Peepers Family Eye Care

This place has got to get it together! My boyfriend and I ordered contacts and glasses with them last year and things went horribly wrong. First, I was told I never even ordered contacts, then my order was missing, then I was told the contacts would be in within the week, it took a whole month to finally receive my contacts. My boyfriend’s glasses took almost 2 months! Nothing fancy was ordered nor do I have an unusual contact lens prescription. I figured this would be just a one-​time issue so I went ahead and tried them again this year. WROOOOOONG! I tried them again and what do you know, I am in the same predicament! Never again. I’ve seen both Dr.‘s without any issues. The part that goes all wrong is when you are trying to order a box of contacts. I find it funny that the people at the front desk make it seem like you never placed an order with them in the first place. I’m sorry, yes I did paid my $ 20 co-​pay, but why would I let my $ 150 deductable go to waste without ordering anything??? Another thing I don’t get is, how do you not have a set eye/​contact exam price??? Why does it matter what type of insurance and amount the deductables are in order for you to tell me how much the exam costs??? This is the absolute last time I will ever go here. Although this place is down the street from my house, I will take my business/​insurance elsewhere. You’ve been warned people.

I’ve been going here to Dr. gray my whole life. I know workers by name and love he atmosphere. I nor my parents have ever had a bad experience. If anything goes wrong they work to fix it. I love this place and the workers who always are nice and efficient. Couldn’t ask for a better eye care.

I received and paid for a contact and glasses examination from Peepers family eye care on April 26, 2014. Dr. Gray examined me and gave me a new prescription for both glasses and contacts. I decided not to get my eye glasses prescription filled at Peepers and took it to another optical business (Costco). Costco filled my prescription without incident however, when i put the glasses on, my vision was very blurry and i couldn’t see a thing The prescription was too strong and I could not see out of the glasses. When i explained the problem to Costco, they checked and responded that they filled my eyeglasses just as Dr. Gray prescribed. So, i took the glasses to peepers they said Costco made the mistake and did not fill my prescription properly. I went back to Costco and the technician offered to call Peepers and explained that they filled the prescription correctly and that i’m not the first customer that have been given an incorrect prescription from Dr. Grey. i called Peepers for the 4^th time but they continue to play the blame game, gave me the run around and insisted that Costco made the mistake. Peepers said i could have another examination with Dr. Gray in about 3 – 4 days. At this point, I’ve been experiencing massive headaches due to wearing incorrectly prescribed contacts from Dr. Gray and had lost complete trust in his eye care ability. I asked to see another doctor (Dr. Patel) but was told that i had to see the same doctor. At this point I was fed up with leaving work early in an attempt to fix this, wasting gas, and suffering from headaches due to wearing too strong contacts prescribed by Dr.Gray. I decided to see an Optometrist at Costco for a second opinion and to end the headache suffering, the health of my eyes is important to me. I received a new examination from Costco and as i suspected the prescription for both glasses and contact lenses were totally different from what Peepers prescribed. Costco explained to me that peepers prescribed me with an eye glasses and contact lenses that was too strong for my eyes. I called peepers to ask for a refund and they gave me the run around again and never took my information or told the manager about the situation. I would not recommend Dr. Gray or peepers to anyone!

Unbelievably inconsiderate.
I had an appointment this week at Waugh Chapel/​Gambrills location on an afternoon with anticipated bad weather. I called first thing in the morning trying to reschedule or at least see if they were even open and left a voicemail. No return call came within a few hours so I called back multiple times and eventually their voicemail was full, presumably from other people looking for the same information. Called other locations — no answer, no message indicating the locations were closed or open, etc. No updates on their website. Finally, I go at my appointment time (3pm) when it is now dangerous weather (trying to avoid a cancellation fee) and find that the store is closed and dark — no note on the door, no explanation. They eventually called more than a day later asking to reschedule.
Consider my business (and hopefully everyone else with a similar experience this week) lost.

