Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/30/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  10/3/2023, I had an optometrist appt. at HOMETOWN EYECARE in Littleton, NH at 17 Boynton Lane. (603)259-1400.The Dr did my exam quickly compared to others I've had.They ordered my glasses. (They also used some eye drops to dialate my eyes.) It's an hour drive to Littleton from ********** ******* NH where I live now. So, they offered to send my glasses to me.When I received the glasses, the prescription was TOTALLY wrong,super blurry. I called for a refund and they said that I could go in and they would tweek / adjust them for me. ( no way to do that unless using completely different lenses.) they said I could not get a refund on the lenses because they were made for me and my RX. I told her that NO, I wanted full refund, even the cost of the exam because the RX was Totally wrong. She said they would return my call! NEVER! NOT ONCE did they return my call. I called every couple days and no answer EVER...left messages. (During all this , my eyes
  became totally red and irritated.) I went to my Primary Dr. and she said I should have come in sooner for my eyes...she took pics and sent me to ***** ******** Optical, *** ******* ***** **,********, NH *****. He gave me a prescription for special eye drops that eventually worked They also offered me to have an eye exam there at the same time. When I went to pick up my glasses, THEY WERE PERFECT! I told them of my past exam I had.She looked at the prescription from them and said that the RX was way off. She wrote down the info on differences between them and explained it to me. Meanwhile.short story for the end.Hometown mailed me less than half of what I paid. $246 only total was $649.Upset and I called them that afternoon 3 times.Never swore or threatened them.NO ANSWER OR RETURN CALL EVER!
  They called the POLICE to serve me a no contact order! WOW!!! I raised my voice of course!They don't know how to handle customer issues so call POLICE! Policemen have much more issues to handle than to solve their customer issues!!

  Business Response

  Date: 12/08/2023

  Dear BBB,

  The following is in response to a complaint from the "patient". “Patient” was seen in our office on 10/03/2023 at 10:15 A.M. for a complete eye exam. On the same day, she met with our optical department and purchased glasses and was made aware of her responsibility after it was sent to insurance as well as our return policy which mentions that if at first the glasses do not meet the patient’s full expectation we will do a complimentary remake of the lenses for free. Since lenses are made to accommodate each patient’s individual prescription and are a custom product, we do not offer refunds. “Patient” also opted to have the glasses shipped to her once they were ready.

  On 10/31/2023 at 3:57 P.M. “patient” called and requested a refund for her glasses. One of our opticians spoke with her and reviewed the refund policy with “patient” again. Our optician explained that we do not do refunds; however, if she brings them in our optician would happily check them and, if needed, remake them for her at no extra cost. The patient became very upset and brought up that she used some eye drops years ago when living in California that made her eyes “very bad”. Our optician said she would review this with her provider and call her back. “Patient” then recognized her behavior and apologized. “Patient” stated she would be in within the week to have glasses looked at.

  The patient’s concern about the eye drops was discussed and noted at her exam on 10/03/2023 and the provider she saw reviewed the concern with her. Our provider notes that “patient” stated she could not remember the drops or many details of the results, but would request her records from California and then she would consider being referred to a retinal specialist then. “Patient” never requested those records for our provider to review and proceed with said referral. 

  Between the dates of 10/31/2023 to 11/17/2023, the patient called on average 4-5 per day and berated whichever employee took her phone call. Her calls and messages included the same message of wanting a refund for her glasses. It is important to note that the patient did say she was going to come in during the week of 10/30/2023 through 11/03/2023 to have glasses checked, but she never came. After our optician follow-up with her the next we heard from the patient was her refusing to come in and demanding a refund with no further explanation. The patient’s behavior and language escalated to yelling, screaming, and harassment. As the patient continued to be belligerent to our office and staff, it was obvious that we were not going to make her happy despite our best efforts. We also wanted to protect our staff from her harassment. Even though we do not offer refunds, we refunded the patient the amount she paid for her glasses frame, but not the lenses as they are a custom product. We included a copy of her records, our refund policy, and a discharge letter with her refund check. We sent this via certified mail. This was sent on 11/10/2023. 

  The patient continued to leave multiple messages on our voicemail screaming at us for our lack of a full refund even after she received a partial refund and her discharge letter. Due to the harassment we received and the stress it was putting on the staff, we decided to have the police department reach out to her to calm her down. They offered to issue a no trespassing order to protect our staff. The no trespassing order was delivered on 11/17/2023.
  Once the patient received this from the LPD, she went on Google Reviews three separate times to display her disgust with our office. Each of these encounters were photographed if needed for documentation. The patient included the fact that she claims after the time she was discharged from our practice she had a red eye and no one addressed her concerns. This statement is false since it is clear in our discharge letter that the patient is entitled to 30 days of emergency care and no such concern was reported.

  Finally, on 12/05/2023 we received a letter from the patient’s insurance requesting more information about the patient’s complaint. The letter stated that we had five days from 11/30/2023 to respond and we received the letter on 12/05/2023. All requested documentation was gathered and faxed by 10:46 A.M on 12/05/2023.