Rachel Van Horn L.
Straight-up Scam Artists
Straight-up Scam Artists My Eyelab are straight up scam artists. Do NOT do business with this company, especially if you have Blue Cross Blue Shield. I wasn’t happy with my current eye place, so I decided to try another one. I looked them up and they had all five-star reviews, so I called the number. I spoke with someone from another country and not anyone from around here. I was pleased because I could get an appointment quickly, whereas I had to wait weeks at my current place, which is why I was going with another place. As I set up the appointment, I asked them if they took my insurance, and they immediately said yes. I asked again, because they didn’t even check, and they said yes again, so I booked the appointment. I got an email a couple of days before the appointment where I could fill out the paperwork and insurance, which I did, including putting in my insurance information. On the day of my appointment, I walked in the place and the people they were nice. They took my information and then asked to see my insurance card again. I told them I had already filled that out, but didn’t think anything of it, because they often want a physical copy of the insurance. They looked at it, and then asked what the insurance was through, and I said Georgia Southern. They said it wasn’t covered. I had filled out the paperwork a couple of days ahead of time, and no one had contacted me that it wasn’t covered then either. I wasn’t happy, but they said they could do a payment plan and then I could give the information to insurance who could reimburse me. They started taking my information and then showed me payment plans. They said I could get reimbursed through my insurance company even though it wasn’t covered. I asked them if I could get reimbursed through insurance why I need to set up a payment plan for the amount they quoted. She said this was a separate charge. None of it made sense. I said at that amount, that was contradictory, and I was confused. I felt like I was going in circles. I finally asked straight up, which is it, did my insurance cover it through reimbursement or not, and but they kept trying to put me on a payment plan of hundreds of dollars. I’m used to paying a bit out of pocket, but not the amount they were quoting me. I said I wouldn’t do it, because I wasn’t paying for something my insurance would cover somewhere else. The lady walked away and went over to the counter where the manager was sitting. She sat down and started talking about me to the manager like I wasn’t there. She whispered in her ear in a very quiet voice, “I was smoked.” The manager didn’t hear her (even though I could hear her), and then she said again, “I was smoked.” I didn’t understand what that meant or what was going on, but I felt like they were intentionally trying to gaslight me. Something was completely off. The looks on their faces and how they were reacting to me, they acted like I was the one doing something wrong. At that point, since they were talking about me when I was right there and because of what they said, I got up and walked out. I called my insurance company to find another eye place that takes my insurance and called another place to get an appointment. They are local. When I told the lady at the other place the basics of what happened and that it was My Eyelab, she didn’t seem surprised and her reaction to my basic rundown of what happened even seemed cynical, like she had heard it many times before. She was very friendly, so I got an appointment when them, and they take my insurance. I started doing some basic research and found out this company does this to other people. They lie about their insurance coverage to get you in the door, and then try to get you to pay out of pocket. My local branch has a 4.9 on Google Reviews, but on but on Trust Pilot, they’re a 2.2 and on the BBB site, a 1.3. Something doesn’t add up. I’ve never heard the term “smoked” used in this context, even as an English teacher, so I looked it up, and it literally means, “If you smoke out someone who is hiding, you discover them and make them publicly known.” Another place said it meant, “In a poker game, I assume the speaker meant ‘beat your hand.’” While I could be wrong, it sounds like they have a system designed to scam people on purpose and I didn’t fall for it. Please don’t do business with these people. Run away! They are scam artists, and they will try to confuse you to make money from you, so you spend money with them instead of using your benefits. They are straight up scam artists.