After moving to Bowie, I knew I need an eye exam in Jan. I called in Nov. and they didn’t have a schedule available. I continued to call until I finally was able to make an appt. late Dec. I had an apt. scheduled for a Fri/​at 10a (when they open).
When I got there, they were closed (presumably due to the weather); however, when I tried to call, there was no recording & their voice mail box was full. No one called to let me know I should reschedule, I just sat in the parking lot for 15 min. before I left. Find another eye dr!

Unfortunately, since I don’t drive and I’m only temporarily in MD, I got confused and showed up late for my appointment (which was easy to get). The receptionist was EXCEPTIONALLY friendly and easy going. They were ok with my being late and took me immediately with ease. 5 Stars for the front desk!
I saw Dr. Patel, who had previously worked in LA for a while. While he was checking my eyes, we conversed about Los Angeles, and he was incredibly friendly, gentle and accommodating. I really enjoyed my visit with him actually and with this was enough for me to return (should I be around for my next checkup due date). 5 stars for the check-​up!
Ugh, now to the bad part. As I am friendly chatting with the receptionist, taking care of my bill and getting my paperwork together, I’m shooed over to the sales area. Actually whisked away by the salesman. While he came off very friendly at first, his demeanor became creepy towards the end. I rarely get my lenses from the doctors office as I have a fantastic internet provider. However, I was made to sit with this guy and negotiate my way out of the store. He wouldn’t just take no for an answer. I’ve required vision correction for over 20 years and I have never been treated like this (nor my parents in my minor years) by an vision correction shop. When I finally just stood up, 15 MINUTES LATER to leave, done and irritated with the conversation, they guy looked like I had slapped him in the face and pouted while I gathered my bags to leave. Minus 2 stars for that.
So, with all that in mind, I am preparing to have my eyes checked out much earlier than my one year due date as I’m getting ready to take off on a long journey and although I wish I could say I was going to return with all the positives during my visit, I have decided to return to a Virginia store I used in my teen years, so I can avoid such hassle again.

My complaints about Peepers in a nut shell:
1. When looking at frames I felt like I was shopping for a car. There seems to be a sales culture very much at work and I felt like I was being upsold on different lens options that I didn’t really need.
2. I found Dr. Gray to be brusque and less than gentle when examining my eyes. I’m sure he’s very compentent, but I didn’t care much for his manner.
3. There were additional fees beyond the examination — I can’t remember what exactly as it was a year or so ago, but it was like a «sitting fee» or something.
To be fair, getting an appointment was easy and I didn’t have to wait long to be seen. I felt like there were a lot of frames to choose from too. My last visit to Peepers was also about 18 months ago. I’ve since returned to my old, optometrist in Va. where I’m much happier.

don’t let the somewhat pervy-​sounding business name deter you — this is a GREAT practice. we’ve been going to peeper’s for a couple of years now and i have only good things to say about them. (i say we b/​c it’s actually for the boy’s eyecare, not mine.) i used to take the offspring to lenscrafters which was just fine, but then the doc we saw there sold his practice and was replaced by an incompetent jackass disguised as an optometrist. when i relayed the story to the peeper’s staff at our first visit, they knew exactly who i was talking about — both the old and new lenscrafter docs. maybe optometry is a small or incestuous field, but whatever the reason, i was still pleased to know that they were up on all the happenings and a step ahead of us with regard to the boy’s eyecare needs. they already knew the [crap] lenses that jackass doc had prescribed for the kid and had 2 other [MUCH BETTER] suggestions for us right away.
dr. gray is really good with kids [even reluctant teens] yet still firm. the boy took to him right away, and the doc even got him to smile and laugh while he was scolding him for less than stellar contact lense hygiene! extra points for that. we got the boy’s eyes back to 100% in about 6 weeks, and continue to see d. r gray regularly for check-​ups, glasses and contacts. his office staff is funny, efficient and friendly. none are the characters that dr. gray is, but all are good. (dr. gray sort of looks like he stepped out of a dr. seuss book.) give them a try if you have eyecare needs. you won’t be disappointed, and you’ll likely be entertained.