My mom and I are new patients with Lakeside Eye Associates. We both see Dr. Bradford Hearn and he is absolutely great! With my mom, he identified her need to have cataract removed and referenced an awesome surgeon. Today visit was as good as my first visit. As a new patient and the experience was just the same. Very professional and you dont feel rushed. read more

I had ann extremely unprofessional experience with Dr. Brandi Salazar. After she missed three scheduled appointments in a row, I raised a concern about the lack of communication and reliability. Instead of addressing the issue respectfully, she yelled at me and told me she wouldn't be my punching bag. Huh? This was shocking and inappropriate in a healthcare setting. Patients deserve accountability, professionalism, and basic respect--especially when repeated missed appointments cause disruption and stress. Unfortunately I experienced none of that from Dr. Salazar. I DO NOT recommend this provider. read more

Still unsafe and unprofessional I wanted to share an update for anyone considering Lakeside Eye Associates in Huntersville. My appointment left me feeling unsafe and completely disrespected. I arrived early for my 8:45 AM visit and was met with a cold, rude front desk employee (Lexis) even though my insurance had already been confirmed weeks earlier. While I was checking in, another customer mocked me with Lexis, told me "F*** you," and threatened to take me outside. When I said I would call the police, he replied "Go ahead, I welcome it," and Lexis actually thanked him for saying that. The manager promised a follow-up call, but no one ever reached out. This reinforced that the office is not only disorganized, but also fails to take patient safety seriously. read more

Took my here as a new patient. The receptionist was warm and plesant from the door. The dr. Was attentive and sensitive to my mom dementia diagnosis. He was patient and helped her get through the exam. read more

I have been a patient at Lakeside Eye Associates - but that ended today. After having several eye examinations at this practice that I would rate average and never feeling valued as a patient, today they showed their true colors. I recently had an eye exam and got a copy of my prescription. I did not, however, notice they did not give me my PD number (the distance between my pupils) which is necessary to buy prescription glasses. They charged me $45.00 for this measurement that took all of 2 minutes. In my mind that is price gouging and greed. Keep in mind this was on top of the expensive eye exam and subsequent visit. To say the least, I am done with Lakeside Eye Associates! There are PLENTY of local optometrist who would appreciate my business a lot more. Patient Beware! read more

I've never had an issue with the Drs, but major issues with the front staff. I've called to try to get answers to questions only to show up at the office and be told I'm incorrect, that's not the policy, and that I actually telling the truth about when I called. I had an extensive conversation with one of the front office staff about the brand of contacts I was ordering, only for the wrong ones to show up and then continued issues with the staff piling up on me to tell me I was wrong. They need to do a better job of consistency of the office, all being on the same page with policies and making notes within the system so there's less confusion. We also attempted to go buy three pairs of glasses out of pocket. Just wanted to browse and were told we need to wait to have someone walk us to look at glasses. Ended up not purchasing anything due to the interaction. read more

TLDR: Will come again to visit doctor, not for the in-house staff or optical store. Had a pleasant experience until the end: very rude receptionist (the one who checks you out). Prior to arrival, we did not receive a call from the office to make any changes to our eye insurance so we assumed the office had it figured out (we came here last year). But when we went to pay, we paid based on the amount from our old insurance. When we explained we no longer used that insurance and switched to another one, the receptionist was very unhelpful, did not apologize for the office making a mistake, and had a shitty attitude the whole time as if WE were inconveniencing HER. Oh and then she forgot to give us our prescription. It's 2022. Hire better, kinder, more qualified people. Another question: how the heck are we able to come in without verifying the correct insurance beforehand? How were we still verified with the old insurance? Regardless if this was the old insurance's system issue, all patients at Lakeside Eye Associates should be asked to verify vision insurance (not just health insurance) during check-in so mistakes and rude attitudes can all be avoided. Working with insurance is a complicated mess and can easily frustrate people. Hire people who are prepared to understand this and are able to empathize with patients. Other than the above experience, Dr. Barrows (not sure if it's spelled like this) is extremely talented, profession, and thorough with his work. Would come again for his expertise. Please update your website and survey forms to reflect your new doctors so patients can put a face and written name to the spoken name. read more

