Sunny Optometry

My wife and I went to Sunny Optometry once in 2016 when we first moved to Santa Monica. After that visit, we chose another optometrist and never went back. About five years later, after we had moved to the East Coast, we started getting calls from a marketing call center trying to schedule our “next appointment,” as if we were still active patients. We explained more than once that we no longer lived in California and asked to be removed from their list. The calls kept coming. Nearly ten years after a single visit, they were still reaching out to book appointments. If an ex called this much, you would consider a restraining order. Persistence is one thing. Ignoring repeated requests to stop contacting former patients is another. At that point, it stops feeling like normal outreach and starts feeling like predatory marketing that borders on harassment. We have since moved back to Santa Monica, but based on that experience alone, we will not be returning.

Dr. Sun is amazing, smart and a clear communicator with everything to do with our eyes. She has the latest equipment and does a deep dive into the health of your eyes. I am grateful she’s still available to her patients after she opened right before Covid and the disruption of rioting in Santa Monica broke into her new space. The office also has great frames and the staff up front is friendly and knowledgeable about lenses, etc. when making glasses.

Dr. Alice Sun is a leading specialist treating Dry Eye Disease. She has the latest technology and expertise to treat this condition. In addition, she is a caring, relatable person. Her office staff are friendly and competent. I feel lucky to have found her.

Dr. Phan is amazing, caring, and thorough. She found a retinal tear and made sure I was seen by an ophthalmologist that day, which their office arranged. And she called me later to check on me. I am her patient forever!

My recent experience at Sunny Optometry was an utter nightmare. First, I will say that I came here to update my contacts prescription years ago, and that appointment went fine despite the fact that it was more expensive than I expected - I agree with the reviews that say they tend to upcharge and inflate the bill with services insurance doesn't cover. However, my latest experience was actually awful. I decided to bring in my beloved Lindberg frames I've had for years so I could get the lenses updated. I didn't mind paying a little extra for the boutique experience - I thought I could trust this small office to take each client seriously and treat my frames with respect. I ended up paying around $350 total out of pocket for the exam and new lenses, and I was told it would take around 2 weeks for the job to be ready. After week 3, I started getting worried. I hadn't heard back anything at all, so I started to call at least twice a week to check in after that. Each time they were polite and friendly, and promised they would get back to me with updates by the end of xyz day, but then they would often just forget to call me back. It seemed like no one was pushing my job forward. This went on for 8 weeks! By the end of it, I was at the end of my rope and truly worried I would never get my glasses back. Apparently, the lab working on my lenses lost a piece of the white trim, a crucial part of my frames (pictured in the first image). The manufacturer no longer makes that part so they had to replace it with a transparent trim (pictured in the second image) that completely destroys the original style and personality of these glasses I cherished so much. To top it all off, my botched glasses now make a disturbing creaking sound every time I put them on or adjust them (see video) as if the lenses don't fit properly. The new lenses sound about ready to pop out. All in all, I paid a lot of money and waited almost 2 months for a completely botched pair of glasses (the frames originally cost about twice what I paid here for the lenses) and the only thing they are willing to do to compensate me for the time, money and headache is to update the lenses on my backup pair of frames. Fool me once... Don't trust this business. If you have simple needs, like you just want to update a prescription/order contacts, I would recommend Target. You can easily schedule with Target online. If you have a more complicated job like I did, absolutely steer clear!