Bruce L Mebine, OD & Associates

My partner had been a patient of Dr. Mebine for several years (20+) so I was excited to try his associate, Dr. Albolian, who was a new doctor for me after my previous eye doctor unfortunately left her practice in SF. I’ve been wearing contacts for 40+ years, have VSP insurance, and have seen many doctors over the years so think I know a thing or two about what makes a good eye doctor and practice.
Boy, what a mistake with this office as it’s my opinion that this office is playing games with what they call different tests and what they charge which is outrageously expensive.
While Dr. Abolian was thorough and conscientious, she delivered the SAME EXACT TESTS I have had for many years and have always been fully covered by VSP with my other doctors (less the co-​pay). Instead, I was charged $ 271 in total for the eye exam and contact fitting. As for the Toric lenses, I was charged $ 260 for 4 boxes which I know was marked up at least 100% versus what I normally buy from the discount online lens retailers (same exact lenses). Yes it was a $ 531 day of which VSO covered $ 150 for the contacts and $ 162 for the exam.
When I spoke to the billings person to walk me through the bill and explain how my VSP was applied against it, she explained that I «had changed the kind of lens.» This resulted in a «contact treatment» fee of $ 109 which was included on the bill. Please, I walked in with my current prescription plus explained my last doctor said I should switch to a Toric in my right eye.
I WOULD NOT recommend this practice to anyone as it is definitely a buyer beware situation. I learned a valuable lesson (and sadly how you shouldn’t assume anything in today’s world), ask about specific charges (and have them put it in writing) BEFORE you have any work done with this office.
I am on the hunt for a new eye doctor …

Excellent! Have been coming her over 20years and always excellent care.

nice, comfortable facility. great eye doctors. My kids seem to always have an enjoyable experience there.

I came in for an eye exam with Dr. Abolian and was truly blown away by the entire office. The staff is exceptionally friendly, yet simultaneously professional and efficient in its duties. Dr. Abolian saw me precisely at the time I was scheduled, and took her time with examining my patient history and my eyes. She explained everything to me thoroughly, and was patient with all of my questions and concerns. I am a law student and told her about how I feel my eyes get tired after a certain number of hours reading/​studying, and she took my concerns into account while performing my exam. She was kind, welcoming, and gentle, and was extensively knowledgeable about her craft (she graduated from U.C. Berkeley Optometry). After I was prescribed reading glasses, the girls at the front desk were incredibly patient with me while I took my time choosing frames that suited my face. They not only helped me narrow it down to a few options, but were surprisingly accommodating given my indecisive nature, and continued to help me until I found a pair of frames that I loved. Overall a wonderful, professional, and warm office that will make your eye exam as pleasant as it can possibly be! Highly recommended!

I havent been to an eye doctor in over 10 years, so I was very concerned when I scratched my eye on a rose bush a few days ago and lost my vision. The front desk was nice and Dr. Abolian was able to see me within 10 minutes from when I called.
I scratched right done the center of my cornea. She was very professional and knowledgable which kept me feeling calm in a scary situation. I was given my prescription eye drops to prevent an infection and decrease the swelling and was to see her in the morning. She even gave me a follow up call later in the day and drove back to the office after it was closed just to put a contact on my eye to help with the pain/​sensitivity! Dr. Abolian has seen me every day now for the past 3 days just to check how my eye is healing and im slowly getting my vision back. If it wasnt for this place and the quality care I probably would have been sitting in a emergency room for hours just to find out there wasnt much that could be done… and who knows if Id get my vision back in that eye! I highly recommend this place

2 hour parking nearby, clean facility, large selection of glasses, and knowledgeable optometrist.
Dr. Abolian was very professional and was patient with the million of questions I had. She made me feel very comfortable and important.

Coming in for annual eye exam.
Aaaahhgh
Wasn’t able to see Dr Mebine ?
Because of time constraints
Whole family of four …
Two o Dr… Mebine
Two to new associate ?
… My wife and I were both pleasantly surprised !!!
By new associate Dr Abolian … She was very …
Pleasant … And through …
Explained all procedures …
Made us feel totally comfortable …
As if she had been our regular Dr… All along …
By time we were done …
We No longer minded… being unable to see …
Dr. Mebine …
The Office staff pleasant and efficient .all technicians were professional and friendly …
Thank you for accommodating my whole family in one morning …
And for dealing with All of insurance …
And the like …
Definitely worth the time and effort to come here. From San Ramon …
If you value GREAT … SERVICE
at a reasonable price …
Come and patronize …
DR. MEBINE AND ASSOCIATES …

I haven’t been to see an eye doctor in a long time. I made an appointment to see Dr. Abolian after I noticed I’ve had trouble reading in dimly lit environments such as restaurants.
Dr. Abolian was very professional and gentle with my exam. It can be intimidating when someone is using instruments next to your open eye so I appreciated how she assured me nothing would hurt and the only nuisance would be that my dilated eyes would be blurry for a few hours.
I’m not sure what my expectations were for an optometry appointment but some of the things I liked were that I was able to schedule my appointment using ZocDoc, my appointment started on time, they accepted my insurance, they helped me get setup with some basic metal glasses with a little store they have setup right in the practice, and Dr. Abolian even helped me hail a Lyft from my mobile phone on my way out since my eyes were too blurry to do it for myself.
I only wish their office was closer to the Mission, which is where I work. Nevertheless, I will be back for future checkups.

