Bay Vision Eyecare Optometry

I was in a total pinch. I needed lenses for my glasses because We were traveling the following day. They had lenses in stock and were able to fix it within 20 minutes. My husband actually thought that I bought him new glasses.
Staff was super nice and responsive. They had a huge selection of other glasses. I wish I had gone there before I went to my other eye doctor. And they except VSP

This place is wonderful. I came in looking for frames and the team her was very helpful and kind. I did not have enough money for the frame so i told them i would search around, they were very understanding. They didn’t try to push it on me. This place is so put togather and clean. They also do eye exams here and i have yet to set up an appointment buti went with a friend to her appointment and she loves Dr. Arora,

I saw Dr. Arora today for a contact lens fitting. The new office is bright and spacious. My exam was thorough and professional. I was so impressed with Dr. Arora, Vic, and Debbie, that I also purchased a pair of eyeglasses as a back up. Vic had the lenses in stock and made them for me in less than an hour. They were well-​crafted and fit great. I worked in the optical business for many years, and this is one of the better offices I have seen. They are friendly, knowledgeable, professional, and efficient. I recommend Bay Vision Eyecare without reservation. They are also conveniently located above the 19^th Street BART station, with several places to get food and beverages nearby.

This place is horrible. I walked in for a standard eye exam. Doctor Aurora uses a machine rather than the standard practice of adjusting lenses. The process lasted less than 10minutes. Very automated and rushed. After the exam, I was given a prescription that turned out to be wrong. When I called to complain, it turned out that the prescription they gave me did not match was was on file. I had to go back and get a second eye exam, this time with Dr. Jackson. On my second exam, I demanded we use the standard practice of adjusting the lenses. I walked away with a 3^rd prescription that did not match the first two. This place is ridiculously incompetent. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Dr. Jackson was such a pleasure to see. He is very patient and is great at explaining the whys of each procedure in your check up. Vick is also great! He’s very attentive and great at multitasking with other clients and great at explaining how much your insurance will pay for, and what is your out-​of-​pocket cost very clearly. I have my contact checkup next week since Dr. Jackson recommended a new brand of contacts and a new prescription. It’s so nice to have people who actually care!

Bay Vision Eyecare has the best customer service of any optometry office I’ve been to. I called them this morning asking if they could give me a trial pair of contacts. I ran out and I needed some for the weekend, but I don’t get paid until Tuesday (help me, I’m poor!). They were nice enough to look around and found something in my prescription to hold me over. I couldn’t thank them enough and I’m very pleased with their customer service!

This is an update to my previous review. To clarify, I am a physician in a discipline other than optometry, which means that I went to medical school and residency. As such, I have a unique understanding of what competent patient care and a thorough medical examination encompass… more than the average person who does not have a medical background.
When my disabled mother came to me and described her visual problems, visual exam and the solution provided by Vic and Dr. Aurora, I decided to accompany her to the next appointment. When I went with her, I found that Dr. Aurora rushed through her eye exam, seemingly impatient with my mother who is nearly a senior citizen and has served this country well.
When I PERSONALLY asked Vic questions about my mothers prescription he gave me an answer that had no foundation in medical fact. In stead of arguing with people who had no interest in helping my mother, I decided to ask a physician (meaning an opthamologist NOT an optometrist), friend of mine to do a professional favor and perform a routine eye exam for my mom. Usually opthamologist don’t do this, as they are surgeons and this is not a surgical issue. Anyway, at the end of the exam the prescription ended up being completely different, which we were not surprised about because of the incompetence of Bay Vision.
Because of insurance policies, my mom had to have the new prescription filled at Bay Vision rather than my friends’ office. When I accompanied my mother back to the office to drop the prescription off and to explain how we got the new prescription, Vic stated that they had not made a mistake, and that he would charge my mother for the new prescription. After much discussion, Vic agreed to send the frames that my mother had already paid for from Bay Vision to replace the old faulty prescription from Dr. Aurora with the new prescription… but my mother would have to pay for the shipping, of course.
After posting my first review I received a message from Vic stating that I wasn’t a patient and did not receive services, and if I didn’t take my review down he would sue me! I was present at several appointments, and directly interacted with Vic and Dr. Aurora, in full disclosure that I was a physician. If these people would spend more time being competent and less time being punitive I think their business would thrive and they wouldnt have to threaten real, competent physicians over a Unilocal review.

