Complain about a product or service

America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses

jane of atlanta, GA June 21, 2009

As a former employee of America's Best, I wanted to set the record straight for the ones who have nothing but bad comments. The advertisement is for just what it CLEARLY states: 2 pair for 69.95 which includes 2 frames (49.95) and BASIC PLASTIC SINGLE VISION LENSES.

Any upgrades such as thinner lenses for higher prescriptions, lined/no-line bifocals, lined trifocals, transitions, polarized sunglasses, etc. WILL COST MORE. This is also the case for those who choose higher priced frames. This is in no way a scam, and if you call any other optical chain, it will be the same, only double the price. Trust me, I called on a daily basis.

As for the customer who complained about the progressive lenses, what you were told was a true statement. Unfortunately, no-line bifocal wearers will lose some peripheral vision and will have to point their nose at what they need to see clearly.

The bottom line is anything offered above and beyond the 2/69.95 is purely a recommendation, and you have the right to SAY NO. But as trained/certified opticians, they know what would be best for you to get the clearest vision possible. Glasses will not always get you to see 20/20, so be realistic with your expectations.

Take time to visit a store, look around, and ask questions. You will see that America's Best is in fact the best option for you, especially for the prices.

Jeanny of Lucedale, MS May 17, 2009

On 5/2/09, I went to America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses. It is advertised 2 pair for 69 including eye exam. After the eye exam & choosing 2 pairs of glasses. The woman gave me a total bill of 388.83. Plus an unknown man was standing in view of my personal information. She was aware he was standing behind her. Anyway, she told me that since I needed progressive (no-line bifocals), this wasn't included in the 69 price. Whatever!

I paid the 388.83 & was told it would take 7-10 days for my glasses. By 5/12/09, I received no call, so I called them. No glasses. Maybe by Friday, 5/15/09. I called 5/16/09, still no glasses. I inquired as to why not. She advised me 7-10 working days. Well, duh. The 12th was the 8th working day, the 15th was the 11th working day. (Since they work on Saturday) Here it is the 12th working day. She asked for my phone number (which they already had) & she would look in the boxes they just received. Advised her that I knew they had my money because it cleared my bank 2 days after the check was written.

Within 10 minutes she called me back & they happened to be there. (Hmmm, wonder how long they sat back there). Asked if I needed an appointment to get my glasses, she advised me no. So I was on my way. I didn't have to wait long this time (during the 1st visit, with an appointment, I had a 1 hour wait). She is fitting the glasses to my face & ears, I'm noticing a cloud to the right side of me. She told me these were progressive glasses & I'm supposed to turn my head to see to the right of me. That the prescription was just in the middle of the glasses. I told her NO. God made your eyes to move & I've been wearing progressive glasses for about 5-6 years & the whole lens is prescription, not just part of it. She advised me that they didn't do that there. I told her to give me my money back.

Now I have to wait a week for a refund. Plus I drove 30 minutes twice. This place is a big joke & a ripoff! I have been wearing prescription glasses since I was 6 years old & I believe I know that prescription glasses are not just halfway made. I don't even know if the prescription that the doctor wrote is correct. So now I have to find another O.D. & pay for another eye exam to get another pair of glasses. This is so obsurd. False advertisement is what I call it, which is supposed to be against the law!!!!!!!

Ivan of Northwoods, IL May 11, 2009

Eye exam on 4-19-09, wanted to sell me 2 paid of glasses for over 550.00 for 2 pairs of eyeglasses and an eye exam. Their reason was the price was for standard glasses (can they define that?...no prescription included). So I paid 69.00 for the exam and bought only two frames which I had paid an additional 107.00 for, and had to wait at least 10 days for, 2 weeks. Well, 21 days later, still no frame, but when my husband called, they instantly had his frame.

Wife picks it up, and notices that they are the same frame that husband tried on at the store that was on display, and it was not new, it was bent, tried on by at least 1000 people. Wife calls to complain, clearly their are smudges, fingerprints, and they are bent out of shape, like worn out shoes that someone sells as new (or so wife explains) says she's going back to store and wants original frames they paid for that they probably put out on their display rack. Asked what they will do about all the driving, will they reimburse. They say wife has to talk to mamager. I have lost my faith in doctors of all kinds. This is a bait and switch of service.

