Zenni Optical Reviews

And I think Zenni's digital free from progressives are great. I like my lenses short and stylish, so I usually select lenses that are only 30mm tall, and even at this shorter length, Zenni's progressives are great. They offer nice segment heights--with excellent intermediate and reading vision--and the only thing I can fault them for is not offering the most generous distance vision--the distance segment is a bit short, and not wide; the distance is only about 110 degrees wide. But you get used to the lenses very quickly and soon no longer notice the smaller viewing areas. And this tends to be an issue with almost ALL progressive lenses anyway...

Yes, there are a little bit better progressive lenses out there (Shamir), if you are willing to spend $500+ (lenses only!). But for an average of $62 (including frames), the optics from Zenni's progressive eyeglasses are one of the best bargains on the internet. Period.

I've been shopping with them for 7 years, and have read many reviews and criticisms about Zenni and I have seen a trend. It seems some have had quality issues with their orders, so depending on your selection(s), this could be an issue. While I have never had any problem (and I do check the screws and parts of my eyeglasses long before they start to fall apart) with anything ordered from Zenni, you could have some problems--the frames are not as well made as what you can find from Luxotica (Ray Ban, Lenscrafters, Oakley, etc..), but then these frames are not priced at $150 and above. Same thing for AR coatings--basic Crizal AR coatings are $100 and more at your local optician--Zenni's start at $5.

I hesitate to say it--but it's somewhat true that you get what you pay for. NOT that anything is wrong with Zenni or the quality they routinely offer! They offer fine goods at much, much below average prices. Yes, I love the European construction and quality of my Silhouette frames and my 1.67 Varilux lenses--but they cost me $850, and don't offer hardly any better vision than my $100 1.67 Zennis rimless glasses--and they are both made of titanium.

In the end, I highly recommend Zenni if you don't have optical insurance and need to save some money. I never have regretted it and I see great too...!

Well that didn't happen. Now with 3 days before my deadline they say they can't deliver them on time, which barely leaves me enough time to buy the glasses locally. To make matters worse they refuse to refund my money, offering me a 50% refund or credit for future orders. I need the money I spent with them to buy the glasses somewhere else. Just very, very bad communication and terrible business policies and conscience.

So I sent them back....again...couple more weeks pass and I get them back. This time the lenses are wrong yet again. The prescription was placed at LEAST 6+mm too high on the lens. All they were good for was reading. I could not see medium or long distance at all. To them to my optometrist and had the lenses confirmed. Was told not to wear them as they could damage my vision. Every time I sent them back I was promised expedited service. That never happened. When I contacted their chat support recently I was told I had to wait for them to be inspected and call the 800 line and the chat was promptly closed/ended by the customer support rep. Service 1/10. Support 1/10. Respect for the customer: non-existent. I would not and will not recommend them in any way shape or form to anyone.

I have open dispute with PAYPAL as I made payment through them. They advised "send item back with tracking number." As soon seller receive item back, I will get refund but I have cover return ship cost. I found very good optical website little expensive than Zenni but 100% genuine www.clearlycontacts.com.au. Hope the above feedback will help the people where to spend to spend hard earning money. Thanks.

I called Zenni Optical and got a very unfriendly woman on the phone. I explained the situation and, I kid you not, I am not exaggerating here, her literal response was, "...and what do you want me to do about it?" I told her that it was clear there was a problem and I thought that as a company, they would be interested to know when their clients are robbed as a result of doing business with them. There was no ulterior motive here. Capital One covers the fraudulent charges, I'm not liable. But I did want to let them no of a breach that could negatively affect other customers.

After this she said, "okay, I guess I can mark this down on your account." She then told me she needed to speak with her manager. She put me on hold for the exact time it took me to cross the street (I was speaking on my way to work), absolutely not enough time to speak with anyone. She returned to our call and said she consulted with her manager and her manager assured her that in the 13 years they've done business, this has never happened, so there is no way Zenni Optical is responsible and I should explore other sources of the problem. I told her that it was either Zenni Optical or that Amazon purchase I made quite a while ago. She responded that I would really be surprised how unsecure Amazon is and that I should give them a call to complain about my problem.

