Andrew C Soss, OD FAAO

I’ve been going to Dr. Soss for more than 5 years and have always found his demeanor, professionalism, and courtesy to be impeccable. Unlike chain stores, he takes time to do an eye exam thoroughly, and he is trained to diagnose glaucoma. (He does way more than that bullshit puff-​of-​air screening test the chain stores provide.) I’ve never had any issues with his office staff.
I would not hesitate to recommend Dr. Soss to a co-​worker, friend, or my mother.

I recently had an accident and ended up cutting my cornea and needed to see a specialist immediately. I tried several other optometrist in the area and no one was willing to see me on such short notice since it was around closing hours. As you can imagine I was in a state of panic trying to find someone who would see me. When I called Dr. Soss’s office the staff were so sweet and they were willing to see me the same day, even though they were closing in an hour. Dr. Soss was so professional and thorough with his examination that I instantly felt at ease. I don’t understand why so many people are leaving such horrible reviews about Dr. Soss. I found him delightful to talk to and very knowledgeable. I would just like to thank Dr. Soss and his staff for taking such amazing care of my eye on such short notice. I wish more optometrist cared about their patients the way that you do. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a great eye doctor.

My family and my husbands family have been seeing Dr. Soss for many years now.
He is very knowledgeable and I trust him with my eyesight.
I would recommend him to anyone needing a Dr. that really knows his stuff !
We always have great discussions when we go in for our exams.

I have been to Soss a total of three times over the years. The first two visits were fine. He was nice, his mother was nice, and his services were professional. The third time was a different story.
I had lost my insurance, so I just needed a prescription to take to a discount optician. When I told him this he was rude, smug, and condescending, and he ridiculed the simple question I had about my eyesight.
I guess the markup on the specs is pretty hefty, hey «Doc»?
I took my prescription to a well-​established optician who said the numbers didn’t make sense. He called Soss’ office and the office told him that I could make another appointment at no charge. Really, we just needed him to check my chart, but he wasn’t so inclined.
Even the optician was shaking his head in disbelief.
There is no way in hell I was going to subject myself to that experience again.
I now get my eyes examined at Lenscrafters in Colma where the folks are courteous and seem to get it right the first time.

I bought some Joseph Abboud frames from Dr. Soss, and they fit and looked great. Then I accidentally sat on them one day, and bent the frames so the lens were ready to fall out. Not only did Dr. Soss use his tools to straighten everything out, which took 15 – 20 minutes, he didn’t even charge me. This is the place you want to go; they carry some terrific brands I hadn’t seen before.

WOW. Just, WOW. I am almost speechless. ALMOST… :)
I haven’t posted in ages, but there’s nothing like an idiotic response to one of my reviews to get the good ol’ Unilocal juices flowing again! Oh, yeah? Bring it! You don’t scare me! :P So I wrote a review about my experiences with Burlingame optometrist, Dr. Andrew C. Soss 6 YEARS AGO in 2009! Yes, that’s right people! 6 YEARS LATER I receive a response from Dr. Soss. Apparently, Dr. S has only now discovered this newfangled thing called the interwebs & social media. Evidently, this new social review concept isn’t going so well for him. If you search optometrists in the Peninsula, Dr. S is one of the worst reviewed optometrists out there. Shoot, even CostCo, Target, & Sears Optical have better ratings. So I suppose Dr. S realized this is not good for business & decided to attack all the low-​star reviewers the last 2 days. Gee whiz, Dr. Soss! Life was so much easier when prospective patients could just let their fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages & pick you at random, wasn’t it? My original review was actually fairly tame, but now I’m about to get REAL. So let’s rip apart his response, shall we?
* «Your perception of events and reality are clearly 2 different things» I posted my review long after my 3 visits to Dr. S, so that would have been well OVER 6 YEARS AGO. Am I to believe he actually remembers me & my situation? Additionally, is HIS perception the only one that matters in the world? The one that truly represents «reality»? Nice show of compassion there, doc.
* «I don’t insist on what type of contact lens a patient wears» Oh, but he did. I told him I had good experiences with my disposable Acuvue soft contacts & he convinced me that hard lenses were way better for my eyes. He was very persuasive & as everyone else has mentioned, condescending. Made me feel stupid for liking soft contacts. But he’s the pro, right? Despite my serious doubts, I trusted his opinion. The contacts were so unbearably uncomfortable, thick, dry, & full of irritating bumps. Compounded with Dr. S’s dismissive «that’s normal» attitude and zero concern for my comfort, I was spurred to go elsewhere. FYI — it was my new optometrist who couldn’t believe someone would prescribe such contacts. He never heard of them before & even looked them up. He joked they must be some obscure brand. So, not my words — but nice try on insulting my knowledge of eye care products. I wasted money & months of good eye health on Dr. S’s recommendation. He was WRONG in my case. Get over it.
* «It seems from your statements that you are a demanding person» I’m not known to be a demanding or unreasonable person, so it’s hysterical that Dr. S has made that determination based on my negative reaction to his rude office staff. The receptionist said she’ll fax a prescription «right now», I took that literally. When 3 hours pass & I call just to check the fax wasn’t lost at work or didn’t go through, I was shocked to get my head chewed off by a crotchety old woman. Did I DEMAND to be taken care of before anyone else? NO. So it’s funny Dr. S is making accusations about a phone call he wasn’t even on. I politely asked a simple question. No patient deserves to be yelled at & told all the reasons why their call is not a priority. But no, Dr. S and his staff don’t see the value in good customer service.
* Funny how Dr. S has the arrogance to deem my statements «false». Again, MY EXPERIENCE. I could not, for the life of me, get an answer on the date of my last eye exam. Of course Dr. S thinks the best way to defend himself is to discredit & demean me: «Clearly, this is a thought that only a person such as perhaps yourself would conjur up.» LOL… so now I’m a liar.
Interesting how all the low reviewers had similar experiences & some WAY WORSE. We can’t all be demanding liars making stuff up. Just look at his responses. Not a single good remark. Clearly Dr. S is an unhappy man with severe anger issues. With all the options available in the Peninsula, there are far superior optometrists who will treat you nicely & with respect. What a concept, eh?
Dr. Soss — since you’re obviously new to this whole review process, let me give you a piece of advice: retaliating online with patients like a psycho egomaniac is NEVER A GOOD IDEA. You just end up validating everyone’s point that you’re a world-​class, pompous jerk. You’re digging an even deeper hole for yourself and not doing your reputation any favors. I suspect you were upset with my initial review since it garnered many useful votes. Well, congratulations on getting my 2-​star rating down to 1-​star. And now there is an even more negative super long review under your name. Well done. Now I will send this update to all my friends and co-​workers. I’ll also tweet and FB it. Welcome to the 21^st century, Doc.
P. S. You should really quit wishing people all the best at the end of your scathing responses. It screams of insincerity.

