I received an email asking me to "Yelp!" Dr. Jacobs office and I'm not going to pull any punches here...
My wife and I started seeing Dr. Jacobs when he was in the Esplanade Mall. We were happy with him for many years until we were dumped several years ago because they no longer accepted the insurance provided by my employer.
We couldn't afford to keep going to Dr. Jacobs and pay out-of-pocket for our exams and glasses at the time.
Seeing Dr. Jacobs once a year was always fun. Alice was crestfallen when she found out we couldn't anymore. I seem to recall the office manager was rather rude with her on the phone about it, she was pretty upset when I got home that day. It left a bitter taste in her mouth and she decided we would look elsewhere.
So we tried a few other optometrists and couldn't find one that worked for us as well as Dr. Jacobs. He really was quite personable and the glasses from them worked.
We finally settled on Lenscrafters in Ventura, They were OK, though we dreaded going to Pacific View, and the optometrists changed out every year it seemed. At least they had a pretty good selection of frames and you didn't have to wait for 1-2 weeks to get your glasses.
In fact, the glasses I use now are from them and still correct me to 20/20 vision.
After a while, it became too hard for Alice to get to Ventura, so we tried some local optometrists, without much luck I'm sorry to say.
Alice passed away last year.
I thought I'd give Dr. Jacobs a try this year, seeing as they accepted my insurance again. (don't know what changed, same insurance provider)
Dr. Jacobs is still the same affable person I remember, and the staff is pleasant. But I have to say that I was less than thrilled with the services.
I was only able to find one pair of frames that I liked, and that was still just "settling" on something. After being told that I would be able to have bifocals ground with the material I chose, (and paid extra for) I later received a call informing me that this could not be done. I settled on having single vision lenses made and waited.
I received my new glasses and while I could see clearly straight through them, looking through towards the edge of the lenses resulted in blurry vision, most noticeable when looking left while driving. I went back, adjustments were made and I tried them for the week. They still weren't working right.
Went back and we tried some adjustments again (which basically left me with the glasses uncomfortably shoved up against my face) and I gave them a good weekend of wear before going back. They said they would have some new lenses made. Waited some more.
Picked up the latest iteration and I noticed right away that while better, they still exhibited the same aberration. Some more fitting and I said I'd give them the "good 'ol college try", and I did for the whole weekend.
Went back, willing to try again, only to begin receiving the impression that they thought I was the one with the problem, "I couldn't adjust to the new material".
Sorry. I know how I "see", was not experiencing the same problem with my old glasses and felt that I was articulating precisely what I perceived the difference was between my existing glasses and the new ones.
I decided right then to dissuade them from any further effort on their part as I didn't want to waste any more of their time. I asked for a refund of my out-of-pocket costs and left the office. The check was mailed promptly.
I wasn't even provided with a copy of my exam results or prescription.
But the issue that bothers me the most? (aside from not having new glasses and finding out from my insurance carrier that Dr. Jacobs' office won't release the benefits because they don't want to eat the cost of my glasses that didn't work, forcing me to wait until next year to get new ones)
What bothers me is the fact that my previous 2 annual exams by different optometrists indicated that I was at the high end to just over the high end of normal ocular pressure, indicating possible glaucoma.
With this knowledge in hand, I fully expected Dr. Jacobs, a very experienced and knowledgeable optometrist, to mention something about it after his exam.
Not a word.
I know exams can differ, and I was actually more determined to get a proper diagnosis because he made no mention of it than if he had.
Ocular pressure can vary, but they should have picked up on it.
The previous 2 exam findings were confirmed by an opthalmologist this past Tues.
Don't get me wrong, I'm only "glaucoma suspect" and there will be further testing. My eyes are otherwise extremely healthy.
But I do now question just how good my exam from Dr. Jacobs office was.
I'm dismayed that an optometrist that I had all the faith in world in for so many years left me with such a strong feeling of disappointment.
Others may be perfectly happy with this office and I wish them well, but I won't be availing myself of their services any longer.
Sorry, Dr. Jacobs... read more