I suggested they might want to do some research or look into it at all. She told me extremely rudely that the best she could do was mark on my order that "the customer thinks something weird happened with this credit card," but told me that would be the end of it. In terms of customer service, I'm appalled at Zenni Optical. There was nothing like, "I'm so sorry that happened, let's look into this." In fact, there was no customer service at all. At this point, I Googled things like "Zenni Optical Fraud" (an alarming number of returns on that one), "Zenni Optical Scam," "Zenni Optical Complaints" and several others, all of which returned a large number of results. I would really recommend anyone do this. The company has 150 complaints registered with the Better Business Bureau over the past three years, an impressive 88 just in the last 12 months.

By all accounts, many people get respectable products from these people. But it seems clear based on my personal, awful experience with their customer service, and a bit of internet research, that if you run into a problem, they will be extremely rude and unhelpful. And your credit card may be cloned to fund a guy in Johannesburg who needs to rent a car and buy a bunch of liquor. What a miserable way to run a company.

On my own glasses over the years, I have also come to notice that in a short time, the coating on the lens have worn away. Not completely, but you can most definitely see the damage from the coating wearing away. Again, I have noticed this after only a few months. I love their prices and what they offer for free, it is hard to find a company willing to give 1.57 thinness on lenses for free. Usual places I have encountered will give you 1.5 or you have to pay $20+ for 1.57 and up. They also offer their coatings for free, but as I have noted, that coating seems to be very thin. At first I was okay with the frames breaking after a month or two, figuring they were inexpensive anyway until all of them starting breaking after 1-2 months. I was also desperate for fashionable frames. Normal eyeglasses it seems should hold up for a year, or until you get a new prescription. Of course frames will break for many reasons, even expensive ones, but I started to get aggravated when seemingly for no reason the frames would break. Only to leave the conclusion that these were extremely poor quality.

I was washing my face with the latest frames, and after I was done I went to put my glasses back on, they completely snapped on the bottom right lens in my hand when all I had done was pick them up. These were gorgeous frames too, Piet Mondrian inspired frames that I absolutely loved. Upon feeling the frame with the lens out, I could immediately feel and was very surprised at how extremely cheap and thin feeling the frame was. It felt like those swizzle sticks they put in your drink. I tried to repair them with epoxy but that didn't work. I emailed Zenni hoping even though it was 5 days out of warranty that they would make an exception for a long time customer. Well, they said they could only send out a replacement frame but I would have to take it somewhere to get the lens put in. Not only was I out much needed glasses after a month, I would have to wait an additional 2 weeks, and then deal with the hassle and expense of putting the lens in myself! Outrageous for glasses that should last well past 35 days.

If you look on their fb page or on any review site you will see the same thing about people being aggravated over their glasses breaking and then being told to get the lens put in themselves. The 30-day warranty is no good in comparison to many other well-known online eyeglass retailers who offer a 1-year warranty against defects. Is this because they know many of their glasses won't hold up to a year after only a month? I always check the policy on warranty now before buying eyeglasses online. It was fun to be changing up my look so often because of their cheap prices, and one of the main reasons I bought from Zenni was because they had frames no one else had.

You know what I'm talking about, you go to a physical store or other online stores and they all have the same dumpy frames: rectangular, oval, metal, generic frames. Zenni had those unique frames I wanted: cat eye, those Piet Mondrian frames, wayfarer inspired, really unique out there, frames and patterns for great prices. I could also make prescription sunglasses for under $20! Most eyeglass places would charge you $200+ for prescription eyeglasses. I could also add tint to my glasses for only $5. These were all things I loved about Zenni (although the lens were not truly 1.57) but after awhile of broken frames every time, it gets extremely OLD.

