Today was the worst experience I have ever had in a doctor's office in my life. The office staff is rude, intolerant and ignorant. As others have said on the Eye Physicians of the East Bay Yelp. I used to take Improv classes with Dr. Pascal. I had an appointment at 8:40 a.m. I have not seen Dr. Pascal since my retina detached in 2009 and he referred me out to a specialist, who I've seen since then and I don't need glasses. I was his patient for years, before 2009. So for years, I went to see Dr. Pascal on Webster street, so being on auto pilot, I drove to 3300 Webster. I got there early and paid $3.00 to park. In the lobby, I don't see his name on the directory. So I ask the security guard, she doesn't know and directs me to another eye doctor on the 6th floor. I race up there and ask, and the receptionist was very friendly but didn't know either. She was so nice and looked him up on the computer and wrote down his "new" address for me. I then remembered that I had seen him there once, after he moved, and realized my mistake. I used her phone to call Pascal's office to tell them I was running late, but got the continuous hold message. No one ever picked up, so after 2 minutes, I hung up, raced downstairs, got in my car and drove to 80 Grand. I paid another $3.00 for parking, because this was a meter and not a ticket machine. I got in the elevator and went to the 7th floor. I signed in at 9:00 a.m. and told the "receptionist", a guy who could care less and had an attitude, that I went to his old office. He told me to have a seat. So, I brushed off the rudeness and sat down. After a minute or so, I realized my insurance had changed and asked him if he wanted my insurance card. With an attitude he said, "When we call you up." So I sat back down. The receptionist then called out to 3 different people, for example, "Mrs. Jones, no need to update your paperwork, you're fine." I was the only one he didn't address. After 15 minutes, he calls me up to the window. He says, "What time did you arrive?" I reply "9:00" which is already written on the log. He then questions it, as if I didn't get there at 9:00 and says, "We have a 15 minute grace period for appointments and your appointment was at 8:40 and you arrived at 9:00." I replied, "Well, why didn't you tell me that 15 minutes ago? I told you I went to his old office." He says, "Well we won't be able to see you today." I said, "What? For five minutes? I told you I went to his old office, I haven't seen him in years because I was going to a retina specialist. I tried to call you, but no one ever answered the phone." He says, "Well, we are all booked up this morning." I said, "Well, everyone's all booked up, but this is ridiculous for 5 minutes. I want to speak to the doctor. Or a manager." He says, "Well we can see you this afternoon." I said, "I have to go to work. I cannot come back. I have work." He says he will get someone to talk to me. After 10 minutes I ask when I'll be able to talk to someone because I need to go to work. He says "She's finishing up with a patient." In the mean time, he asks a woman next to him, "So what should I do?" She replies, "Go on to your next patient." He asks, "Should I tell her?" The woman replies, "No, go on with your next patient." This is all within my earshot and within earshot of anyone in the lobby. So a woman that came in 15 minutes after me gets called back. Finally, at 9:30, some one yells my name from back in the office. I go through the door and see a young woman and ask, who am I supposed to be talking to? She says that she's the manager and that the supervisor is "out today." I explain what happened and how I tried to call. She acts like she doesn't believe me when I say no one answered the phone. She asks, "You didn't get to leave a message?" I say "No, no one answered, so I hung up and drove over here." Then I explain how I went to the other office and she says, accusingly, "You were here in 2009." I say, "So what does that mean?" She says, "Well you knew the office was here in 2009." Astonished, I say, "That was 7 years ago, every year before that, I went to Webster Street. What does that have to do with anything?" She says, "Well, it has everything to do with it because you said you went to the old office and the last time you were here, the office was here." I am still shocked at this logic and say, "Yeah, I made a mistake, I didn't remember that he moved offices 7 years ago." It was beyond comprehension that they would make such a huge deal out of this. I explained I was a long-time patient of Dr. Pascal, it didn't matter. They had absolutely no compassion or understanding. She then says she can check and see if the doctor will talk to me. I'm already over an hour late to work and have a 45 minute commute. So I realize they are just going to keep me waiting indefinitely, and I still won't get to see the doctor. So I walked out. It was awful. read more
