After years of being patients at Upper Montclair Eye Care & Wear — myself, my husband, and my children — I finally decided it was time to move on. I originally had an appointment scheduled, only to get a call that the doctor was leaving early that day and my appointment needed to be rescheduled. Annoying, but understandable. I rescheduled. Then, the day before my appointment, I received another call informing me that my insurance information was “outdated.” I explained that I would simply bring my current insurance card to the appointment, as literally every other medical provider I’ve dealt with allows patients to do. Apparently that was unacceptable. I was told they needed the information beforehand and was asked when I could provide it. So I canceled the appointment. Then I called back and canceled the appointments for my kids as well. I’m sorry, but I’m not rearranging my workday to urgently provide insurance information for an appointment they already rescheduled because their doctor was leaving early. The entire interaction felt unnecessarily rigid, transactional, and inconsiderate of patients’ time. Instead of making healthcare easier, they created friction over something that could have been handled in two minutes at check-in. Honestly, I should’ve just let the call go to voicemail. I answered assuming it was a simple “confirm your appointment” call, not a demand that I stop what I’m doing to accommodate an administrative process no other provider seems to struggle with. There are too many excellent providers in the area to deal with policies and phone interactions like this. We won’t be returning.