I have gone to these eye doctors for many years. My complaint isn't regarding the doctors but the optical shop. I purchased a pair of very expensive frames and lenses a year ago. This past June, just 6 months later they broke. I took them by the office and was told they would order me new glasses. I didn't hear back for several weeks so I called and was told they were on back order until September. No one bothered to call and tell me that. And no alternative was given. In September I still hadn't heard so I called again. I was told they are still back ordered and would be shipped in November. Again no alternative to rectify the situation was given. I called back in November and was told it was going to be several more weeks or months. I said that is unacceptable as I have not been able to wear my glasses since June. The optical person told me she would call her "rep" and see if they could replace the frames with something else. Guess what??? That was 3 weeks ago and still no one has returned my call. I have left messages and still no answer. I paid over $700 for the glasses and have yet to find someone at this office who wants to help me figure out a replacement. I cancelled all my future appointments and have now started going to another eye doctor. Go here if you must for your exam but I would take your prescription elsewhere to get glasses, read more

Lakeside Eye Associates - Optometrists Near Me - Huntersville, North Carolina

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I brought my Maui Jim glasses in to have the nose bridge repaired and paid $50.00 to Lakeside Eye Associates. They shipped them to Maui Jim for repair and Maui Jim broke the lenses. Maui Jim made new lenses to replace the ones they broke but they were defective and broke . I brought them back to Lakeside Eye Associates who said that Maui Jim will not replace the defective lenses. It would cost $600 to replace the lenses. Really??? I sent in perfectly good lenses they were replaced with defective lenses and now you want me to pay $600 to get them replaced? Lakeside Eye Associates was not able to stand up for their customer to their supplier and would not even offer to share the cost to replace the defective lenses that Maui Jim would not stand by. All they said was this was a Maui Jim policy and nothing they could or would do about it. Worst customer support ever. Stay away. read more

Adding to this review. I've since found a new eye doctor with the same insurance and nothing about my eyes has changed. The other office stated that there is nothing complex about my prescription and the charge as such was just a way for Lakeside to make more money. read more

We see Dr. Bradford (or as my 3.5 year old says, 'Dogtor Badford') and he, along with his staff, are wonderful! I've been seeing them for over a year now, but brought my husband and son in to become patients recently. The entire staff was so kind and patient with my son and took their time to make his first eye doctor experience a memorable one. He makes sure to point out where his friend Dogtor Badford works every time we pass by the office. Thank you!! read more

My husband and I went here for our first time last year and it took 2 months for me to get my glasses. Each time I called someone new would tell me a different story on why my glasses weren't ready. Fast forward to today, my husband went Jan 2019 to get a pair of glasses and we are now in mid April and still no glasses. My husband called today and they now can't find him in their system. Lakeside eye is not the place to go for eye care. read more

If I could give them less than one star I would. My boyfriend had an encounter with them today actually (but he doesn't have a yelp account). He is a new customer(as of this week) and he is new to living in the Charlotte area. He went into the office and paid 30 dollars in EXTRA shipping charges to get contacts overnighted to him for a trip he is going on this weekend. It is now THREE days later and he still hasn't received the contacts. After speaking to multiple managers and associates, they stated there is "nothing they can do" and refuse to reimburse him for the expedited shipping. This reflects poorly on the entire business and I will be contacting higher management. You don't keep someone on hold for an extended period of time and make no attempt to resolve the issue. Learn better customer service. Huge thumbs down. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

This feedback is directed to the optical shop. Similar to others here, the service has been lacking and not up to par. I am considering switching to another optical store because of this. My advice to anyone going here is to find another optical store to get your frames and lenses made. The doctors i believe are decent and good. Pricing is subjective, so i'll leave that out of this review. Why 1 star? So i brought my own frames to get lenses put in. Very hard to find frames i might add which are not sold anymore and unfortunately i heard back from them that their labs broke one of them. OK, that was disappointing enough, but there was a distinct lack of empathy, which was worse. Secondly, the replacement pair was not the same color, but of the same type, so to them, hey, we're giving you the same thing, you should be all set... anyone here who buy glasses know color is important. So another disappointment. Finally, i asked for the broken frames to be returned to me. I wanted to see them. When i got my pair of glasses, the broken frames were not included. They must have thrown them away was the reasoning. But i specifically told the lady at the optical store i wanted them back. I feel there was no communication between the optical store of my want, to the labs which handled the frame. Otherwise i should have gotten a call back from the lady telling me the frames were disposed off. When i went to pick up my new frames, it was oh, i guess they must have disposed of them... it just shows a lack of understanding and staying on top of the situation imo. So, long story short, its not worth my money, which i dropped a significant amount to get 2 pairs of frames done. easily close to 800 bucks. Oops, i tried to leave money out of this. This amount is a lot to me, put it this way. read more

