Family Eye Care and Children's Eye Center of New Mexico

Thanks for doing your job..but its also a child's place...not kid friendly front lady very rude....and lady in back not friendly.. but I guess got the job done. I dont remember last time being like this last time we came. But Nicole was super nice. Rebecca was amazing and sweet. The glasses lady was so fast and awesome. Thank you for that and the help

The doctor and tech are the reason I'm giving 4 stars. The front desk people were rude. Not only had I called several times days before (and the morning of) since I was coming from Espanola, they were super dismissive and passive aggressive. I'm talking about Danielle or Daniella since that's who I interacted with. There were four front desk people so I don't see how not once did they answer my phone call. I had changed my number so that's why I was calling to confirm my appointment and of course I ended up late ( pretty sure they changed my appointment time without telling me). The tech and doctors were super kind and still saw us and were rather quick. Luckily they're nice because I would not return if service was based on how the front desk people behaved.

The doctor was wonderful and helped explain our eye car needs and answered all of our question. However, I'm not pleased with the staff. First, they do not fully explain the services they are offering you in addition to what you came into the office for. They briefly say there's an extra charge for this and an extra charge for that. For those with insurance, it's not a problem. For those paying out of pocket, it's not fully disclosed that there would be extra fees after those first fees. When you receive a receipt of payment, you're not told 'this is a contract' to pay more fees later. Yet, the office holds you to said contract. If you dare get upset that they are charging more and more for various services and attempt to say, you need to improve how you train people to explain fees and such, they refuse to listen because they 'don't have to be treated poorly.' So, unless you can accept lots of additional charges with a sweet demeanor, don't go to this place. So sad. The doctors were top notch.

Dr. Heidar and this office are the only specialists in the state of New Mexico to deal with my eye condition which has been getting worse over time. After finding out my insurance was inactive (see my urgent care review), I agreed to be self pay and Kayla led me from a pediatric waiting room (very colorful) to another room where she took measurements of my eyes (for my fellow fidgeters there was no shooting out of air of flash of light!!!!). She was so patient and gentle with me, even as my eyes kept blinking during the tests! Then I was led to another room where Dr. Heidar came in to do the exam. I squealed with excitement when my vision improved just by adding a special lens . A new prescription later, The office provided my husband and I a discount. I will ultimately need surgery to correct my problem but the new glasses will help in the meantime!!!

It pains me to leave a one star review - and it's with caveats. First off: if you need an ophthalmologist (that is, an MD for the eye) then I highly recommend this practice. We've found excellent care for serious eye issues with one of our children, in Dr. Leenheer. Second: I really liked the medical assistant whose name escapes me (I think it starts with a "K") she is great and has a wonderful beside manner with children. I have no qualms taking my children to be seen by Dr. Leenheer. But now the reason for the single star: if you need routine eye care, say in the form of an optometrist for your child who needs glasses, I do NOT recommend this practice and Dr. Cromer. She is not suited to working with small children who are having their very first eye exam. But Dr. Cromer didn't even bother explaining what she was doing to my child and why she was doing it. For example, unless you've had an eye exam before and you're a kid - you wouldn't understand what the question "number 1 or number 2?" actually is asking. When she asked them to read the letters off the screen she didn't clarify to read the letters in the top row - so my child kept saying I don't know - because they were trying to see the smaller letters on the bottom, not the top. Dr. Cromer didn't bother or take the time to explain any of that to my child of what she was actually asking of her, despite hearing it was her first exam. She also did NOT explain or slow down long enough to explain basic things like "I'm putting this up to your face and eyes. It's called a phoropter. You're going to look through the holes at the screen at the end of the room, and try to read the letters off the top row for me. While you read those letters, I will ask you number 1 or number 2. You'll tell me if you see the letters on the screen better with number 1 or better with number 2." She just swung it over up to my child's face and got down to business. I could tell my child was startled and confused. I know my kid. When I spoke up, and explained to Dr. Cromer that my child would do better if she explained and narrated what she (Dr.Cromer) was expecting, Dr. Cromer's tone to me in her response and body language said she didn't appreciate the sentiment and viewed me as interfering. And no, she didn't change her approach with my child. For a practice that claims its values are "excellence", "family", and a "patient centered approach" - I feel like Dr. Cromer failed abysmally on all those fronts. It is inexcusable for a practice that focuses on kids, to have an optometrist who is terrible with kids, on staff. It is the job and responsibility of a doctor to children, to slow down and patiently/kindly explain things to kids - and not treat them like miniature adults. I emailed the practice manager to let them know our experience. She was kind in her response to me, but ultimately she has no control over Dr. Cromer or how Dr. Cromer treats kids. To be fair, it's likely that Dr. Cromer is better suited to working with teens or adults who are already familiar with the eye exam process. Going forward, for routine eye exams, we'll be seeking care elsewhere.