Michael of Portland, OR May 12, 2009

A few days ago I went into get my contact lens RX renewed. The doctor gave me the exam and left the RX exactly as it was with no changes. I wear multifocal contacts and am a college student. I lost my last contact for my left eye and called to get a new pair from 800 contacts. Since my Rx had expired they needed to get approval from Americas Best. They refused to do this. Their policy says that after wearing a trial pair for 2 weeks they give you a new RX. They haven't even given me the trial pair yet as they had to order that. I tried to reason with their store manager that my RX had not changed and I needed to get my order right away but policy is policy and I have to wait till they call me when the samples arrive, I have to wear them for 2 weeks even though I have been wearing the same RX for years and THEN they will hand me a written RX.

Cyndy of Huntsville, AL April 21, 2009

I had an appointment for glasses on march 12, 2009. I arrived 10 minutes before the time. I waited almost 45 minutes before a female called my name. She pointed towards a room for me to go into. There was another female in the room with her. The 1st one must have been training the 2nd one. The tone of voice that she spoke to her in was rude, as was the way she treated me. I felt as if I was in her way, could not hear what she said most of the time.

After she finished, she directed me into a second room. I waited there another 10-15 minutes for the doctor. His exam was fast. I was then told to go to the showroom to look for glasses. Since I had already picked them out the 1st 45 minutes of my visit, I again had to wait another hour before someone could help me. while trying to help me, she was also stopping to help other employees, the dr, ect. I order 2 pair of glasses. One with tint, one without. I paid then left.

About 10 days later I had a voicemail the galsses were in. I went to pick them up about 1.5 weeks later. When i got there, I waited about 10 minutes before anyone could get them for me. She handed them to me, and walked away.I looked at them and told the girl at the desk that there was no tint on the one pair. She told me they would change when I walked outside. I walked outside, and they did not change. I went back in, told the girl at the desk. She said she could not take them, I needed to wait for the girl that handed them to me. This required another 45 minute wait.

After handing her the glasses, telling her the problem, it took her 10 minutes to find the same pair on the wall. She told me I had not ordered tint, I told her yes I had. She wrote the order up, told me it would be about a week. As I was checking my voicemails today, (1 week later) I have a message from America's Best, that I needed to pay 15 for the tint before they could be ordered. WHAT?????????????????

Today's date is April 21st. After a call to the manager, she still refuses to waive that 15. I am going to take these glasses back, get what money I can from them, and a copy of my prescription. I will go somewhere else, have my eyes rechecked by a professional. AB had better be praying they got that part right, or I will sue them. They should owe me money for all of my time they have wasted. And when I take these glasses back, I will tell everyone in there to run as fast as they can to get out. Going there is nothing but a waste of time and money. I went to the website and asked for the DM's number. I doubt I get a reply. Judging from this website, they are nothing but a scam.

Carmen of Phoenix, AZ March 27, 2009

I went there to get an eye exam on 03/14/09. I walked in and there were a few people in the store being waited on. I waited probably 10 minutes for some one to acknowledge me and to greet me and ask what I needed. Finally a young lady came over and I asked if I could get an eye exam that afternoon. All she would say to me was AH. She walked away and another girl came up to me and asked me if I had been helped. I told her I had asked if I could get an eye exam and that the girl I spoke to had just walked away without answering me, I wasn't sure if she was checking a schedule or what.

Finally one of the eye techs came to me after about 15 minutes and took care of me. They told me it would be about a 15 minute wait. I told her I would wait. About 5 minutes later I was called into the back and a young lady signalled to me that she wanted me to follow her into another room. She signalled to me that she wanted me to sit down. She grunted and pointed to me through several exams. Her customer service skills were the worst I had ever seen. Just a few minutes later I was called back to see the doctor. He seemed very tired and was not very interested in doing an eye exam. So I engaged him in a conversation about the young lady that had done my exam. He just shook his head and re-did the exams that the first girl had done. I went back out front and went to look at glasses.

