Carle Eye Department and Optical Shop

Never on time...... Doesn't matter if you reach 15 minutes early or on time for appointments the doctor will never see you on time. Keeps you waiting, I don't know if to inflate billing or to show importance. One of the worst facility around. Only saving grace is nursing staff who are courteous and polite. Avoid as much as possible.

I was impressed. The lady who set up my appointment was cheerfuI and efficient. The building and grounds were clean and well managed. Inside was a greeter standing by welcoming patients and visitors, responding to questions, and giving directions. Dr. Johnson was professional, attentive, and knowledgeable, with great bedside manner. The same was true for the nurses. It was a smooth, pleasant experience. I think his prescription is spot-on, too.

I went in for a new pair of glasses! i was long overdue for a new pair and thought i would check this place out, ive been everywhere else over the years so i stopped in out of curiosity. the receptionist was rude, demanding rather than asking for my information. my brother and i waited around for about 30 minutes before being helped, which it was fairly busy so i understood! however the level of disrespect after waiting was unacceptable. the woman who helped us get set up treated us as if we were ignorant when we were only asking questions. its been years since we got new glasses as contact wearers, so patience wouldve been nice. she continued to try and upsell characteristics for my glasses that were not necessary. when i asked about insurance its when the interaction really went down hill, knowing that certain places are approved i was curious whether carle was or not, but instead of simply stating "we so not accept eyemed" she talked down to me and kept repeating that insurance will send me a list of places that are accepted, which is common sense when using it, which is why i asked since i was used to going to one place that i preferred. since my question was too dumb to treat me like an adult, i decided to pack up and leave. all we asked for was patience and information. its unfortunate to see others had poor experience as well, but its my fault for not doing research and looking at my approved list before coming. guess you can never just ask questions at an establishment anymore.

Excellent annual eye exam, really took the time to get my prescription right and to check my eye health. I've had mixed luck with optometrists, so I wanted a highly-rated one and decided to go out-of-network for my vision insurance (Eyemed) this time. I figured it would be worth a bit out of pocket to get someone good. Imagine my surprise when the bill was almost $900! For an annual eye exam! Hahaha, that is absolutely obscene. Luckily, my health insurance covered about half, but still. Care was great, but do be aware if you are not insured/covered.

Be prepared to wait at least 7 months or more for an appointment for cataract surgery. I called in May of 2024 and got a consultation appointment in August. After the consultation appointment I was contacted a month later and told my surgery would be in November. I will never refer anyone to this eye clinic, they do not care if you have to wait even though you can't see. I was told the Dr doing the surgery only does surgery 1 time per week. Pretty sad when they are obviously backed up. They do not care.

Dr. Williams is just a really great eye doctor. He's really thorough he takes the time to answer questions and concerns. He obviously cares about his job and his patients. I had trouble with the glasses I'd gotten from another place and he saw how they were incorrect and ordered me some that worked. I took one star off because this place is needlessly expensive, Carle needs to try harder to accept insurance and keep fees down.

Got to my appt and was told they would only give me an exam if I got my eyes dilated. I don't have anyone that can drive me home if I can't see. Told the nurse as much and was told to just reschedule when I can do the dilation. So I'm going to have to be put on a year long wait list somewhere else because I don't have the privilege of friends/family to drive me around and can't afford to uber. I get that some things need checked because I am diabetic, but, like, I can't. So not only will I not have it checked, I'm going to be stuck with an outdated script for even longer. Love that. Guess there is a reason other places have such long wait times and this place doesn't. Not very understanding and unwilling to work with/help patients. Literally always having problems with Carle in general and only tried to come back after switching primaries to someone outside of Carle because I thought I could get my script updated quickly if I used their optometry dept. Guess not. :l

A nightmare! I went for a quick last minute visit. The doctor stayed in the exam room less than 5min. The bill came over $1000. When I questioned the bill, they told me it is 2 components; doctors visit & facility vist being billed as I was in the hospital. I only visited Dr. Office & not a hospital. I paid the office visit but refused to pay the facility visit & they came after my credit score with all their mightly. Additionally, the visit was bad & didnt get mych help, & I ended going to a University ophthalmology office in a different city to get help & after a thorough visit, in addition to performing a CT scan for the back of the eye (OCT), they only charged me $180. Apparently the same issue happened with another patients. I definitely would not recommend going to any Carle Clinic outpatient facility for that same reason. Medicine is going ugly, instead for helping the needy, it has become a money making profession & sadly everything is shifted to big corporations. Thanks