Cape Coral Eye Center overpriced - made wrong - not licensed Cape Coral Florida

My beef with CCEC is that our insurance covers 2 pairs of glasses for my 17 year old. Now she has had glasses for years and never broke a pair. When it came time to sit and choose her frames they wanted an additional $50 for each pair for polycarbonate lenses. When I told them I could not afford it, I called my insurance company who sent them a WAIVER for my college student kid to get regular lenses. They would not accept the WAIVER. Which put us in a position of her getting NO GLASSES because I can't afford to pay the extra money. At least they gave us her prescription so we can maybe get her glasses elsewhere. But they are the only Eye care center that takes our insurance. The girl behind the desk was sarcastic and a bit rude and told me "Good luck with finding someone to make her glasses without Polycarbonate lenses since it's noted on her prescription." I can't get my kid glasses without paying for polycarbonate lenses that she really doesn't need! Another note is written on the form states that her glasses were BROKEN. This is not true. She just needs a stronger prescription and she had her perfectly fine glasses (regular lenses) with her. Very shady practice that is hurting families in this tough economy. This goes back a few months and we still don't have her stronger glasses for her. I can't afford to pay it.

Hey guys!!

I am Dr. Toby and I own cape coral eye center (oh not really me, my dad.. oh wait not my dad, my moms latest er... last husband owns it). If you have any questions regarding this I suggest you speak to Mr. Vincent hayes our last... err latest C.F.O. that my mom hired. I'm not 100% sure he still works here, call ahead to find out if we got rid of him yet please.

Anyhow, I deny these allegations, and I also think it's rude for you to put all these facts out in the public just because I fired you for doign your job well. If you check out my North Ft. Myers locations you'll see that I only fire 50% of my staff each quarter, so it's not fair to be upset. If you're a beauty pageant contestant or something I will for sure keep you, even though you're useless.

Now if you need lasik I can do it! Cataract surgery?? I can do 10 per hour, and i do that every surgery day if i can. Then i'll run out and hide from anyone upset the rest of the day. Please pay no attention to the cleanliness of the place, or the angry previous patients lined up out the door downstairs, they don't matter!

If you need eyeglasses or an exam, go to my buddy over at our pelican office. He's a bit of a sexual harrasser, and your prescription will include unwarranted prism, (which you'll then require for life) but he has a boat liek me (oh i sold it to him!) and he's dumb enough to support me MOSTLY BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY PLACE THAT WOULD EMPLOY HIM! HAHA! (don't tell him I said so). As for the eyeglasses, yes we made them illegally in a unlicensed lab for years, but we have mostly stopped that and now we make them wrong at a semi-legal place. We only dispense illegally now! no worries!!

So in summary... good luck retaining any vision if you ever walk thru my daddy's practice doors!

Firstly, CCEC (Cape Coral Eye Center) is a first class organization! Its opticians, support staff and even its college students who work on a part time basis are trained for over 4 hours before they are allowed to have interaction with customers/patients. The prices which you quoted for eyeglasses are totally innacurate! The mark-up on our avg. pair of glasses is only 2000%-2500%. I know about what I speak! I have seen all of the invoices and all of the pricetags. We are supposed to make money, aren't we? How is our esteemed DR. able to buy gas for his boat if we "break even on eyewear? This is America, isn't it? As for the warranty on our glasses, we guarantee that if you don't take them out of your house, and if you do not wear them for more than 1 or 2 hours per day, they should last for months. If for any reason they cause you any trouble, you can bring them to any one of our extremely qualified opticians, or as we like to call them, "Hard Sell Glassticians", for a credit toward another pair of glasses. Our Drs. and staff are top notch! I reccomend that you go to Cuba or to another third world nation to see where their citizens go when they need eyecare. I guarantee that you will come running back to CCEC! And, as you said correctly, we have multiple sattelite offices, so you will never have to travel far. And thank god for that! You probably won't be able to see very well while you are driving if you received poorly fitted eyeglasses made in China. Remember, I know what I am talking about!!

Firstly, CCEC (Cape Coral Eye Center) is a first class organization! Its opticians, support staff and even its college students who work on a part time basis are trained for over 4 hours before they are allowed to have interaction with customers/patients. The prices which you quoted for eyeglasses are totally innacurate! The mark-up on our avg. pair of glasses is only 2000%-2500%. I know about what I speak! I have seen all of the invoices and all of the pricetags. We are supposed to make money, aren't we? How is our esteemed DR. able to buy gas for his boat if we "break even on eyewear? This is America, isn't it? As for the warranty on our glasses, we guarantee that if you don't take them out of your house, and if you do not wear them for more than 1 or 2 hours per day, they should last for months. If for any reason they cause you any trouble, you can bring them to any one of our extremely qualified opticians, or as we like to call them, "Hard Sell Glassticians", for a credit toward another pair of glasses. Our Drs. and staff are top notch! I reccomend that you go to Cuba or to another third world nation to see where their citizens go when they need eyecare. I guarantee that you will come running back to CCEC! And, as you said correctly, we have multiple sattelite offices, so you will never have to travel far. And thank god for that! You probably won't be able to see very well while you are driving if you received poorly fitted eyeglasses made in China. Remember, I know what I am talking about!!

