Total Vision PC - Santa Cruz

I’ve been a loyal patient here for years and it has gone significantly downhill. While my experience with the doctors is usually positive, the desk staff is incredibly rude, dismissive and unhelpful. While recently trying to simply get an updated prescription emailed to me, staff left me on hold for 1 hour, then hung up on me, didn’t answer the phones again for some time, and then told me it was not possible to get a brand of contacts I have worn for years , even though the doctor told me verbatim I could get a new pair and switch back if I did not like the new brand. I pay self-pay out of pocket here several hundred dollars and front desk staff would not simply email me a recent prescription with the brand the DOCTOR told me I could have. After several years of being loyal here and paying near $500 out of pocket every visit, I will be finding a new vision center. Very disappointing.

For several years, I was a loyal patient at Total Vision, but my most recent experience was so disappointing that I can no longer recommend them. While my exam with the optometrist was positive, she recommended a trial of weekly contact lenses. I agreed, and was told the trial set would arrive in about a week—this was roughly two weeks before Christmas. I received no follow-up communication via phone, email, or text. After hearing nothing, I finally called on December 30th to ask about the trial. The staff admitted they were unsure why I hadn’t been contacted but confirmed the trial was ready for pickup. Due to the delay and lack of communication, I decided to forgo the trial and simply order my usual monthly contacts instead. I offered to prepay in person, but was told I could pay upon pickup. Once again, I received no notification when my new order arrived—only an email I happened to see. When I went to pick up the contacts today, they had incorrectly ordered weekly lenses, not the monthly ones I requested. The weekly lenses happen to also cost close to double what the monthly cost. To make matters worse, when I asked for my contact lens prescription, I was told the optometrist needed to “edit” it before it could be released. They took my email and promised to send it within an hour. Given the consistent lack of follow-through, I fully expect to have to chase them down for it. I originally chose Total Vision over more affordable online retailers because I value in-person service. Unfortunately, the customer service throughout this process has been profoundly lacking—disorganized, uncommunicative, and error-prone. This entire experience fell far below a reasonable standard of care.

I had a frustrating experience here. I wasn’t able to discuss my prescription with the doctor (printed after paying) until after I had already left, which made it difficult to address any concerns. I knew my prescription would change because of how my eyesight was progressing, but the change was significant, and I needed a recheck. When I called back to request one, the process was unnecessarily awkward. They initially said I could come back that day, but when I arrived, I had to wait because they were “squeezing me in.” It felt dismissive and unorganized. They also tried to push me to recheck with the same doctor, but I requested a different one. The new doctor’s findings were closer to my original prescription, but he refused to write it down, saying he agreed with the first doctor’s over-prescribed prescription and that “over-prescribing is good.” This made me feel unheard and uncertain about trusting their recommendations. Overall, the experience was disappointing. The lack of clear communication and the way they handled my concerns was not a great experience. I wouldn’t recommend this place based on my experience. I had to go to a third optometrist who got what the recheck got, a pl instead of a + 50. I get that optometry is kind of a guessing game and that it depends on a lot of variables including how I perform during that test. But getting rechecked was so freaking awkward and the refusal to write it down the second time said everything.

I wish my current optician was a good as these folks. I have been waiting 7 weeks for my glasses from the other place, and I still haven't gotten a straight answer about when I might get them. Fortunately my glasses from Santa Cruz Optometric (from more than 7 years ago) are good enough to keep me from crashing into trees or people when I drive around. Maybe I should have flown from St Louis (where I am now) back to Santa Cruz to get my new glasses. Nice people.

This office is amazing Dr shahiti is very knowledgeable and has went above and beyond and beyond to help my 7 year old son with his severe astigmatism . I’ve never had been given this much context on my sons situation until coming to him. As a mother I’m very grateful for finding a doctor whom actually cares for his patients and loves his job I can’t thank him enough.