I DO NOT recommend this practice. They're charges are are ridiculous. Have you ever had an eye exam with a CL Evaluation Torricelli Bifocal, that cost $500? They charged $220 for the evaluation. I spoke with United Healthcare, and BCBS. They stated the charges were not in line with standard practices (with charges exceeding $100, rare). What upset me the most was that they asked me if I wanted the evaluation, I agreed, and they didn't state what the charges would be. When I saw the bill, I told them I wanted to speak with the office manager. Apparently they were not available. They never called to follow-up with my complaint (and yes, they knew I was upset). I'm not a complainer and don't mind paying fair/reasonable/customary charges. This establishment overcharges and could care less about complaints or customer service. If you decide to risk an appointment, you should ask for an itemized quote for ALL to be rendered, prior to going back for the evaluation. I have all documentation to support my review. Think twice before going to this practice! read more

Buyer Beware! Initially I had a good experience at this office with Dr Salazar and staff (except the irritable woman at the front desk) and I bought 3 pairs of glasses. I say initially because immediately after i began wearing the glasses I developed headaches. And within 3 weeks I developed migraines and ended up in the ER which resulted in a $2,604 out of pocket bill. I reverted to my old glasses and the headaches stopped immediately. I went back to the office several times and they were very sympathetic and made some adjustments, but there was no improvement. Eventually the optician determined that they had misread the prescription of my old glasses. They ordered glasses with a new prescription and those glasses worked with no more headaches. I talked with the office manager, Heather, and Dr Salazar about getting reimbursement for my ER bill. Heather was sympathetic to my situation and worked to find a solution but in the end they only agreed to compensate me for less than 20% of my out of pocket expense. So in the end I was out over $2,124 on top of paying for three expensive pairs of glasses. I so wish I could recommend Lakeside Eye Associates, but instead I can only caution that buyers beware. read more

Dr. Hearn is the best. Top notch. That being said, the waiting time was awful. We had to wait 1.25 hours past my appointment time to be seen two days ago. I even checked in 20 minutes early. The front staff was not very helpful with this issue. They never advised me on any problems and I had to go to the front desk twice to check on this. Very friendly but not responsive to my concern. I felt there may have been too many patients scheduled and some may have been seen ahead of me that should not have been. Not sure but seem that way. But again, let me say Dr. Hearn is top notch. And the eye glasses dept is very good and friendly. So, no 5 stars but a 4. read more

The best practice front desk amazing,Dr.Salazar is the very patient with my son who is 22 months fantastic chair side manor.

I had to switch doctors after my previous dr of 6 years stopped taking my insurance. Come here, with insurance, had an out of pocket bill of over $300. The dr I saw was not very personable. Then was told I needed to have a pic taken of my eye which would be submitted to insurance. Ok, fast forward to ordering new contacts online, I am met with them calling saying they won't fulfill because I have a balance on my account! For what?! Oh the picture that was taken. Ok so now we are pushing $400 with the highest level eye insurance. At my other dr never paid more than the $20 difference for contacts... The girl who called me had no care at all that I was unhappy with my service and just wanted to get the payment for my "balance." read more

Very thorough visit and everyone is quite friendly. Found and addressed issues with my eyes while achieving expected results over an extended period of time. Dr. Hearn is top notch. read more

I've been a patient for several years and have watched the practice grow. I've always received excellent care. I haven't bought my last few pairs of glasses here because, quite frankly, they're rather expensive. But i haven't been totally happy with glasses I've bought from Target or BJ's. This time i decided to go ahead and pay for what i hope will be better quality. Darrell, the optician, was extremely helpful in helping me choose frames that fit my personality and face. Very happy with my choice. read more

Love this office! Dr Salazar is great. The guy(can't remember his name) who works in optical is amazing! Highly recommend using him to help choose frames. read more

Had billing issues. Never been told exact fee upfront. Felt push to buy inhouse after eye checkup.

The Doctor was good but the office staff was not. My insurance does not have a co-pay but the woman at the front insisted that I pay 20%. That is not the agreement they have with the insurance company. They bill the insurance and settle on a price and then I will pay my portion. If you don't like the agreement with United Healthcare then don't take that insurance. I guess swindling few extra dollars from the customers is the better way for you. Maybe United Healthcare will revisit your standing. I will never be back read more

I have been to Eyecare Center a few times and would have given them a rating of 5 until my last visit on 12/22/16, which left me very disappointed. I drove in horrible traffic with my daughter, only to be told by the person at the front desk that our visit would require a payment that no one informed me of when the appointment was made. What disappointed me the most is how rude the person was, and her comment "we don't have to inform you, are responsible for knowing what your insurance covers". I think it's time to find another optometrist. read more

