Clarus Eye Centre

Visited the Lacey, WA, Clarus office in late Sept., 2015 to order new glasses following a cataract surgery. Was met with high pressure sales tactics similar to buying a used car. Clarus employee used erroneous insurance information demanding a co-​pay when NONE is required on a first pair of cataract lenses. Then I went to a local competitor who was professional, empathetic and knew the correct Medicare and insurance reimbursement and payment policies.
Future customers of Clarus need to be sure of your benefits and be firm in knowing which glasses features you truly need before you shop here.

I should have trusted all the Unilocal reviews and skipped this place. I have GREAT insurance but they still talked me into upgrades that I had to pay for out of my own pocket. The wait was 20 – 30 minutes, my eyes were so over dilated I actually got sick for 2 days. I called and complained and they responded with «we are so sorry you feel that way, unfortunately the employee was in training and maybe overdid it». DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND AVOID THIS PLACE.

This place has totally redeemed itself. A few years ago I brought my 3 children in for exams. It was not a pleasant visit and I left swearing I would never come back. I was unhappy with the check in process. It felt like a warehouse and seemed so impersonal, abrupt, and rushed. After checking in we waited, and waited, and waited. When the kids were finally called back, the nurse or attendant or whoever it was — was very short, abrupt, and less than pleasant. The doctor we saw was pretty cold and we left just feeling bleh about the whole experience.
I have been looking for a new eye doctor or clinic but after yesterdays visit I do believe we will return to Clarus and ask for Dr. Waggoner.
My 12 year old son got something in his eye while jumping on the trampoline. We couldnt see anything but his eye continued to hurt. We took him to his pediatrician and she couldnt find anything either but my son was relentless in how much pain he was in.
I called Clarus and they were able to get my son in within 30 minutes. The gal on the phone was super nice and seemed genuinely concerned and appeared to really want to help me. The check in process was quick and the lady who helped was friendly and competent.
We did have a fairly lengthy wait in the waiting room after the initial exam by the nurse but that is to be expected when you are getting an emergency appointment and we certainly didnt mind. We were very thankful that my son might be able to find some relief. The waiting room is nice and big with lots of toys/​books for kids (I had my 3 ½ year old with us).
Dr. Waggoner called my son back and was very nice, friendly, efficient, and was obviously skilled. He immediately located the seed hull that was suctioned to my child’s inner eyelid. He took it out and my son was instantly better.
The doctor was very kind and answered all questions. His treatment of us changed my mind and we will return to Clarus.
I would highly recommend Dr. Waggoner and will be back.

Clarus offers wonderful eye doctors, a beautiful office and a well-​trained staff. Unfortunately, like most doctor offices, their ambitious patient scheduling appears to result in an inevitable 15+ minute wait. If you want faster & more efficient (for the patient, not the doctor), then go to Costco Optical. Otherwise, Clarus also has the advantage that they accept your eye insurance (you pay co-​pay only, MC/​Visa accepted), whereas Costco does not (cash only). I always return because I feel that the quality outweighs the wait.

My poor 88 year old neighbor– the saga continues.
Her eye started acting up earlier this year, and since then I’ve taken her on trip upon trip to Clarus. They always seem to take FOREVER to see her, which is excusable on occasion considering how many people they see– but for it to happen every time is downright rude.
I often see staff milling about and socializing with each other in one of the rooms off of the hallway, even though there are patients waiting and phones ringing off the hook.
With a little focus, maybe– just maybe Clarus could be an enjoyable experience. At least they have free coffee and internet.

The quality of doctors is great though the front desk needs to be more respectful of people’s time. I scheduled an appointment for my son’s first eye exam. I had to take time off from work and remove my child from school. After waiting 40 minutes in the main reception area, I had to leave in order to pick my other child up at the school bus stop. It was a very frustrating experience and I never received an apology or followup call from Clarus. I suggest they let patients know during check-​in that they’re running behind schedule so we have the choice to stay and wait-​it-​out or reschedule. Also, when it’s a child’s appointment, I suggest they do all they can to minimize the wait; most kids have a very difficult time sitting and waiting for long periods of time. Entertainment such as books and toys in the main entrance waiting room would help. I have rescheduled my son’s eye exam with another clinic and am considering doing so for the rest of my family if I experience another long wait again.

I want to like this place, I really do. I know a lot of people love it – most of my family included — but I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something. I’ve been a patient here for years and have seen three different Clarus doctors (Dr. Rudd, Dr. Mueller, and Dr. Waggoner). The quality of the doctors is excellent, and for some people, that might be enough to offset the poor customer service from the office staff. Dr. Rudd especially is an expert in the field (I have friends from north of Seattle that drive all the way to Lacey to see him for certain conditions). And Dr. Waggoner, whom I see most often, is great (not to mention oh-​so-​adorable). The facility is brand new and state-​of-​the-​art, and ooh, they have a fish tank!
Unfortunately, the rest of the experience… um, sucks. Check-​in seems to take forever, and is hindered by the fact that several of the check-​in attendants also man the phones. It’s a bit disconcerting to walk in and see a whole row of people seemingly sitting there looking available, and yet have to stand around and wait for several minutes until the little red «I’m on the phone» button at their station goes out and they call you over. I totally get it, I just think it makes the check-​in experience rather uncomfortable for the patient. Why can’t you have the people answering the phones in a different area of the office, and have the check-​in staff dedicated to managing the (rather long) line of people trying to check in for appointments? Just sayin’,
My biggest gripe is the wait time. I understand that doctor’s offices often frequently run behind schedule, but it seems to happen here EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. And I’m not talking about just a few minutes here and there. My appointment last week was on a Tuesday morning at 9:30. I arrived at 9:10 (I was asked to arrive early as they were transitioning to a new online record-​keeping system and needed to reconfirm all my information). By the time I waited in line and got checked in, it was 9:25. I wasn’t called back by a nurse until 10:10. Seriously? You’re running 40 minutes late that early in the morning? Again, I know that this kind of thing happens in the medical field, but a heads-​up upon check-​in would have been nice so that I could plan for the delay.
It went [further] downhill from there. The technician had trouble with the machine that takes creepy close-​up pictures of your eyeballs… I don’t know if she didn’t know how to use it, or it wasn’t working right, or what — but it didn’t make me feel overly confident in the care I was receiving, that’s for sure. When I finally saw Dr. Waggoner he was very nice, as always, but the visit was brief. When he was done, the technician gave me the prescription for my contacts and a sheet of paper for billing that I was told to hand in at the desk, and then just… vanished. No «goodbye,» no «have a nice day,» not even a «you’re done, get the hell out.» Um… okay?
Took my billing sheet to the front desk as instructed (oh look, there’s the long line of attendant stations where no one is available to help you again!), and apparently the tech had filled out the billing sheet wrong. By this time, it was 11:05 and I was late for a meeting, so I asked them to just figure it out and bill me by mail.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the contact lens center. Seriously, it’s a lost cause.
Overall, I think the intentions here are good — like I said, the doctors are extremely competent and professional, and I think the business has just gotten too big too fast. However, as a patient, that translates to slow, inconsistent, impersonal and ultimately disappointing service.