Vision Center of the South

My review of Vision Center of the South.
I should have checked Unilocal before I called these guys.
So, I am fairly well versed in claims, copays, allowances and deductibles, let’s get that out of the way here.
So, I went online, and found an AWESOME pair of frames I wanted to get for my new glasses that I need.
Vision Center of the South is an approved provider for my insurance so I call them to get the approximate cost of the frames.
I call once; give her the frame model number to see if it is in stock.
She says she will call me back…
She never does.
So I call them back, she says she will check, and call me back.
Nope, still no call back.
So, I call them back again.
Yes, they are in stock.
So, now I ask what the cost is.
She’ll check on this and you guessed it, call me back.
Guess what happens next.
No Call Back!
Now, this is becoming a cat and mouse game and I am determined to not lose.
Besides in this time I have already called a few places, all of which do NOT have these frames in stock.
SO, I call them back.
Someone else talks to me, and this time says she needs to verify my insurance (Which they do not have to do) to know how much the frames will cost.
I give her my insurance information to which she says she will have to.
Call… Me… Back!!!
Alright, I hang up and wait.
An HOUR later I call back and ask how much they will be.
She sys she needs to talk to the DR and call me back because my plan may, or may not cover the full cost.
I tell her, look my plan covers a certain amount for frames, how much are these.
She says she needs to talk to the Dr. and…
CALL…
ME…
BACK…
40 minutes later, still no call back.
I am not certain if I will use them for these AWESOME frames or not.
I am still not even sure of what these frames cost at their facility with my insurance benefit.
But I do know that this is, so far. not a good Customer Service Experience.
No call, no call, no call!!!
So I start calling elsewhere, hoping I can find this particular frame ANYWHERE else, except for here.
If this is how they treat me when I am trying to GIVE them my money, imagine how they will act once they have already gotten my money!
PS, 30 minutes later I call them back, ONE MORE TIME!
I say hello this is Jim Berman, she cuts me off with «Hold Please» and I am on hold for 5 minutes when she comes back on the line and asks me to «Hold one more minute for me.», and then…
She FINALLY comes back on the line and tells me the frames are in stock and fully covered.
So, I set 10 AM Friday as a time to go in and order the glasses with my prescription in hand.
I pray the experience gets better.
PPS
So, I get a call back from a very nice woman with a place on the West Bank, Eyedox.
She says they have the frame, also fully covered.
So I call VSOC and cancel my appointment and ask them to release my benefit.
The say they will and hang up on me.
I call back and ask if they can do it right then, she says she is with patience and will do it later.
I am feeling more at ease for cancelling my appointment.
This is by far my worse review for Unilocal for a business I never actually got the chance to walk through their doors.
Apparently, they do NOT need new business.
Must be nice, that’s all I’m sayin.

I want to add a more recent review of my experience here today. I haven’t written any reviews yet but felt compelled to do so on this occasion to give another opinion.
I came to this office as a new patient due to my employer switching my vision insurance. It was closest to my house and they were able to get me a next day appointment so I decided to go here.
I’ll admit I was more than a little dubious due to the negative reviews I found. I’m going out of the country next week and I’m completely out of contacts so I really didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. My main goal was to get an updated prescription so I could order my contacts online and get them here before I left. I mentally prepared myself for a bad experience and to choose someone else next time.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I’m not sure what has changed in the year since the last review but overall I had a good experience. The shop is small but clean and much better looking on the inside than the outside. Their waiting room was nice and there was a large selection of (mostly name brand) glasses. I didn’t really look at them so I have no idea how that buying experience would be. There was one other person before me but the receptionist was attentive and it was no problem.
As far as the exam goes, I felt everything was fine and that my prescription is accurate. I did however, tell the doctor exactly what my prescription currently was as well as giving them my glasses to read before I was examined and my prescription did not change. That might or might not have played a role in my prescription but I was just glad to have a current one.
I did feel some pressure to buy my contacts from them but that’s usually a normal occurrence at doctors offices and I was prepared for it. In my particular case it was cheaper to order my contacts through them because of a discount from my insurance company so that’s what I did. The doctor explained everything to me and even gave me a second trial pair of contacts when I raised concerns about getting contacts in time for my trip. Now as to when my contacts actually come in, we shall see.
In all I’m pleased with my decision to go here. I was in and out of the office in an hour and spent less money then I had planned on. The free trial pairs are wonderful because now I don’t have to worry about losing a contact on my trip. Was it the best optometrist appointment I’ve had? No, but it wasn’t the worst either. As long as you go in there knowing what you want and an idea of what your prescription should be you’ll be fine.

