Dr Ko is a good Dr. which is evident that his appointment is so hard to get. The facility is old and not in the best maintenance.

The receptionists here are the worst. No customer service experiences and extremely rude and unprofessional. If i was going to suffer this treatment everytime i go to his office i'd rather see other ophthalmologist. And the young Asian girl who was doing my field tests not sure if she cleaned the surfaces but i had to remind ghee to do so plus She DOES NOT WEAR GLOVES! She was touching the keyboards and god knows what and was handling the equipment for the tests. read more

I spent 2 hours and 30 minutes just for eyes exam. My appointment was 1020 am. I finished eyes exam at 1300 pm. The doctor and doctor assistant were very nice and professional. But I had to argue with one of the front office ladies. I told her that I got a phone call asking me to come at 1020 am 2 days before the exam. But she told me that my appointment time was 1100 am not 1020 am. I was very unhappy about it. One more thing, there were 2 patients came after me, but they saw the doctor before me. I do not want to go back this place again. This is unacceptable. read more

Dr. William Ko is a great Doctor, but his staff is super unprofessional (especially Wendy): Strike One: Earlier this Year Wendy charged me the wrong copay amount. Once I found out about it and requested a refund, she told me to wait 30 days until their accounting updates and I can walk in anytime to process refund. Once I waited the 30 days, I stopped by the office and Wendy gave me the runaround saying that I needed an appointment to process refund. I then spoke with a supervisor and got my refund. Wendy then gave me a mean stare and ignored me. Because of this, I cancelled my future follow up appointment on the spot with Wendy. Strike Two: Wendy called me about two weeks ago for a appointment reminder which I supposedly cancelled with her personally. Obviously she does not listen to the customer or just simply forgot what the customer tells her. Strike Three: I called in today trying to schedule an appointment for my wife describing her symptoms and Wendy kept arguing with me on what was said and not said. Although I clarified to her what the symptoms were, she kept on arguing that it wasn't what I told her. Rather than trying to argue over who is right or wrong, why don't Wendy just sit back and listen to what the customer is telling you now and have sympathy for your patients. I then told her to forget it and I hung up. My Family and I really love Dr. William Ko, but something really needs to be addressed with his staff. read more

I brought my brother for the regular eye check without any prior eyes problem. The waiting time was 2 hours after the initial screening. Then 5 minutes of initial exam by the Dr. After that we have to wait for another hour to get exam after the dilation. The assistant told us to take 40 minutes for the eyes dilation, which contradicted the Dr said 15 minutes. They just simply schedule a lot of patients in a day. I, myself, is a retired physician. I believe this is unacceptable to wait that long for a simple exam. The staffs are not friendly or helpful, no explanation nor apology to patients. It is such a disappointment even for a physician like me. I am not planning to return for any reason. read more

Dr. Ko is a great doctor but my issue with his office is the LONG wait time. If he schedules you for a specific time, it will be 2 + hrs before he actually gets to you. This equates to bad service experience. read more

Dr. William Ko is great, he's very nice and softspoken! But, the staff in the front are so slow. I waited 40 minutes to go in to a room to get my eye prescription scanned and to point out a few 3D animals. It took me less than 5 minutes to come back out into the waiting room and wait to go in again. And we have to go in three times total, so I'm always here for 4 hours and sometimes more. So many people kept coming in - the front office staff SHOULD NOT be booking 10+ people to come in during the same hour if you only have 1 doctor! Now since they decreased the number of chairs to Covid too, some people literally have no seats too, kinda funny. No improvements over all the times I've been here..... just gotta wait half my day in the waiting room..... MOREOVER - the front office lady said she needed to see a physical copy of my vaccine card, but in the reminder calls no one mentioned this, and she said my picture of my vaccine card would not work out because she can't scan it... and I was like okay then you need to tell me before the appointment then??? And she was like it's ok you can come in, just remember for next time. I only come for annual check ups so??? If you're gonna let us in anyway why are you making a fuss about it and why don't you just let us know in a prep call before I arrive??? read more

