Bender Optometric Group

Dr Bender called and apologized shortly after I posted my review. He was genuine in his concern. My wife had some back ordered frames that they took care of so they deserve an extra star for trying to make things right. As I said Their service wasn’t what I had a problem with. Give them a try and decide on your own.

Very friendly staff… Been coming to this place for the past 3years! Karen is really friendly as well as the other employees. Dr. Bender is a good Dr…

I just got my pair of glasses yesterday from this place. Great and fast service and amazing staff!
I believe her name was Karen, she was very friendly!
I love my glasses!

Dr Bender is excellent. My entire family comes here. Dr and staffs know my family and very friendly. Equipments are modern and makes it easy for normal eye check-​up as well as getting new pairs. The store looks small but I like the selection especially the Silhouette lines. I cannot go back to normal frame now. I recommend this place to my coworker and he started coming here too.

I have been seeing Dr. Bender for years now and have nothing but great things to say about him and his entire office staff. Dr. Bender is extremely thorough and caring. I had difficulty finding contact lenses that were comfortable and he wasn’t the least bit bothered by having to try multiple pairs. He was very generous with samples and wanted to make sure everything was perfect. He was even willing to order me contacts that he doesn’t carry in his practice.
His office staff is kind and efficient. They are good about following up and making sure that things are handled properly.
I look forward to my annual visits with Dr. Bender! He is truly as good as it gets!

The eye exam was fine with friendly helpful staff BUT… the rest were very disappointing. My health insurance included flexible spending account and when I called them to provide them with my flexible spending account information so to avoid dealing with claims form. They claimed they called my insurance company and was told I don’t have a flexible spending account. To avoid the hassle, I decided to just pay with my credit card. 3 – 4 weeks went by and I have not heard from the office regarding my glasses and ironically, I have received my reimbursement check from my flexible spending account! So I gave them a call to find out where my prescription glasses are and they said the lab was closed.
Today, I received a voicemail from the office
giving some excuses that it will be another week or two as the lab «messed up». I shouldn’t be the one chasing after my glasses and they should have a system checking on their customer order to make sure it’s properly fulfilled!!! Not the 4.5 star service I expected when I found them on Unilocal

I’ve coming here for three years. Dr. Bender and his staff are efficient and very friendly. Also, you’ll be very surprised to learn about Dr. Bender’s vast knowledge of music!

Dr. Bender is a very professional and kind doctor. I was impressed by his knowledge as a practitioner and calm nature. He took great care of my eyes when I was having bad dry eyes with my allergies. I also liked the friendly staff and the welcoming feel of the whole practice. I recommend Dr. Bender to anyone looking for great eye care and excellent service!

I’m very grateful to have found Dr. Bender by chance and want to personally thank you for working with my situation and having my best interest at heart. Its hard to find Dr’s whose true passion is for their patients instead of for money or trying to cycle through patients quickly. Bender walked me through everything and gave a detailed description of my eye infection, why it happened and the quickest way to cure it. Thanks again and I’m definitely returning

Awesome place I love coming here. The staff is extremely professional and courteous. Aside from that Dr. Bender is great, very friendly, knowledgable and patient. He never rushes trough anything and I love that he will sit with you an answer any questions instead of sending in an assistant to do all the work for him (like other places that I have been to in the past). They have a great selection of frames (I do wish they carried more brands) but I know that it’s hard because from what I’ve been told is that they are required to commit to a huge amount of the product. The equipment that he uses is awesome, all computerized, and none of the old manual stuff (which is good because anyone willing to spend the money to stay on to top edge obviously cares about their business). I will definitely continue coming to Dr. Bender.

Always a positive experience visiting Dr. Bender! He really cares about his patients and remembers things about you. Same with his staff! Very friendly and helpful. I was pleased to see that Dr. Bender carries John Varvatos frames. I’m a guitar player and I got a pair of JV sunglasses with a guitar headstock on the temples — very unique and so cool! I also chose JV eyeglasses and they arrived quickly — the prescription is right on and they look great. Exams are nice because he will simplify the optometric jargon and answer any questions you have in terms that are easy to understand. Also, it looks like Dr. Bender is utilizing modern equipment and new technology in his exam room. Like I said, always a pleasure visiting Dr. B for my yearly exam.

Dr. Bender and his staff are amazing. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with him. He really takes the extra time to explain anything you need to know or have questions on. He is a young guy with a great career ahead of him.

I’ve been a customer since 2010. The girls know me by name! Dr Bender is a super nice but most importantly, professional optometrist. I like he takes time to do his thing and then gives you an comprehensive explanation of what is going on with your eyes. I also bought the spray to clean my glasses (house product) and I have one at the office, my house and the car! Get one or two!

