Bennett Eye Institute
1620 Ala Moana Blvd Suite 500,
Honolulu, HI

This review is not for Dr. Michael Bennett, it's for my experience getting an eye exam for contact lenses here. I had my regular eye exam in California about 4 months ago. Since I just got my dental and vision insurance here in Hawaii, I decided to try contact lenses. I had to wait two weeks in order to secure a reservation, so I did not expect that I need to wait so long to get the exam. My appointment is at 12:30 pm and they even asked me to come 15 minutes earlier. Since I have already filled out all forms and provided all insurance and ID information online, so I spent most of my time here just waiting for the exam. I waited for about 20 minutes for the first assistant to perform the initial exam and it took about only 5 minutes. Then I was sent to another room for another long wait for my optometrist. While waiting, I can hear a doctor having a casual conversation with a patient for few minutes about how he is getting shorter. I thought how nice is that doctor chatting with his patient during his lunch break. Later I found that he is my doctor. I didn't see Dr. Kashiwa until 1:20pm, that's a 50-minute wait time. The entire eye exam took almost two hours and I left at 2:20pm. How can people with a job or things to do fit an eye exam here in their daily schedule? The second assistant was very patient guiding me to put on contact lenses. It's her second day working there, and she is doing her best. The second reason for a two star review is that they try to get your personal information very hard even it has nothing to do with the eye exam. I already filled out all forms online one day before the appointment including providing my primary physician's name in California. They kept asking my where do I work, my occupation and my primary physician again. Since I don't remember how to spell my primary physician's name, so I just asked is it necessary for just an eye exam. She said no. Then I said I don't want to provide my personal information. But then she asked again. It seems she is instructed to get all my personal information even I already said no. In the end I had to tell her to stop. I know it sounds cold to tell her to stop. But she wouldn't stop asking even after I already said no several times. I am pretty sure that she was trained to ask repeatedly until the patient gives in and provide unnecessary personal information. But I already said no enough times. I will never go back to this place again. I will probably try a different optometrist in Honolulu to get another eye exam. A two-hour eye exam with a total less than 5 min with an optometrist is not something I would rely on. There must be another place in Honolulu more efficient and professional than this place. Updates: I changed my review to one star after I check my insurance coverage. My plan covers 100% contact lens fit, but I was charged for $50. When I asked isn't that covered by my insurance, the lady at the front desk said no. But later she asked me how much is my copay? That means she never checked my insurance plan.

I had the LENSAR Laser eye surgery. Within a couple of months one eye was cloudy again after this EXPENSIVE surgery. I was better off staying with my contacts.

There are good, best and great doctors. The good gets the job done. The best are often rated by magazines dependent on ads. The great doctor is the one who exceeds the expectation of the patient, goes to the limit of service and truly deserves the judgment of patient: A natural born healer with a sharp mind and a big heart. Recently I am fortunate enough to meet in this facility Dr. Claudia Hooten, a great doctor.