I would like state that I don't post this for my "paycheck". Does anyone expect me to gain anything out of this? No. I do this because it is a great practice and people i know who visit it enjoy the service as well. Just because one former employee didn't get everything he/she wanted, doesn't justify a claim to say CCEC is a bad practice.

This "optiguy" is making false claims once again. While trying to hurt the good reputation Cape Coral Eye Center has with the community, this user fails to look at the simple facts (by the way, there was no math in his response that fits actual truth).

Quote: "Having licensed people - how many do you employ -vs- hours of operation? can't possibly cover the hours, simple math"
There is no math in that. We do have licensed opticians and we have opticians working towards getting licensed. Last I looked, companies are allowed to hire people looking to be certified in a career. I believe the terms "Intern/Apprentice" has something to do with it.
Also, each office has an optician working there, so the whole "vs" argument is out of the question.

Overpriced...do i really have to say it again? Check any optical magazines/websites. The prices there are hardly different to the price we sell at. By the way, patient's insurance is still going to take some of the cost down.

Remeber, every patient has a frame warranty for one year and a lens warranty. Plus, only a couple frames have the possibility of being discontinued. Most of the frames in stock are new and popular brands. So patients are assured they get quality frames with a safety net in case something is going to happen to it.

The lab doesn't manufacturer frames/lenses incorrectly and just gives it to the patient. If something is made wrong or incorrectly, we reorder the materials with NO cost to the patient. Also, people have to get trained to learn the machines. Nobody can just "know" how to use it. Whoever is using the machine, has a full licensed optician observing them. Also, the machines are calibrated, thank you very much.

All in all, there is still proof that CCEC is a good eye care place to visit. Optiguy's arguments are misguided opinions set on fooling the public and not displaying truth. Having a grudge is one thing, but misleading the public for your own mental benefit is wrong. That is why i reply with truth. Unlike that user, this user like to believe in truthful knowledge and whats right, rather than to gain income from it. I put morals before income, Optiguy. That is something you should learn from.

This employee who refutes some of the previous statement has his own "paycheck" in mind. The facts above are just that.. facts. It's simple mathematics.

Having licensed people - how many do you employ -vs- hours of operation? can't possibly cover the hours, simple math

Overpricing for discontinued junk - pretty self explanatory, simple math

manufacturing things incorrectly - untrained people performing work they shouldn't - equipment that isn't calibrated - all of these things can certainly be debated.

BOTTOM LINE - If you're a big enough fool to purchase anything from these people you then deserve the regret you'll suffer later.

Obviously, Optiguy's report makes it well aware that he might just be an angry ex-employee with nothing better to do.
Let me start out by saying that all of these statement are completely false and illogical.

Optiguy started out by saying that frames come in for for a few bucks and are sold for hundreds. One thing is clear is that is wrong. The frames are well above the price he suggested. If one is to look in any FrameFax magizine and book, frames are sold from 50.99-250.00+. Another thing is the extra cost for hosting the frame. EVERY optical facility does that. Actually, ALL businesses do that. If you sell by manufacturer's cost, nobody would make money. Companies that say they sell by manufacturer's cost obviously are lying to the general public. Keep in mind, most insurances patients have will pay for part of the cost of frames. Usually a big part too.

His next claim is the lab. For one who knows, this equipment is ran by a LICENSED optician. They have trainees in the lab, yes. But remember, not one frame is sent out or made without the optician giving it the go ahead. It is not like they let the trainee use the equipment alone. Also, frames don't cost (1000 * cost). Obviously an overstatement not well documented.

Every optician sits down with the patients and offers to fit and/or ask for any other needs the patient wants. I have never seen an optician just give the frame and go to a patient. If the patient doesn't want to be fitted, that is their responsibility.

The products there are the best in the area and i believe the phrase "best in Southwest Florida" title (granted from the readers of the news-press) have the best opinion of our practice. The staff is well trained and always glad they can train new employees. Nobody is sent out to any location with being aware of the situation or without a trained employee to help them out.

Optiguy obviously doesn't want to consider posting actual facts instead of misguided opinions. The truth of the matter is, Cape Coral Eye Center is one of the best eye care facilities in the state of FL. Patients enjoy the hard-working staff and comfy environment. If one choose to go to Wal-mart, that's fine. But one won't guarantee service and care like those at CCEC.

His last message he displays is "can'tseenow, ft. myers, FL". Makes sense considering he didn't look at the facts.