I’ve only had my eyes examined one other time. It several years ago at a place on Noriega. It was a terrible experience. And I’ve put off going to get new glasses for years because I did not like getting dilated. My friend suggested Dr. Mebine’s office. Got a timely appointment. They take my vision plan. I can’t remember the name of the doctor. She was a young asian woman. First thing I told her was that the last time I got my eyes dilated, I felt horrible and had to call in sick for the work next day. Guess I’m just sensitive. She was very concerned and promised to not use a strong dilating agent. She completed one of the most thorough eyes exams I’ve ever had. The dilation wasn’t bad at all. They had a nice collection of frames. But I knew just what I wanted: kinda Clark Kent like frames! They had them. No problemo. Glasses were ready in about a week. Would most definitely go back.

They take really good care of you here. The doctors and staff are very good and friendly. They have a very wide variety of frames to choose from. I love there personal and professional service. Thank you to all.

i have been seeing Dr. Mebine for ~15 yrs now. For my appt yesterday, I received a letter in the mail where the office scheduled my yearly appt. I must admit I didn’t read the fine print where the office requires you call to confirm your appt. I had a perfect record of always showing up on time for the last 15 yrs. I put the appt on my calendar and showed up on time yesterday to learn that since I didn’t call to confirm, my appt was given away. Dr. Mebine was in the lobby and didn’t even acknowledge me. When I told the receptionist that I had to take time off work and asked if he could fit me in, she shrugged and offered to reschedule for today at 1:40 pm. Did she not realize that I have to take additional time off? No other alternatives were offered. And, I thought they value their returning pts. Now, I am in search of a new ophthalmologist where I don’t need to drive out of my way to learn that my appt has been given away.

I stopped in today because I noticed that they seem to have a nicer than average selection of frames. I was not disappointed. I was assisted by Marc, who was helpful. I have a petite face and usually am limited to a paltry selection even in the largest showrooms — here, I had plenty of contemporary and fun options to choose from that actually fit me, a first! They also participate in the VSP plan, a plus.
I have not yet purchased my frames and I already have a Rx so I cannot speak to those services, however, I did want to say that the negative review by E. L. that goes on and on about her mother’s visit is very misleading. First of all, there are two kinds of eye doctors. One is an ophthalmologist and the other is an optometrist. The two are completely different and are not interchangeable. This reviewer criticized the doctor here for not addressing her mother’s eye health concerns adequately. Well, it is not his job! An optometrist’s specialty is the evaluation and correction of vision problems. An ophthalmologist diagnoses diseases and conditions of the eye, and may perform surgeries, such as for cataracts. This individual’s review is misinformed on so many levels because she doesn’t understand the difference between the two, at all. One clue is that one’s medical insurance pays the ophthalmologist and one’s vision plan pays the optometrist but never the other way around! In her defense, I believe that if the optometrist was facing a lot of medical questions he should have explained to her his limitations. «Eye doctors» may or may not offer glasses for sale. Big clue!
I will be purchasing my frames here regardless of price because, for me, the selection in my size is unparallelled. If my rating changes following this experience I will update.

I paid $ 230 for a comprehensive eye exam that I didn’t even want.
I had been to many optometry places before and when I specify that I want a contact lens fitting exam, that is what I get and what I get charged for, even if my contact lens prescription had been expired. I call this establishment to make a contact lens appointment — and believe me, I stressed on the fact that I just wanted a contact lens prescription renewal and that was it. I even asked for a price quote for the contact lens fitting, and I was told around $ 70.
The appointment began and everything seemed like a normal contact lens fitting. However, I noticed he was testing for things like blind spots, how my eye muscles were reacting. Since I had never gotten a comprehensive eye exam before, I thought that maybe he was just being thorough.
It was only after I got checked out that they told me I had been given a comprehensive eye exam and I was being charged TRIPLE for what I had accounted for. I’ve spoken to my friend who is in optometry school and he states that he has NEVER heard of anyone paying this much for an eye exam.
Additionally, when asked about this, one of the receptionists (an Asian woman) had a very rude and haughty attitude which I did not appreciate.
I would give this place one star, except the doctor seems like a sweet man.

