Robert M Allen, OD, PC

NOTE: Please also search for Eye Street Optical for review of Dr. Robert Allen and his office. Both Dr. Robert Allen and Eye Street Optical are in the same building/​office and appear to be one in the same, so you can see more reviews about his office if you look at Eye Street Optical in Chantilly, VA.
1) Pricey
2) Very rude front office staff
The first and last time I will ever go there (or so I thought. read on), both my son and I had appointments for eye exams. My son got his first pair of glasses, and I, a contact lens wearer for 15+ years, had a contact lens exam.
Let me say, that the doctors were decent, but then I have to wonder what their real character is if they continue to allow staff to be so rude.
After our exams, I needed to get new contact lenses since my disposables were out. I asked for my prescription, so I could price check around but they wouldn’t give it to me, saying that the doctor needed to know that the contact lenses I was wearing were the «right» kind, even though I had been wearing the same brand/​type for the past 3 years. So in order to know, they had to order the contacts for me and then I had to go back for a fitting appointment. I had been a contact wearer for 15+ years, yet they still wanted me to come back for a fitting AND they wouldn’t give me a copy of my prescription until then. So, I basically HAD to buy my contact lenses through them — pricey, even after they charged my insurance, and I wasn’t allowed to get my prescription until I paid for them and had the fitting appointment. I felt like they were holding my contact lenses and contact lens prescription hostage until I paid for their retail-​priced contact lenses. Ridiculous. So I told myself I’d never come back again.
Fast forward three years to December 2015. I had read an article about a new procedure (CRT) and the closest doctor who practiced the procedure was Dr. Robert Allen. Wanting to find out more, I made an appointment. The receptionist over the phone assured me that the appointment was a free evaluation. I get to my appointment, and they ask me to sign a HIPPA patient agreement that says I am responsible for any charges that are incurred during my appointment. I asked if I still had to sign it since the CRT was a free evaluation, to which the rude receptionist said, «yes». So I asked what other charges could be incurred, and she simply said that it’s up to the doctor. So I continued to say that I thought it was only an evaluation and that the evaluation was free. She rudely replied «yes, evaluation is free, but if there is any thing the doctor charges, they the patient is responsible». This absolutely does not make sense to me. I’m basically signing a paper to allow them to charge me and my insurance for anything they see fit? Even though in the same breath they are telling me that the evaluation is free? Needless to say, the staff’s rudeness is what made me leave before I even had a chance to go through the evaluation. I should have learned my lesson from my last visit.
With both experiences, years apart, I can clearly see that Dr. Robert Allen’s office is just out to charge the most they can for any and all services. They will charge your insurance the most they can get, and if you are a contact lens wearer, they will charge you the most that they can get by holding your contact lenses prescription and your contact lenses hostage to do so. They are money hungry mongers, and although the doctors’ services aren’t bad, the way they run their office and allow their staff to be so rude to patrons is amazingly ridiculous. I will definitely NOT go there again and would never recommend them to anyone.