Pearle Vision

I made an appt with Pearle Vision because of their Buy One Get One deal; I’ve been meaning to buy a pair of prescription sunglasses so this was a great option. My insurance covers up to $ 150 on frames, so I’m basically getting two glasses for free, with the exception of the $ 100 prescription fee.
Upon arrival, I was greeted kindly and got situated with paperwork right away. Dr. Smith saw me less than 10 minutes of my arrival and he was extremely thorough with his explanations. He helped me understand exactly what he was talking about and how to further take care of my eyes. He didn’t rush our appointment. Fantastic bedside manners.
I thought he was great — and when it comes to any type of health care, I have very high standards.

As previous reviews, yes, customer service is awful. I went in on a weekday evening after having dinner with my kids and no one else in the store. the Asian lady was unbothered with my time spent in a chain eyeglass retailer of all places. Like, lady, I’m sure id rather be at The Rack. Believe me.
The entire time I was asking questions about by insurance (basically $$$$ for them), she was fenaggling with eyeglass repairs or cleaning some. Not once did she offer to sit down or come out from behind the counter to go over my options.
Btw, Premera Vision Plans are accepted here but it’s self-​submission meaning you pay everything upfront and get ‘reimbursed’ later. Yuck.

The manager called me to personally apologize for the treatment I received. She seemed sincerely sorry for her staff member’s behavior.

Didn’t mean to review this business. Couldn’t figure out how to delete

If I could give 0 stars I would. Worst customer service in the world. DO NOT buy from this store. They do not stand behind their products and the ladies who work here are AWFUL

Athena, who helped me place my contact lens order, is not the friendliest of associates. Yes she was busy with people walking in, phone calls, etc but she just breaks away without excusing herself and goes to assist other people before coming back to me. I stood in line for awhile with no acknowledgment from the 2 associates and when it was finally my turn, a phone call came in. Instead of helping me, Athena answered the phone call first! She then started helping me and saw some customers coming in and broke away to help them instead. .. she was not apologetic, didn’t smile, and was generally not nice to work with.
I had called with some questions about price matching which I was told over the phone that they did, but Athena said they only match to a certain point. If it’s too low, then they won’t. There’s inconsistency with what I’m told and Athena’s lack of customer care is pretty off-​putting. If it weren’t for the convenience, I’d probably go elsewhere. Next time, I’ll just call to put in my order. At least I’ll get help faster that way!

Since I am no longer able to go to my regular private doctors for an eye exam due to my work schedule, I made an appointment to see Dr. Scott Smith.
Was greeted by the receptionist there and filled out the new patient forms. Went back to get my eye exam. Instantly felt comfortable by the doctors approach I didn’t feel like he was going to try to talk me into going on any of the visual fields and etc machines to get extra money out of my insurance, since that has happened to me in the past. Dr. Smith was very informative with my questions regarding my eyes and tips on how to get rid of styes since I tend to get those a lot.
After the exam, went back to the lobby to speak with the consultant regarding on ordering contacts and lenses. Jennifer, was very helpful with explaining my options.
Overall, great experience so far. Now I am just waiting for my glasses and contacts to arrive.
BTW, Jennifer told me that they DO price match for contact lenses.

I was in need of a new pair of glasses this past December. Pearle Vision was no longer in my network so I went elsewhere for my exam (eyes on the landing in renton) and had a great experience, but they lacked any pair of frames I would actually wear.
It wasn’t until the last hour of business on December 31^st that I was able to make my way into this location again. It was packed with others just like me, trying to use their benefits/​flex spending accounts before the end of 2012. Even with 3 women assisting everyone there, I figured there was no way I could be helped. Within 5 minutes of me walking in I was, and she immediately took my insurance info to draft up a few pricing options for their lenses while I shopped their frames. I’m not one to make decisions quickly, but with their great frame selection and excellent office staff, I was out of there in 45 minutes (oh and 15 minutes after closing on New Years Eve).
Still highly recommended :)

Another Sunday 3:00pm fail. The gate to the store is closed and the note on the gate says «back in 30 minutes.» I had made a special trip (1 hour round trip) and don’t have time to wait at the convenience of their employee. Besides, I had planned to leave my frame for a fix as the their lens’ popped out of the frames on the first day!
Not my first unsatisfactory transaction at this location… but this was certainly my last.

Dr. Scott Smith was great! He provided helpful daily tips to help my eyes dryness and recommended contacts that feels flawless. He took his time and answer everyone of my questions and allowed me to write down his tips! I would go to see Dr. Smith again.

Was at Factoria mall and figured I would swing in to get a glasses adjustment…
There was one person and she was helping a couple with ordering some frames.
I walked in with my Husband and was browsing waiting for her to acknowledge us and say she would be with us shortly. That never happened. Another customer comes in with the intent of buying frames. no hi or anything from the associate.
It was like she was blind to other customers walking in, maybe she didn’t want the extra business? Who knows maybe she wanted to go home early?
It was 3pm by the way on a Sunday. We ended up leaving and not getting any help.
I would avoid this place just for the lack of Customer Service. There are many options for eye glasses out there. No need to go to a place where people don’t even register that their or customers.
Last I checked, Lenscrafters was pretty good.

