Dr. Elliott Shapiro, Family Optometry Inc.

I’m not one to write bad reviews but after being a patient here for 17 years…when a poor review is warranted, it’s warranted. And the treatment, disrespect, and lack of care I received tonight means my loyalty is at its end. I had an appt for 6pm tonight, Thursday. I was called on Wednesday and left a message to call back and confirm. I did that later on Wednesday, spoke with someone, and they sent me the paperwork to fill out. I filled it out this afternoon when I got the reminder text. So…they knew I was coming for my appt. Imagine when I walk in at 6:02, after fighting my way through 45 mins of traffic to come down from Encinitas and deal with the fact that UTC is apparently a parking location for the Farmer’s Open, to find out that the “Doctor was going home.” “Home?” I asked. “My appointment was 6pm.” “Yes, but she’s going home,” is what I was told. Now I’m a compassionate person. If he had said, she’s got a migraine, or is not feeling well, or her kid is sick or she’s absolutely rattled because her home was in the evac zone for the fire in La Jolla today…fine, I’ll still be grumpy, but fine. No, what I got was this: “She’s going home. We called you. Three times today. The other doctor called out.” I flipped my phone around to show him my call log with the only missed call marked from Lenscrafter or Optometry for this day occuring at 6:01pm. I showed up at 6:02 or 6:03 after booking it across the mall because I had to park so far with the traffic and construction. “Do you want to reschedule for tomorrow morning?” he asks. I look at him like he has two heads. Absolutely, I do not. I had an appt for tonight at 6pm that I am now here for and expecting to have. When I complained about how much effort it took to even get to the appt, he said, “Well I can talk to her, she’s still here.” Oh, so now I should go meet with someone who was so keen to ditch me and our confirmed appointment? Yeah, hard pass on that. Here’s the thing: assuming they did call me three times as he said and somebody bungled my phone number (I find this hard to believe because they called me yesterday and the reminder texts worked just fine, but sure okay, stuff happens) you do not cancel an appointment on someone unless you get them on the phone and they acknowledge. That just demonstrates a complete lack of care and respect for the other person’s time. This is further underscored by the fact I received no apology from the receptionist, the doctor herself, or anyone else working there. It is over an hour since I left and nobody has called to apologize. They also have my email, mind you. So, so many ways I could have been contacted and asked to reschedule if there was indeed a problem. An earlier in the day problem and not the doctor deciding at 6:01 she doesn’t want to see me. As I said above, I hardly, hardly give bad reviews, but when you received treatment like this…I won’t be quiet and accept it. Compare and contrast this horrible experience to the very sweet girl at Salt and Straw, who took complete care of me after I stumbled in, dazed and shocked that a business could be that unprofessional and not even think twice about it. Until now, I had no complaints about my care or reason to seek anyone else out. Unfortunately, this relationship is at its end. After all, would YOU trust someone who treated you with such flippant disregard with something as important as your eyes and ocular health?

Dr. Waskiewicz was amazing! She took extra time to make sure I understood everything and that the prescription worked in real life situations, making several adjustments. She seemed to truly care about providing good patient outcomes! Best eye exam experience I’ve ever had!