Carolina Eyecare Physicians - West Ashley I

The doctor is just fine (Dr. Burger). But I am leaving to find another practice for my eye care because of the manner in which the staff at the local office, the billing department and the area "Director of Operations" managed a complaint. For 4 months, I have been passed to another person or "team", told I would be contacted back (and often was not), and never gained any resolution. Amelia, the local Office Manager in West Ashley is the one bright spot. Once I got past the billing department, she was interested in listening to me, understanding the issue, gathering the appropriate documentation and summarizing it to the higher ups. However, once it went above Amelia, it hit a stone wall. The final communication with Carley Lewis, Director of Operations, led me to believe she still did not understand what happened and why I was requesting a refund. And she stopped responding, never acknowledging the error made. So, I am out several hundred dollars about 18 hours of my time communicating with various folks. Bottom line - maybe use them for the opthalmologists, and hope you never have reason to interact with the billing or administrative staff. Definitely get an optometrist to do your refractions and eyeglass/contact prescriptions. The staff at Carolina Eyecare are not well supervised or trained in this aspect of eye care, and the company is not willing to fix errors when they are made.

Great practice. Very friendly and courteous. Dr Rowe is excellent at taking the time to discuss the results of the visit and answer all questions. I never felt rushed. Highly recommend

All of the staff were great! Front check-in greeted me as soon as I came in either a smile. Dr Burger and her assistant Maria were very professional and friendly! I was referred to Dr Burger by friends and family. And, I'm so glad I am a patient here!!

Always treated good at this practice. I've been seeing Dr. Boatwright for 20+ years and have total faith in his work. The tech that first examined me was very friendly and appeared to be good at his job.

Dr. Rowe and her assistant were amazing. It is disgraceful to charge patients to use a credit card. It is even more disgraceful to only allow checks or cash. We live in a cashless world and checks are not safe. Get with it Carolina Eye Care. How about thinking about your customers/patients.

Yearly visit due in August failure to have available appointment until january. First appt scheduled in Nov. Appt cancelled nothing available till January. 2pm appt seen at 2:25. Dr Burger great. Staff could be friendlier

The provider I saw for my cornea consult was very dismissive and I feel like he only wanted to do so very complicated surgery that seemed expensive vs a simple in office procedure that worked previously (I was being seen for my left eye, same issue with right and procedure worked for right eye). Backstory: I came in with a history of recurrent corneal abrasions which at the time of the visit was not actively symptomatic. I had changed my appointment 3-4 times already so I figured I just needed to go to discuss if and how we could plan for a simple in clinic procedure called a stromal puncture. Mind you, I called and asked when making the appointment if the provider offered this specific procedure because there are very few cornea specialists in town and only a few that take my insurance (BCBS-Fed). After we discussed my history (without him examining me, he did review the techs exam) he stated he did not like stromal puncture and started to discuss much more complicated options. I tried explaining that this procedure worked previously, I was not expecting such complicated treatment options, and would need to think about it. (Side note- If you don't know how to do stomal puncture then say that and send me to someone who does when I say that's what I was expecting or that I don't want to do a complicated surgery and don't want to live the rest of my life like this.) I asked if I could possibly have uvitis and this is when he finally examined my eyes. We agreed I would continue to treat with drops and ointments for now and he said to follow up with his partner in 3 months because they do one of the 3 things he offered which was some amniotic lens (I'm guessing he doesn't do this). Feels like he didn't want to see me again because I did not choose to have a complicated surgical procedure at the time. So he handed me off to someone else. In my opinion he was arrogant and dismissive. It was very frustrating and caused a lot of anxiety when someone tells you they don't like a simple procedure that I was expecting and that I know can be done and has worked for me in the past. I walked out for the office very overwhelmed. On the other hand, unfortunately I do not remember the persons name (I believe she was in training - had short hair) when I went to checkout because I was very overwhelmed and on the verge of a panic attack, the staff was so sweet she got up and came around the counter to hug me as I was crying. It was the best part of my experience. She was so caring.

What I have learned from my experience with this business is that they don't prioritize or value your time. I made an appointment with them for an inflammation in my eye and was not seen by the doctor for almost 2 hours after my appointment was scheduled. I also explained to him a concern for a specific blood test due to my family history , and he wrote me a referral for blood work, but didn't include what I had mentioned. Then, when that information got worse i called to make an appointment or see if they could write me a stronger prescription eye drop for my condition. Instead of telling me they couldn't write a prescription without an appointment they had me wait, and wait, and wait for a call back i was told i would get but never came. I called several times, and finally got my answer. So now my condition is worsening and I have wasted time I could've spent making an appointment else where. I have no issue with there not being time for an appointment, but to not respect my time and condition is disappointing. Will not be returning.