Ambo Edwin, OD

I’ve been coming to this office on and off for the last 10 years in large part because I pay out of pocket and their exams are so cheap, plus my contact prescription is very stable. Basically I show up and they check my eyes and re-​sign my prescription. Here’s your $ 80 for signing this paper which I need to buy new lenses, thank you very much. That being said this place manages to make this simple transaction as difficult as possible. During my last two visits they have made unnecessary adjustments to my prescription that have made my vision worse. When I call to have them undo adjustments they require that I come all the way back in for a fitting. Unfortunately I get few days off when they are open and so I find a date a few months later even though at that point it will be $ 35 to be seen again. Oh well, I need to see. On the way in I call to say that I am in traffic and will be 10 minutes late. They understand and say this is fine as long as I am not 15 minutes late. I show up precisely 10 minutes late, proceeded to wait in line for 10 minutes and then am told that because I was more than 15 minutes late my appointment would have to be moved to 3 hours later in the day. I get that your schedule is quite full, but you literally just instructed me that this was not going to play out like this. I jokingly told my girlfriend on the way in that this place was so horribly run that they would probably cancel my appointment even if I showed up 10 minutes late, and sure enough… This place is like a poorly run assembly line with one thing in mind, time = money. As a future physician I can confidently say that this place is a disgrace to healthcare, fee for service at its worst. I literally used to work at a Costco Optometry office… a much better run one. It absolutely does not have to be this difficult OR this overbooked, and no one should ever pull this ^ kind of S&%$ on their customers. For god’s sake avoid this place and go to a Lens Crafters or something.

Lost my final box of contacts and the ones I was using were old and hurting my eyes went here for a spare until I could get an appointment. When I got there their backs were turned and the two people were just chatting to each other not paying attention. When I asked for help they treated me like I was some kind of criminal scumbag and then when I asked for a prescription so I could get help somewhere else the male secretary tried whisper to the other lady to make sure and write expired in bold letters to make sure that I wouldn’t be assisted anywhere. Well I heard him loud and clear. It was a terrible experience they didn’t offer help of any kind they didn’t even offer to set up an appointment or a set of spares despite the fact that my eyes looked irritated by the contacts I was wearing. I took the prescription and ordered contacts somewhere else, I had been going there for years and had fairly decent service nothing stellar mind you but they put enough effort forward to get me to come back, but the way they treated me this time was so bad I can’t recommend people go there unless you want to be treated like garbage.

Perhaps it is because I have a complicated Rx, perhaps it was beyond the scope of their practice and they were unwilling to admit it… I am not sure but I had a horrible experience being treated by Dr. Ambo at Costo in Issaquah. I was a patient a few years ago when I switched from rigid gas permeable contact lenses to torric soft lenses. Dr. Ambo suggested that I make the switch and I was more than happy to do so after years of wearing gas permeable lenses. Unfortunately, he was unable to get a good fit and finally settled with a less than stellar fit that left me unable to see after say, sneezing or even a hard blink, particularly a problem when driving at freeway speeds. He also suggested that I go against the labeling on the package insert for the lenses and not discard them monthly like they were intended but suggested I continue to wear an individual pair for up to a year due to the cost of the lens. This unfortunately left me with a horrible protein build up on the lens to which I had a reaction to and was unable to wear lenses for 6 weeks while my eyes healed.
So, feeling like I was destined to wear glasses for the rest of my life I went about my business when a friend of mine recommended her eye doctor. After the most thorough eye exam I have ever had in over 28 years of wearing glasses/​contacts, all kinds of high tech computer imaging, and several sets of sample lenses to try, thanks to my new doctor I found the best fitting lenses I have ever worn.
I would say that Dr. Ambo acted like he did not care that my lenses did not fit properly, he seemed tired and put out when I told him that they were rotating on my eyes resulting in moments where I was unable to see. He finally threw up his hands and told me that I would have to go back to the rigid gas permeable lenses and would not be able to wear soft lenses… obviously not true, because as I sit here I have a great fitting pair in my eyes now. As far as the protein buildup he told me that they were supposed to be thrown out after a month but you can wear them longer… he didn’t really have an answer and didn’t seem to care.
In short, I would not recommend Dr. Ambo, maybe if you have a very weak prescription and only need glasses. I would not go to him for contacts. He seemed like a poor doctor that probably would only make it in an optical shop.

Maybe Costco does a great job with eye exam but my experience was not! I had my eye exam by Sharon Thannickal OD. She was twenty minutes late after her lunch. But that is not the issue. Once I received my prescription from her I got it filed at two different eye store and my vision was blurry.
I finally went to my normal eye doctor. Compared the two prescriptions and Sharon Thannickal reversed the left and right eye. Thus it cost me time and money.

I saw Dr. Thannickal and she was awesome. My prescription is *crystalclear*. As another reviewer mentions, this office is located inside the Issaquah Costco. It was totally packed (as per usual) when I was there, and space is kinda tight. You might wanna pass on this if you’re claustrophobic at all. Also, I wasn’t too pleased with their selection of frames, but maybe that’s Costco’s fault.
I will definitely be going back.

I was originally hesitant to go to costco for my eye services — but my insurance had changed and Dr. Ambo Edwin at Costco was the best option for my insurance at the time. (I have contacts and glasses). Now, I have been going to this location for several years and have been very happy! They are friendly, quick, knowledgeable, and the facilities are very clean. I also like that they offer the option of doing the Optomap for your eye instead of dilation– which to me is worth the extra fee!
Currently, I do not have eye insurance, and I continue to go to Dr. Ambo because of my great experience, and their reasonable prices. I highly recommend them.

Was very happy with my exam here. They were quick, but thorough. Will keep going back for sure

I’ve been going to Dr. Ambo for a few years now. As strange as it seems to go to Costco for my eye exams, I feel that there really are benefits over some of the smaller outfits. The technology and equipment is newer and more advanced then the old 1-​doctor shop I used to go to (that had crickets chirping and was never busy).
Besides that, I like Dr. Ambo as a physician. He takes his time, gives good information (more than I expected from an eye exam) and generally seems to be a nice guy.
I always feel like an eye exam is one that I can fail… but the anxiety of going is lessened with a good doctor.

I have been a patient of Dr. Ambo for several years and I have always been very pleased with the care I have received. He is very thorough with his exams, and my prescriptions have always been spot on. He is also very nice and seems to really care about you as a person. When my friend first referred me to him, I thought «Really? He’s at Costco?» (I had been of the mindset that «you get what you pay for»). So I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent care I received. I have referred friends and family to him and they are all extremely satisfied patients.

Just so we’re all clear, this is the optometrist office inside the Issaquah Costco.
A few months ago, I broke the nosepiece off my glasses and figured it was probably time to get my eyes checked again as well as replacing the glasses that were now digging into my nose. I originally went elsewhere for my eye exam, but didn’t feel satisfied with my exam, so I came here for a second opinion.
My appointment was with Lam, who was fantastic. She did a much more thorough job than the optometrist I had been to a few days earlier. The prescription she wrote has been fantastic, and since I was interested in contacts for things like skiing, she gave me some various disposible samples to try.
All in all, I’d highly recommend these folks for an eye exam. Pricing was reasonable and I didn’t have any problems getting an appointment.