NCEENT - Optical Center - Durham, NC

What is the point of having insurance? I had to make a $55 copay for an eye exam (instead of the normal $20 copay) only to get a script that did not include any information about pupil placement. I ordered a free pair of glasses through my insurance but they didn't line up with my pupils. When I went back to this place to get this issue addressed (I am leaving the country soon and needed this resolved asap), the Optical Center checked my eyes and added the necessary information to my script. Evidently they charge an extra $35 for this when you come straight out of the doctor's office, which staggers me that this basic information is not considered part of the eye exam itself. I returned my glasses via mail and decided to get the equivalent glasses through this office. Turns out my "free glasses" were going to cost $178--they have another $20 co-pay (on top of the $35 fitting fee), $63 for thin lenses (but they had a not as thin option for $56 /eyeroll), and $95 freaking dollars for an "anti-reflective" coat I didn't ask for. Mind blown. We pay every month for insurance, but this place just sticks you left and right for charges that should be covered and ARE covered elsewhere. My wife gets her glasses through Dr. Waldorff and NONE of this extra garbage fees and costs are tacked on and its just a $20 copay for the exam. Evidently this place is for the monocle and tophat crowd. Stay away unless you are simply a fool who loves to be parted from their money. [UPDATE: My insurance, via Duke U, says NCEENT is a network provider, and therefore should NOT be charging for anti-reflective coating nor a second co-pay on top of the first. Further, progressive lenses are also FREE and thin lenses by default, so why is this place charging an additional $63 for thin lenses??] [UPDATE 2: I had to get a second set of glasses from the insurance provider because I thought they made the glasses incorrectly. No, these were just as bad, Dr. Dwight Dean Perry's examination was absolutely wrong, both times I got glasses that caused double vision and I could only see out of them if I held them a few inches away from my eyes. Seriously incompetent.]

This practice has seriously gone down hill since our family began using them in 2010. We have used them for regular checkups and my wife had lasik there, as well. Although there was supposed to be life-time yearly check ups on the lasik, which was honored for the first few years, we have recently been charged hundreds of dollars for regular checkups. I have spent the better part of the last year and half trying to make a regular checkup for my glasses & contacts to no avail. Today, they tried to enroll me as a new patient even though I have been with their doctors since 2014. Although I can't say enough good things about the staff in the eye glasses department (they're the one reason we've stuck around so long), I'm done dealing with the rest of the incompetent and rude staff here. It took me about 90 seconds on the phone to get an appointment with a local competitor and I got an appointment within a couple weeks and they would schedule me after 2pm! Imagine that! I found an eye doctor who will work with my work schedule and wants my business! I should have made this call years ago and saved myself the heartache of trying to be loyal to this practice.

The receptionist old lady was very rude. My daughter was having appointment at 10:00 today but they put wrong time or reschedule her appointment and didn't inform us day prior about appointment and she was so rude. She call security on my wife and daughter to remove them from her property. The nurse behind was trying to understand situation and trying to help but the old lady the receptionist said her we are canceling the appointment and take my wife and Daughter out of her property thru security as if they were stealing some from there. Me or my family will never go back to this facility and I will make sure I let my friends and family know about this. I complained about receptionist to their building manager so I hope they take some action against her or atleast teach her how to work with patients. I am very disappointed.

Horrible horrible place!! I have been going to NCEENT Doctors office for years but have never used the optical place and couldn't remember why. So my last visit to the Dr's I purchased contacts amd glasses from the optical department and WOW! I spent about $500 on a pair of glasses and less than a year after they were messed up. I called their office for them to help replace them or help me somehow amd they tell me their is nothing they can do. So all I have to say is all of their customers must have nothing but money! Especially if every 6 months or anytime you need something from them you have to spend $100 or more just to get something. Never will I ever go to this place ever again!!!!!! And good luck for the ones who do!! More power to you!!

In the 50+ years that I have worn glasses, I have never had a worse experience than I did at the NCEENT Optical Shop. A bad prescription (that was revised and was still wrong) and a condescending young worker contributed to this negative experience. I experienced headaches and blurred vision while attempting to adjust to the glasses, as recommended. My vision prescription had not changed very much. Fast forward -- took my new prescription to 20/20 Eyeworks in Chapel Hill, and my glasses are perfect! Dr. Simon is great at NCEENT, but don't waste your time or money at the optical shop.

My wife is having a Lasik cataract removal performed by Dr. Simon. Dr. Simon himself is a very competent, professional Dr. who inspires confidence. The staff is very friendly; however we've experienced two issues with NCEENT. The most disturbing is that my wife was diagnosed with a thick cataract back in early July and was told she would be called when they were ready to schedule her Lasik procedure. After several weeks my wife called multiple times and kept getting voice mail where she left a message asking for a call back. All through this time my wife has been blind in one eye, can't drive and is limited in activity. No one ever called, but fortunately she was finally able to get through to someone who told her she was "lost" in the system and was not on the list of patients to have surgery. Once they realized their mistake, my wife got a preop appt scheduled same day and is scheduled for surgery next week. The other issue is wait times are long to see the doctor, so bring something to read.

I had numerous problems with the Optical Center, including an initial error with my insurance being billed to the wrong family member, then also my copay being charged twice, not being told the various options available on the lenses (I was oversold the highest cost option), the glasses being "lost by UPS...we have no idea when they will arrive, shouldn't take as long as a month." Some of the staff seem irritated and over-worked. I ended up cancelling the order and taking it to a new center where the experience was a breeze and cost less than half as much using the same insurance (both clinics were in network for the insurance).

I had my Lasik procedure done here by Dr. Simon. He and his staff are patient, competent, and professional. His clinics are not backed up and overbooked, he gets you in and out and doesn't make you feel rushed. I've found my new ophthalmic home!