.  
  
  The patient chose to get the refund of the contacts, and now expects the entire amount to be refunded, which includes the professional services provided.  We will not be doing that.  In fact, that is insurance fraud, if not theft of service.  Our professional fees are not refundable.  While she *** be considered a customer in the business sense, she is a patient who received vision and medical treatment by our office.  
  
  We refunded the $400 custom specialty RGP lenses MINUS the $170 balance she still owed to our practice for her contact lens services rendered.  She was refunded a total of $230 on 07/17/2024.  
  
  Her specialty contact lenses were diagnostically measured, fabricated and custom ordered specifically to fit only her eyes.  They are not returnable to our lab, nor will we be refunded for their production.   We will eat that cost out of our collected professional service fees and it will be a loss to our business.  
  
  This patient was verbally abusive to our staff because she was told that her  insurance denied payment on the contact lens services because SHE had already been somewhere else on 06/01/2024 and used her benefits elsewhere.
  
  Her insurance denied payment due to the other office filling a claim for that service first.  If she believed that she was entitled to more benefits and her insurance should have paid, she should have called her insurance provider and taken it up with them.  She could have asked them for a reversal in payment from the provider she saw 18 days prior to coming into our office, and directed payment to us.  Being that we were the office providing her the contact lens services and the Specialty RGP contacts she needed, not the prior office.  Either way, we are a third party to the relationship between her and her insurance coverage.
  
  We do not EXTORT our patients.  We take great defense to the use of this term by her. EXTORT is a verb, meaning to obtain (something) by force, threat, or unfair means.  We did none of these.  If anything, by her decisions to blame us for wanting nothing but to help her, service her needs, fulfill her requests upon our Doctor, even filing her insurance We have fulfilled our obligation for professional services and customer care to the best of our ability.
  
  We are sad to see that ************************* has made a complaint to BBB, but we are unable to change this situation.  If she would like to call her ************** Plan provider and fight their non-payment of services to us, because they paid another provider who did not provide the same services, that *** be her best remedy. 
  
  We are open to continuing her contact lens finalization process, but after her abhorrent behavior in our office, I am not sure my staff should be subjected to her behavior.  Either way, it will need to be resolved by her insurance and she will need to make an appointment with our office within 30 days.  
  
  This will however mean she will need to make a payment in order to get the Specialty RGP lenses that were refunded.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this patients complaint. 
  
  Sincerest Regards,
  
  HollyFisherBritt OD
  President/CEO/Founder
  Eyecare Rockwall