Advanced Laser Center of Oklahoma

I haven’t had a single good experience with this place. This is going to be long so here’s a breakdown:
1) First appointment. I sign in and ask if they need me to fill out paperwork. They say no. After 45 minutes, I ask again if there’s paperwork they need cause I’m the only one not getting called back. Whaddaya know, they didn’t call me back because there was paperwork I needed to fill out. Annoying, but whatever. After my exam, the doctor gave me contacts to try out. I told him I couldn’t see out of my left eye, it was too blurry. He said to wear them anyway and come back later and see if the issue fixes itself (wtf?). I do come back, wait forever again to be seen, and then a different doctor shows up to talk to me. I ask where my doctor is, and she says he’s running late and won’t be seeing me unless I want to come back later (again, wtf?). I tell her my left contact is all blurry still and she checks everything then tells me the prescription is wrong and she wonders why the other doctor let me leave if it was just as blurry a few days before.
2) They charged me for my exam even though it was included in my insurance. It took 3 days to get a hold of someone who knew what had even happened, and then another day to find the person who processes credit cards (because apparently only one person is fit for the job of running a credit card) before the issue got fixed.
3)I ordered my contacts and was told they would be there within a week, and that insurance would cover them (insurance pays $ 150, the contacts cost $ 146). 10 days later, no contacts. I call and am told Teresa handles the contacts and she’s on vacation so I will have to wait another week. Teresa finally gets back and calls and tells me she didn’t actually order the contacts but will do so and that I should expect them in a week. No apologies. After another 10 days (a «week» at this practice, apparently), Teresa calls me right before close on a Friday and tells me to come get my contacts. When I arrive, it’s the wrong prescription (AGAIN) and I am given testers until the right contacts arrive. 2 weeks later, still nothing, but by this point my insurance has been charged so I can’t really do anything but wait and vow to never come back to this dump. I called to make a complaint and was told it’s the shipping company’s fault. OH REALLY? The shipping company may have shipped the wrong contacts, but they certainly did not put the wrong contacts in my file and call me to tell me to come get them, Teresa did. And then after that, they’re telling me the same company re-​shipped my contacts to another branch? They probably need to go with a different shipping company. Or maybe Teresa is incompetent. Anyway, Pattie (the supervisor, I guess?) went over my files and told me my contacts will definitely be here in another week and that I can pick them up after I pay the $ 6 that I owe them. So again, billing issues. Finally got that resolved and I have had it with this place.
On Wednesday, right before they closed, I got a call telling me my contacts have arrived (hopefully the right ones). I’m going to pick them on Monday and pulling my medical files. My first appointment at this place was in early/​mid July. All I needed was a contact lens exam and some contact lenses. It is now the end of September and I am just getting what I went for (again, hopefully. I wouldn’t be surprised if everything is wrong all over again).
Absolutely unacceptable. Don’t even waste your time with this place.

This is an update. I since had LASIK at another establishment (from Groupon). I had no corneal condition. This was so dishonest and scummy, it makes my skin crawl. Go elsewhere!
Listen, the egos of physicians (esp surgeons, which Bellardo is only kind of one) can be notorious as people vie for being more successful, wealthier, powerful. Money is such a focus of health care providers (physician owned hospitals, helllo!). Ask me how I know. Hospitals and the medical community are notoriously political and full of insecure and competitive medical practitioners. This group is not going to tell you the truth if it means they can make another grand. Corrupt.
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SHADY essentially sums up my experience here. Where to start… here:
I have thought about Lasik for some time and seen several specialists. All have told me I was an exceptional candidate for any version of corrective surgery and should have no problem with it. Thick corneas, slight vision correction needed, etc.
So in search for a deal, I purchased a Groupon for Lasik through this business. $ 1099 for both eyes. I went in and the first thing I noticed — the walls are covered in pictures with the ophthalmologist and local celebrities. It is not surprising a eye surgeon would have an ego problem, I guess.
They agree I make an easy operation. But the nurses, wow. The nurses, who can barely stop chewing gum like cows chewing cud, take the minimum amount of time to communicate answers to my questions as I had interrupted their gossiping. But they send me to speak with Anita — their sales staffer — and tell me everything looks great, etc. She tries to get me to pay them while GOING AROUND Groupon — so they won’t have to split the money. I say no.
I call to schedule a normal, basic Lasik. Again, every other Opho I have seen says I am normal and able to get this done. However, they tell me I’m not and I’ll need $ 500 for bladeless lasik (which will still cut the same cornea). Anita, the sales lady, had tried to scare me into spending more on newer technology when I did my consultation — «could damage your eyes, you’ll see halos, may put a divot and ridge in your cornea». Scare tactics over and over — and it must work, so why not right? Shady though, and disappointing as it lets you know the state of healthcare and healthcare providers in this country. Anita also tries to tell me to read the fine print on the groupon and that it says I must buy a more expensive procedure. It doesn’t and I would love to have a reading competition wither her. Anyways…
On the phone I ask her to tell me why I must get upgraded technology. She’ll call me back the next day. The next day she says I need to buy the newer technology. I ask why. She says she’ll call back. 10 minutes later she has «spoken to the surgeon» (lol), and I have a corneal condition. Now here’s the thing — I don’t and I have been told I do not. But the condition they gave me is a real thing, and you can google it to scare yourself. No one else has ever indicated anything similar, but they don’t know I know this. So they tried to run this game.
The truth is this: Their Groupon was just an introduction to get you to spend more money by scaring you into thinking a normal procedure — which is approved because it has nearly zero complications and has been done tens of millions of times — is going to hurt you. Also, they didn’t think it’d make them enough $$$. Groupon usually gets half of the revenue from a deal so that would be about $ 550 for each party. In their view, it is not worth their time to spent to operate without getting me to spend more. That would be Anita’s job, which would make me feel like an awful person. Also, it seems like for a business to scheme like this, they may have money problems as places high in demand do not need to game their customers.

I think the quality has dropped significantly from when I got Lasik here a few years. I got called 3 times to move my appointment earlier… From 3:15 to 3 to 2:30 to avoid the wintery storm. I ended up showing up a little before 2:15 but didn’t get called back until 2:40. The front desk lady never acknowledged my existence. The lady who took me back wasn’t really friendly and even though I try to joke, she wasn’t very receptive.
Of course there is always the agony of sitting in the exam room for an unspecified amount of time which has similar consequences as waterboarding. It turned out to be 30 minutes of no interaction. I think a bed is warranted?
Dr Hagan was fairly nice and was informative. Once we were done, Patti, the front desk lady was much more cheerful and attentive.

So easy, they should have coined it «Touchless Lasik.» Dr. Belardo creates exceptional results and his staff are well prepared to take great care of their patients. Stop wishing you could see and book your appointment as soon as possible.

Very friendly staff and wonderful doctors.