Question:
I just went to a local Pearle Vision, and I had better care there than at
the top Opthomalogist's office here in Staten Island, NY. I have an
astigmatism, and the doctor there was more than patient with me
regarding fitting the torics (I had to try like 5 different lenses), and
since my dad has glaucoma, he took the extra time to do the necessary
testing for that as well. All this for $75. It is even that high, because
the fitting was for torics. (Usual price is $45 I think). It was great, as
they had my lenses (Soflens66 Toric) in stock, in my Rx, so the doc was able
to examine me with them on right then and there--No return visits. No
appointment was necessary, and I got a spectacle Rx as well, still under the
$75 charge. Did anyone else here ever go to a Pearle Vision outlet? Are they
generally hated by local optometrists' offices? Any positive, or negative
experiences to report?
Answer:
Pearles have "company" owned as well as "franchise" stores..unlike most of
the chians, but never the less the main problem is that I know plenty of
optical people who work at chain stores and it varies from store to store...
ANY of those chain stores are going to be no better than the employees that are
working at THAT store.. so I know of some of those chain stores that put out
the biggest pices of crap you ever saw and I know some that do just as good a
job both on the refractive and on the dispensery side as you could get
anywhere.. it's luck of the draw in my opinion.
Not to just talk about "chains" either, I know plenty of "private"
practices and retail stores that produce "crap" as well..:-) and that do great
jobs.
Most of the chains get a bad rep because there are so many of them and the
names are widely known and if someone has a bad experience in one place at one
of the stores the whole chain gets blamed .. but all those chains are different
in quality from store to store just as much as private practices and private
retails are from location to location.
If enough people read this thread and reply you'll find some that will
tell you how bad they are and some how they had the same treatment you had...
it all depends more on the staff at a certian location and less on the "name"
of the location.