The trolls like to complain about the long wait. All doctor's office has a long waiting time especially a specialist. People forget Dr. Ko takes his time with his patients as would a father to their kids. About me, Dr Ko detected my brain tumor which I told my doctors something is wrong with me. They all say I'm fine, Dr. Ko sends me to MRI to confirmed his findings, boy was he right. Without brain tumor removed, I had a week to live. Dr. Ko saved my life and he's not even a neurologist. I sincerely hope people have more opened mind than worries about how long they waited ! read more

"Love an optometrist. Because who else can promise you will see the world?" =) Dr. Ko is amazing. He is very professional, informative, and pleasant. A few years back, I had a serious eye infection that terrified me. But he kept me calm and reassured that I'd be just fine. After a few visits and a special recommendation to another awesome optometrist, I was on the road to recovery. Definitely couldn't have overcome the issue without him and his helpful staff. Note: Make appointments way ahead of time as he is very popular and can get quite busy. read more

This one star review is for his office staff. Dr. Ko is a knowledgeable professional which is why we continue to see him and refer others to him. His office staff; however, is anything but. The ladies speak to patients briskly and in a rude manner. They have personal conversations loudly and act annoyed when clients approach the front window. Be prepared to spend 2 hours in this office on a basic annual exam. The office overbooks patients. Each time we have come, it's a 2 hour trip. Your office staff is your first impression and interaction with patients. We suffer through their bad manners and lack of social etiquette in order to see this doctor. Grade: poor. read more

I do not recommend this doctor. I had an appointment at 9am and arrived on time. It took me 3.5 hours for annual check up.

The wait is long, the staff is nice, and the doctor is very patient and professional. My mom went to see Dr. Ko for her eye problem, and the docotor is ver knowledgeable about her eye problem read more

Appointment for my father at first hour in the morning. Got there before the office opened. Still waited for 2 hours. Seen Dr. Ko for about 5 minutes. Unhappy with the outcome, got refered to a different specialist. They dilated my father's pupils and let him leave the office without dark glasses on a very bright sunny day. read more

I will never come back here because the long waiting time. First time I was here, I waited three and a half hours to see Dr Ko. He gave me some new contacts n told me to come back the next week, I did, and I waiting an hour to get in, I told him the contact wasn't comfortable at all, n he gave me another brand to try on, so I have to come back again. so here I am, in his office, been here for almost 1.5 hours just for contact fitting :( :( read more

William W Ko, MD - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Gabriel, California

unfriendly stuff I have never met. I scheduled the appt at least 45days ago but they dun notice me about i have to get the insurance approval first not until the night before the appt. However, I already gave all my insurance info when scheduling appt. They should have notice that at the first day. Anyways, they called is to inform me they are goining to cancel my appt, and they refuse to have me schedule an other appt not until I received the physcal approval letter. At the end, I went to other ophthalmologist. In fact, The other MD office told me that usually MD can send the request to insurance co.. and it only takes a few days. It is not neccessary through the family doctor to get approval which means the stuff is simply avoid this paper work.. jerk read more

I been taking my grandma here for 8 years and I really like Dr. Ko. I think he honest, sincere and he go through each procedure with you. (If needed or not) Not a huge fan of their optical or receptionist people. Slow workers and I don't want to be mean but the lady that check us in was slow. The nurses and receptionist never sterilize any of their equipment which is really disgusting. I have to ask them to clean the machines before they perform test on my grandma. (We are in US not third world country) At least the doctor sterilizes the machine and equipment he uses. Due to the long wait and sterilization this place gets 3 stars. read more

This is awful medical office in town , nurses or receptionist in unprofessional and rude Not to mention long waiting 2 hours late with appointments, doctor is greedy son of the Bitch that money talk , he is seeing all elder patient with medical or Medicare to billed as much as he can to government money , that why kept asking people come back to see him again; again............ DO NOT LET YOUR FAMILY TO VISIT THIS FU...... office Not to mentioned the waiting room is smell like a restroom like someone just pee urine on carpet read more

Dr. Ko is a great dude and doctor. first time visiting him yesterday and he found some small calcium deposits in my eyelids that have been bothering me for a long time. he explained what they were and promptly removed them and i feel so much better. Yes his office is busy but its because he is good at what he does. would rather wait an additional 1hour for great medical service than go to some other doctor who is not as good but faster.. Go see Dr.Ko for your vision needs read more

