I would not recommend optometrist Kelvin L. Garner, currently working at JC Penney in Lewisville, Texas to anyone. He used to work at the Target store at Park and the North Dallas Tollway in Plano but Target terminated their contract with him.
While he still worked at the Target store, I booked an appointment for an eye exam with Kelvin L. Garner himself for 1:00 pm. When I arrived there, I signed in and found out that Kelvin had already booked someone else for 1:00 pm. I saw the appointment book and a name was written down for the 1:00 pm slot.
He had no receptionist and so was doubling as the receptionist. He gave me a form to complete and said he would be done with his other 1:00 pm patient in 10 minutes. I completed the form and waited another 30 minutes until he was done right at 1:30 pm.
I was not happy that he had double-booked as because of this I had to wait 30 minutes. When he did the eye exam, he rushed through it and was not thorough at all. On my right eye, when I was reading the bottom lines on the chart, he did not switch the charts back and forth to find the smallest line that was the clearest. He asked me if I could read one of the bottom lines, and I could but it was blurry. He then said that was good enough but didnt switch to another chart to find a line that was more clear.
During the exam, he kept going out to answer the phone and to speak with another person that had arrived for an exam. I felt he should have had waited until he was done with my exam to handle these other people as this caused me to have to sit there in the exam chair and wait for him. He really should have had a receptionist but I think he was trying to save money by trying to be the receptionist himself.
At the end of the exam, he dialated my eyes and told me to come back in 25 minutes at which time he would finish the exam. I walked over to the Optical Dept. At Target and looked at some glasses. After 25 minutes, I went back to his office and he was doing an exam on the other person. As there was no receptionist, I had to holler out to him that I was back and that I would be next door at the Target store. I asked him to please call me on my cell phone when he was done. He said he would.
I went out to my car to sit and wait. Thirty minutes later, still no call from Kelvin. I called his office and he did not answer. I then called the Target store and spoke to the manager named Jennifer and told her I had not heard back from Kelvin. She said she would check on him and get back with me.
I waited another 30 minutes and did not hear back from her. I called the Target Optical again and a lady named Julia sd she would go over and see if Kelvin was done. The Optical Department manager then called me and said that Kelvin was still in his office and that I should come back now and wait for him.
She said that he had already brought my prescription over to her and she had it right there. I could not understand him doing this as he had not yet finished my exam. She explained that he was not an employee of the company and she could not tell him what to do. She said she had walked over to speak with him and could not get any information from him.
It was going on about 4 pm now (three hours since my 1:00 appointment). I went back to Kelvins office and he was just finishing with another patient. I went back to the exam chair again and he checked my eyes.
I told him I did not think my right eye was check correctly as he did not switch the lines so I could see the clearest line. He said that my right eye had 20/20 vision and I know this is incorrect as I have always had corrected lenses for both eyes. He refused to re-test my right eye as he said he had other patients waiting for him.
I got up to leave and he walked with me up to the front and said I owe him a $10 co-pay. I told him I was not going to pay the $10 as I did not get a proper exam as my right eye was not tested properly. He said that if did not pay him the $10, he was not going to release my prescription. I told him I didnt care as the prescription was not correct anyway and that I would go to another eye doctor.
After I said this, he walked very quickly back to the Target optical department where he had left my prescription. He snatched the prescription off a counter and went back to his office. I complained to the Target Optical Dept about what he had just done but they basically said he since was not a Target employee, there was nothing they could do. He is contracted with them.
In trying to set-up an exam with a different optometrist, I found that Kelvin L. Garner had already turned in the bill for his examto my insurance company. I would have to wait another year before they would pay for another exam.
I called my insurance company, EyeMed, to complain. They verified that he had already filed a claim with them and was paid (even though he never gave me a prescription). This was clearly insurance fraud. They spoke with Kelvin L. Garner and he refused to release his claim even though he did not provide me with a prescription!
I complained to the Target store manager and was told they had numerous complaints against him for the same type of actions. They were nice enough to give me gift card to cover the $50 that Kelvin Garner had fraudulently filed the insurance claim for.
I filed a complaint with the Texas Optometry Board against him. Also, on checking the Texas Optometry Boards website, I found that Kelvin graduated from an optometry school in Puerto Rico, not one in the United States. Later, I found out that Target had terminated their contract with him and that JC Pennys at Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville had hired him, apparently not knowing about his past.
I went to see another optometrist and she took her time and did a thorough exam. She also found that I had a stigmatism in one eye that Kelvin never even checked for. Dealing with optometrist Kelvin L. Garner was one of the biggest hassles I have ever been through and would tell everyone to avoid him at all cost.
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