Absolutely Optical

Only One and a half months to get new lenses for my sunglasses and reading glasses....and only $1000.... And only 5 or 6 trips back and forth to the store only to find that ""the lab messed up your prescription again""....and only being treated like dirt by smarmy assistants (Angelo) who belong in Gibsonton at the carnie shop.....and only waiting for the doctor for 20-30 minutes each time despite having an appointment....and only having the doctor tell me that I messed up the eye exam.\r \r If all of these ""onlys"" mean nothing to you, the ny all means shop here. You will get what you deserve. This place is horrendous. Also, look at Yelps filtered reviews. They contain the real story as well. more

What can I say that has not already been said? Well, it is all true. "" Don't Even Bother, Terrible Customer Service, Misleading, Disrespectful, Rude, Questionable Services "". Big mistake when I chose to let Dr. Well ( owner ) give me an exam. The script that wrote for me was not accurate at all. I was able to see better with NO glasses. When talking to his staff I was scheduled for another appointment. I received a voice mail reminder the day before where I was told to call if I could not keep it so he does not "" waste his time "". When arriving he did not re-exam my eyes and said that the script was fine. I told him I could not see with the script he wrote and did not feel safe driving. I also explained in detail how things looked out of place and way out focus. Again, he did not verify the script and told me to "" be your own doctor "". He insisted that the script was correct. How would he know? I am the one that can not see with the script he wrote. Several things were pointed out to me that were very alarming to me when having my eyes checked by a second doctor. 1) Both of my eyes are scared on the lower eye, 2) No left eye stigmatism on his script, 3) Add power was way to high, 4) Very little change from my current lenses. I have tried to get in touch with him to go over these four concerns. He has declined to call me at this time. Stay away from this guy! All the bad reviews are dead on. more

One star only because you can't give a zero! This store has the rudest employees and could care less about customer service. I went in for a routine glasses and contact fitting and during the exam was pushed pretty heavily to do a more ""thorough"" exam even though I said no more than once. After the doctor told me that the contacts I had been wearing for years were inferior and that I should try a new kind. However he never mentioned I should take them home for a few days to make sure they worked for me...just told me to walk around for a few minutes and then pushed me to buy that day. They took almost two and a half weeks to get my contacts and glasses back in and then after a month of wearing them and realizing they were causing me severe headaches I was told I could not return them. I bought an entire years worth because they came with a rebate, however the you needed to rip off a part of the box to get the rebate so then they told me I couldn't return any of the boxes because they had a piece missing! When I called the lens company they said they would take them back in this circumstance and that they would talk to the business. Thinking everything was working out i took a new trial pair for a few days when I took back the boxes..which they charged me a $25 ""restocking"" fee for. Then I called to get my script and purchase the contacts elsewhere and was told I wasn't getting a refund, only a credit and I had to spend the money in there. Including the $100 I had been thinking I would get back as a rebate!!!! I would never go back here!!! more

I have visited this store on several occasions because I am too lazy to look for another optical shop. I have tolerated lack of staffing and how long it takes to get a pair of glasses due to the sheer amount of folks that walk in from the mall. I called recently to make an appointment and they were rude to me on the phone. I was told if I didn't like their procedures, that I could go to another shop. I took the young mans advice, and now my family of four buys their yearly glasses elsewhere. more

I went to Absolutely Optical after I looked them up on the VSP website. I called to make an appt. to get contact and glasses script. When I explained to the employee what I wanted, I asked how much it would cost me and he said only my co-pay for the exam. After the exam, I noticed on the receipt that I was charged $76 for a ""contact fitting"", which entailed me telling Dr. Weil my correct curvature of the contact and he had me try on the pair he had available (more of a curve that I already knew didn't fit my eye). After 5 min. I told him they hurt my eyes and he told me to throw them out and put on my old contacts. He never checked my eyes or the fit. I complained about being charged for a ""contact fitting"" when he did nothing but make me try on a pair of contacts that I knew didn't fit. He explained that a ""contact fitting"" includes merely speaking to a patient about contacts and performing a contact exam. Only problem was that his employee told me the entire exam would cost only my co-pay. He said I must not have asked the right questions and basically said it was my fault because I should have asked his employee more questions. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ARROGANT. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS BUSINESS more