My first contact with Bay Vision was over the phone when I made my appointment. The receptionist was friendly and professional and that continued through to when she called me for a follow-​up on my insurance, a reminder about my appointment, and in the way I was greeted the day I came in for my exam. My exam and Dr. Arora were thorough, professional, and clear. Vick the optician was personable and didn’t feel like a salesman at all (unlike other opticians I’ve met). He gave me his honest opinion about what looked best on me while telling me what was in style at the moment. He also broke down the pricing for me but said he wanted to make sure my insurance covered the things I wanted since it was a complicated plan. Their frames are priced reasonably but I didn’t end up getting my glasses made there since the selection was smaller than another place I went to. But they did have a lot of stylish choices for a place that size. I also noticed many repeat customers came in and the staff knew them by name and they seemed to have built a good community in that neighborhood.

Dr Arora is fabulous! She’s actually the first doc in a while who has been able to get my prescription right with my contacts. I’ve been to atleast two other offices where the docs put me through numerous trial-​and-​error prescriptions, just to end up with glasses in the end, since they could never seem to get the contact prescription correct. However, Dr Arora got it reight the first time. I was impressed!
My reason for deducting 2 stars, however, has more to do with the huge delay and costs of ordering my glasses and contacts (i got both). My contacts came in right away, however my first pair of glasses took at least 2 weeks to arrive! I’m used to going to a 1-​hour or less

I have been uncomfortable before when having my eyes examined but Dr. Arora made me feel at ease (maybe its her mesmerizing green eyes!) She explained each procedure and eye test and made me feel comfortable throughout the process. She spent a lot of time asking me about things I had trouble seeing, and really listened to my answers in addition to doing all the required tests. I also noticed that the equipment and the office was very clean (she cleaned the pieces of the equipment that touched my face!)
When I was diagnosed with a near-​sightedness, which required me to get glasses to see far away while driving at night, I was unsure of whether I wanted to get them at that Lens Crafters place as I am very picky and didn’t want to spend a ton of money on glasses I only wore at night. However, Vick changed my mind entirely. He spent a ridiculous amount of time helping me pick out the right pair of glasses — I must have tried on at least 15 pairs. He also used the little tools to adjust the glasses while I was trying them on so I could get an accurate gage of how they fit on my face. When I liked one frame shape and fit, but not the color of the frame, Vick immediately told me they would be able to get the other color.
After about 25 minutes, I finally decided on a pair. The best part– the COST! Compared to a high end designer place in downtown San Francisco, this was half the price! I even got the option of anti glare lenses and a super case. The office told me that the glasses would be ready within the week. They also asked me about my insurance, and were helpful in the sense that they wanted to help me fill out any of the necessary insurance forms. Unfortunately, I don’t have vision insurance, but I was pleasantly surprised at the extra time they were willing to spend with me.
Oh, and my new eye glasses are SEXY (says my GF) and I can actually see when I chauffer her around at night.

Really great place to go if you need to take care of glasses repairs. When I was in the area my lens popped out of my glasses and I needed to get it repaired asap. I had passed Bay Vision earlier in the day so decided to stop in to get it taken care of. The have great customer service and they got my glasses fixed in a hurry as I was running on a tight schedule that day. Great service and would definitely use again.

If you value efficiency, competence, and genuine care, do not come here.
I am going to try to keep this review as fact-​based as possible, and you can judge for yourself.
I needed a new contact lens prescription b/​c I had run out of contacts. Pretty basic, right?
Very shortly into my first visit, Dr. Arora made it seem as if she didn’t want to give me said prescription. As she told me, «Wearing contacts is a privilege, not a right.» Um, okay. I had chosen this place based on proximity to work. My own fault for choosing a health-​related service based on convenience vs. quality.
I’ve been wearing contacts for 15+ years, so I told her that if she was already sure (without even checking my eyes) that she wasn’t going to give me a prescription, I didn’t want to continue with the exam. She said that wasn’t the case, so I went through with it. What a surprise when she said that she didn’t feel comfortable writing said prescription at the end of the appointment. Why? Basically, she said I have dry eyes. Pretty common, right? Exactly. But I went through with her requested regimen — used glasses and eye drops for weeks and returned.
At this point, it became very clear that Dr. Arora and the staff at Bay Vision care way more about liability than their patients. They said they could not give me a prescription without a note from an ophthalmologist.
So…I went to an ophthalmologist (go back to the first note re: valuing time/​efficiency…) who was fantastic and correctly diagnosed me in less than 5 minutes (seriously) and said he saw no reason why I couldn’t wear contacts. He faxed a note to Dr. Arora.
The office staff proved to be just as incompetent as Dr. Arora. I called to confirm receipt of the fax. They said they never received it (they had). I called again to see if I needed to refax, read the letter to them, etc. I was told no. Then, I received a voicemail saying yes. I called back and the person that answered again said no, just come in. So I requested to talk with Vik. He had me REfax the letter. I did. And yet somehow, the letter wasn’t sufficient even though anyone with a simple command of the English language could read that the ophthalmologist had okay’ed me. He asked for yet another letter.
At this point, I had had enough. I told my friends my issues. Multiple people independently referred me to Eye Carumba. They were amazing! I faxed everything to them, and they said they could help me the same day and even offered a discount b/​c they felt so bad for me and b/​c Dr. Arora conveniently used my insurance dollars without providing the singular service I clearly requested on day 1.
In the end, my ophthalmologist also felt terrible for me and the subpar service I had gotten from Bay Vision Eyecare, so he had me see his partner, an optometrist, who wrote me a prescription for free.
Net, net: Go to Eye Carumba, or go to your doctor. Do not, do not go to Bay Vision Eyecare Optometry. They care about getting your insurance dollars and watching out for liability leagues more than they care about patients.

