almondmalik

Today, my boyfriend and I had back-to-back appointments at this optometrist office. We initially accidentally went to the other Costco in Tustin’s office, not realizing that there were two, but since we were early we were able to still make it into the office before our scheduled appointment. When we walked in, I joked to my boyfriend that the other office smelled better. (Not an actual complaint, it’s a small little area and just was quite stuffy). The receptionist (tech?) was great, but the experience with the optometrist was awful. Some context for this complaint: I’ve been dealing with heart palpitations and recurring tonsillitis as a symptom of long covid for almost a year now, since long covid just seems to cause a bunch of inflammation everywhere. (Long covid is NOT contagious.) Last week, I came down with another case of tonsillitis and gave it to my boyfriend. I am now completely over it and he has had it for a few days and no longer is having any pain. A quick Google search informed me that tonsillitis is not contagious after the person has been on antibiotics for 24 hours. He’s been taking them for four days, so great! We did not have a fever, a sore throat, or any primary symptoms of covid, but we wore masks anyway since most medical settings still require them and because vision tests require you to be inches from the doctor’s face. My appointment went smoothly and I got my prescription. Afterward, he called my boyfriend into the exam room and I followed. Something about the air in the office and the fact that we drank milkshakes on the way there caused my boyfriend to suddenly start coughing as soon as he sat down in the room. Already embarrassing, and I would have understood completely if the doctor didn’t want to continue the exam. Instead, the doctor jokes, “If I get covid next week, I know who to blame.” We both laughed. My boyfriend keeps coughing lightly and the doctor asks if we have covid, to which my boyfriend responds that it’s just a throat thing, but that we can reschedule if the doctor isn’t comfortable. He responds, “How about I just go grab my own mask?” but then opens the door and loudly announces to the receptionist and other customer, “The patient has covid, do you think I should continue the exam?” We were SO confused and embarrassed. I take covid tests FREQUENTLY because we both work in food service, and we both are vaccinated.Then the doctor starts telling us that we shouldn’t be going into public places and that covid is a big deal. I try telling him that we don’t have covid and he just tells us to reschedule for when we are covid-free. The weirdest part was that it kept dragging on, him just adding more to our lecture and telling the receptionist that he wasn’t aware that we had covid and that we should have called ahead to tell him. What? If you actually think we have covid, shouldn’t you get us out of there as quickly as possible? We left the office and will definitely just be going to another optometrist, because that was seriously unprofessional and embarrassing. For the record, my boyfriend hasn’t coughed a single time since leaving the office and grabbing a sip of water, and here’s a photo of a negative covid test result since he wouldn’t believe us.

Kristine Paiste

So happy I was able to be seen here! I was in need of an eye exam and luckily when I called they were able to book me in the next morning. Not only was the staff at the front super welcoming but they were very thorough with explaining the eye imaging procedure. The atmosphere and energy here made me feel very comfortable and at ease. Once I was able to be seen by Dr. Nguyen, she gave the same excellent service which honestly made me so happy that I chose to come to this vision center than the Costco closer to me (based on reviews)! She was welcoming, kind, and explained everything I was seeing and answered my questions with such patience. Thank you to the whole staff for being very kind, helpful, and efficient! Service like that isn’t always the case! Will definitely recommend Dr. Nguyen to friends and family in the area!

Frank Fazio

I recently retired in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. I hadn't had a vision exam since I retired, and I was overdue for an appointment. I am a Costco member and a huge fan of the store, so I decided to have my vision checked by the independent Optometrist located in the store. This would allow me to have my exam, and then take advantage of the great prices in Costco's optical department. On the day of my appointment I was greeted by the friendly receptionist and given paperwork to fill out for my first visit. After checking in, I was seated in front of a machine which scanned my eyes for baseline vision correction. Pretty cool technology which made the actual exam much more productive. Within a short amount of time, Dr. Nguyen called me into the exam room to discuss my vision options. Dr. Nguyen was very professional, friendly and helpful in determining the type of contact lenses that would meet my needs. The doctor next "dialed in" my vision on the machine and wrote my prescription for both glasses and contacts. She was exceptionally helpful and patient in setting up my mono-vision contact lenses permitting me to try different strengths. After my exam i was escorted back to the receptionist for billing and also provided a copy of my prescription. This experience was much different from many of my optometrists were I had to specifically as for my prescription or they would not provide it. I found the overall experience to be excellent and will definitely be coming back for my future exams.