Having Thorough Care

So, a couple of months ago I had an eye appointment with, duh, a new doctor. You can go here to check out the business. It seemed like they’d be okay. I mean, well established business, etc, etc.

To put it simply, I wasn’t impressed.

To begin with, I chose to try this new testing procedure where they basically scan your retina like a landsat image. It’s got all the different colors and such. It was actually a pretty cool test and is looking to be a replacement for dilating pupils. However, when it came time for the doctor, it was like pulling teeth to get him to explain anything to me about what I was seeing in the picture.

By the time the appointment was done, he switched me over to a new contact lens, which is actually much better than what I was wearing. However, when he gave me the trial pair he didn’t want me to come back for a checkup appointment. He wanted me to buy the lenses straight out without any follow up to make sure there wouldn’t be a need for adjustment!

I made the admin there schedule me another appointment and told them point blank that I wasn’t spending money on a new brand of contact lenses until I knew they would work for me, no matter how adamant the doctor was about them.

So, when I went back to my follow up appointment, he ended up adjusting my vision to a stronger strength. By the end of that appointment, I tried to subtly get him to admit he’d been wrong about encouraging me not to schedule a follow up appointment (I was actually kind of seeking an apology in my own egotistical way). I made the comment (not these exact words), “Thank goodness I had the ladies at the front schedule me another appointment.” He told me that they always schedule follow up appointments! I kept my mouth shut, but I really wanted to give him a what for.

When I left there with my new contacts, I made up my mind that I wasn’t going back to this place again because I wasn’t satisfied with the doctor. The admin staff on the other hand were wonderful to deal with, but in the long run, when it comes to my eyes, I want thorough care. The doctor is the most important part of that process. This experience made me miss my optometrist that I went to for 3 years up in Fairbanks a whole heck of alot more. She was someone who’d see me in public, stop and chat with me like we were long lost friends.

Okay, so about a month later, I received a phone call from some lady who was basically checking up on how satisfied I was with the care at Total Eye Care. I told her the truth: that I was not satisfied and probably wouldn’t go back. She actually had the audacity to tell me that I was acting mean! I shrugged it off at the time because, well, I gotta life and project deadlines to meet and what one lady says isn’t really going to change my mind any. Seeing as I’m a professional, I expect the same kind of professionalism out of another career field… and I feel that thoroughness is key to that. She also told me that I should call their office and tell them how I felt. Umm, the thought in my head about that was, “He’s been doing this for 20+ years. He’s going to listen to someone just beginning their career about thoroughness and accept being critiqued by a 24 year old?” Yeah, I didn’t bother to call.

I bring this incident up because today I received another phone call from one of the staff members asking about this because there was a note in my file. I told her what happened and my feelings behind it. From what I gathered from our conversation, this has happened with other customers. She sounded desperate to keep my business or at least convince me that I should go back there, but be seen by the other doctor.

By the end of the conversation, I said I would consider it. But, the truth is, I’m not going back there and I think I’ve already found a replacement doctor from talking to a few people with eye issues. And this particular doctor sounds totally like my old doctor in Fairbanks. He sounds like he’s thorough to the point of perfection, which is exactly what I want!

My last thoughts on this? I had Dr. Colon. Had I realized the last name of the doctor I was seeing, I might have skipped the appointment altogether. That’s suppose to be an amusing thought