Walnut Creek Skin & Laser

Have been going here for medical checkups covered by my insurance and recently started having facials done and purchasing their products that I pay for out of pocket. Am very pleased. So far all excellent experiences with Christina and Dorice being favorites of mine. And my skin is improving dramatically … GREAT people, GREAT service and GREAT products. Plus I like having a one-​stop shop where both medical and cosmetic issues are addressed in one location.

I wish I’d never gone in that day. I’ll never know if Saloni did that biopsy because she truly thought I might have skin cancer or if they don’t turn any biopies ($$$) away. I asked for her opinion if I should wait or if I should remove all of it and she suggested she would shave it off. Now I have a big mark on my face and a scar when I had folliculitis which would have gone away. Even my primary doctor said it was nothing. I wish I would have listened to her instead. I waited 14 days for the biopsy and had to call them myself. I wish I would have waited or seen a more knowledgeable doctor who would have advised me differently.

Complete waste of time. 1 hour wait in the waiting room. People were called who arrived way after us. Saw nurse for literally 1 minute and told to use Vaseline… mind you, this is for what was called a highly contagious virus… USE VASELINE? When I questioned why not a prescription ointment… her reply was «we used to order that from Canada, but don’t use it anymore». So exactly why did I just pay $ 35 copay… Waste of time, copay and insurance billing.

the lady dermatologist was good and prescribed me ointment for my rash. the stars are low because the receptionist are horrible they say they understand and can cancel your appointment and reschedule, yea they rescheduled you but never canceled my old appointment, now they are trying to charge me for a no show for the appointment i canceled. its been a few years and they are still trying to collect the no show fee or $ 40, i called them 3 time and talked to them, they said it was a mistake, but month after month they have been sending me statements. i wrote them letters and i did pay my portion that insurance didn’t cover but i told them i am not paying for a canceled appointment because your receptionist.

It saddens me that «reviewers» will impair the reputation of a doctor due to their staff. Let me tell you, with many doctors in my family and more as close friends, this is a constant in the industry. Why? I have idea. But if you are in the majority (which I am definitely not) and have a bad experience with the office staff, you should say that and give compliments to the doctors.
In my experience, even though they apologized for being so busy (which they were), the staff was friendly, receptive, and understanding. But my biggest reason for writing this is to give a proper acknowledgment to Dr. Becker. It is rare to find a doctor of such unimpeachable integrity that I am lucky to have found him. Moreover, he was referred by another physician who told me that he was very competent and straightforward. This is an understatement.
Many years ago, I was surfer in SoCal that ignorantly sat on my board facing away from the shore and sun which ultimately led to an overabundance of sunburns and, eventually, scars. I went to three dermatologists over the years and while I thought they were good, they said that I had to come back often, they did things that were «necessary» but not covered by insurance, and the last two encouraged me to consider cosmetic surgery. I would not do that but their recommendation left a bit uncomfortable. Not Dr. Becker… not at all. His exam was thorough, he told me that my skin is in excellent condition, I have absolutely nothing to worry about and I should come back in a year. NOBODY has ever said that to me.
Kudos to Dr. Becker… I would highly recommend him to anybody!

This practice is truly amazing and I am not a new customer as I have been coming here for almost 4 years and have had multiple treatments, but saw some of the reviews and only feel it fair to give my opinion.
The staff at this practice are so sweet and helpful. This is the perfect one stop shop for all your beauty treatments, they offer so much under one roof, from Dermatology services to Botox to body treatments such as Coolsculpting to esthetician services.
I have been getting a micodermasweep now every month for almost 3 years and people always comment on how wonderful my skin looks and it is this, coupled with the skin products I buy from here, Skin Medica. that make this possible at almost 50 years old!!.
So if you have not been to this practice I highly recommend you do so, Dr Becker and Dr Zimmerman and the team are true professionals, and I would not trust my skin with anyone else!!!, after all you wear it everyday!