My children have been patients of Dr. Bender since he took over the business from Dr. Kaye.
My oldest son is not easy to work with and so we did have a rough start. However, Dr. Bender was very patient while he examined my sons eyes and even more patience in teaching him (several times) how to use contact lenses.
It is a long visit for their annual exams but from my experience it is no longer than any other eye doctors visit and they are patient, thorough and there is no pressure to buy extra services and products.
He has spent a lot of time re doing the office making it welcoming and comfortable.
Unfortunately this last year our insurance changed and we were unable to see Dr Bender. We picked another eye doctor that was on the provider list. We ended up back at Dr Benders paying out of pocket for a secondary exam because there is no one like Dr Bender.
I highly recommend him for children and adults. Appointments are easy to get, staff is friendly and helpful. Dr Bender is patient, friendly and very approachable.
Thank you Dr. Bender for taking care of my family.

Being on a new Health care plan meant I needed to find a new eye Dr., so I did the typical thing, I called a few friends to see who their local eye Dr. was and if they were happy. Several of my friends (who are in the eye care business) referred me to Dr. Bender. After I met him I quickly realized why, his staff was very flexible with scheduling an appointment time that worked for me. He was very patient during the exam and took his time explaining things to me and helped me find a contacts that were more suited for my life style. I’m now writing this review after going to Dr. Bender for over a year and with continued satisfaction after my last visit. If your looking for a good Dr., nice staff, and a clean office this is it.

Bender Optometric Group Receive’s 5 Stars from us! Staff is welcoming, happy too!
We went to Dr. Bender for our eye examnation. We were so pleased with the way we were treated, that we decided to have our entire family including chidlren as clients too!
When you first walk, the office is a Very clean office, very inviting, with a Curteous Staff, and a great selection of frames. Dr. Bender accepts 100% Union benefits! My visit & lenses were 100% covered!
Very kind with kid’s too! There was absolutelty No pressure to purchase expensive lenses, frames nor contact lenses! I have my new eye glasses from them, and today my husband is selecting his!
Dr Bender, will be our Eye doctor from now on, clients since 2010.

I have been going to Dr. Bender for about 4 years and I have been very happy with his work. He is very knowledgeable and answers questions thoroughly. He uses the latest technology in his office and keeps up to date with the latest trends in optometry. I highly recommend him. I have never had any problems with my prescription/​glasses.

I got some great John Varvatos glasses from Dr. Bender. In March 2011, I got a full check on my eyes, the staff there are friendly and not one complaint here. And I was also amazed on how much variety of frames there were. I am a patient here, btw! :)

If I could give Bender Optometric Group negative stars, I would.
Back in April of 2010, I purchased two frames overseas and brought them in to have them fitted with lenses. They said it would take about 1 ½ weeks to complete, which is normal. On the date I was supposed to have them done, I called to see if I could pick them up and they said that they were still sitting in the office and hadn’t been sent to the lab yet. Instead of waiting for this office to complete my order, I decided to take them to a different optometry office where I had them done within the time frame promised.
Fast forward to June of 2011, I received a bill from an optometry office for $ 486 dollars that was 120+ Days overdue. I was puzzled as to what it was, so I called the office and they told me it was for the lenses. I thought I was talking to the optometry office that actually fitted my frames with lenses because I had completely forgotten about Bender Optometric. Thinking that it was the 2^nd office, I told them it was already paid for and that they needed to check their records. They called me back a few weeks later threatening to send me to collections if I didn’t pay over the phone immediately. I didn’t pay because I distinctly remembering to pay for them already.
That night, I looked over my records and realized that it was the 1^st optometry office (Bender Optometric Group) that was trying to bill me for my canceled frame order. The next day, I went into the office (steaming mad) and told them about their mistake. The front office receptionist coped major attitude with me because I told them it was absurd that they would send me to collections for services they didn’t even provide and that it was their mistake. I told her that it was also very strange because it had been over a year since I came in and this was the first time I ever received a statement from them. She told me it was impossible and that there was no way I never received any other statements. So not only was I a deadbeat, I was now a liar too.
We argued back and forth, and the receptionist threatened to call the police on me because I refused to leave until they fixed the problem! Another girl in the office ended up stepping in and the angry receptionist went to the back office. The office manager took less than 5 minutes on the phone with the lab to confirm that the order was not processed. She apologized and told me that they would remove the charges.
It was a ridiculous situation that got out of control. Could I have been a little more calm and collect in handling the situation? Yes.
The way I look at it, the entire situation would have never happened if:
a) record keeping in the office was done properly
b) office person in charge of billing did their due diligence and researched the charges before sending out the statement.
With so many different optometry offices in Tustin, no one needs to waste their time with this one.