God! If there was a rating of negative 100 I so would pick it! So we had made an appointment with Dr Ko's office 6 months back because we were told that he has no openings until 6 months later okay fine whatever we get that he's a specialist and in high demand. Six months passed and we went to our scheduled time. When we got to the office to sign in, we were called to the front not even 10 minutes later to be told that we do not have an appointment! The office had called us the day before to confirm our appointment!!! We informed the young women clerk at the front and was told that she was going to check on it. We waited off to one side for the response; all of the sudden we hear one of the older staff tell the young women," Tell them that we are not taking them without an appointment and we do not waste time to call customers the day before for their appointments. We are not their mother to remind them. If they did not get the name of the person who gave them the appointment then too f***ing bad for them." At this point I was horrified and angry that she even had the audacity to even speak loud enough like that with Chinese speaking customers around! Just because the doctor is good does not mean that the front office staff has the right to speak to patients like that! Patients are what pay your bills and put food on the table for your family! We will not be coming back to see Dr. Ko until he gets those rude, incapable people properly trained or hire new people who appreciate having a job and appreciate people who comes to see the doctor! read more

Great doctor and staff except for the optical department. I echo sentiments already written about Dr. Ko. But, I cannot say the same about the optical shop. The optical department had erratic hours. They said they would call me when the glasses were ready but didn't. I went in to pick them up and they weren't ready, so they called their lab. The lab said they contacted doctor's office about faulty lenses. Office claimed they were completely unaware of this call. Regardless, optician then said they would have glasses for me in three days. When I called them at 10:30 this morning to check on the glasses I was told the optical department was closed until tomorrow afternoon after 1:30. Seriously, what sort of hours are those? (Perhaps the reason why they never heard from the lab; no one was in the optical shop.) Wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Ko and his medical staff. Cannot recommend optical shop at all. read more

Do everything possible to not pick this doctor for your eyes' needs. My mom's appointment for a simple eye exam on a Monday afternoon ended up being a two hour long wait, the lobby were crowded with patients meek as lambs, it's apparent major overbooking is the norm here; when I asked about the remaining wait time at 5pm, the reception said out loud "the 3:30pm appointment before your mom is still waiting, too". No real professional would treat patients like this, with no respect and no regards to time. Dr. Ko is not worth it. Be aware! read more

The rating is for his staff. Dr Ko is thorough and respectful. I feel bad for him that he might be losing business because of his unfriendly staff. The Vietnamese lady at the eyeglasses section is especially rude and unwelcoming. She would not let me try out different prescription when I complained about the discomfort. She also gave me a stern look when I was checking out their frames. I left after I got my prescription. No way I would give her business. read more

Wow, this guy is awesome. The wait is 1 month minimum to see him but he is amazing. He is a nice eye doctor and very thorough. His staff and him both are trained to be good patient informants where they tell you what they are going to do, what they are doing, and what the results are. He has a whole office full of people waiting but yet he still takes the time to be thorough and not make you feel hes rushing to get through everyone. He has the latest equipment and has a place to purchase glasses as well. Clean and a parking lot in the back. I wish I had known about this guy sooner. Good doctors are hard to find. read more

William W Ko, MD - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Gabriel, California

First off, I think Dr. Ko is a great eye physician. He is thorough and informative. He really knows his stuff. Unfortunately, the man is just too popular. The wait times here are no good. I made an appt at 10:50 and didn't get to see him till 12:15. He even has a sign in front that says something to this effect "Because we care about our patients and are thorough, our wait times may be extended." I understand he is busy, but then maybe he should make less appts. The wait is simply too long. If you don't mind the wait, then this a fantastic optometrist. Parking on the street in front or in the rear. Big and spacious waiting room with magazines. Courteous staff. read more

The front office staff is unprofessional, the exam rooms are run down and dirty, and Dr. Ko just rushes around from patient room to room and barely has time to explain things. I am not coming back here again and I don't recommend this doctor. read more

Dr. William Ko has been my family optometrist for as long as I can remember. He's professional, bilingual in both Mandarin and English, friendly, efficient, and though not relevant but super cool, does wildlife photography on the side as a hobby. He's very busy and usually booked in advance for months, so an appointment is necessary. My last visit with him was just to renew my contacts prescription, so I was in and out of there fairly quickly; the check-up lasted 30-minutes at most. Ordered my new prescription at the optical shop within the office, and I was on my way! My only complaint is that the optical shop staff isn't always the most pleasant to work with. read more

