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Here's a story that I hope helps a few people avoid what happened to me. I made an appointment for an eye exam at America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses. An hour or two later, my glasses broke on me. I wanted to get their $69.95 special for the exam and two sets of glasses. I had to wait a while even though I made an appointment. I figured that I might as well get contacts also - I haven't worn them in 10 years, but I wanted them for some occasions. Apparently, it's another $69 for a contacts exam, even though it's exactly the same exam. Then the price is only for plastic lenses, which none of their frames support, so it's about $170 just for one pair of glasses. That's about in line with other places, so I went with it. Still, their deceptive advertising was not appreciated. I have an astigmatism in my left eye, so I need a toric lens for it, but the doctor said it was minor and that I could probably get away without the toric lens -- this was good news, because torics are a little less comfortable. I was supposed to get a trial pair of contacts, so since my glasses were broken, this would have been perfect, but they were out of stock. A whole week with broken glasses. I went to pick up my trial contacts on Friday. I walked outside and noticed that they didn't mark the left and right lenses, so I went back inside and after a bit of confusion, they told me both eyes were the same prescription. OK. That was my first clue that the doctor was a quack, but I went home and put them in. I had better vision with my broken glasses. I could barely read with them. Distances weren't too bad, but not acceptable. I called them back and could only get an appointment for 9:15 Saturday - I'm not a morning person, so this was annoying.
I went back on Saturday, waited for a short time and the doctor told me that I needed the contacts in for him to check. So I put them in and he checked me out. He came to the conclusion that I would never have decent vision with them, because I'm starting to get farsighted (on top of my nearsightedness). Yes, I do have to move things a bit farther away for me to read them now, but not to the degree of needing bifocals. Then he tells me that I'll need reading glasses even with contacts. I've been waiting a week for glasses and now he wants to change the prescription in them to bifocals. I kept explaining that all I needed was a toric lens and better prescription, but I guess the arrogant doctor knows best -- I know my own eyes. After he told me that the bifocals will probably also need new frames to go with them, I stormed out to the front desk and demanded my money back. I just had it with the quacks and bait and switch at that place. The manager came over and gave me a full refund after I told them that I wanted nothing more to do with their company.
I went home and took those lousy contacts out. My eyes were red because I'm a little out of practice - it's been 10 years since I wore them. I then went to Lenscrafters so I could get glasses the same day. I explained what happened at America's Best and that I wanted to make sure I could get glasses the same day. The very kind receptionist/technician arranged for a super-quick exam just to see if I could get glasses made while I wait - she checked my eyes, asked the doctor, and said that it shouldn't be a problem. I just had to wait an hour for the full exam. So I killed some time by walking around the mall and when I came back, she did a preliminary exam. I then waited a bit more for the doctor, who did her part of the exam and concluded that my new prescription is only slightly different from my old one. I asked her about the astigmatism and she told me that my right eye has a very minor one, but my left is major, so it definitely needs a toric lens. The staff were very friendly and helpful and I waited another hour for my glasses once I picked out my frames and paid for them. Picked up my new glasses and they worked first time. I'll go back for contacts another time, as I just wanted to be able to see as quickly as possible. I paid a little more money (the lenses were apparently half off too), but got my glasses in an hour and without issue.
I left the house in the morning around 9:00 and finally got home after 2. The funny thing is that when I checked my messages, America's Best called to tell me my glasses were ready. The moral of the story. Avoid America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses - they will not disclose charges upfront, the $69.95 special is a scam, and their doctors don't seem to be able to actually provide accurate prescriptions. | | 3 Comments | Add Comment | Permanent Link | | Return to Overview | | CrazyBlend Commented: | Aug 16, 2010 | 1:57 pm | |
| cdettlinger Commented: | Aug 19, 2010 | 6:01 am | |
| Brett Commented: | Aug 19, 2010 | 10:39 am | |
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