I have a choice of Sears, Lenscrafters, JcPenney, Pearle Vision and Walmart. I do not think Walmart is a good idea and for some reason on another board Lenscrafters was considered to be a bad place. My current glasses are from lenscrafters, but the lenses did become shoddy as hell within a year and a half.
So which should I go to and why? I need single vision plastic lenses and reasonable frames, so the cost wont be much (maybe $70 for the glasses & lenses with my discount).
{quote]the lenses did become shoddy as hell within a year and a half.
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Seems to be the nature of plastic lenses, rather than anything to do with who made them. Likewise any sort of “antiglare” coatings. And, a year and a half on the same lenses? How often do you get your eyes checked?
Beyond that, I’d expect the quality of any of these shops to be pretty much equal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that the same lab makes glasses for both Sears and JCP, for starters.
Do all of these shops accept your insurance? That alone can be a show-stopper for most folks.
Mr. Legend went to an expensive optical shop for his glasses last time, because we’d heard good things about the place and we wanted to get quality. The service was lousy, the glasses were outrageously expensive, the tech didn’t fit them properly, and now, after just over a year, the coating is bubbling off the lenses and the frame is falling apart. In contrast, I went to one of those “free eye exam with the glasses” places just to see what kind of deal they had, and I walked out of there in half an hour with my glasses on order. When I picked them up an hour later, I had a pair of glasses with progressive multifocal lenses, UV protection and scratch protection in a sturdy yet stylish metal frame, two pairs of contact lenses, and a pair of (somewhat ugly) sunglasses, all for less than half of what Mr. Legend paid. And one year later, they’re still doing just fine.
Wherever’s cheapest. I personally have hesitancy about LensCrafters after the following happened:
I walked in with my mother to pick up my new spectacles. We give the woman my name, she fishes around in the bins in back, and comes up with one pair. “Was it only one pair?” she asks. We respond yes, it was. She looks very confused - “Oh, well, you said glasses.” As opposed to, I suppose, a glass?
I sit down and try them on, to make sure the fit is right. The fit is fine; the perscription is not. They’d doen something terribly wrong to the left lens. I told the clerk I didn’t think it was right, as I was squinting to make sure it wasn’t just my eyes, and also to prevent myself from falling over backwards. “Well,” she barks at my mother, “Tell her to open her eyes if she can’t see out of them!”
I was bewildered, to say the least.
I’ve had negative experiences with both WalMart (I no longer shop there at all) and Lenscrafters. I looked for the place on my plan that listed themselves as having lots of styles. It is a small office and you have to wait a week to get your glasses, but the selection is awsome and the doctor is much better than many I have found. To top it off she does the fitting herself and is very good.
Unfortunately for you, she is in Chicago.
I bought KellyM some glasses as Sears. The glasses were fine and the doctor was ok. No complaints. We did not go back there because the vision plan did not cover there.
You’re just looking for the glasses, not a checkup as well, right? I’d skip the chains for both, especially if you have a weird prescription.
My recommendation is to find an optometrist (often, but not always, has a better clue about these things than an ophthalmologist) who seems to know what he/she is doing, and ask at the office for a good place that you can trust.
I go to lenscrafters. Everything depends on which shop you go to, as the customer service will vary widely by place. I never get glasses fitted by someone who is not wearing glasses.
I get my eyes checked every two years or so, or when I start to get eyestrain headaches.
I don’t have health insurance, period, so I can’t afford to get my eyes checked every year.
Do you mean I should visit and opthamologist instead of an optometrist? Thats way too expensive and sounds unnecessary. My current glasses are/were fine, as were the ones I’ve had before them and my prescription isn’t weird its just a regular nearsighted prescription.
I am so very happy with my Pearlevision glasses. I’ve had them for several years longer than I thought they would last.
When I went to Lens Crafters to get a ‘replacement’ pair made, they completely screwed up the prescription. It made me dizzy, and everything on the left side was blurry. They were also rude, disorganized, and used the old bait-and-switch tactic on me.
Don’t risk going to Lens Crafters.
Well, you said Wal Mart doesn’t seem like a good idea but that’s where I got mine. When they came in, I had a little trouble seeing distance so I had to go back and have the test retaken. The new pair, though not perfect, was exceptional at the time and still works well for me a year later. (For the record, the optometrist was wearing glasses himself.) Altogether they cost me $120.
OTOH, my parents recently went to a chain (not LensCrafters) that was doing a buy one get one free special for something like $60 or $70. They really messed up my mother’s prescription. Years ago I had gone to another chain that had a similar special, and they didn’t bother to even do an eye exam :eek: so the glasses they gave me A.) did not correct for astigmatism, and 2.) were the same for both eyes. And the staff had the nerve to tell me the reason things didn’t look clear was because my eyes were not accustomed to the new prescription rather than a lack of thoroughness on their end. :mad:
IME, this is one of those instances where you get what you pay for.
Perhaps. But Pearle Vision, Sears and lenscrafters are valid, nationwide chains that service alot of customers. I am on a plan where these are among the retailers I can go to, so I am picking among them.
In the end I doubt it matters. As long as the place has a money back guarantee or the ability to exchange I should be fine.
I forgot to add this to my last post, but Lenscrafters has a 30 day unconditional moneyback guarantee and pearle vision has a 30 day exchange but no moneyback guarantee. Sears website says they have a moneyback guarantee, but I don’t know how long that lasts or what requirements there are so I guess it doesn’t really matter which one I choose. I’ll probably pick lenscrafters since my current glasses came from there and they have an unconditional moneyback guarantee.
Your plan only covers certain retailers? Bizarre! I get an addition discount if I use certain retailers, but coverage for any.
It’s too bad Costco isn’t an option. I’ve gotten fantastic service, reasonably fast (not an hour - a week) and the same glasses the other retailers were selling but more than $100 off. I bought my mom glasses there too even though she’s not a member, and they didn’t seem to mind.
I’m confused about what you’re confused about. I was merely suggesting who might have a better recommendation than any you will find on the boards. I had a bad experience with Lenscrafters, but that means nothing because you’ll have different people working at the one near you. A quality optometrist in your area probably knows where to get the best lenses. It probably doesn’t matter too much if it’s just a simple prescription.
I’ve been wearing glasses for around 25 years and I’d done the optometrist thing for ages, but I’ve always found the LensCrafters exams to be the most thorough and up-to-date. I’m always impressed by the intensity of them. Like most chain businesses you run the risk of getting a turkey employee every now and then, but over the last 10 years or so I’ve gotten glasses at San Francisco, Las Vegas and Newark (California) locations and had great service at all of them. The last visit I had the most hilarious doctor ever and actually ENJOYED my exam! Never had a problem with prescription or quality; my only complaint is their selection seems really limited, frame-wise. There are only so many variations on the oblong wire-frame/thin plastic look. What if I want Buddy Holly glasses? Harry Potter? Cat eye? Half moon? Their sunglasses selection is fairly crappy too. It’s “J-lo” and “grandma.” Eh. Maybe I’m just out of it, lol. The glasses I do end up with, I’m prefectly happy with though.
Ah, ok. I’m signed up for the independent doctor of optometry that is next door from lenscrafters so I know i’ll get a great recommendation on where I should go for glasses.
At the end of the day, the fact that lenscrafters has a 30 day unconditional guarantee makes me want to pick them over pearle vision or sears.