Costco Optometry

Dr. Katzaroff has been helping my family for 10 years. I hope he continues to be there forever. The perfect eye doctor, and he’s also great with kids. It is true that we sometimes wait past our appointment time, and that can be aggravating. The trade off is that when Dr. Katz is seeing you, he is very thorough, and takes the time to explain everything and answer all of your questions. I’d much rather wait past my appointment time than feel rushed when it’s time to see my doctor, or wonder if he was thorough with my kids exam.
As for the store part where you buy glasses, IT’S COSTCO. Yes, you have to wait in line. Yes, there is usually more than one person in front of you. AND you get professional, helpful, and nice people to help you when it’s your turn. They have really decent prices on glasses and contacts. They always let you know if there are coupons or rebates. They offer good service at good prices, but to do that they need volume, and that means lots of people waiting to buy stuff. It’s COSTCO.
There are boutique shops and places like LensCrafters where people will greet you at the door and hold your hand through the whole process if that’s what you like, just expect to pay $ 500 – 600 for your glasses. If you want the same thing for $ 150, take a number, shut up and wait your turn! Jeez!

Competent and Professional Service, fair prices and Dr. Katz is fantastic! He is extremely knowledgeable, willing to answer all my questions and my son loves him. Thanks Dr. Katz, we will be back!

The young lady in the front office should not work with public, bad attitude and no help at all.
We had an appointment that we made the day before and after waiting half an hour we were told that will be another 20 minutes. No explanation and no excuse. Will not see this optometrist again, ever. There are places that will treat you better, so why bother with this place.

I have been coming here for at least 7 years. I have usually worked with Dr Katz… (sp?) and he is great. I have also worked with another Dr and she was also wonderful. This is a no nonsense basic set up with prices posted clearly. Yet, I get the same treatment and service that I get at my previous optometrist for less than half the price. They will do adjustments if something isn’t right with glasses or contacts. I have also filled my contact lenses and glasses at Costco. Very convenient and again, easy adjustments and returns. I had my exam and new prescription on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and today, Sept 19^th, I just got a text message that my new glasses are ready. I always make an appointment and the wait has been generally 15 to 20 minutes. This works for me and wanted to say thanks for the great service year after year.

I wish I can give this place a negative star review ! Awful service from the get go. To begin, no one greeted us when we walked in, the office is FIFLTY DISGUSTINGLY DIRTY ! I filled out the papers, waited to be called in for a SIMPLE EYE CHECK EXAM! Granted I was a walk in but the told me the wait is about 25 min. After an hour and a half wait I stormed out after they let another person without an appointment in front of me. I WILL NEVER COME BACK HERE. Luna needs an attitude change and to be quickly replaced. No way to handle a customer!

I came here to buy some new contacts today and I had an awesome experience. Richard, the optical manager, helped me out today and was so extremely nice and helpful. I had bought the wrong set of contacts and he had told me if there were any issues to come back to him right away and he would fix it. I ended up returning the ones I had just bought and bought the correct ones. He didn’t hesistate to help me out right away and even though I knew he was very busy… he still kept a great attiutude and a smile. Thank you for you help Richard! Your kindness didn’t go unnoticed! :) I will definitely be returning here, knowing that the staff has great customer service skills. Everyone was great and my wait went by fast!

The actual Optometrist that did my test was so much nicer than the last one. The last guy was a white guy with a beard and he was sarcastic. It’s as if he was pissed that I came in for an exam. I think it was because it was a few years since I last had an exam. Sorry, the economy was a shithole in 2009, apparently that was my fault.
This time I had an Asian lady and she was so nice! I was almost surprise from the great treatment she gave me. My prescription even improved (take that, white optometrist)
Two weeks later…
When I had to get my glasses, the LINE WAS LONG. There should be a pickup wait and the glasses choosing wait should be 2 separate lines. There must be peak times honestly, if I had the time, I would have rolled up in there at opening, but I was busy, so I guess early afternoon, it gets packed.
The manager was helping me. He adjusted my glasses fine, but I was dying from all the corny shit coming out of his mouth. It was to the point where I said, «Okay, I get it.» I understand he was coming off as personal, but when I’m waiting around for almost an hour, just adjust them, ask me how I’m doing and send me on my way.

