Advance Vision Center of Optometry

So to update my previous story, I called again to check on my glasses and it turns out that the frame I ordered is on back order and won’t be back in stock until next month. They couldn’t have told me this some time during the 2 weeks I waited for my glasses?
Yet another example of the incompetent level of service at this place. Once I finally get my glasses I’ll never be going to this place again.

On March 24, I started searching for a nearby eye doctor in the VSP network. Advance Vision Center had fairly good Unilocal reviews so I clicked on their website, only to find that it was down, in a «buy this website» kind of way. Rather than assume they went out of business, I decided to try their phone number.
A woman, seemingly stressed, answered the phone. Although I won’t mention her name here, if one of the doctors contacts me, I’ll be happy to let him/​her know the name she gave me on the phone.
She seemed rushed and kept asking me if I wanted to schedule an appointment. I told her I wasn’t ready to schedule an appointment until I could ask a few questions about the doctor (s). She kept urging me to schedule an appointment to get my questions answered during an appointment. Finally, she said the doctor wouldn’t be in until 12:30, but she would leave a message. That was more than two weeks ago and I never heard back from anyone. Their website now directs to an «under construction» page.
The doctors could be great here, but I have such a negative first impression from the website, the stressed assistant and the lack of a return phone call that I decided to go elsewhere.
Too many things seem to be falling through the cracks here and there are plenty of other ODs in the area who are paying closer attention to their business and the quality of customer service.

I recently called this business to inquire if they accepted my insurance. I spoke to a Cindy and she was very courteous, and patient with me. I have her my insurance name and she was able to tell me over the phone what my copay was. Afterwards I had an issue with the fitting of my glasses and Cindy was able to set an appointment for me with Kerry, and he was very helpful and patient with my difficult adjustment. Their prices are a little on the high end, however you get what you pay for plus great cust serv. I will def go back and refer friends.

The doctors are ok, though they don’t return calls. Left msg. on Dr. Oh’s machine regarding an eye drop, never called back. On another occasion, left msg. for Dr. Shin with the front desk, never got a call back. Dr. Shin is very nice in person though, and a very good doctor.
The complaint is for the front desk, a bunch of ladies work there, but most are rude and incapable, especially someone named Cindy. I think she is the manager there since other ladies ask her when there is an issue, and she is always very unfriendly, impatient. One time she actually told a customer on the phone «Look, we are very busy here and don’t have time, you will have to call your insurance», and just hung up. Wow, what a customer service, and the office was not busy at all at that time.
The problem is that she has been there for too long. I think she’s been there since they were in the other old place, and she established such a «boss» attitude, so other ladies kind of follow the «leader». The office is poorly run.
It’s too bad because the doctors here are all very nice. Dr. Worrell, Dr. Shin. Why can’t they train their stuff to have some customer services. When I refer people to this place for the Orthro-​K treatment, I have to tell them about the front desk and how they always screw up with insurance, and other stuff. Most just shy away and go to another place. They certainly did not get my business for my second child’s Orthro-​K.

Very friendly place. Been coming here for a few years and since I moved from Willow Glen area I still come here.

Update as of 2014 — after hanging in there, I haven’t gotten any more delays or issues.
Top doctors. Front staff seems to b better.
2012 review:
Great doctors.
However the customer service is starting to suffer due to too many customers, perhaps ?
My phone calls are not getting returned… :-(

I didn’t realize I already rated Advance Vision and was ready to write a raving review. Looks like I already had… 3 years ago. So let me just repeat myself: 3 years after my last review, 15 years since I first visited this office, and 5 years after moving to NYC, I am still impressed with the service and care at Advance Vision Center. They are so accommodating and helpful, even while I’m 3000+ miles away! Dr. Shin is quick to answer all my questions by email. And the staff has always been real sweet and nice, even as the office has grown over the years. I don’t think I am ever going to find a optometrist in NYC.

I went here for an eye exam. My doctore is Anita Gor. She is very professional and caring.
IF YOU ARE ON A BUDGET, READ THROUGH B4 YOU GO. If you don’t care about money, i highly recommend you go there, cuz the total experience was good.
REASON FOR NOT COMING
1 The staff here are not familiar with the insurance. while my insurance covered the eye exam, they asked me to pay $ 145 for the exam if i need the prescription. I didn’t. and called back afterwards saying my insurance shud cover that, then the staff said yeah, it covered $ 135 of the exam… but if i didn’t call back and pay the 145 at the clinic, i doubt if i can get my money back
2 The charge here is at the high end, $ 145 for an contact fitting??? compared to walmart, this is a rip off… which means, if you only need a prescription for contact or lenses, i don’t see why you need go spend a stupid $ 145 on the prescription.
3 their contact lenses are much higher than what you can get from website (acuva2, box of 6 lenses cost you 35 here, and 18 – 20 on
or walmart vision website)
4Also, the doctor asked me to take a back of eye photo (Fundus Photography), which cost $ 39, not very expensive, but i doubt as a young lady, is this photo necessary (i am –8.0 shortsighted, though, that may be the reason?).

