UC Berkeley Optometry Clinic — Local services in Berkeley

WARNING: This is an optometry school, so it will likely be a longer eye exam than what you’re used to. A student will first run the eye exam; the attending physician will then re-run most things to ensure accuracy. Also, because it’s a learning opportunity for the optometry students, they run everything possible (e.g., dilation, pressure check, etc.) to get the experience. The last time I went, I opted out of dilation because I just didn’t have the extra time to spend. My last two appointments have lasted 2 hours for the exam, then another 45-60 minutes to get through the glasses selection process.

STAFF: The front desk staff are ok… they don’t answer the phone and certainly aren’t the warmest… but they do reply really quickly to email. There’s a lady physician there that is so kind; and my experience with the students has always been great.

APPOINTMENTS It can be hard to get an appointment, so I’d recommend calling/emailing about 6 weeks in advance from the date you’d like to be seen. Also, the last time I went— due to COVID— I had to make a separate appointment to select my glasses… which placed a 2hr gap in between my actual appointment and deflecting my frames. This process may have changed by now, but it was inconvenient to say the least.

GLASSES SELECTION: I used to go to the Tang Center for my eye exams, but a few years back, the Tang Center sent me to Minor Hall to view their glasses selection. Ever since then… I’ve been hooked— they have a really decent selection to choose from.

PARKING: Parking is sometimes available in the Minor Hall parking lot. They’ll validate and it’ll cost you something like $3-$5. Parking in their lot provides you peace of mind since you never know how long you’ll be there… it takes away the meter-feeding anxiety. Alternatively, when a spot is not available in the lot, metered street parking is often available within a one block radius of the eye center.

Overall, I like this place and—for now— I will continue getting my annual...

Your eye exam is going to be longer than usual because you are being seen by students who are learning because this is a teaching optometry clinic. NEVER order your contacts through UC Berkeley Optometry. I wear two different contacts in both eyes (one for astigmatism and the other is regular daily). They told me to order a full year supply and I would get my rebate through the mail. The front desk is not transparent at all about rebates. I called to ask them to be sure I would be getting my full rebate and even asked multiple times "are you sure" after placing my order with them. They won't answer your phone and there is ALOT of miscommunication going on among the staff, be prepared for false information. I ended up having to pay $800 for my full year of contacts and only got $200 back for a rebate (not the $500 I was told I would get. The person who helped me said it didn't matter what I ordered on the sheet the student clinician gave me because it is and I quote his words "inaccurate"). This is not normal at all (even my credit card company said this is an absurd charge for a full year of contacts). So please, do yourself a favor and order your contacts elsewhere. I guarantee you, it will be a headache ordering...

I am an employee at UC Berkeley, and figured that this would be a convenient place to get a new pair of glasses, just minutes from my office on campus, and that the clinic would be accustomed to working with the vision portion of University's health insurance plans.

I thought wrong! It took me months to get an appointment. Upon finally getting one, I was asked to provide vision insurance information over the phone. Upon explaining that I was an employee and reading said insurance information straight out of the UCB's employee web portal, I was told that it couldn't be correct, and that unless I could come up with some other plan information they expected, my employee insurance would be declined and I would have to pay out of pocket. I re-explained what I was seeing in the employee portal, and that I would cancel my appointment if my employee insurance couldn't be accepted, at which point I was abruptly told that, in that case, my appointment was cancelled. Just another typical day dealing with UC administrative nonsense. My advice: Save yourself a headache, and go anywhere else. I should...