There should be a ZERO star to rate this place. (The International Mall store)\r \r It's not about the store, but their curstomer service.\r \r Friday 11/18/2011 around 5:00pm, there was just one person in the store (Angelo) who was behind a counter and on the phone with someone. My wife walked in and after 10 minutes I could see she standing and looking but no one arround, that'e when I walked in and found (Angelo) on the phone.\r \r He made a face and walked out and asked what he could do to help, but when we started to say, he went back to his phone.\r \r As I told my wife to let him finish his call so he could help her, he put the speaker on very loud, in the desk, and asked what she was lookign for.\r \r We were looking for Hoya lenses and we told him that our vision coverage was with VSP. My wife's glasses are not so common glasses and btw, we wanted 2 pairs of (one shaded and one white) that in average runs at about 800.00 a piece. But Angelo looked at us and said that we should look for a cheaper lenses factory and that the frames that he was selling was too expensive for us.\r \r We were just in shock. I asked in desbelief if he could quote a price for us and his response was that we could lok anywhere that it would be cheaper anyway.\r \r Ahh in the meantime, the speaker was loud, another representative walked in and equally jumped on another phone - a disaster to the owner of the store - but maybe he deserves it for leaving such a nice place with such disqualified person.\r \r more

I appreciated the personal attention when it came to selecting my frames. I loved that I had the freedom of choosing the style I wanted and not what someone thought I should have. Super friendly staff! more

I found so many glasses and sunglasses to choose from I need to bring my friend Suzie. They have almost every designer. The staff was very nice to me. I can't understand what the couple sourpuss reviews are about. It was really busy on Saturday, so I would recommend going on a weekday if you like a lot of attention from the staff. more

Agree with the rest of reviewers. I wish there was an option for negative stars! They don't deserve the 1 star.\r International Mall should evict this trash. \r First of all Dr Weil and his staff are all very creepy. \r I also found them to be incredibly rude, unaccommodating and condescending. \r I have never experienced such rude behavior by a Doctor in my life.\r Do not waste your time here\r more

Do not go there. I am giving one star because zero is not an option, but they dont deserve one star Cons: Horrible srvices more

Can I give negative stars? I can't even begin to express how poorly my mother was treated here.\r \r She had a scratch on one of her lenses, so she took it back to be replaced under warranty. They sent it out to the lab, and she finally received them back 3 weeks later.\r \r She had been getting headaches wearing her glasses so after awhile she thought her eyes got worse and her prescription needed to be updated. When she went to her eye doctor, the Dr. said that one of her lenses was incorrect. The lense had been replaced with a lense for myopic patients. Luckily, except for the headaches, it didn't do any damage to her eyes.\r \r Now, unless the lense is a bifocal, who can tell the difference? No layman that's for sure! Only the Dr. who puts the lense in a machine!\r So my mom went back to Absolutely Optical who told her that the lenses are only guaranteed for 6 months and they refused to replace it! They said it was the lab's mistake. Now, I understand not replacing the lenses after 6 months if the patient's rx changed without the fault of the company. However, the lab put in the wrong lense! It's not like her rx got worse and she's expecting them to update her rx for free. \r \r What kind of company outsources work and doesn't check to make sure it's correct before giving it to the customer? Especially when it's something that has the potential to hurt or harm another human being? Luckily, this particular type of lense had the correct strength and did not do any harm except for the headaches, but what if it had? Eyesight declines naturally as you age. We don't need irresponsible people to help that along.\r \r Of course, my mother was upset! But instead of admitting fault and making a long term customer (who has brought business from both herself and my father to them) happy, they told her to take her business elsewhere! Can you believe the audacity? Some people have no morals.\r \r Yes, this place is conveniently located at the mall, but that doesn't give them the right to treat their customers poorly. Avoid them at all costs. Bring your business to people who treat others with respect and descency. Pros: can't think of one... Cons: cust. service is apparently not in their mission statement more

I recently had an exam and prescription filled here. While the optometrist has the latest in digital equipment which did lead to a good prescription, his staff is not terribly helpful, quick or informative, or friendly. They also made a point of arguing about who was supposed to covering a shift (one didn't call in) in front of us as customers (very unprofessional), my insurance covered most of the visit for the exam and part for glasses... HOWEVER, literally nothing in the way of frames was under $175 except a couple ugly choices. This is a DESIGNER eyewear store which I wasn't aware of when I made the appointment (should have known being in the international mall..) but, even my pair of $200 minimum frills frames snapped in about 3 days!!! I had to take it back and the only person in the store in the middle of the day, a rather rude young man told me he didn't have time to fix them, I'd have to leave them off and come back... I said I'd pick them up the next day... I did and I'd never go back. All in all, while the prescription was good due to the high technology of the equipment, the products are overly priced, the service is poor and the follow-up even worse. Pros: High tech equipment for exam Cons: Extremely overpriced mostly designer only frames more