Summary: Stay away if you want a respectful, hassle-free experience.
I saw Dr. Dang based on reading her good reviews here. That's why I was so confused when I had such a poor experience. She speeds through the eye exam and did not give me adequate time to really determine which choice is better during the checks. The check is performed using a mirror instead of the traditional projection screen, which introduces some glare and makes it harder to see the characters than normal. She kept rushing me, and it felt like I was wasting her time based on how quickly she was putting me through the procedures, and it really made me feel uncomfortable since I am someone who wears glasses as long as I am awake, and I need to feel confident my prescription is accurate. At the end of the exam, as she was discussing her findings with me, it really sounded to me like... as if she was talking down to me? Her voice was somewhat loud and she was talking slowly, like you would to a child. It's not how I heard her talk to her staff in the front room. I saw that the place had many child patients, but it is pretty obvious that I'm a grown adult. Oh, and she doesn't even do most of the tests herself, as the office assistants do a lot of tests before and after seeing the doctor. Are they even qualified for that? It felt somewhat unprofessional.
After that uncomfortable exam situation I got the script, and went to pick frames. Like I said, I am very conscious of getting good glasses and making sure everything is well-taken care of because I use them for 16 hours a day on average. The staff weren't too helpful, but I don't mind. I just need to be able to try on the pairs I want to try on.
The worst part was that after I had chosen my frames, the girl who was measuring my eyes in relation to the lenses ("dotting") messed up a couple times. Each time she messed up, she didn't completely remove the dots from the lens. After the third time she messed up, she finally used solution and a cloth to remove her mistakes, and dotted me one final time. I was wondering why she made so many mistakes, as I didn't think she was new at it. After she was done with me, I saw her with her personal things (purse, jacket, etc.) rushing out the door. So... it turned out all this time she had rushed her job with me because she needed to leave.
Now, I get that people have things they need to do, but please ask someone else to help me in that case. She actually did a bad job with the dotting since the first pair that was made for me made me terribly nauseous. I had to go again and get them re-done. What a waste of my time, for crying out loud!
In the end, after getting my lenses re-did *twice*, I still couldn't really adjust to them. I finally gave up trying to give them chances to correct their mistakes or figure out what the matter was. I listened to my instinct and I instead went to my former optometrist which was a bit farther out (and, really, I should have just done that in the first place...).
It's also really hard to get someone to help you if you don't have connections. They (staff and Dr. Dang included) seem to really favor long-time customers and people they know over the new patients. While I was sitting there waiting for my appointment/for frame service (I had already checked in, they knew I was there), multiple parties walked in and essentially cut ahead of me, because the staff spent time talking with them and even helping them with what they needed. Dr. Dang was all big on smiles for her return customers, which was really asymmetrical with the service I felt I got from her. The thing is, after someone on their staff found out that I knew one of their previous employees, there was no delay in helping me at all after that -- funny that!
In summary, if you're a busy person like me and like to have people do a good job when checking your eyes and making your glasses, then stay far, far away from this place. Really, I did not feel Dr. Dang lived up to her glowing reviews here, which was the primary reason I went. If you're a long-time customer of theirs, then I'm sure you're happy with what you're getting, and that's fine, too. To me, the relationship with my optometrist and their staff is important to me, and I'm happy to say that I won't be spending any of my time (or money) there in the future.
PS: As a previous reviewer mentioned, they are in MASSIVE violation of HIPAA regulations due to how insecurely they store their customer files containing private medical information. I asked them for any files they had on me so that I could destroy them myself and they couldn't find my original forms... (wtf). read more