If you do not have insurance and are paying cash be VERY VERY careful in your dealings with this place. I chose this place due to the rave reviews here on Unilocal.I made an appointment for exam, glasses prescription, and contact lenses. When I called to make an appointment I was told an exam and prescription is $ 99 and then was quoted $ 240 for the exam, prescription and lens fitting. Fine. At my appointment, I paid cash and was quoted $ 299. Seemed low. I asked Isabel, «What am I paying for? What does this $ 299 include?» She replied «Everything.» Me: «Everything?» I asked her this two times. Isabel: «Yes» Me:“Really? Even the contacts?” Isabel:“Yes, and I gave you a $ 50 discount on the eye exam.” She gave me a receipt that says «Eye Exam and Contact Lenses». Like I said, it seemed quite low… that’s why I questioned her several times. My mistake was not really getting everything broken down, but I assumed she knew what she was doing. This is the first time I haven’t had eye insurance in years, so I really don’t know prices anymore. Plus, other reviews here talk about how affordable this place is compared to others.
Dr. Aurora and I decided on trying multi-​focal lenses, and was told they are $ 300-​$ 400. Well, doing the math I assumed I would owe an additional $ 50-​$ 150. Upon checking out, I asked Isabel and Vic if I should pay the DIFFERENCE then. They said no, wait for the lenses.
Lenses arrive, go to get them, Isabel tells me I owe $ 400 for the contacts. WTF? Vic gets involved, I show them the receipt saying I paid for exam and lenses. Told the receipt is incorrect. I didn’t have $ 400 to pay at the time, so I was told I had to leave the contacts there. I get it, but Vic actually asked me if I had a case to put them in to give them back to him. Huh? Isabel was argumentive, repeatedly claimed she didn’t tell me the $ 299 I paid was for «everything».
I would like to add the first appointment I had to pick up my contacts, my dog had a medical emergency and I had to cancel. I even offered to pay for the appointment. When I rescheduled, Isabel asked, «are you going to show up for this one? Because if you’re not, I won’t schedule it.» And then lectured me on the importance of not cancelling appointments. I work in the customer service industry, sometimes things come up. I don’t berate my customers if they have to break an appointment.
I never went back for the contacts. The icing on the cake was Isabel called a week later after this fiasco to confirm a check-​up appointment! Classic! I demanded Vic call me back. Never heard from them.
If they had not been so unwilling to accept responsibility for Isabel’s gross error, I might have paid the $ 400. I think they should have at least offered to split the difference. Strongly considered taking them to small claims court (for the difference between the $ 99 original quote for an eye exam/​glasses Rx and what I paid-​since that’s all I got from them in the end), but I don’t have the time over $ 200.
In addition, anytime I called I was put on hold numerous times by Isabel, and every time she would come back on the line she couldn’t remember who she was talking to, or what about.

I used to go to an optician by the name of Dr. Michael Jackson and he retired and referred me to Dr. Arora who bought the business. This was over two years ago… maybe three. I was initially hesitant as it was just the comfort of having an optician who knew everything about you for over fifteen years but I must say Dr. Arora and Vick deliver an A –1 superior customer service experience.
They are extremely professional but yet so friendly you feel like you went to your best friends house to get an eye exam. Prices are extremely reasonable for designer glasses and contacts as well.
The doctor is very knowledgeable and genuinely cares about her patients. She takes the time out to do a complete thorough exam and Vick completes the process in helping you pick the glasses that are right for you and your face without any pressure.
I have a corneal transplant and felt like I may never truly be able to see correct but although my vision constantly changes I can depend on Bay Vision to make sure I’m okay and to keep my vision as good as it can possibly be.
If you haven’t had an eye exam or need a new pair of glasses or just want to get your eyes checked out come here. Insurance or no insurance makes no difference. I pay out of pocket and have yet to feel like I’m paying out of pocket. I have referred several people including my fiancé and my brother and both were very impressed with both the service and quality. In all honesty they are better than my previous optician and I didn’t think it could get any better than him.