Nice people, clean office, easy parking. Conveniently located near Birkdale. I didn't feel like they were trying to hard sell me on glasses or LASIK, which is usually how eye doctors offices feel these days, so that was a plus. Felt like a small local eye doctor's office rather than part of a big chain. read more

I like the doctors and my appointments go well and such... but I have never had anywhere, let alone an eye doctor, send more unnecessary emails and text messages. I'm talking multiple each day. It's ridiculous. read more

I would never recommend them to anyone. I was forced to go there because my previous eye care associates no longer accepted United Health Care. My visit last year was terrible....long wait, very impersonal, expensive, and so on. Hiwver, they are the closest so I figured I would make it work since I didn't have to go that often. This week they texted me and emailed me that I was overdue for my exam. I didn't think I was so I called to question the message. I asked what the fee would be and was told it was time to come and my insurance would cover 100%. I got a reminder yesterday and then showed up today. When I got there I was told they texted me that my appointment was canceled because it wasn't due yet. What???? I showed her not only did I not get a text to cancel from them but I has a reminder. I took off work and drove 45 minutes to get there to be told it was canceled!!! The front desk lady was not apologetic and seemed like she could have cared less that they just wasted my time. Get some manners people! Big disappointment and I won't ever go back. #rude #getyouracttogether read more

I've been going here for about 3 or 4 years and I really like this place. It's in a nice neighborhood and the Dr's I've seen are really good. I especially appreciate Dr. Hearn because he explains things in a way that I can understand and patiently answers my questions. The opticians are kind and helpful in choosing glasses. I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because I've had one bad experience with an optician and one bad experience with the office manager, but all the other times I've been there have been great experiences. read more

I love this office and especially Dr. Lupfer. She is so pleasant & explains things very well..

While I have gone to this eye care center for quite a few years, I think they have finally driven me over the edge. The supporting technicians are very friendly, but I find that all my appointments take 2+ hours and for no reason that I can discern. While most of the doctor visits I've had have been great, recently I've seen the male doctor and he is consistently condescending and abrupt. I will not see him again. read more

I was very hesitant to have my vision checked due to having a bad experience during an exam four years ago in Pennsylvania. My visit and eye exam with Dr. Salazar was fantastic! She was very knowledgeable and informative. I was afraid of having another misdiagnosis, but the exam was spot on. My new contacts are great and my vision has already improved since having them in from yesterday. The staff was also really knowledgeable and friendly. I would highly recommend having your next eye exam at the Eyecare Center in Huntersville. read more

The worst place to get glasses ever. The Dr. or the technicians don't care about anything but making money, and they charge a Lot.. There are so many places to get your glasses now a days... read more

They told us a procedure wasn't covered by insurance and billed us $1600 for it. Come to find out that, when I went ahead and tried to file a claim myself anyway, low and behold IT IS COVERED and under our plan should have cost only about $650. When we complained that this was an unfair billing practice the woman responded "I'm sorry you feel that way." Super shady trying to wriggle out of accepting the terms of an insurance plan they agreed to be part of. Don't patronize this business!! read more

My mother has been a patient of Dr. Salizar for years. She always speaks so highly of her that when it became necessary for me to find a new eye doctor, I was excited to become a new patient of hers. My mother wanted to be of help and wanted us to have appointments together. She called the office and made two appointments, following the directions of the staff member who answered the phone the day she called. Our appointments were made for 2:45pm and 3:00pm on Thursday, November 29, 2018. I expected to surrender all my personal and insurance information when I arrived for my appointment. My mother called the morning of the appointment to confirm that we were coming, only to be told that there was no second appointment. She was surprised but offered to give me her appointment. She was told by the person answering the phone on that day that I would need to call with my information before that appointment. When I called to give my information, I was told that there was no appointment made at all and that I couldn't be seen on that day. At no time was I offered an apology for the mistake or any help in trying to make an appointment. I will continue my search for an eye doctor but wanted you to know the treatment I received from your office staff. read more

It took four months to get a proper fit for new contacts when I had never experienced difficulty at my previous optometrist (moved to Huntersville). I blinked a hard contact out and lost it and visited the center to re-order a pair as I was preparing for a lengthy business trip. I was advised that could not re-order without an exam, that my prescription "had just run out." So in my time of need, the folks at the Eye Care Center played the policy card. It seems that the "I CARE CENTER" is more concerned about the "I" than the customer. I have requested my records and will take my business elsewhere. I cannot recommend this center to others. read more

Disrespectful people! Not very professional don't go here! The lady was rude! They don't really care about you. They are the kind of people who only does it for the money. read more