9:25am for a regular eye exam.. 11:50am and I'm still not out of the office yet. There's a pathetic sign in the waiting room saying "Sorry for the delay. We want to give time for each of our patients." HELLO.. THAT'S WHAT APPOINTMENTS ARE FOR! I hate money grubbing doctors who try to fit in as many patients in a day as they can. There are plenty of well credentialed doctors in the area. Do not waste your beautiful Saturday morning waiting in the office here. It's actually almost afternoon time now. Great. read more

Read those 5 stars comments. Majority said u v to wait 2hr+ for 5 mins time with doc. 5 stars? Serious? Totally agree with other complaints. I took my 95 yr old dad and 84 yr old mom to Dr. Ko 5 times in 9 months. EVERY SINGLE TIME, we had to wait at least 3 HOURS. WHAT THE HELL is appointment for. I blew up on him and his staff today. What a great feeling. I v two sick kids home. Our appt was 4:40pm for a follow up check up. I had to yell at the staff to get to see the doctor. His explanation for long wait was because emergency came up or patients late for appt. ALL 5 TIMES? We are Chinese and taught not to complain. Hell no, my 95 yr dad was home alone waiting for dinner and my mom is diabetic. Not acceptable. I was so mad, I had a tooth ache afterward. Never would I go back for anything. WISH I CAN GIVE A NEGATIVE STAR! read more

I can't speak specifically for Dr. Ko since my mother used his services, but I can attest to the 3 hour waits while I waited for her to finish her appointment. This review is more for the optical department. This optical department comes off as shady. Here's why: # 1: The lady working the optical department told my mother that lenses ALONE will cost over $400. I've worn glasses for most of my life, bought them from various different offices in the SGV area, and no way in hell are lenses alone $400+. (We went to Costco later that day and the exact same lenses at Costco cost $130.) #2: My mother, thinking the price quoted above was for lenses and frames, mentioned that she brought her own frames. The lady said, "Well, your old frames are probably really bad." That alone offended my mom since my mother actually bought brand new frames. #3: The lady then added that my mother must sign a contract stating if they destroy her frames by accident when making the lenses, the office will not compensate in any way, including replacing any screws that may become lost. By this time, my mom's gut was tingling with "this isn't right" so she decided to just take her prescription to go somewhere else. After my mom told the lady this, the lady decided to NOT give the prescription written by the doctor personally and said that she will RETYPE the prescription for my mom and gave her a printed document. Then the lady added, "People ALWAYS come back here to get their lenses done here because other places don't get the prescription right in the lenses." She then ripped up the original prescription before my mother could even see it again. I hate to say it, but the lady's actions make it seem people come back to get their lenses done because she purposely rewrites the prescriptions incorrectly. If you must use Dr. Ko to get a prescription, I highly suggest getting the original prescription from Dr. Ko directly before the optical department gets a hold of it. read more

In retrospect, I find Dr. Ko a very good eye doctor. He is thorough and very cautious. I had developed Cataracts in both eyes in late 2014 and he finally had to remove the cataracts in September 2015 and February 2016. One at a time. He was extremely cautious about his measurements of my eyes so that he got the correct lens to replace my cataract lens. I ended up with 20/30 vision after the surgery. I developed a different version of cataracts recently and had them fixed by another doctor because I changed medical groups. Now my vision is 20/20 because there was an underlying cataract that was hard to detect. Dr. Ko did a great job in selecting and measuring for the right lens. I read about how his staff were curt and unprofessional. I am Japanese and a 64 y.o. and I thought the same but, they are dealing in 3 languages, English, Cantonese and Mandarin and they are dealing with older people, Older people sometimes need to be treated a bit roughly to get them to move and to understand. In general, they were professional in their own way. I was thinking to write him and thank him since my change in sight. I felt this was a better way to thank him. Oh, yeah you have to wait. It's his fault because he takes time to explain things to his patients and it sometimes take more than the 15 minutes he may be allowed by time schedule. Between eye dilation and his schedule. I rarely got out of there in less than 2 hours. the results speak for the doctor. Thank you Doctor Ko! read more