It has been six years since I’ve written my first review of this business, and Mr. Soss has contacted me twice regarding my post. It almost feels like a very uncomfortable, unwanted reunion. What Mr. Soss seems to overlook is the fact that my chief complaint is the quality of the very thing that brings in patients, customer service.
I’ve called a handful of clinics whether for a primary care physician, dentist, or optometrist and before any appointment is confirmed, the receptionist is capable of verifying whether they accept my insurance or not. If Mr. Soss was able to provide me with this information during my first call to his practice, my review of his office would never exist. At the time, the receptionist told me «to just come on in» and we can go through the process. Poor advice. Mr. Soss has just now made it clearly apparent that his business is not or never was contracted with United Health. Thank you. For all you current holders of UH, now you know.
It took 2.5 years after my visit for Mr. Soss to first contact me, which seems to have been motivated by his concern of his children’s peers reading his reviews versus rectifying customer loyalty. If Mr. Soss’ office has truly improved, let this 1-​star review of my experience be a tiny criticism clouded by his more-​than-​stellar reviews.

i was somewhat dismayed to see the negative reviews so want to share mine of my recent initial meeting/​exam. found dr soss & his staff to be personable enough & professional. was not like previous eye exams, however; appreciated his assessment of my potential for glaucoma, for which he is State Board certified. first time i heard i have such a weakness myself. knowledge is power, as is often said.

I have been seeing Dr. Soss for about 4 years now based on a referral by a friend. I have been very happy with his professionalism. He takes plenty of time to ensure I understand what is going on with my eyes, and the types of eyewear that are available for me. I have purchased several pairs of Armani glasses that I liked very much from him with his help. When I have found frames at another store, he and his staff were helpful and got them fitted with the lenses I wanted, so his selection should not be a problem. He has plenty of choices and a good eye for what looks good on my face, although I would probably buy more frames from him if he had more high-​end designer eyewear to choose from. I like the mom-​and-​pop feel of his staff.

My family of 4 have been patients of Dr. Soss for almost 15 years. Whenever we get our annual eye exam, we feel very well taken care of by a true professional. Not only does he do the traditional vision tests but because he also treats patients with glaucoma he looks for other eye health issues and educates us. we always learn so much from him. If you can’t find a frame you like with him, you can buy elsewhere and he will still do the prescription lenses at a better price than fine optical stores.
I refer friends and family to him and never heard a complaint.