I’ve seen Dr. Zimmerman in this office twice and both times the office was running on schedule — or at least less than 15 minutes behind schedule, which is good enough for me. I usually call ahead to make sure I don’t show up for appointments and then sit in a waiting room for an hour, but some places have front desk staff that just refuse to admit the doctor is 30 minutes behind! Not here.
The waiting room is clean and nice and had little samples of sensitive skin Dove soap available last time I went in.
The BEST thing about this office is being able to email to request an appointment. I went to their website, explained what I wanted checked out, and had an email response the next day when I was at work. I didn’t have to take a personal call at their convenience, but was able to request a date and respond to their emails when I had a break — totally convenient! The appointment wasn’t that far out either.
You don’t have to have skin issues to need a visit to a dermatologist. They do cancer screenings, which is important for everyone! My cousin died of melanoma last year and he was only in his 30s, so naturally I’m concerned about every spot I see — it’s nice to be reassured that I’m just being paranoid. Never ever wait to check out something on your body that concerns you. They also offer cosmetic treatments, facials, and skin products of all types, so hopefully my next visit will be for one of these services.

I had been told the small hard spots on my face, that would go away, (they had been there for over a year) were Amelia. I would need to see a special medical esthetician to safely remove them. I was expecting this would be very expensive and was told it hurts & might leave tiny scars. I went to Dr. Becker’s Office and Irene took them out, she also gave me a partial facial, taking extra time on me. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t leave spots on my face, and only cost $ 40 (no tips are allowed because it’s a medical office). I went back and had Irene give me a 50 minute exfoliating facial, because it was on special for $ 69(again on tip) I thought this was also a good price, because a tip is normally added. My skin looks & feels much better. This is a great place for any skincare procedures. They offer all of the latest cosmetic treatments.

If you’re looking for an esthetician in the area, Irene is the real deal! I’ve seen her about once a month for the past 3 – 4 months now and always look forward to my appointments with her — not just because of her fun personality and easygoing demeanor — but because we’re making real progress!
I’ve struggled with breakouts for about a decade now, and though I’ve had varying degrees of success with different treatments and products, I never felt like I was actually working my way out of this issue for good. But with Irene, she has me on a treatment plan that she created for my needs and wants, and I’m already seeing visible results.
I am just so grateful for her thought-​through treatment plan, not to mention her encouragement along the way. Looking forward to being comfortable in my skin once and for all!

This place is terrible. I went in hopes of figuring out why I’ve been breaking out and to ask about the rash on my face, and I was in the office for 7 minutes. She told me everything I already knew and said talking about my acne is too much for one visit. 7 minutes is too long? Alright then. Never coming back. Everyone here is rude and they rush you in and out. All the doctor did was prescribe me something new, saying what I use now isn’t right.

Have had an ongoing issue with eczema. Finally made an appointment and when I got there, the receptionist was friendly. Very short wait to see Christine Connor. She took one look at it and gave me a huge free sample of some amazing cream. She also diagnosed mild staph infection that my primary care doctor hadn’t mentioned. Since I already had an ointment for staph I didn’t need anything for it. We determined that we were sisters of different mothers and I left the office feeling like I had been a valued patient.

I was referred to this business for a rash that I had on my abdomen that would not go away with the normal steroid cream my doctor prescribed. I saw Dr. Zimmerman and he gave me a stronger steroid cream. It did not help. He proceeded to tell me that he thought I had an auto immune disease that I could google and find no other similar symptoms other than the shape. But, he’s the doctor right? So I go back again (mind you, paying a visit fee each time) and he calls in Dr. Becker, the Doctor in practice forever… he proceeds to stand 6 feet away from me and agrees that it’s the autoimmune disease. How could he tell? He didn’t even close the door and come near me. So they decide that I need a biopsy. The biopsy cost me $ 650 from UCSF and the results??? Common rash… Then they prescribe an eczema cream with a $ 100 copay. That made my symptoms worse. Like I couldn’t even be at work worse. I called and requested an immediate appointment. I couldn’t see Dr. Becker or Zimmerman so I saw a nice lady that took out my stitch and gave me a strong steroid cream. One look, one cream, gone in TWO DAYS!!! This had been going on for months. In the end I spent well over $ 1000 on this ordeal when it could have cost me one visit and a $ 10 copay for the cream. I told them I didn’t want to pay my remaining balance because they wasted my money, time, and energy worrying I had an autoimmune disease AND have a scar on my body for the rest of my life. Guess what, they don’t care… they took off their charge for the biopsy, $ 99…how generous… all they want it there money…

