Harvard Square Eye Care

This is one of the few opticians that takes Davis Vision insurance, so that is a huge plus.
The eye exams are fine, efficient and smooth.
The real problem is their front of house.
It is extremely irratic and variable — Sometimes it is fine, sometimes not.
You really have to make a fuss to get any sort of adjustment made to your brand new glasses, even if they are so maladjusted that they won’t fit on your face.
No attempt to ensure the glasses actually matches the prescription.
They are busy selling high end glasses to someone else, and you are just another problem that has already paid.

First I’ll start by saying that the eye doctor I saw is a ⁵⁄₅ and the BEST eye doctor I have ever gone to. He explained everything he was doing and was very professional throughout the entire visit.
The reason why I am only ranking the office at 3 stars is that even though I had an appointment, I still had to wait to see the doctor. And while I was in with the doctor, he was also tending to another patient, which dragged out the appointment and made it last 30 – 40 mins longer than it should have.
Parking is tough (mostly on-​street meter parking) as the parking lot is small (only 2 – 3 cars at most).

Easy to get an appointment and it was fine and painless. Nice clean store and although they do have parking spots in the lot, they seem to never be free when I’m there but there is fairly easy street parking.
My only complaint was that in switching to a new brand of contacts that I was told they were «competitively priced» compared to online retailers. I ordered went ahead and ordered half a years supply without double checking and when looking later noticed that it was $ 20/​per box more expensive than if I had gone with my older supplier. I understand they would likely be marked up but a $ 40 difference in cost for half a year adds up. When its time to order more, I’ll likely go back online.

Don’t go there! The listed hours at Harvard square location is 9 – 6 on Wednesday. I am standing in the wind chill morning from 9 – 9:30, no one shows up. Extremely bad customer service and do not respect that customers’ time!

I broke my glasses after 10 years on Friday night and needed a replacement for work Monday, so I made a same day appointment on Saturday for an eye exam. On the eye exam, Dr. Lam took the time to think through my distant history of eye trauma and carefully evaluate my current function. (I’m a health practitioner, though not an optometrist or ophthalmologist, but I feel I understand when someone is doing things on the exam that make sense and I know that time doesn’t come cheaply.) After the exam, I went to select a frame. I was torn between a pretty bold titanium Kio Yamato frame at $ 600 before insurance versus a very conventional set of stainless steel Oakleys at $ 300, ultimately went for the Oakleys. They had the lenses on site and were able to have the eyeglasses ready to fit in 20 minutes! Awesome.
As mentioned by people reviewing the other location, it wasn’t cheap but I really appreciated the courtesy and thoroughness, and I was really happy about the turnaround time. Not the hugest selection of frames in the store, but I was able to find three or four frames that I really liked and left feeling like I look contemporary but professional, which is what I wanted.
Also, Unilocal attached a survey about bike parking at this location. I didn’t see dedicated bike parking but with the snow in the last few weeks, I’ve gotten pretty used to parking on top of snow piles. I locked to the guard rail on the ramp at the front entrance and people at the desk were fine with it.

The doctor seemed inexperienced and sounded uncertain, using «Um, I think» to talk about my eyes and did not give me confidence in her prescription or advice. Furthermore, the receptionist was incompetent, and unable to do basic arithmetic to give me a price quote for my contact lenses. She also just assumed I would buy the contact lenses directly from them and attempted to charge me accordingly. When I cleared this up and explained that I need to do a price comparison, she became defensive and told me that I had to pay for the services and contact lenses. Overall, it was a very messy experience, and the receptionist was unfriendly and uncooperative. Dr, Patel just stood by looking uncertain, which was unsurprising, and they neglected to give me a prescription when I left. I was never even told what my eye sight prescription was.
tl;dr: unprofessional, uncooperative, and didn’t even give me a prescription

Fantastic service.
The secretary staff was efficient at finding my insurance info.
Dr Pena was on time, very nice and amiable
The person who helped me with the choice of frames was very clear in his explanation of the options and prices.
I received emails and notifications at each step of the process.
I am pleased!