I have Karetoconus (football shaped corneas) and could not find anyone to help me. I called everywhere, even the places that advertise on the radio. They could not help me because everyone specializes in lasic. Finally, another doctor recommended me to go to Dr. Shin. He’s been great and I can see again. Dr. Shin worked with me even when I had no vision coverage on my benefit plan, we tried on different style contact lenses and he did the fitting perfect. Once my benefits kicked in it was a wrap. We need more people like Dr. Shin.

I’ve been coming to Dr. Oh now for 10 years (wow I’m old) and I must say that this is an AMAZING health care center. Honestly, each time I come here, I am so impressed by the standard of care from the doctors here. She has been managing my Ortho K since I was 14 and I love the fact that I can wear my contacts at night, take them off in the morning, and have ²⁰⁄₂₀ vision the rest of the day! In our visits, she always remembers what I’m up to and is so friendly and personable. I definitely look up to her.
In addition, I think all the doctors here are good. Dr. Limtiaco is no longer here, but she was absolutely wonderful to my bf. She called in a prescription for him while he was in Dallas and even gave him her phone number if he had any questions.
Sometimes when I am unable to see Dr Oh, I’ve also seen Dr. Shin. He’s great too. Overall, I have been very satisfied with this clinic and I highly recommend this center to anyone looking for eye care.

I’ve been going there for few years, but the service seems to drop majorly. Now it’s like the rest of the doctor’s office, wait and wait some more… I don’t understand if that’s the case why we need to make appt, my time is valuable too… and they don’t return msg when you leave one… this year will be my last try and will decide to keep them or chuck them.

I’ve been coming here for 15 years now and would love to stay for another 15. I started doing the Ortho-​K program since third grade with Dr. Oh. She kept both my sister and I with ²⁰⁄₂₀ vision for our whole lives so far. I have to tell you that it’s such a great feeling to be able to pop in your contacts, sleep for a night, and then pop them back out the next day to get perfect vision during the day time. I’ve never had to wear glasses or contacts when I was awake.
Dr. Oh is such a sweet doctor who has no problem talking with patients. She stepped away a few years back to focus more on research so I was switched over to Dr. Shin who’s equally as good of a doctor. He’s super personable, enjoys having conversations with patients, and he’s always asking whether you feel okay with the contacts. He’s really great about following up with you if you ever have a problem either through the phone or by email.
One time I had an extremely painful situation with my eye because the change in hard lenses scratched some part of my eye. I was basically crying in his office (out of pain) but Dr. Shin was really good at figuring out the problem right away and helping me fix the scratch in the eye. He gave me soft lenses to wear for the time being until it healed, plenty of eyedrops, and some other stuff, all of which I didn’t need to pay for. I hope this never happens again, but if it does, I know exactly who to turn to first.

Dr Shin has been great. I went in for a basic exam as a new patient and he gave me a lot of advice about my dry eye problem. He has been great to work with so far. I agree with past posts that the prices on contacts is a bit high. I might shop around when I get refills.

I have never had such a bad experience with an optometrist in the 20+ years that I have been going to them. I first went to Advance Vision Center of Optometry in mid September to simply get new contacts. I loved the contacts that I currently had but needed a new pair. I saw Dr. Worrell and my first appointment went well (although I had to wait about 20 minutes after my appointment time). I brought the packaging from my old contacts and the doctor wrote down all the information from the package. My contacts are custom made and he said that he has ordered these types of contacts before and he would be happy to do it for me.
About 2 weeks later they called and said that the contacts were in. They said that I just needed to stop by and pick them up. When I got there the nurse said that actually I should have made an appointment and made me come back in a couple of hours. When I went back she gave me the contact to try on and left me in the fitting room. I put the contacts on and realized that they were way, way off. After about 10 mintues I took them off and was finally called into the office with the doctor. I asked why the prescription was wrong and he would not admit that anything was wrong. He kept trying to tell me that this was just part of the fitting process and he would determine if the perscription was wrong (like I can’t tell). To make the story shorter… after abou 15 minutes of agruing he finally said that either his office or the company that made them got something wrong. He then escorted me to the front where he and the assistant just stared at me for several seconds. Then he told me that I should leave and they would take care of it. I left feeling so angry. Although the staff kept smiling the whole time they were totally condesending and rude. They kept trying to make it like this was my fault.
So at least a month has gone by with no phone call from them. I called them back today and the assistant said that the contacts have not been ordered becuase I am still in the «trial period» with a trial pair and they are waiting for me. She said that I needed to pay them money for the contacts so that they can order them (or something like that). I explained to her what had happened and that I don’t have any pair of contacts and that I will not pay them any money at this point. I’m waiting to hear back.
So…bottom line… I need to find another optometrist and am still hoping that I will get a pair of contacts out of this one.

