I got a scleral shell for my left eye. The appointment was in the San Francisco branch. Their incompetent end product is worthless and dissatisfactory and I had to pay $1260 in the end (after a collection service threat!!). This was a failed experiment paid from my own pocket.
They claim they have the reputation to have made scleral shells for scores of patients and yet they throw a disclaimer saying there is a process where by they would make the scleral shell "better" on an incremental basis, with each appointment spaced 2 months apart. So you could be living for atleast 2 months with a bad shell and you just have to suck it up.
And their phone service is bad. I dont know whats wrong with their voicemail box. Either they dont care or they dont check because they never call me back. They also claimed that they have not received any voicemail!!
So here is what happened (if this it too long, skip to the "Moral" section):
* The first attempt scleral shell was not good. the eyes were squinted (the cornea was closer to the nose". Tony confidently said that it was looking well and ask me to come back in a couple of months to "redo" it. I was not satisfied, but his words made me doubt myself. But when I go back to my work that afternoon, everyone said that there was a squint . So I call him back and had to rush back (because he would leave at 4pm and would not be back in SF until the next month). He "fixed" it but there is still the squint. He, in an impatient tone, tells me he cannot do much then and he will make it better the next time I come back (in 2 months) or I go to the Fresno branch. How will they make it better in 2 months when they cannot make it better then and there. And I have to live with that 2 months! They put a sorry face as if that will soften me.
* I come back in 2 months and this time the cornea was made bigger. When I mentioned that, he says the it is the correct size and I might have to come back in 2 months again and they will modify it. So basically, they make it worser and ask you to live that for 2 months.
* 2 months later I go and all they did was polish it and said that they could not do any changes. WTF! So I am supposed to live with that for the rest of my life!? When I mentioned that I need the cornea made smaller they verbally pushed me away asking me to come back in 2 months again. This was in October. In 2 months I was supposed to be in India to get married. I was to meet my wife's family with this shell. I gave up saying "it is what it is".
So 6 months and I just get something and nothing what I was hoping for.
* To my luck my father found this place in India (whatclinic.com/eye-clini...), that does the same. The doctor, Mr. Kuldeep, took approximately 5 hours and got such a better looking shell. I was so happy. And he charged me $400 in total (I do not have insurance in India). compared to the humongous cost that these people charge.
* I was so angry with them, but I did not want to go through the whole thing of talking to them again etc. I started discarding their monthly "get it improved" post cards
Fast forward to Dec 2015. I get a final notice that I need to pay $1260.54!! for their "work". So I call them up and leave voicemails. And as I have seen many times in the past they never respond.
Finally I got hold of them one day early January. I explain to them I am not satisfied with the product, that I have been calling them despite no-call backs and asked them to either take the product back or atleast give me discount. They said they will talk to the doctor and get back to me in a week.
So I waited for a week and a half, then called them on several times and left voicemails a couple of times.
End of February, I get a call from them saying they need the payment right away. They said the doctor did not agree to any discount and I could not return the product as it was custom-made. I excused myself saying I need to talk to the insurance company, but I ended up talking to my company's HR to see if I can do something legally. Few days later I get a call saying "We have already got the money from the insurance company, so you should pay your part in full. If you don't pay it today, it will go to the collection service tomorrow. Can I get the credit card number?"
As I do not know of a way to put a case in the court for this, I ended up paying them.
Moral:
1. If someone does not do a good job and asks you to come back in 2 months to fix it, that is a Red flag
2. The doctor visits the SF branch only once a month. And he asked me to come to their Fresno office or the Las Vegas branch if I needed an urgent fix or wait till they are in SF again!!?
3. No response to voicemails and sometimes they respond in a rude/impolite way. And they just want you to pay the dues without any questions.
4. I should have checked that they have low reviews everywhere. read more