I recently moved to West Portal. Noticed my lens in one side was sometimes falling out. Out for a walk today and stopped in and asked if they could repair it, fully prepared
to pay for service rendered. Not only did she repair it she corrected the frame so the
glasses sat on my face correctly all at no charge. I just had a eye exam and do not
need new glasses but when I do I assure you I am going there.

i brought my mother here because dear marian g (rip) wrote a very positive review of this place, but after a follow up interaction with a staff member, i must completely disagree with our friend marians review.
my mother had cataract surgery in her right eye a few years ago. this was done at kaiser.
recently, she had been feeling some discomfort in that same eye and started to have issues with her left eye. knowing well that my mother tends to be dramatic, i still didnt want to take any risks because she is past retirement age now and things can not be over looked. her optometrist at kaiser told us theres nothing wrong with her right eye and that in her left eye, a small cataract is forming but it shouldnt be an issue for at least a few more years.
my mother wanted a second opinion. she insisted something was wrong. i tried to let her know that dry eyes are fairly normal, that you need use rewetting drops. i told her it is completely normal to have to use more and more of the drops, more often.
knowing well my mother wanted an «older» second opinion, i didnt want to take her to my 30 something optometrists, or buddies of mines that are optometrist (hell she remembers one of them as that idiot that my idiot son used to hang out with).
i found Dr. Mebines office on Unilocal,saw marian gs positive review and thought the location is great and this looks like a good place to go.
the visit itself wasnt too bad. not bad enough to warrant a very negative review. if i had to pick an issue, it would be that Dr. Mebine was much more interested in selling his services than listening to our concerns. granted, it is probably unusual for someone to come in and ask to give us a second opinion on such a matter like this, but maybe i expected too much from life, like a doctor that would actually listen.
when i expressed our concerns, the good doctors reply was that he can do two things, give us an exam for a prescription and check the health of her eye.
oh… ok, so you wont/​cant talk to us, hear our concerns and do something accordingly, you want us to pick from your two services, services that any and every optometrists provides?
the good doctor DID inform us that she might be getting dry eyes because her distance vision is getting worse with age and that she could benefit from glasses.
there is nothing wrong with her eyes. everything we already knew was confirmed.
well duh.
segway to purchasing glasses.
we are walked to the prescription eye glass area.
im thinking although we have just confirmed what my mothers kaiser optometrists stated, im thinking spending a bit of money getting her glasses right now might put her even more at ease. besides, they seem to have some nicer frames here anyways.
after spending about $ 600 (break down of services will be on an invoice i have yet to receive) im thinking my mother should be happy now. in fact, she can come pick up her glasses in two days and thats that.
i just got a call from my mother, mind you this visit was on the 27^th of august. we were told her glasses will be ready by the 30^th. today is september 6^th. my mother went to pick up her glasses because she didnt receive a phone call when it was ready like we were promised the day we paid for her glasses. she went in nearly a week after they said her glasses would be ready.
i spoke with the older receptionist there.
no. not ready. nope, dont know who you talked to but theyre not ready. in fact not ready till next week.
sooo its not two days, but two WEEKS??? and the tone of voice from this receptionist was just disgusting. no concept of customer service. not a single ouch of compassion for the situation. just a simple. nope. youre wrong. its not ready. it wont be ready till next week.
as you can tell, this is absolutely not ok with me. i will never recommend this place and after picking up my mothers glasses next week i hope i never have to have any interaction with anyone associated with this place.
the original doctors visit wasnt that bad. it is what it is, and is a reflection of how our medical system is.
the follow up interaction with the receptionist and the follow up on their promises? absolutely terrible. made me drop everything right away to make sure i could voice this.

Really fast service and really nice people! I lost my glasses in Pacific ocean while going camping in Neah Bay last week, and I really need pair of glasses to start working. I called for exam, and get an appointment the next day ! The optometrist here are super friendly, she provide a lot suggestions and try to help me with my eye problems even when I didn’t ask for it.

Excellent service, great doctor, and they had a frame that fit me perfectly.

I found Kay! She picks out the right frame for Asians! She knows her stuff! I got a great pair of sunglasses, a bit pricey, but hopefully it will last a long time.

Dr Mebine is knowledgable and personable. His staffs one-​to-​one service & thorough examination gets you through in a timely manner.
I will never go anywhere else! They have a huge selection of glasses or sunglasses (famous designer brands). You will come away a very happy patient.

I’ve been coming here for the past 5 or 6 years and I’ve always liked their service.
I first began coming in middle school, and now I’m in college. My optician and the secretaries remember my name and ask how my mom is doing and stuff like that.