Vision Care Center PAMF

Had an appointment at 11, reached at 10:45 as asked It's 12:30 now and no one in to see me yet. Just people peeping thru the door and saying the doctor will be in, in a few mins. They really need to be respectful of people's times. Why call someone in at 10:45 if the doctor is not there. After 2 hours of waiting, was told what my PCP told me a month back. And now have to wait God-knows how long more, to get an appointment for the procedure. Just ridiculous.

The optometrists are nice but some front desk staff and technicians are rather impolite or rude compared to most other providers in the area. ---- Have been here about five or six times for annual checkups. The optometrists are all nice and caring. Can't say the same about the technicians. In two occasions the technicians seemed impatient and one was really rude, and possibly racially discriminatory. When meeting, the technician immediately sighed and showed frustration, commenting explicitly and clearly that my eyelids were narrow, making her job more difficult. And she kept complaining during the initial part of the checkup until I reacted gently that I wasn't happy with her attitude. I hope The Management can help improve patient experiences in this clinic.

Each time I've come here, I have felt like an inconvenience. While their refraction appointments are affordable relative to other optometrists in the area, my experience has been that you get what you pay for. After I expressed some concern with my prescription at my the end of my appointment, I was simply told "that is what you preferred during the test." The optometrist knew that this was my first refraction, but made no offer to double-check anything. I went to get a second opinion and, shocker, my correct prescription ended up being different. As a word of caution--this feeling of rushed appointments/being an inconvenience has been something I've experienced across PAMF in the past few years, from dermatology to optometry. Because of this, I generally recommend steering clear of PAMF when possible.

Parking: there is underground parking shared with the apartment complex. There is signage, but it's not prominent. This office is organized for efficiency. There are two lanes: one for simple check-in, and another for longer interactions with staff. I was called about 10 minutes after my appointment time for a series of eye measurements in a dedicated room, then reseated in the lobby. A few minutes later I was led into an exam room for more vision checks, given dilation drops, then given a somewhat dated DVD to watch on cataract surgery options while the drops took effect. Finally I was led back to the exam room where I finally met with the doctor who performed an eye exam, and then gave very thorough explanation of the options available, their costs, and the pluses and minuses. I was given a copy of the notes the doctor took of our conversation.

The medical team at the Sunnyvale vision care center is excellent, but the administrative staff has consistently not followed through with scheduling appointments and responding to information requests. I've been told I'd be called within 48 hours and wasn't called, even after a month of waiting. Two weeks ago, I was told I'd be called back by the end of the day with an answer to a question about the need for a follow-up appointment. Again, no return call. Of course, what's most important is the quality of the vision care, which is top-notch. But they really need to train their administrative staff better and hold them accountable for their performance against expectations. BTW~ I have been on hold now for 15 minutes, waiting for a receptionist to pick up at the vision center so that I can request a signed printout of my most recent eyeglass prescription. They really are incompetent.

Do not go to the location for a prescription eye exam. You'll regret the results. Most of the doctors here don't know what anything. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere!

Horrendous customer service experience. Was on hold for over an hour until I realized the office was never going to pick up. Impossible to make an appointment/reorder contacts. Need to switch optometrists which is a shame because the actual optometrists are good but the administrative staff is a nightmare.

AVOID THIS PLACE. It's easily one of the incompetent & worst managed optometry in town. Horrible experience. I went in at my scheduled reporting time which was 20 mins ahead of my actual appointment. After waiting almost 50 mins, when it was our turn, the front desk "discovered" our paperwork was not ready. If you ask me to show up 20 mins before appointment, why don't you use that waiting time for paperworks? I let that slide, and as I was filling up the forms, they mentioned something about not all codes not being covered and could run my out-of-pocket expenses up to $600. Now I am well aware how insurance works, but that $600 figure sounded fishy - so I said I'll quickly check coverage with my insurance. She said she will be back shortly. I was on the phone for no more than 3 minutes (yes, I timed it) when she comes back and says the doctor canceled my appointment because I was holding them up. It's okay when they make me wait close to an hour, but god forbid if I make a 3 min phone call. I promptly disconnected the call with my insurance so as to not miss the appointment as I had already taken time off work for this, but she said the doctor already canceled in the system and they cannot see me today. Zero empathy, a complete disregard for my time. Noped out of there as soon as I could. Later, I followed up with my insurance and separately with the office and found the particular medical code in question was only $60. Wondering why she said it could run "up to $600", I came here to read the reviews, and confirmed my suspicions when I noticed how another reviewer has described how they were fraudulently billed and given the run-around to contest it and get it fixed. So I am left wondering if it was just incompetence or pure malice. Glad I dodged a bullet. And hope you do too - whoever is reading this.