I know I can get some eyeglasses repaired but shouldn't the purpose of quality frames be to hold up to more than 30 days of normal wear without breaking?? I mean they sit on your nightstand all night, you wake up and put them on, sit them down to take a shower, go about your day, and repeat. There is nothing there to warrant every single frame breaking after 30 days, and seemingly like clockwork, most of them have broken a week outside of the 30-day warranty. I can appreciate that many people have had great experiences with Zenni, I was happy too for awhile. It's been great not spending $400+ for two eyeglasses with those slimy people that try to nickel and dime you for every coating, lens, and other add-ons.

I'm not going back to buying glasses that way, but I am buying from different online retailers from now on. It seems to be that the more fashionable the frame is from Zenni, the more likely it is to break. If it looks thick or more substantial, or is metal, you're probably going to have a good experience. Even though these are great prices, it adds up over time due to replacement every month or so. Take my review for what it is, I can only write about my own honest experiences with them. Only if Zenni changes their policy/quality will I go back to ordering from them. I have not filed a complaint with the BBB because the glasses have always broken outside of 30 days, so they technically don't have to do anything.

I contacted customer service and after getting nowhere with the rep, I asked to speak to a supervisor. He refused to connect me with a supervisor for more than 45 minutes! He told me there was no supervisor and that a supervisor can't do anything anyway. The rep also told me my doctor must be lying to me because Zenni is a good company. Then later connected me to someone who said they were a supervisor.

I returned the glasses to Zenni who claimed that the glasses were fine and that nothing was wrong with them. They refused to refund my money saying I could get the glasses back or choose another pair from them. How could I possibly trust them with another pair after they messed up the others so badly and refused to acknowledge it???

Despite all this, they keep claiming that the piece of junk eyeglasses I received were "manufactured correctly," which is a load of hooey. They are refusing to give me my money back, despite their return policy stating at the time I placed the order that if they sent a bad product, they would issue a full refund. I've noticed that conveniently they seem to have changed their Policy since then. Too bad for them that I have copy of the original Policy. Avoid this company like the plague. If you have a desire to take a risk, print the return policy before ordering, and if you get a bad pair, take it to an optician to inspect and sign an inspection document of the actual prescription they find on the glasses, which will no doubt not be the correct one you ordered. Ultimately, be prepared to kiss your money goodbye.

I've ordered discount glasses from a UK company in the past, but Zenni are the first to supply the additional accouterments. This may be common with other discounters, but was a first for me. I confess my prescription was relatively straightforward, being a single vision order to correct a minor level of short sight; therefore, it was probably not too difficult to get right. Had it been a varifocal, perhaps I may have written something different, who knows? But there again, Zenni must sell heaven knows how many glasses worldwide and I guess the level of complaints I've came across appears relatively small when compared in percentage terms to their overall level of sales.

My main concern appears to be customers alleging that if they did feel that they had a justifiable complaint, some stated that they had the phone put down on them when talking to customer support staff, as well as alleged difficulty in obtaining refunds. When selling goods to the consumer you obviously have to factor into the equation the possibility of refunds. Alienating customers further when they're probably feeling a mixture of frustration, disappointment and in some cases anger, isn't conducive to placating the person concerned and just leads, as can be witnessed by some of the other posts on this site, to people widening the audience of their discontent.

I'm attempting to play devil's advocate here by seeing both sides of the argument; however, I can only site my specific case - and as stated, for me, it's been positive so far and I would certainly use the companies services again, but on the basis that past performance can be no guarantee of future performance. I think that well worn term, caveat emptor, should be to the forefront of anyone's mind when dealing with any company, because at the end of the day, all organisations are run by human beings and as we all know, the human race is far from infallible. For this particular review, I'm speaking purely as I find, however with consumer purchasers from anyone, irrespective of who they are, and no matter what experience you have had in the past, caveat emptor may be a rule of thumb to adhere to.

I contacted customer service again and said that I didn't see the point in paying shipping to have the glasses made a 3rd time, and asked for a refund. They wrote back: "As for your case, we advise you to confirm the prescription with your eye doctor and make sure the prescription you used is correct. Thank you for selecting Zenni Optical for your vision needs". I've been wearing glasses for 54 years and I've never had a doctor get the prescription wrong. I will take them to the doctor this week, but at this point I am tired of the poor customer service and just want my $100 back.