My entire family receives eye care from Dr. James Shin here at Advance. I originally came to get my daughter in an Ortho-​K program and have been coming ever since.
Dr. Shin is knowledgable, friendly, warm, intelligent, and just an all around great person. He goes out of his way to make patients feel comfortable and well cared for (my kids love him) and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a great Optometrist.
I’ve gotten to know him and most of the staff at Advance, and simply put they provide the highest level of care and service I’ve experienced in the eye care industry. Go see Dr. Shin and let him know Shin John sent you! :D

Let me just say before choosing this location I first considered if this location was close to me and what the Unilocal reviews were :) so i’m going on what others are saying and they were right on the money lol. to me Dr. Limtiaco or Dr. Shin was the way to go.
I was able to get in within 2 days for an appt. they scheduled me with Dr. Limtiaco since she was the first available and I was not disappointed. let me tell you: She was very warm andfriendly the whole appt and even after I followed up a week later. My best friend who accompanied me to the appt was so impressed with her that she made an appt that same day for the following week. the only thing she was worried about was if they accepted her insurance (medi-​cal) which they did :)… Dr. Limtiaco gave her the info about Medi-​Cal reinstating the vision so that’s the only way we knew she could see Dr. Limtiaco.
After explaining everything about my eyes and what the treatment would be she also explained thoroughly and went thru different payment options for the vision therapy my eyes would need at some point in my life. I definitely learned alot and had all of my questions answered and even though I’m worried everytime I visit a doctor I fear the worse but she really put me at ease :)
Then the next step was to get some glasses which I needed for my farsightedness (whenever necessary) which btw they are pretty pricey for glasses but considering that I was able to get Juicy Couture frames without my insurance I was going to pay at 500 something but with it I only paid 130 something :):):) major score for me! So I definitely recommend this clinic if you can afford it or have some insurance :) I doubt you’ll be disappointed… The priceyness made me give them 4 but I would give them a 4 ½ stars if it was possible.

I have worn glasses and contacts all my life and I have gone to different optometrists over the years. I usually go to Lens Crafters but when I woke up today with intense pain in one eye I decided I’d rather to to someone eles. I found Advance Vision Center here on Unilocal and gave them a call. The receptionist was very helpful and friendly. They got me in right away. The doctor was excellent, he was very knowlegable and friendly, he explained thoroughly what was going on with me in terms in I could understand. He instilled a lot of confidence in me.
Both the doctor and the receptionist were so helpful in saving me money because I don’t have vision insurance. I am so thrilled I found them.

Air Optix Astig per box is $ 65.00, still a bit on the high side. They wouldnt give me the price at the beginning and said I need a prescription…
I will add is if you need to get prescription update then you will need to go through a vision office, but if you need order contacts then go else where to save few extra bucks!

My appointment was yesterday and of course I was a bit skeptical of all the reviews thinking «it can’t really be THAT great can it?» but it really was!
When I walked in I was warmly greeted by the receptionists, which made me feel at ease right away. They asked me to fill out a from, take a seat and let me know that they would be with me in a few minutes.
We did all the routine things, refractive testing and the glaucoma test (the one that puffs air, yech), and was then taken to the exam room to see Dr. Shin.
He was great! Very knowledgeable about his field, was very nice (I haven’t been to see an optometrist in about 5 or 6 years, so I was worried i’d be getting a lecture) and let me know all my options for eye-​sight. He was patient with me, took his time to answer all my questions and concerns, and he was able take the time to show me a video about my contacts and how it affects my eyes.
Overall I had a great experience and am very satisfied! I do agree that their glasses are a bit pricey, but the customer service makes up for it! Needless to say, I have found my optometrist!

Aw, I’m not the first to review! I have been a patient at AVC since 6^th grade — that’s about 11 years now! I’ve been seen by all 5 doctors that have been part of this group over the years (Dr. Worrell, Dr. Oh, Dr. Shin, Dr. Limtiaco, and Dr. Hong) and love them all. I personally started out with Dr. Worrell, switched to Dr. Oh in high school to do ortho-​k (which I highly recommend — a non-​invasive, reversible, and safe method to be free from contacts or glasses during the daytime!), and now am Dr. Shin’s patient after Dr. Oh moved on. Dr. Shin is great and I know I can trust my eye care in his hands. He’s really chill and a great person to talk to. Actually, that goes for all the doctors.
Every doctor in this great group of eyecare providers is super friendly and personable (we affectionately call Dr. Limtiaco as «Dr. Lisa»), and I feel like I have a great relationship with all of them. They are also very professional. I can tell other patients like them too — some of Dr. Worrell’s patients come from over 2 hours away! Some fly in from the East Coast! o_​O
The staff there is amazing as well — I’ve only seen a couple new faces over the years, but most of them have been the same, which shows that this office has consistent quality. Be sure to look out for Cindy and Ana, the managers — they will take care of all your needs once you’re out of the doctor’s exam room!
As an optometry student myself at UC Berkeley, I can say that this office uses state-​of-​the-​art equipment and technology and all the doctors are extremely well-​trained and trustworthy. Dr. Worrell and Dr. Lisa received their degrees from UC Berkeley, and Dr. Shin received his degree from Illinois College of Optometry. These two schools are two of the best in the nation. Dr. Worrell still teaches at several optometry schools, including Berkeley. The doctors are also active in community service and international service trips, and I highly respect them for their heart of service.
I’ve referred several friends here and they have all been very pleased with the quality of their care. Though costs may be a little higher than Walmart, Costco, etc, you’ll definitely find that the quality goes above and beyond the corporate giants. They don’t use cheap materials here.