I wish I could write a better review because when we did see the doctor here she was so amazing with my children that we wanted to come back. After trying to make an appointment this morning, though, I am left feeling so frustrated that I would rather find a new doctor than jump through hoops with this office staff. After the incredibly long message when you call, I was abruptly placed on hold for almost 5 minutes and then hung up on. This happened twice on August 21 between 830 and 9 a.m. The girl who finally answered was incredibly rude from the start. She asked if we were existing patients or needed a referral. I told her we had been seen before and she very rudely said "so you are existing?" She then proceeded to look at my son's date of birth and said we hadn't been there in so long that we needed a referral and hung up on me again! We haven't been there because my kids have good eyesight. It's incredible to me that such a short conversation can be so frustrating that I would rather find a different doctor than go to the one we already like. however, your receptionist has done that for me today. 15 minutes on the phone and being hung up on THREE times ( every time I called mind you and the reason I had to call repeatedly) and spoken to so rudely, does not make me want to give you my money.. I will go where I am treated respectfully at the very minimum. I hope you and your staff can get it together and we can visit your very well liked doctors again in the future.

I would not recommend Family Eye Care and Children's Eye Center of New Mexico. We were referred here by our pediatrician, but the experience was incredibly frustrating. When I called to reschedule my daughter's appointment so she wouldn't have to miss school, the front desk informed me the next available appointment was months away -- all the way in January. They used the excuse that they are "the only office in New Mexico that sees kids," which, if true, is shocking considering they said they have 5 doctors but only see about 6 patients a day. I also asked for them to re-send the online paperwork link, and the front desk person told me she "doesn't know how to do that" and that I should just come early to fill it out in person. When I expressed my frustration about the scheduling and lack of flexibility for school-aged kids, she hung up on me. I called back to speak with an office manager, got their voicemail, and on my third call decided to cancel the appointment altogether. Thankfully, I found another eye doctor who sees kids starting at age 7, was happy to work with my schedule, and got us in on a day my daughter was already off from school. If you value good customer service, flexibility, and a practice that treats parents with respect, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

This use to be a good clinic but so many things have changed. The receptionists weren't rude but they are definitely not friendly. They have like 6 receptionist at once and they are more interesting in each other then the patients, I also don't like having to write my children's first and last name on the sign in sheet for all to see to be called to check in. The medical assistant we had was amazing! Loved that she explained everything she was doing and why she was doing it. She was fantastic with both my children! SHE IS THE ONLY REASON THEY ARE GETTING 2 STARS!!! Both kids got there eyes dilated and we were sent to the waiting area for 30 minutes before seeing the Dr. We did see Dr. Cromer and was kind of cold and very clearly wanted to be in and out of there ASAP. She mentioned that nothing with my daughters vision was causing headaches therefore refused to write a prescription because everything was so minor. My son went up and was clearly struggling to see and again everything was minor no need for a script. I asked how to help him see the board at school than and then she agreed to write the script but it was minor, minor, minor don't even need to get him glasses. So appt finished we went to the optical center that is a joke. They have one lady practically sitting in the window while at the optical desk. The main lady was to busy talking to other staff members that I not only had to say excuse me to in order to get a number but over heard her say "She's only there for the extra money" they finish talking. We get called up my son was over it as it had been like 2 hours so I asked for his pupil distance and the lady in the optical lady gave me the hardest time. I can ONLY use that distance online and not another optical center because if it's wrong she doesn't want it to come back on her! Excuse me what? You would think that they would want to do there job correctly as it's people vision. And just to be clear my sons eye cross when trying to focus, he has astigmatism and his prescription is worse then mine and I wear glasses. So DO NOT take them for there word. I have been trying for over a week to get my daughters prescription and the medical records people have not called me back nor e-mailed me back. Update as of 12/5 office has still failed to call or email me back about getting my daughters prescription from them despite multiple calls and emails being sent.