I am at the receiving end of a $44 overcharge by Wal-mart Vision Center at the Commerce Township store.

I had an eyeglass exam and a contact lens exam done at this store about a month ago. My insurer covers both exams after a $5 copay, which is my responsibility.

At the register, after the exam, the Wal-mart Assistant told me that her computer showed that only one exam was covered under the policy, not both. Therefore, I had to pay the $49 retail price for the eyeglass exam. Ten days ago, I received the Explanation of Benefit Statement (EOB) from my insurer that corroborated that my copay should have been a total of $5 for both exams.

I took the EOB and the receipt to the Walmart Vision Center at Commerce Township for a refund. The assistant at the counter said that she could not help me that day, since the manager of the Vision Center was not working that day. She took a copy of my EOB and asked that I call the following day.

That, I did only to be told that the manager was in a meeting and she will call me back ASAP. Of course, no one called.

I waited and called again the following morning since I was told that the manager is more accessible in the morning. She was not there, her assistant took down my message so that the manager could return my call… yada yada yada.

The sun rose and set on Orchard Lake that day too without a call return from “the manager.”

So, I called the Walmart Customer Service desk the following day. The phone “greeter” started to squeak a little after the initial affable tone when I conveyed the issue with the dismally irresponsive service from the Vision Center. When he started to hint at my possible lack of awareness of my vision benefits I had to slip a little secret in — it should not matter; but, it probably does — that my insurer is also my employer.

That seemed to work as he understood the issue right away and admitted that he could not gurantee as to how long it would take for (what now became) “a manager” to resolve my issue with the overcharge and the refund. Nonetheless, that someone will call.

The Vision Center manager called within two hours saying that she will take care of the refund, no problem. It has been two days since the promise. Today I received a message on my home phone from the manager who went on to state that it is beyond her control to refund the $44 as a over the counter refund. It will have to be handled by the Walmart District Office and er, unspoken but, it could take some more time before I could get my money back.

I know that I will recoup the money. But, buyers of the Vision Center beware of the Wall in that Mart!!! Interesting that this Wal-mart represented anything but what is in the name of the township where it is located.

A great website, BTW!!!

Sincerely,
Ty