Agape Eyecare Optometry

So, I’m not exactly sure as to why there are a few people who aren’t happy with Dr. Cheng’s office. I’ve never had a problem here.
My husband and a few of my in laws have been coming here for a few years. Unfortunately, my vision has been going downhill and isn’t as clear as it used to be. So, now I am a patient at Dr. Cheng’s office myself. Every time we come in for our appointment, both Dr. Cheng and Paul are very welcoming. Makes you feel as if you are visiting some relatives rather than going to an appointment at the optometrist. Dr. Cheng is very patient and informative. She goes through each question that you have thoroughly and makes you feel very comfortable. She’s very kind and sweet! She recently got a puppy, so we both can chat for hours about our pups! I’m sad that my vision is as great, but Dr. Cheng helps me see better! Thank you Dr. Cheng for all of your help! You guys rock!

I had been going to Linden Optometry but was unhappy with the customer service I had received in the last few years. ie makng an appt. & still waiting 2 hours to be seen. horrible!!! .I found Dr. Chen/​Agapeye Eyecare Optometry on the VSP provider list close to home & couldn’t have found a better optometrist. Dr. Cheng is patient, personable & wonderful in explaining information. I would recommend Dr. Cheng to any and all including family.

The front desk girl is extremely rude and bad service, I will never come to the office again. They gave me my contact lenses 2 months later after I ordered. And every time when I called to ask, the front desk gave me very bad attitude.

Horrible service. Their receptionists are rude & defensive when you try to ask questions. Most optometrists allow the perscription to be good for 2 years but here, the doctor only makes the perscription valid for a year. I would much rather go to any other location just because of the staff.

So here is where the business breaks down:
1. The front receptionist is extremely rude and defensive. She wouldn’t let me use the restroom saying that the doctor was almost free. How does that make any difference? If I got go, I got to go. She’s also rude to the patients who are in the waiting room, whom on average wait 30 minutes (from the 4 – 5 times I’ve been there). She needs to understand that is the bottle neck of their business and must always be courteous because it’s not something they can control. And she seems to always be making mistakes based on the bickering she has with the doctor. Overall, she doesn’t treat people like humans and a business without good customer service and long waits will in itself defeat itself.
2. All the receipts are hand written and manufactured. This means they can charge and whatever they want. So, I’d start asking for a breakdown.
3. Paul is the «business manager» of the business. He comes off very opinionated and cocky. In addition, anytime a difference of opinion is shown he becomes argumentative and hardheaded.
4. They also have slow service. It took 3 weeks to get contacts and around 2 weeks for glasses.
My Experience:
So I had a walk-​in and gave my referral based on the family member that referred me. I just moved into the area and they had a discount for your exam if you did. I waited longer as I was a walk-​in, and began to observe some bad exchanges between another patient and the receptionist.
I got my exam, she got to know me and I got to know her. She said the same exact spiel as Ken mentioned in his review. So she recommended that I pay for an additional medical eye exam that she could perform.
«FOLLOW THE MONEY». So I told them if they could inform me of my coverages based on my insurance and they said they would choose, which one would best suit me for glasses and contacts. Because I used my personal, but got work insurance at my new job. I found out I got charged for glasses eye exam, contact exam, and an extra «fitting exam». My previous physician said that was bogus and now I recall her bickering with the receptionist saying she wasn’t supposed to charge me. However, they didn’t reimburse me, so I realize now that Mary is just as dishonest and I made the mistake of not bringing it up.
Mistake 1: Charged an extra exam fee ($ 100 – 120)
Going into picking glasses the receptionist and Paul (Business Manager) pushed a particular brand a lot. Nu Face. I looked at the other selections and didn’t really like any of them, so I went with it (My personal mistake, always look around because you can use your insurance and buy frames or lenses elsewhere). Anyways, when I asked for the price, they hid the cost of the frame and the type and options of lenses I needed/​they recommended based on my prescription. I went with the basic recommendations and opted no for anything else. The price break down was shrouded in mystery and I got a hand written piece of paper with the combined total of the expenses. Trusting them I paid for it. I later found out my insurance covered those options. So they basically cheated me out of my insurance, charged me extra out of pocket, and my current glasses don’t have some of the options that are covered.
Mistake 2: Falsifying extra charges, lying about insurance coverage
Now came contacts. I admit I like that that Mary let me try astigmatism and non-​astigmatism contacts before deciding, but if she charged me $ 100 – 120 for that which is something my previous physician lets me try for free, I just got ripped off. Typically my insurance got me 6-​months of contacts, they said 3. So she said they would clarify this based on my insurance later. Well later happened, and Paul said my insurance only covers a 3-​month supply. My dad being an insurance agent said he was wrong. He was extremely condescending to my dad when talking to him on my phone, he even mocked him by saying how he shouldn’t be confused as an «insurance guru». Later that same day, we offered to email them the form from my insurance company stating my insurance coverage. They replied, we don’t accept email and have the same information (apparently not). Paul gave me a call that same day telling me to pay the remaining out of pocket aka cash and go else where. We later called the insurance company and they said they were wrong and would contact them to fix it. Their story changed quickly after this. They cooked their books and changed their prices and told the insurance company that the pricing of their exam was actually higher. Fun fact: They took down the sheet listing the discounted referral examination prices. In the end, they decided to take my insurance to the bank for which I received 3 weeks for contacts and 2 weeks for my glasses.
Mistake 3: Did not apologize or fix problem when wrong, changed pricing to match lie, lied to insurance company, lied to customer, slow service
In the end, they lost me as a customer, 3 of my relatives, and 2 of their friends.

Dr. Cheng is the best — and I will never let anyone else examine my eyes. I drive to Rosemead from Irvine for my eye appointments. It is obvious that Dr. Cheng is passionate about ensuring the health of her patients’ eyes. Dr. Cheng is personable and patient — always happy to take the time to answer questions. I can’t write enough great things about Dr. Cheng.
Agape Eyecare’s prices are EXTREMELY reasonable — and they accept eyecare insurance too. The Agape staff is always friendly and upbeat with a keen sense of style to boot — I typically wear contacts but I was once fitted with a pair of crystal-​studded glasses that I would never otherwise have considered.

I have been wearing glasses for about 32 years now and I have been to different optometrists numerous times, but never once did a doctor explain to me that my right eye might get Glaucoma, until I went to visit Agape Eyecare, the Dr. Mary explained and showed me the nerves on my right eye is bigger then normal and it might lead to Glaucoma, she was surprised that none of my previous doctors even bother to explain that to me.
Well, I am glad that at least one doctor cares enough to explain what is wrong with my eyes then just make new glasses and collect money from me.