The quality of both pair of glasses is amazing for the fact that I paid $73 for both, with the upgrade charge of $10 each for the polycarb lenses. My son (6) picked out one pair that looked VERY sophisticated and adult-looking, and one that very much looked like the six year old goofball that he is. For the price, he can have a choice on what he wants to wear and I'm glad he can. Several mothers with kids in glasses had recommended this company for the sheer fact that kids' glasses don't last. Warranties are only good for a year at most, and usually only two replacements due to damage. I'm not worried about it now.

Don't pay for the lens protection films and add-ons. A cheap frame will run you $10 with $5 for shipping and you can get 4 or 5 pairs for what it costs to get the special coating on one pair. I'd rather get a few different styles, sizes and prescription strengths to test out what I really like. If you don't need glasses the next day, Zenni is a great way to try something new without feeling bad that you wasted money if it doesn't work out.

I am returning my glasses as my eye Dr said the prescription strength ‘is off a little bit’. They are not strong enough for reading my PC and in addition my left eye does not see distance through the whole lens (which I apparently need for street signs).

Also the gold wire glasses (3148) are too loose. One arm is out farther than the other & they are not flat like the plastic pair-which seems to fit better. If you could even make them hingeless (light brown-not clear) that would be great!

Please resolve this …as per my conversation when I e-mailed and talked to Peter about having tried to wear my glasses and I find myself squinting or moving my head around uncomfortably (and getting headaches). He suggested giving Progressive lens several weeks to get used to, but it is still not working.

Enclosed please find a copy of Dr.’s eyeglass prescription, online order, glasses w/case, and e-mail. Frustrated….still….Thanks!

4/12/06 ORDER # 35255 $161.60 (2 pair prescription glasses) FOLLOW UP of LETTER 3/6/06

What is the status of my prescription glasses that I returned (you received 3/31/06)? I noticed a credit to my account for $79.00 on 4/7/06 but have not received an explanation or reply from you. Was that credit for one pair and you are returning the other pair to me? (I have no glasses and I'm out $82.60)

Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Thanks again, Judi.

Called them mid April and they could not find the order!!! I had to resend them their own order info, then they found it, after 'REBOOTED DATABASE(that's the exact wording of the rep on the phone). Followed up in May and was assured that I will receive order 'soon'.

On June 2 I called again. They could not find the order AGAIN!!! Then they found it, not processed. In order to process it, they had to replace original order 20122 with new Order 24643, see their reply:

Replacement of Order 20122: Follows a copy of your order placed 2.22.05. I am replacing this order, and you should receive a notice of processing of the new order, with that new order number. I'll request priority shipping upon its completion so that you have them for the 4th of July! '

I did not receive glasses by July 4th. So on July 8 I called and e-mailed them yet again. The reply was:

'This order number has never processed. It was entered the 2nd of June, but there is no credit card information, so while it was assigned a number, it's not a valid order. Zenni Optical Customer Service. '

I've resent them their own new order information again.Then I received another e-mail:

By going to your next e.mail, with a complete subject, we realize what needs to be done in order to correct this situation and we have processed this order. There is no charge to you, because this is a replacement order. We expect this to ship to you in approximately two weeks, and we sincerely apologize for the state of continuing confusion around your order. Zenni Optical Customer Service

So there will be no charge to me because of 'continuing confusion around your order'!! ! I called them again on August 8, 2005; the answer was:

Peter will check with the lab this evening to learn of the status of this order for two pair of eyeglasses with tint. We do apologize for the delay in the completion of this order. Thank you for your patience and patronage. Zenni Optical Customer Service

I called and e-mailed them twice today, August 10, 2005 E-mails were never answered. On the phone their representative said that the order 24643 was resubmitted (by whom? ) on July 11(? ) and never been processed; she does not know anything about order 20122 because she even was not there in February and that I was responsible for not fulfilling the order.

I asked for my money back; the representative said fine and hang up on me. I do not have my glasses today, on August 10, 2005 and I want my money back. I wish this company will stop wasting peoples time. I had horrible experience dealing with them.