Would definitely recommended Dr ko, by reading the all those comments, I'm almost make the wrong decision, I have my eye check up, Dr ko is very professional, and treat patient like his family, not that bad for the wait time I have an appointment at 9:30 AM left by 11:30AM due to dilation. I was informed as a new patient will take more longer exam. And Dr ko did completely check my eye, I will come back to see him again next year. read more

The wait here is forever. The average wait time is an hour even though you make an appointment. Most of his staff don't speak fluent English and the doctor is just okay. read more

First time being here and greatly disappointed. Came to bring my mom and her appoinment time was at 11. An hour later we were finally called but only to see the nurse then we were told to wait outside once again. Another hour passed and still hadnt been called to see the doctor so I asked how long this usually takes, 3 hours is the average! After I asked this with clear dissatisfaction they took us back. Next time I will make sure my mom gets referred to a place elsewhere, I understand waiting will happen anywhere but 3 hours is over the top. read more

Dr. Ko was a very unprofessional doctor. I was at the waiting room for 3 hours. Then, some lady gave me an eye exam which took her an hour to finish. After then, they made me wait for another hour to see Ko. Ko asked me exactly the same questions that I already had answered on the paperwork and told the lady who has just gave me an eye exam. Dr. Ko also gave me the same exam again. Then, Ko told me that I got 20/20 which means I don't need eyeglasses. At last Ko tried to negotiate with me to purchase eyeglasses from him on my vision insurance; In return, he wouldn't charge me the co-payment for the doctor visit. I refused to lie to my insurance. Dr. Ko looked mad when I left. read more

I also went to this office, and it was not such a pleasant experience. I waited for a long time when i arrived even though I had an appointment. It seems like the previous review was an inside job. How would a patient know where he graduated from and grew up at. I also heard other bad reviews on different websites. Just look at the previous review...does that sound like it was written by a patient. read more

wait. for. ev. er. That's what you'll do if you decide to come here. Even though Dr. Ko is an extremely pleasant and professional doctor, the time spent in the waiting room is borderline insane. If you don't have half of a day to kill, you may want to look somewhere else. read more

Dr Ko is a really good ophthalmologist. It took me 3 weeks to have an appointment with him. However, it worths a wait. Dr Ko was very thoughtful and check my eyes carefully. The exam was like 2-3 hours because it was a medical one. A Lot of people don't know the difference between optometrist and ophthalmologist. I even brought my parents to see him.Definitely, we will be back next year for routinely eyes check up. read more

omg!!! i've been taking both my parents to dr ko for the last 15 years or more!!! he never did anything for them except prescribe pressure medication! my father has glaucoma and cataracts...and he has since lost sight in one of his eyes and has extensive cataracts on the other!!! because of the 2 -3 hours wait time...and the fact that he is not proactive in saving the eye sight...we searched and found another doctor and i could not believe it when he told me he could have saved my father's blind eye!!! he is also going to do the surgery on the only good eye to remove the cataracts!!! dr ko is an incompetent doctor....HE SHOULD HAVE REFERRED ME TO A SPECIALIST THAT COULD DO THE SURGURY....but he did take all the insurance money and did nothing to save the eyes!!! i'm furious!! read more

If you don't want to wait for 2 to 3 hrs. with appointment for your 5 min. examine by the Dr who always in a hurry and does not washes his hand when he sees a new patient then don't come here read more

I don't mind to wait for 2 hours to be seen by Dr ko. Everybody should aware that when we go to see the doctor it is always the long waiting time not only with Dr ko. Inclued " ER ".I went to see Obgyn. I spent more longer sometime Dr not in the office yet patient always wait for him. But this Dr he is always in the office before seeing his patients. He is amazing he doing a good job. He check everything include dilation make sure nothing wrong with the retina. His appointment book for a month maybe sometime when we are choosing the date we want or for the weekend as I know this office not always open on Saturday...... Some time patient complaint they are wait so long I used to hear that those patients are the one they add in without appointment. Of course they go by appointment then they need to see the patient who has the appointment 1st otherwise it's not fair for them. read more