The front office staff is the slowest reception staff I have encountered. I had a 1:30 pm appointment and they kept directing me outside to take a seat. Um, I made an appointment for a reason! I would never recommend anyone come here. They’re slow, overcrowded, and overbook their appointments.

This place simply takes forever even when you get there to get a number!
They have about 4 walls of selections, but if you find something and you for some reason can not make your our have make sure you put it on hold. If you don’t put the glasses on hold them they are gone and they don’t have an unlimited stock just simply the one pair.
The prescription alone is $ 68 dollars alone and most of the frames range from $ 49.00 and up. I saw other places for glasses started at $ 100 plus for the cute ones and that was without even the prescription. They have name brands and the really expensive ones they have locked away in cases in front so if you have a lot of money make sure you check out the front. They also offer sunglasses, but this is fewer than the actual glasses.
The staff are very friendly and it’s not there fault it takes so long. There is just a lot of new information being gathered if they are not a returning customer.

John Katzaroff is a great optometrist. Very helpful, takes his time to make sure that the contacts feel comfortable and never makes me feel rushed. He also encourages me to come back if it does not feel good and have them refitted which I appreciate. Highly recommend.

********TIP FOR MAKING YOUR GLASSES LOOK LIKE NEW WITH OLIVE OIL******
Okay…so I know there are always a bit of a long line. Some of you have stated that below but honestly, though I have yet to have a bad experience. They are such nice technicians and they really take your time with you.
Last time I came in (I wear both glasses and contacts), I had mentioned my glasses were kind of looking older (they had these weird, discolored marks on the side). My cousin has these same very marks on his glasses too and I was curious what they were. The lady had told me to take a cotton ball with olive oil and rub the sides of my glasses with it gently. She said the reason for this was the side of my glasses were dry but they were not permanent but more like scratches than can be removed. You then let the olive oil soak over night and then wipe off the residue. No joke, they look brand spankin new! Very cool little trick.
Thanks, Costco Optical! ;)

The purpose of this review is to offset the 1 star someone erroneously gave for the optical department, which is separate from the optometrist, John Katzaroff, who was nice, attentive to my concerns and does everything one would expect from an optometrist.

Been coming here for years. Line was always long but this year, apparently, they hired another doctor so there is NO, i repeat, NO waiting time!
Eye exam/​fitting for contact lens is still a great deal ($ 90 here and $ 230 at the Jules Stein) and they give you a pair free as part of the exam.

This review is for the department that sells glasses/​contacts, not the Optometrists themselves. There is always a long wait, and I’m sure some of the clientele in the area may be difficult. I noticed that the reason the wait is so long is because some customers will monopolize the employees with such ridiculous questions or they will be on their cellphones while asking questions. Seriously?! Know which glasses you want before you take a ticket! I have come here several times for eyeglass fittings, etc. and I’m always treated with such abrupt disregard. My most current visit was on a Monday afternoon. I was about 8^th in line. I needed my new glasses adjusted. The Costco employee had me try them on and asked, «how does it feel». The glasses would not stay on and were slouching onto the tip of my nose. She paid no attention. She took the glasses and began to adjust them. She seemed annoyed. No small talk, which I don’t really expect. She didn’t even start of with, «how can I help you today?» Instead, it was an irritated, «next???» I tried the glasses after her adjustments and I told her that it was still falling off my face. I asked nicely if she can tighten it more. Her response, «umm​.no. That’s it.» Before she even says, «bye». She took the next customer. My glasses were still so lose that I could not wear them. I had to go to the Costco in Pacoima to have them fitted, yet again. This time, the sales girl was pleasant and very helpful.