South Bay Eye Institute

I was given a 1:40pm appointment and was told that I would be the first, that it would be a quick appt. My optometrist recommended this Dr. Joshi. Well it was after 4pm and I was still there waiting, I was on my lunch hour mind you. I walked out of the office without having my eyes checked. I will call my insurance so they don’t get paid for service not rendered. This office and staff need to understand that patients make payday possible.

This office and staff and doctors have no respect for your time. In addition make sure you check and double check your bills because they charge your insurance for services not rendered then charge you for services already paid for by your insurance. Not professional.

A telephone appointment reminder system for a doctor who no longer works there. That’s really smart.

Staff was poorly trained and not responsive. I’ve had two orders for contacts through a website canceled because they’re staff doesn’t know how to read the records from their computer system to confirm the prescription.
That being said, if you can make it past the rest of the staff, Dr. August and other doctors are great.
Too bad they’re not the one’s answering the phones…

I called to make new patient appointments but only got voicemail through their electronic answering system. When they finally returned the call, the next available apt was a month out. Between the time I called and their returned call, I was able to book an appt with another highly rated Unilocal Dr for the next day even. Doctors who are relying on answering machines over humans are losing customers!

Quick appointment, short wait room time, attentive doctor and thorough exam. No complaints, see you in a year.

I don’t care how good the docs are or not. This office clearly overbooks. Never waited less than 1hr. Today after 1 and a ½ hour wait, I decided just to walk out. They must really think they are the only ones having a job. Unnaceptable.

Went there for the 1^st time for just a general check-​up, had a 2pm appt, and did not leave their office until literally 5:15 pm??? My poor ride was just sitting there, waiting for me the entire time, having no clue what was going on. I saw Dr. Tavann, will NEVER go there to see him again-​I scheduled a follow-​up appt with another Dr. at that facility, b/​c (besides him taking FOREVER to see me, and it was 4pm when he finally came in my room & found me twiddling my thumbs), he kept saying «I’ll be right back» and leaving the room, but left it open a crack, so I could HEAR HIM in the next room, speaking with other patients! On top of that, he didn’t even ask me if I had contacts in, put some eye drops in both of my eyes, THEN asked if I was wearing contacts! I said that yes, I was, and THEN he said «Oh No! The drops will STAIN your contacts! You’d better take them out!» So as I was trying to take them out, he again said «Be right back», left, and I heard him talking to that other patient for 20 mins while I was alone in the dim room, blind. Finally he came back in, did my exam, then left. When I finally got the go-​ahead to put my contacts back in, I found that the entire office was dark-​I was the LAST ONE in the entire office, all the rooms were dark! Niiiice.

After explaining how important it was that I get more than one pair of contacts every 2 months, the optometrist was sympathetic and wrote me a prescription that would refill more often, so I would have more replacement contacts while away on business travel.
Pro Tip: She even told me where to buy contacts cheaper than I could find them even in their own office (CostCo!!) Who knew?

Over the years I have jumped from eye doctor to eye doctor, never finding one that I really liked. Then I came across South Bay Eye Institute. This place far exceeds expectations. I see Dr. Joshi and Dr. Carrasco (for my contact fitting) and they are both excellent. I am comfortable knowing that my future eye sight is in their hands!

I found South Bay Eye Institute on Unilocal as I was looking for someone to see in regards to a problem I was having. First off, I was pleased that they took my medical insurance for the appointment since I don’t have vision. I have no idea if all eye doctor’s do this, but I was pleased. Upon arriving, the front desk employee was very pleasant. As I was going to the back room, I found the assistant to be very nice as well. Finally The doctor came in, which I feel bad I can’t remember his name, but he was great. He answered all my questions and did a very thorough examination and then some. I saw him the next week for a follow up and he upped my eye drops since he wasn’t getting the results he wanted. I am very pleased with the place and would definitely recommend it to friends. It is so nice to have good customer service, these days I start to lose hope sometimes and they definitely showed me some people still have it :)

Dr. Lawrence N. August and Dr. Aarchan Joshi of the South Bay Eye Institute are easily the best eye doctors in Los Angeles. They are the Eye Doctor Dream Team!
Both of these men are brilliant, classy, personable, professional, efficient, as well as sincerely interested in their patients for their well being. They run an excellent business and help many people.
Due to a serious case of iritis, I nearly lost my right eye. It started when I had an eye irritation and I therefore went to Stein Optometric in the Manhattan Village Shopping Center (Manhattan Beach). The doctor there (I did not find out until later) misdiagnosed my iritis as a stye. That Stein Optometric doctor gave me some stye medicine and sent me on my way. He also approved me to take a week trip to New York. After a few days in New York, my eye started swelling, turned blood-​shot red and constantly swelled with involuntary tears. I called the doctor at Stein Optometric and he assured me it was a stye and to continue with my medicine. I flew back to Los Angeles after a week and my eye became so bad that I was not able to see with it any longer. My eyes had become extremely sensitive to light as well (I assume due to the stye medicine). I called the Stein Optometrist again, explained to him how severe my eye had become, he became very nervous and asked me to drive to Hollywood (from Manhattan Beach). That was simply not possible as I was not able to see in one eye and the other had become extremely sensensitive to the sun. I was barely able to drive down the street. Fortunately, I found the South Bay Eye Institute. Dr. August was my primary doctor there, however, Dr. Joshi would regularly look at my eye as well (I guess because my eye was so severe it took the dream team to work together). I learned from Dr. August that I had a very serious case of iritis and that it required extreme treatment. He prescribed a water drop steroid and for me to place drops every hour around the clock. He asked me to visit him in short term appointments. Dr. August was so caring that he went out of his way to specifically open his office for me on the weekends (I was his only appointment on the weekends). He had a family and likely had many other important things in his life to take care of on weekends, however, because of his devotion and commitment to his patients, he sacrificied his free/​family time for me. Dr. August ultimately saved my eye and I have 100% vision again! I remember during one of my final of my multiple visits (related to my iritis treatment), Dr. Joshi was looking at my eye (as Dr. August was out of the office that day) and Dr. Joshi mentioned that my iritis was so extremely bad that it was one of the worst cases he and Dr. August had ever seen. He mentioned to me that they both thought that I was going to lose my eye. Dr. Joshi further inferred that my recovery was a miracle and it was the type of recovery that is listed as a New England Journal of Medicine Case Study. Obviously, I never returned to Stein Optometric and will only go to Dr. August and Dr. Joshi for my eyes. I am constantly referring them to friends as well. These men are a Medical Dream Team! As long as I live, I will be forever thankful to them for saving my eyesight.