Wow, let’s keep the 5 stars rolling in… I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by Dr. Arora and her fabulous team. Their «BEST OF THE BAY» award by KRON is well deserved!
Came in for a routine eye exam since I haven’t had one in over 6 years and ended up getting some free stuff and also purchasing a sweet pair of Prada glasses that fit perfectly and comfortably! Comfortable glasses are so hard to find these days.
The team at Bay Vision Eyecare are SUPER friendly and VERY proficient in what they do! Thank God for Unilocal… Now I have an awesome place to go whenever my eyes need some love and attention.

I just have to echo, WOW. The quality-​to-​price ratio at Dr. Arora’s is off the charts. I was really happy with my old ophthalmologist in SF. But a change in vision insurance, a new job in Oakland, and the fact that when I called for an appointment my old doc was on vacation for 3 weeks put me on the market for a new doctor.
Holy crap, I was getting ripped off before! I used to think that what I paid was just the cost for quality care and quality products (I like to buy designer glasses). But I guess it was just the Union Square markup. At my old doctor, I paid nearly $ 1000 (after insurance!) for a visit to the eye doctor and a new pair of glasses. Prescription for contacts included, but contact lenses were not.
Dr. Arora and Vick got me hooked up with (1) updated prescriptions, (2) a year’s supply of contacts, and (3) a new pair of Dior prescription sunglasses — ALL for a FRACTION of what I paid at my old doctor. No lie. Vick was awesome at manipulating numbers to figure out how best to take advantage of my insurance coverage. And he is really great at picking out glasses to complement your face. He brought out several candidates that he though would look good on me, and after trying several, I went with the first ones he pulled out! Dr. Arora is also a sweetheart, who is very knowledgeable and cares about making sure you understand your eyes.

First time here i was out the door with contacts in an hour. I have never worn contacts before and Dr. Arora was very thorough in her examination and in laying out all the options. I walked out feeling like I had new eyes. I also got a nice pair of glasses with name brand frames that were very reasonably priced. Vick was very helpful with finding a suitable pair and even stayed after their closing time a few minutes to make sure that i was set. I would recommend their establisment hands down over walmart or costco or lenscrafters etc…

wow! i have NEVER been to such a great eye doctor, even when i was a kid and insured under my parents and they picked the doctors for me!
first of all, Dr. Arora is super sweet. More importantly-​she is thorough! She takes the time to really find out the health of your eyes, not just what prescription you need. Honestly, I left there knowing more about my eyes than I ever had before, and knowing how to take care of them, and why they bother me sometimes.
My last years without insurance took me to Wal Mart vision & lens crafters. No one there ever took the time with me like Dr. Arora did. At Dr. Arora’s I took eye tests I have never taken before (and I have had to wear glasses/​contacts for the last 13+ years!)
Nobody before Dr. Arora bothered to tell me that what contact solution you use actually matters in terms of the chemicals on your eyes. Nobody ever told me I have an astigmatism (so that is why I could never see fully clearly even with my contacts?!) also that dryness in my eyes i always complained about? yeah turns out she could see it and told me how to fix it! Nobody ever helped me with that. But Dr. Arora did.
Also, Vick helped me, the most indecisive person in the world, to find glasses that looked good on me. He really knows his stuff! After seeing me try on a few pairs he narrowed it down, and found ones that i liked-​and trust me, I can’t even do that myself because I am so picky!
Also-​As for the insurance and costs-​Vick was SO aware of everything. He told me which routes to go in terms of saving money. He knew my insurance (Blue Cross/​Blue Shield or FEP Bluevision) like the back of his hand, knowing how I could get the most bang for my buck. Also there was NO pressure to buy their glasses. I told Vick I might look online for some frames and he was so cool-​no pressure to buy their frames if they aren’t what you are looking for. I will definitely go back to get lenses put in if I do pick another frame.
I could go on and on, but let me say this. For people who have NO insurance… still go to Dr. Arora. It is only $ 99 for an eye exam. That is less than I paid at LensCrafters when I had no insurance. And at Dr. Arora’s you will get so much more-​a true evaluation of your eye health, tips on your personal eye issues, and a totally relaxed atmosphere. I understand not having insurance as I didn’t for years and I highly recommend Dr. Arora for those insured and not insured.

my new spot for checkup’s and glasses!!! this place is off the hook, they have an AMAZING selection of frames, like everything, from geeky to bohemian, alternative to urban, bling to professional, they got it all. I’ve been going to lens crafters and eye spy but no more, this place is it for now on. Dr. Arora is super nice and my checkup wasn’t super rushed like it is in lens crafters, I really felt like a good a super thorough exam. Vick helped me pick out an amazing pair of glasses, when you ask him for his opinion on some glasses he tells you the truth and not what you want to hear, I’ve got so many compliments on my glasses, so thank you Dr. Arora and thank you Vick for all your help!