Avoid these jerks.
They had taken down my phone number incorrectly and so were unable to reach me when my glasses arrived. Did they bother to try to reach me some other way, such as the phone book or
Nope. Eventually I called when it seemed like it had been a long time. Pointing out that they could have tried other routine ways of reaching me just seemed to make them mad.
When I put the glasses on, they were clearly crooked and I asked them to straighten them, a routine service when buying new glasses. But they insisted the glasses were straight and would not touch them. Apparently this was payback for making them mad about the wrong phone number issue. I finally got help from another store (not a Pearle vision).
One of the lenses got stratched, so I had them replace it under insurance. While the original lens was the thinnest they offered, the replacement was the thickest and cheapest. It looked very different from the other lens, which made my face look weird. The eye behind the cheap lens had a thick white halo around it. They insisted the original had been the same way, which was a ridiculous lie.
As I said, avoid these jerks. I’ll never go back.

My experience was alright. I don’t know that I would go back though…
For starters, through no fault of the very nice woman helping me with my frames, the place is understaffed. There were only two people in the office and the manager took her lunch at noon (arguably a poor choice considering the increase in people in the mall during lunch).
Also, I have VERY good health insurance with lots of in-​network providers, but Pearle Vision was not one of them.
Finally, prior to visiting, I looked up 6 frames online that I liked. They had exactly 0 of the 6 frames (from 4 different brands) in stock. On the plus side, the woman helping me found something that I liked even better — she earned this place the 3 stars I’m giving it.

Dr. Song was amazing. He helped me so much with my eye problems and he was so pleasant– I was so glad I came here!
The staff was kind, helpful and understanding. I highly recommend this place.

I was searching for an optometrist in Bellevue for a routine eye exam and decided to see Dr. Song after reading the favorable reviews on this site. I’m glad I did — he was very professional, friendly, and explained every step of the exam and answered my questions. The staff at Pearle Vision (which, according to Dr. Song, is separate from his practice and, in my opinion, eliminates incentives for pushy sales pitches), was just as friendly and helpful. I would recommend this place.

Like the previous reviewer, this is for Dr. Song.
It’s been a long time since I’ve met a doctor who actually cares about the patient. He was so incredibly thorough, it blows my mind and it’s been two weeks since I was last in.
Appointment was quick — he explained everything he was doing. I did not do the optomap, but would recommend it based on the health benefits.
I have a very strong prescription and we discovered that my glasses prescription was actually stronger than it needed to be — which explained my constant headaches. He asked me questions about that, and ended up billing my insurance under medical due to the health problems, instead of my poor vision plan. That right there was awesome.
When I came back a week later to get my trial lenses, his secretary didn’t give me the lens solution he requested — that was my only issue with them. As a result, I had very dry eyes for the week after. When I did my follow-​up, he was a little upset that they didn’t give me any solution.
We talked at length about my dry eyes and he suggested taking fish oil to assist with that — he broke out this Powerpoint that showed what I needed to look for in the nutritional info to make sure what I was taking would actually make a difference.
He suggested different online vendors, based on what comes through to the office and price points and gave me samples of the lens solution that I should have gotten in the first place — made a HUGE difference the first day.
Overall, I was pretty amazed by him and his commitment to my visual health. He could have given me a prescription for those rewetting drops but he said it was a waste of money when the same ingredients and strength can be found in the more cost-​effective fish oil.
HIGHLY recommended. His secretaries are not the best but I’m not coming there for them — I’m coming for Dr. Song.

This is mostly for Dr. Song, who is the independent optometric physician inside Pearle Vision.’
I arrived to my appointment thirty minutes early, and they saw me immediately. I took the optomap reading of my retina to avoid dilation, which was WAY EASY. You are crazy if you do dilation if they have this thing available.
Dr. Song went over everything with me, letting me know the best and cheapest way to care for my eyes. Instead of trying to show me the most expensive lenses, he broke down the price grid for me and showed me what he thought was the best for me eyes. I told him I needed contacts FAST because I am going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding in like a week and a half, and I don’t want to wear my purple glasses, as much as I love them. He said, no prob, and gave me TEN TRIAL PAIRS for FREE! YAY! He knows I hardly wear them, and was like, «These just might last you until next year!» with a big grin.
He was very professional, yet approachable and friendly. He answered all my questions and made me feel comfortable and welcome. Also, I was out quickly. I can’t say much about the actual Pearle Vision staff, but Dr. Song was great.
He didn’t say anything, but they apparently gave me the AAA discount, so my whole exam for glasses, contacts, and optomap retinal scan was $ 167. I feel it was money well spent considering I don’t have visual insurance. He gave me the cheapest contact exam he could and all of the costs were laid out before the exam. I will most likely be returning next year.
Until I have an exam need, however, I will be ordering contacts online considering the unfortunate experiences of previous Unilocalers.

This place is full of incompetent people. First, a guy tried to grossly overcharge me for contacts. Instead of $ 200 something he tried to charge me up to $ 400! First he told me the price of $ 200 and right then he had a nerve to give me the receipt of $ 400 to sign with a straight face!
Then they made two orders of contacts instead of one. And now they want me to pay for the second order they made by mistake. This is the worst place I’ve been to. Never again!

edited: previous review of 5 stars retracted.
I stand corrected.

Many weeks ago, I ordered glasses at Pearle. Not inexpensive frames + pretty high end lenses.
~2 weeks later, glasses arrive from lab — they’re not as ordered — they get sent back.
~4 weeks later, glasses arrive again — different problem with lenses — promised quick fix.
~2 weeks later, glasses arrive — lenses okay but now there’s a small problem with frame. I’m done dealing with them. An expensive lesson, but one I can live with.
Bottom line — quick to take your $$$, problems with delivering. (There’s more, but I’ll leave it at that.)