Hemet Eye Care Center

Really like this place. Great selection of glasses and was very happy with the care and service I received.

I called in the morning with a lot of pain and irritation in my right eye. I got a same day appointment. The Doctor Lady was very nice and listened to my concerns. She also notified me they do payment plans for glasses. Since my contacts where the problem. I got medicine for my eye and now I’m here again for the follow up appointment.

First off, let me mention that I’ve been going to this optometry center since I was a kid when I got my first pair of glasses in 6^th grade. Boy, have things changed since then.
I hadn’t been to this place for quite a few years because I was using vision insurance through my university who had their own optometrists. When I graduated, I decided to come back to this place and that was a bad idea. I had also read negative reviews on TOPIX before scheduling my appt which I thought was strange considering I had never had an issue with this place before. Remembering what a pleasant experience it had been when I was a kid, I decided to call.
I called on a Friday and there was no answer. The generic prerecorded message on the answering machine was the one what comes with it, that they clearly never bothered to change. There was no mention of what company you were calling, the hours, anything. I thought either they changed their number or went out of business. I called again Monday and same thing. For whatever reason, I called AGAIN Tuesday and finally someone picked up. Apparently they are only open Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Id be nice for them to mention that.) My availability was flexible, so scheduling an appt was not a problem after that; They were able to see me that very Thursday. At the time, I thought, «Great!» But now, I realize it was probably because they have lost so many patients.
When I got there, I was instantly disappointed with the appearance of the place. There was BARELY a selection of frames on the walls, few pictures were hanging, and leaves were scattered on the floor of the lobby. It looked run-​down to the ground! I had to use the restroom while I was there, and I couldn’t help but notice it wasn’t too clean either.
Even though I had made it to my appt about 15 minutes early they didn’t see me until after 30 minutes of my actual appt time. Only one other patient was there. They gave me a lot of paperwork to fill out because they classified me as a new patient which was a little annoying since I had been there as recently as three years ago. But apparently they don’t keep their files for over 2 years. When it was time to see me, I follow them into the back where I could tell a TON of equipment was missing from the other rooms. I asked why the place looked so run-​down, and the what the hell had happened. I was informed that the two other optometrists (Dr. Ong and Dr. Navarro) had left the eye care center and so it just Dr. Martinez taking patients.
My experience with Dr. Martinez itself was pleasant enough. She’s friendly and explains things in a relatable manner.
BUT MY BIGGEST PROBLEM was that they gave me expired products and tried to act like it was a simple mistake. I went to get an exam and a new set of contacts. It’s a familiar process because I’ve been a contact wearer for the last nine years. When she gave me the trial lenses, I put them on and reviewed the Snellen eye chart which strangely still seemed blurry to me. She suggested a stronger prescription on my left eye and when she handed me the new trial lens, I noticed it was expired. I pointed it out. She seemed a little bewildered, but replaced it. No big deal at first.
She told me each lens was a 2 month wear, but when the receptionist tried to charge me for them, the receptionist insisted they were for single monthly use. When I mentioned the discrepancy to her, she told me to go by what the optometrist said. So I’m not sure who the idiot was, but it was rather odd. They sent me home with my trial lenses and four boxes of solution for the contacts, which seemed awfully generous to me. I was supposed to come back in a few weeks to pick up my order of contacts when they were delivered to the optometrist center.
It wasn’t until a week later when I started to open my second box of solution that I noticed it was expired. When I checked the date of the other boxes, THEY WERE ALL EXPIRED. I was very upset.
I returned to the place when it was time to pick up my order of contacts and explained the situation to the receptionist. She seemed surprised and told me she didn’t even know that solution could expire! Are you kidding?! The optometrist told her to get me some replacement boxes. When the receptionist went over to get them I could see her grabbing boxes, checking the dates, putting some back… until she could scavenge four boxes that weren’t expired. I was appalled. The optometrist tried to justify how that mistake could have been easy to overlook and gave me some BS about forgetting to take out older boxes when they got new shipments or something. But NEVER did they once apologize for this mistake.
I’m not sure whether they just expect other patients not to notice, but it’s certainly not acceptable. Overall, this place seemed unprofessional and I will not be returning.

I found a whole ton of really nasty, negative comments about this place on TOPIX. I have no idea what they’re talking about. I went there about a week ago. I have to go back & get my glasses. I will say one negative thing though. Someone made a typo on their computer & had the wrong
phone # showing, claimed they called the number & got some really angry & abusive male on the phone. When I asked them the number they had for me, they hemmed & hawed. Then they backtracked. I used a credit card to pay for the eyeglasses, so I’ll see what happens when I go pick them up. But I found Dr. Navarro to be competent & felt he did a decent exam. He had new equipment in the office, the office was clean. As for any «racisim» that is claimed on the TOPIX list, I can’t speak to that. Nor can I address insurance fraud. There was one comment & no one responded to it.