Dr. Soss is a caring, knowledgeable and completely professional eye doctor.
I feel compelled to write and make a clear statement of the quality of service Dr. Soss provides. Yes, it is a mom-​and-​pop operation, but if that means years of caring service and commitment to individual customers’ needs — mom-​and-​pop is for me. Dr. Soss has been my eye doctor for years, and I have only received very professional, hands-​on and caring service from him during this time. He has a significant background in treating glaucoma and other eye diseases, as well as maintaining up-​to-​date and ongoing resources and educational services for local eye doctors. I have more than usual eye issues and have needed to drop last-​minute on a few occasions and was treated promptly and with concern during those times.
For those who have had poor experiences getting new glasses — definitely go to Lens Crafters. They are not eye doctors, but a shop set up to provide fast and courteous service, and a huge range of frames at good prices to select from. I have had experiences trying to get ‘discounted’ designer frames from various locations in San Francisco and was met with stressful parking, unhelpful staff and a poor selection of frames. Lens Crafters was a good, inexpensive and fast solution — similar to Costco. I have actually purchased frames from multiple locations over the years, spent hundreds of dollars and went both «designer discount» to highly fabulous Palo Alto land — and in the end found my perfect frames at Dr. Soss’ office.
However for those of you who want top-​notch, professional eye exams and ongoing eye care, I highly recommend Dr. Soss. His staff is does their best, they are always efficient and caring, however there is a «youth factor» with one individual who is still being trained and needs a bit of patience at times as she gets up to speed. ;-)
There is plentiful parking with inexpensive hourly rates, and my favorite bakery next door, Le Croissant, with the best croissants I have had in San Francisco. And yes — they are open on Saturday mornings which is extremely helpful.

I wrote about Dr. Soss on 12/​12/​2011, and wanted to update and say that he is still great. He provides great care, and is still hysterically impatient with his receptionist. Informative and entertaining.

I have been a patient of Dr. Soss for years. I find him very knowledgeable about medical issues and feel he cares deeply for his patients. I also think he has a great bedside manner and sense of aesthetics. He’s helped me choose frames in the past, patiently giving his opinion on a variety of options.
I find it very helpful that the office is open a few hours on Saturday. This has been a great help on several occasions.
The staff has always been courteous and professional with me.

Dr Soss is a man who truly LOVES and is very passionate about what he does. I have begrudgingly been to a handful of optometrists in the past few years and walked away feeling skeptical or indifferent at best. I expected the same here but Dr Soss is so excited and knowledgeable and caring in his passion I almost wish I need to come back more often. The guy pretty much rocks, he truly cares about his patients getting the best care whether they buy glasses from him or not, and he will happily, personally assist in picking out great frames. … Not to mention he is extraordinarily happy and friendly. This place is a diamond in the rough, that I can clearly see even without my new specs :)

Went to Dr. Soss for the first time. He was so rude to me and incredibly rude to his office staff. He had no problem raising his voice at them in front of patients and throwing papers when one of the staff members put them in the wrong place. He is condecending and has no doctor/​patient manner. He was so arrogant and affected in the way he talked to me and I felt like I was being rushed through the process. I was barely able to answer a question, before he answered it for me. It was so bad, I seriously considered getting up in the middle of my eye exam and walking out! It was also the shortest annual eye exams I have ever had. From past experience, he seemed to skip a few steps — not surprised as he had other people waiting. I found him through my eye insurance website. Save your time and money and find someone else.

I tried to get a basic eye exam here, for a new glasses prescription. Turns out they didn’t accept my insurance, which is fine, but in the process of figuring this out the admins weren’t very helpful, and Dr. Soss was flat-​out rude. The office itself looks like it was low-​rent back in 1996 — it did not inspire confidence that they had to wait for an ancient, flickering CRT monitor to warm up before they could check insurance websites. Given the advances in medical equipment in recent years, I can’t imagine what they’re using for examinations. By the time they informed me, unpleasantly, that they wouldn’t take my insurance, I was ready to walk out the door regardless.

I have been very satisfied since I started seeing Dr. Soss about 7 years ago. It is very obvious that he cares very much about doing things the best way, including making sure his patients choose the best options for contacts and glasses. He has a great selection of eyeglasses and convenient hours (open late Wednesdays & open Saturdays).
Dr. Soss and his staff are very friendly, but he is not the type to allow his patient to order something that isn’t right for them without a debate. Some people may be put off by this, but he ultimately allows the patient to make the decision and he only states his case because he wants what is best for the patient.
I saw the review where someone mentioned that the older admin was very unfriendly. I have to disagree strongly with that statement. She has always been nothing but friendly every time I’ve seen her. I have no clue about the insurance issue because I don’t have vision coverage (I didn’t know people actually had vision coverage these days), but his prices are pretty reasonable.

Dr Soss is the best optometrist I’ve ever been to. Totally nice. Explained everything to me. Didn’t rush through the exam. And even answered some random/​stupid questions I had. He was so good that he «fixed» a bad prescription my last optometrist issued me. I never knew that my eye sight was that bad or could be this clear.
And where other eye doctors stop… he’s just getting started. Not only does he write up your prescription, but he helps A LOT with choosing the right frames for your face. Style, shape, color. He gave me great feedback and opinions. I’ve NEVER had a doc do that before. If they don’t have the right size or color of the frame, no worries, they are more than willing to order the perfect frames for you. No settling here!
I can see the clearest I’ve ever could in my life (I think) AND I’ve got a ton of great compliments on my new frames.