I really tried to like these guys and give them a chance, so when I had a weird experience a few months ago, I held back from reviewing them. But today, because they never gave me my paper prescription, (emailed it at my request but that wasn’t good enough), I had to get my eyes re-examined…and the prescription was way off. I’m a patient person, but I was treated like crap & you shouldn’t have to be.
Firstly, the staff was kindof incompetent. Maybe they were training someone that day, but they didn’t even know what forms to give me as a new patient, and once they figured it out, they couldn’t find them. It took me 35 minutes to wait for the forms, get the forms, full them out, and wait for the doctor… when there was no one else in the office at all.
The equipment looked outdated and the ones that usually have the hygienic paper on them were out of the papers. Even so, they didn’t wipe it down in front of me, so I was dubious to put my face on it. But I did.
The doctor made odd remarks about my vision while she was examining me, which is a first in my 35 years.
«Oh. Huh. That’s weird…»
«What’s weird?»
«Your eye– it’s doing this thing. You have a wandering eye.»
«I do?»
«Yeah but it’s not really really bad… Heh. Funny. «
[Note – I don’t have a freaking wandering eye. Seriously, I’m not just in denial; my eyes look forward, together, and not one at 10:00 and one a 6:00. I’ve since asked several people (eye doctors included) because this gave me a complex. I do *not* have a wandering eye.]
I had to take out contacts and put trial pair in while I was in there, and there was no sink in the office. Fortunately I’m a pro and carry my supplies with me, but that was a bit creepy.
So then the exam is over, but I’m not exactly confident in anything and suddenly something happens at work, so I have to go without getting glasses. told them I had to go. They did not want to hear this.
Herein lies my biggest issue (other than the inaccurate eye exam and telling me I have a wonky eye): This shop is set up to totally overcharge and sell you glasses that are almost exploitatively expensive. I started looking at frames, because even though I told them I had to go, they were taking forever to get my contact lens samples & do paperwork. I wasn’t able to leave for another 25 minutes. They were trying to get me to buy glasses:
«While you’re waiting, you should go look at the frames we have…»
I found something I liked, and they took them out– nothing was marked. They made a special person come out of the back to sit down and talk to me about lenses, and then (still no word on price) they had the doctor come out and talk to me about price.
«Ordinarily those are $ 1000 frames, but I can do them with lenses for around $ 800 or $ 900.»
«Wow, that’s more than my mortgage payment.»
«Well, they’re Judith Leiber…»
Mind you, I was looking at the cheapo frames, (nothing was marked, but you could totally tell) and they dragged me toward the expensive ones, in the glass case, which were under lock & key. I wasn’t into it at all. I don’t care about name brands. But they drove me that way.
I was shocked, and I walked out of there with nothing but the trial contacts… as in not even my prescription. They didn’t give me a copy of my prescription.
I had to email them for it when I got back to work.
Feeling guilty for not getting glasses there (although in retrospect, I don’t know why,) I decided to order a couple of boxes of contacts through them.
The ordering process demonstrated the same ineptitude as the first paperwork experience I had, and three weeks after being charged for them I still didn’t have contacts. It was ridiculous. They said they didn’t have my order. Then they said I had to pay for it first before they place the order, and I told them I already had paid for it. Then they said they didn’t know how soon they’d come in, or even if the order was placed yet with the company.
Seriously? How does an office think they can compete with someone like (800)CONTACTS, which can get me exactly what I want and have it there in 2 days, when they can’t get their sh*t together to tell me if the order has even been placed two weeks after charging me? I’m willing to be patient to give locals my business, but this… this was beyond ridiculous.
Flash forward to me still needing glasses 4 months later, and going to Costco. As I didn’t have a paper prescription, I would have had to go back to them and get the paper, then come back to Costco, so I just opted for a new exam. The difference was amazing. My prescription was way too strong. I’ll review him elsewhere.
Just skip it with this place. I certainly wish that I had.