I had an eye exam with them a little over a year ago, and I will say that the visit then wasn't all that bad during that visit other than a few issues with the staff giving me a hard time for not buying contact lenses from them.
The first of many problems started occurring recently when I decided to buy glasses and I needed to go back there to get my prescription for my glasses. I wanted to get my prescription so I could buy glasses from Costco which is WAY cheaper than Spectrum. When I had visited the Walnut office to get my prescription, they had first refused to give me the prescription saying that I needed to get another exam. Yes, I will admit that it has been over a year and my CONTACTS prescription had expired, but my glasses prescription had NOT (glasses have a two year expiration period). So after a brief explanation they probably realized that they couldn't withhold my unexpired glasses prescription from me and so they begrudgingly gave me my paperwork.
After leaving the office, I realized that my prescription didn't have my PD (pupil distance) on it, and had to go back to Spectrum to get it. I decided to go to the Jamboree office so I wouldn't have to deal with the staff from the Walnut one.
Once again, after asking for my PD to be taken, an optometrist from spectrum tells me that I should get my exam redone, etc. I refused again as I knew my eyes haven't changed much and I simply couldn't afford one. She complies and takes me PD. So this is where the shady stuff starts happening.
She takes my PD and says that I have an abnormality in my distance where my monocular distance for my left eye was 5 milimeters further away from my nose than my right eye (35md for left, 30 for my right). She tells me this lame excuse that I should buy glasses from them because online suppliers wouldn't be able to compensate for this "abnormality". I thought this was really odd and bizarre information to hear and I immediately start suspecting that she is bs'ing.. After receiving a reprint of my glasses prescription with my PD on it, I politely say 'thank you' and head over to Lenscrafters to get my PD redone.
I go to Lenscrafters and without ANY questions asked, they take me PD without asking me to get an exam. My measurements turn out to be 32/33, NOT 30/35 like the optometrist had prescribed at Spectrum. She had LIED to me about my PD to discourage me from buying from someone else! Unbelievable! Isn't this malpractice?
So I end up going to Costco with my own frames and I get my glasses done for $130 for hi-index lenses with Anti - Reflection and polished edges. Oh yeah, they take my PD there too and its 32.5/32.5! The worst is yet to come, please read on!
I get my glasses a little over a weak later and find out that the glasses were extremely uncomfortable to wear. I was unable to focus clearly on a single object, the power of the lens seemed really strong, and I was getting massive headaches and dizzy spells. After a day of wearing them, I began to suspect that my prescription could be wrong.
I go on to check my prescription and see these numbers and measurements that I was completely unfamiliar with. I notice that there are measurements for Cyl and Axis.I Google search what these measurements were for and I find out that they are for people with Astigmatism. This is when the shock kicked in. I don't have astigmatism. I have never had it for the 16 years I had worn corrective lenses. I frantically find a few if my old prescriptions and don't see any measurements for Cyl and Axis for Astigmatism. I call up my old optometrists from UCI and from Optometrists from when I was younger. Same result. I never had astigmatism.
After the shock settled in, I am convinced that they had either mistakenly written me the wrong prescription or had fraudulently written me out an incorrect prescription. I go back to Spectrum the very next day and explain to them my situation on the incorrect prescription. They beat around the bush and stuttered these incoherent explanations. They did make out one valid argument where they said that I might have developed astigmatism since my last exam. I accept that as a valid point but I am still not convinced. I then go on to ask them for the charts the optometrist had taken during my visit where THEY REFUSED to show them to me.. Shouldn't they have the paperwork too?? Befuddled, I then ask if I could see the optometrist that took my exam. They say that they will have to charge me for a full exam! I just want to see my charts and ask questions! Shouldn't I be entitled to this info especially since my glasses prescription hasn't expired?! I am pretty agitated at this point as they simply won't cooperate. Whether they had simply made a mistake in my prescription or simply changed my prescription, I should be entitled to see my exam charts. BS.
I leave the Walnut office feeling extremely ripped off and scammed. Is this malpractice?!
EVERYONE, DO NOT GO TO THIS SHADY BUSINESS! read more