I finally got my turn to talk to one of the eye glass consultants. She seemed very put out when I asked to see the bronze color that the transitions turned in the sun. She didn't have a sample but hurried me through so fast that I didn't feel that I had my questions answered. I spend 235.95 on a single pair of single vision glasses w/ transition lenses. She had told me that they would be in that week and that they would call me when they were in.

A week goes by and I had not gotten a call. So on the following Monday I called them to see if my order was in. I called ,I asked about my order and was told to hold. Not hold please or can you hold but HOLD. So I waited on the phone for over a half hour and then was told the the shipment had not come in as of yet and that it should be there later that day. I said great, I would be in later that day to pick them up. She just kind of giggled and said I don;t think so. We'll call you when we are ready. and promptly hung up the phone.

I finally called back on Thursday and when they answered the phone. I was never greeted, the girl on the other end was busy laughing about a stupid lady who had forgotten her glasses. I yelled into the phone IS THIS AMERICAS BEST. the girl didn't even have the courtesy to apoligize. I then asked if my glasses were in. I only had to hold about 30 seconds this time and she got back on the phone. and said HEY, yah, there here I then told her I would go ther this evening and pick them up. I got there about 6:15 that evening. I had to wait, which is fine everyone was busy.

I told the lady behind the desk what I wanted and she asked me my name. As soon as I told her my name the attitude started! She went to get my glasses she practically threw them at me. They were dirty, I cleaned them and tried them on. I wasn't sure if the were transitions so I asked if they had a way to check them. She got all huffy grabbed the glasses out of my hand and practically threw them at one of the eye techs she told her that I wanted them check. She finsihed with the customers that she had and put them into a machine with uv light. they turned. she handed me the glasses. I then asked if anyone was going to check the fitting and she just stared at me like I had just asked her the question in a foreign language.

A young man came over to me and helped me fit the glasses. He was the only redeeming quality of my whole experience with this discusting store. I have never had such piss poor customer service. there pricing was not good by a long shot and I would not recommend them to a single soul. I will profusely tell every one I know about my BAD EXPERIENCE Shame on them! I will never go back.

Rachael of Langhorne, PA March 25, 2009

BEWARE. Do not use America's Best unless you plan to buy your glasses or contacts from them! Even then, the service is horrible! I've been wearing contacts for 14 years. I recently went to America's best for my contact exam because they were cheap and close. Although I had no issues with my previous prescription, the optometrist insisted that I needed toric lenses more expensive). He gave me a brief explanation, but when I asked questions, he would pretend like he didn't hear me and continue to sip his coffee.

When I asked him what my script was b/c I was curious if my eyes had gotten worse, he refused to tell me and gave me a trial pair of turic lenses. For the next week I could not see anything and felt like I was drunk. I went back, explained what happened and was offered a regular pair with that same scrpit. I then requested a new evaluatin of the prescription, and it turned out that the first script was WAY off.

One week later I went for my mandatory checkup. After they tried to push me into buying contacts from them, I informed them that I had found a better price elsewhere and would just like a written prescription. Well this was a whole new issue. Finally after speaking my mind, I was given the script. I ordered my contacts online at VisionDirect.com with rush shipping, as I was leaving for vacation shortly. I received an email from them stating that they had called America's Best for verification, and were informed that I never came back for my mandatory checkup and my script was not valid. Thankfully I had it written and faxed it to them, but by that time it was too late for the contacts to be shipped in time for my vacation. STAY AWAY!!!! CHEAP EXAM PRICE = INCOMPETENCE, POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND PUSHY SALES FOR OVERPRICED CONTACTS.

Melissa of Derby, NY March 21, 2009

I have been an America's Best customer for more than 12 years. I had only one problem in the past, but for some dumb reason I kept going back. Now I will NEVER go back there again!!! I went in to purchase new glasses on February 7, 2009. The two pairs cost 361. When they came in, one pair had a VERY noticable defect on the lens...a big bubble. The worker said I can't believe that made it through inspection. Neither could I. That pair was sent out for repair and I started wearing the other pair.