I first heard about Walnut Creek Skin and Laser from a friend. She recommended that I go and see Christine Connor-​Goold, Nurse Practitioner and Physicians Assistant. Ms. Connor-​Goold greeted me with a handshake and a smile. I showed her the bumps on my arms and hands and she recommended a biopsy on a couple of things and to spray the rest with Liquid Nitrogen. I admit that the Nitrogen stung a little, but it did the trick on the areas she sprayed. I had to make a return appointment for the biopsy and was happy that I did.
It turns out that both of the areas that she checked turned out to be precancerous and that we caught them in time. I appreciated Ms. Connor-​Goolds attention to my questions and to my concerns. I will go back again for check-​ups.

Extremely rude phone-​staff. First off, all the receptionist wanted to find out was if my insurance card said «covered california» and if it did, «sorry we don’t accept that»… I called back and the second receptionist hesitatingly said «we do accept coveredCA but wait 1min a doctor is paging me»…put me hold and never answered my call again.
I believe that’s ILLEGAL to say you don’t accept «coverd CA,“secondly, I understand your desire to only serve high-​income patients, but learn better manners and don’t make it so obvious!

First impression: depressing, windowless space staffed by vapid, overly made-​up young women.
Much worse was the visit with the doctor – actually a nurse practitioner, a fact that was not disclosed when I made the appointment. I’m a nurse and I usually prefer to see NPs over doctors, but not when the visit involves minor surgery on my child.
The NP, Christine Connor-​Goold, was abrupt, condescending, and shockingly devoid of compassion for my needle-​phobic son. When I offered to help hold his clothing out of the way, she told me to do so only if i wanted to «get electrocuted.» Really, a medical professional says this to a mother in front of a child? Not to mention the fact that it was blatantly false.
She also started the visit with a snarky comment about the doctor at urgent care, where my son had been seen, not being able to make a correct diagnosis. Hmm, that doctor was kind, compassionate, a good communicator, and… a DOCTOR, in stark contrast to Ms. Connor-​Goold herself.
I won’t be back.

Absolutely disappointed! I had a new patient consultation scheduled at the Brentwood office today at 1210pm. This was previously confirmed by an automated message generated by the office, as well as a phone call myself one hour prior to my visit. Upon arrival I was not greeted by anyone and followed the instructions at the front desk to sign in and take a seat. After 40 mins I kindly asked the receptionist what the hold up was. I was then taken back, only to be told by the Dr Christine Connor that I wouldn’t be seen! The young inexperienced assistant with no professional manners and no personality failed to own up to the Dr that I was indeed scheduled for the appointment. I then received a half-​ass apology for not being seen. I took the day off work, showed up on time, waited for 40mins, and then was rudely turned away. I guess they’re in no hurry to build their client base, as I will never return, nor will I give my insurance money to the Walnut Creek office either. By the way, the office states that patients will be charged a fee for not showing up for an appointment. However, I guess they think they can completely waste my time without consequences. Do your research and don’t give this place your business. Dermatologists are a dime a dozen and this office pretty much sucks. Hope this helps prospective patients choose a Dr wisely.

I went here because of a cyst on my arm. They removed the cyst under pretext that it could be a dangerous growth, now I have a scar that is bigger and more apparent than the growth. Rather than explaining what cysts are and whether they need to be removed or not they thought it would be best to proceed with an operation that cost over $ 700, after insurance deductible. It is interesting that they chose to remove this cyst, especially when their own website states that cysts do not need to be removed!
After refusing to negotiate the price I took Walnut Creek Skin and Laser to small claims court. I won a judgement in my favor exceeding the costs of the procedure.
Walnut Creek Skin and Laser appealed the case and with the help of their lawyer and my lack of a medical expert to demonstrate negligence I ultimately lost the case.
This demonstrates that the company will mutilate your body for its own profit.

This is the new practice for Drs. Jay Zimmerman and Ed Becker. It’s newly remodled and looks great inside. Much more spacious than before. The service is always great and the clinic has some of the most advanced technology for virtually any medical or cosmetic treatment you’d need. Top notch practice I highly recccommend for both medical and cosmetic services.