I wore them for 12 days and had HUGE headaches and eye pain. In the meantime the other pair came back...with the same problem again!!! A huge bubble on the lens! Now I had to go back again and have my eyes re-examined because of my headaches. They adjusted the script and both pairs were sent out to be redone. It took nearly 3 weeks for the glasses to come in. I called several times to see if they were ready yet. Finally they were in on March 19th.

When I tried them on I noticed right away that I had no clear peripheral vision. I told the worker I can only see clearly if I am looking straight ahead. His response? You'll never believe it: You don't usually look out of the corner of your eye unless you are spying on someone. Can you believe that??? I was stunned!!! I was basically told I didn't need peripheral vision! I wore them for 2 days thinking maybe it was just that they were new. I could not see a thing (all blury) if my eyes turned. I especially could not see driving because, contrary to that workers opinion, you DO look out of the corner of your eyes often when you are driving.

When I called to ask about the return policy and getting a refund, I was told I would need to see the doctor again (for a third time) and possibly have to send the glasses back in AGAIN. I said absolutely not, I want my money back and you can have your crappy glasses (and service). She said that was not possible. There was no manager available to speak to and the main office is closed today so I called another AB location and explained the situation, asking for the return policy. She told me she was speechless regarding the worker's stupid comment and that I shoulf definitely be able to get a refund. I now have to call on Monday to talk to the manager. I HATE America's Wrost and will never go there AGAIN!

Naomi of Indianapolis, IN March 18, 2009

I purchased a pair of no line bifocals glasses from your company I have been back for several adjustments to try and make it so that i am able to wear them ,so far I am not getting good results. I can't see out of them, they won't fit on my face correctly, they just can't seem to make them fit so they will do me any good.

I have paid over three-hundred dollars on glasses that I can't wear and they are causing me more harm than good. I am fifty years old and have been wearing glasses since i was 15yrs. old and I have never been so displeased with a pair of glasses as i am with these. four-hundred may not seem to be much to you , but to me in today's economy four-hundred dollars is a lot of money. Like I said I have never had this much trouble from a pair of glasses and I need my glasses in order to do my job. I can't see this makes no sense tome. I even had they to check the prescription they said it was ok I don't think so. I need to have this resolved with my money back or to try thjis tjing again and start over from stratch.

I can't preform my daily function on my job I can't see to read, straing my eyes causing me to have headaches all the time

Linda of Mount Prospect, IL March 17, 2009

The first day I went in to get the special 2 for 69.00 was ok, but they tried to get me to add some exam specail price for 3 years. I ordered the glasses and decided I wanted to get contacts also a few days later and called made an appointment. Went in to see the Dr. and he told me what I needed and the office called me 2 days later to come in for my contacts. I laos ordered gthe glasses but with another Dr. prescription, which was over 2 weeks ago and I didnt get the glasses yet.

I Went in and the girls at the desk gave me my contacts and said that I would have to comeback if I didnt know how to put them in. I told them that I didnt and they made an appointment for a week and a half later. So I tried to put them in myself. Wasnt hard but the contacts made my eyes feel week and stayed red. So I called the Dr. and told him and he made another appointment to see me.

When I got there I took all the extra things that I had to buy for cleaning the lens and drops for moisture and rewetting. I gave this all to him and he ask me why did I buy these things.

I told him because my eyes felt bad and weak and dry. He stated that the girls was suppose to have given me all that stuff. (that was the first issue).

He changed my contact strength and gave me new contacts to try. I did and they were a little stronger and really irratated my eyes to the point they were blood shot and even after taking them out, my eyes were in pain,so I stopped in the office for him to check to see what the problem was and the receptionist went in the back and came out to tell me the Dr. was taking only his last patient for the day and I would have to come back another day. She saw my eyes and said I would still have to come another day. I said OK..I will go to the emergency room, which I did but there was to many people so I left and went to Walgreens and got me some drops for red and comfort drops. I called to make an appointment and they gave me an appointment for 2 days later. Im going but Im experiencing very bad vibs about Americans Best eyewear.

My eyes still feel weak but I do have an appointment in a few days. I really feel that this place is only about money...not caring about the consequences.