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1. 020411
   Member Profile

   Ordered my first pair of bifocals on 1/3. Received them on 1/15. Distance was off, returned them on 1/18. Eye doctor claimed that I just need to get used to the progressive lenses. I disagreed and asked them to check the prescription. They made me wait 2 hours before they got around to doing this. Turns out the prescription was wrong. No apology for the wait or the mistake. Picked up glasses with correct prescription on 1/27. Discovered on 1/28 that the transition feature that I I ordered on 1/3 was not there. Returned glasses again and was told that I would have to pay more for that even though I had ordered it back on 1/3 and was given the total price on that day. If I had known the true price for the glasses I would have never ordered them in the first place. Lesson learned, take your prescription to Costco. They treat you better and charge must less.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

2. Zenguy
   Member Profile

   

   Have you contacted West Seattle Optix about your complaint? Normally rants are posted only after you have contacted the merchant and they do nothing. Agree that Costco is awesome however.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

3. KBear
   Member Profile

   Did you pay with a credit card? Maybe your bank will help you get the difference refunded, especially if you have the original specifications and price in writing.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

4. austin
   Member Profile

   

   I went to the costco optometrist once. It wasn't quite as bad as that scene in "minority report" where Tom Cruise gets his corneas replaced by the ex con and accidentally eats the moldy sandwich, but it made me think of it.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

5. 020411
   Member Profile

   Zen Guy, yes I contacted the merchant and they will not make the glasses right unless I pay them more.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

6. wsgolfer
   Member Profile

   

   Thanks for the review, 020411. I was recently looking for an optometrist, but after reading the reviews on yelp and here for West Seattle Optix, I decided against them. After reading your experience, I'm glad I didn't go there.
   .

   The search for a good local optometrist - preferably one that takes First Choice insurance - continues, I guess.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

7. MargL
   Member Profile

   I went to West Seattle Optix for my eye exam and prescription, had a fine time - no problems with doctor or assistants, but couldn't find frames I liked there so I went to the West Seattle Eye Clinic in Westwood Village Mall. Found frames but have had to have the lenses replaced _twice_ (both under warranty, thank goodness.) The scratch coat failed both times and started cracking and peeling. So, if you get lenses there ask them if they've changed their supplier for high-index plastic lenses!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

8. matthewdarling
   Member Profile

   

   hey all...
   i manage the lenscrafters in westlake center...great doc's 7 days a week and a 90 day unconditional guarantee on all glasses purchased.
   come see me!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

9. Rod Clark
   Member Profile

   

   For a long time I've been happy with Eye Associates, the group of eye doctors at Swedish downtown, who have an eyeglass store on the premises. As far as I know they don't make lenses there, but they've always been able to check that the labs who make the lenses get everything right. A couple of times I've had to wait while they sent lenses back to be remade that they told me were out of spec, but they've taken a lot of care fitting glasses and the end result has always been great.

   Another thing that I've noticed is that ever since I had a pair of prescription reading glasses made there about 5 years ago, my prescription has hardly changed at all. Maybe that's a coincidence. But the reading glasses let me focus at about 16 inches with my eye muscles completely relaxed, as if focused at infinity.

   My answer to high index lenses is to forget it and have my lenses made of crown glass. The low dispersion glass gives much clearer vision with my prescription. Chromatic aberration is much greater with any available high index material, and chromatic aberration is the main culprit in overall blurriness. Yes, that goes against the usual advice to ask for thin and light lenses. My -11.75 diopter lenses are 10mm thick. The tradeoff is that while clarity is much better, barrel distortion is a lot greater. But the brain compensates pretty well for that over the majority of the field. You might not prefer that tradeoff, but I've found that I do much prefer it to the color fringes and blurriness of high index lenses. CR-39 is a low dispersion plastic that's optically almost as good as crown glass but not as wear resistant.

   A good answer to the distortion caused by strongly curved lenses would be to use a high index, relatively low dispersion type of optical glass, which would give flatter curvatures and clearer images at the same time. Such glass types are frequently used in complex lenses for optical instruments, and it baffles me why the only kinds of high index glass available for use in eyeglasses are still only the old retro high dispersion types, when at least several modern high index low dispersion optical glass types have mechanical strength and chemical resistance that is about as good as the current types of eyeglass glass. The only reason (excluding regulatory inertia) must be cost, but frames cost more than lenses.

   Oh, and if some innocent looking little kid ever infects you with a nasty case of pink eye, ask for Dr. Gillette. (My left eyeball swelled up and looked, in his words, like "fish skin" for a few days.)

   Posted 1 year ago #         

10. MargL
    Member Profile

    Ew, Rod!
    I got a nicer comment from one of my eye docs. Many years ago I went to Dr. Alan Homestead in White Center, he doesn't take my insurance now, so I changed docs, but back then he told me I had "beautiful retinas". Talk about how to flatter a lady! :-D

    Posted 1 year ago #         

11. FullTilt
    Member Profile

    

    I got my new glasses here: http://www.icarevisioncenter.com/

    Small office with an amazing staff. My glasses showed up days before they said they would.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

12. Zenguy
    Member Profile

    

    Good for you for giving them a chance to fix the problem, shame on them for not making it right.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

13. Bonnie
    Member Profile

    I went to Costco just last week for an eye appt. and was pleased. Of course my contacts had to be ordered because I needed something special but the doc was great. Dr. Conrad I believe his name is.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

14. add
    Member Profile

    I agree with Bonnie, I was impressed with Dr. Conrad at Costco. He seemed to be much more thorough regarding explaining things about my eyes and prescriptions from my other experiences.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

15. Mariah
    Member Profile

    I love West Seattle Optix. Been going there for the last 7 years. Never any problems and very happy with the service and the product.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

16. charlabob
    Member Profile

    

    Bob and I have been patients of Dr. Gormley at WS Optix for 10 years (our mother, Sylvia, was also his patient for 8 years). We've been very pleased with everything about our relationship -- with the doctor, the office, and even the selection. He was especially patient with Sylvia, who could be a little picky: she always left content. We like him, we recommend him, and the people we've sent there were also happy.

    c, b, and s

    Posted 1 year ago #         

17. bebecat
    Member Profile

    I have been going to West Seattle Optix for about 9 years. Very happy with the service and glasses. The staff has always been attentive. Dr Gormley has always been thorough and clear in communication. This last time I got in on a "Trunk Sale" as there was a frame vendor there with cases full of frames. Glasses were discounted.(I do not have vision insurance) I have totally loved this last pair of glasses!!! I wear Tri- focals and only one brand of lense as with that brand I never get dizzy or have an adjustment period with new glasses. They are more expensive but well worth it. For me it pays to NOT shop around as I have had some really poor glasses made at discount places and will not go back.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

18. sillygrrl
    Member Profile

    I used to go to West Seattle Optix and thought Dr. Gormley and his staff were super friendly, attentive andi was very happy with everything. However due to lack of insurance I tried Costco out this year and Dr. Conrad was awesome! So I have to give both a RAVE review, just my 2 cents....

    Posted 1 year ago #         

19. melissa
    Member Profile

    I'm someone else who had a negative experience at West Seattle Optix. I bought glasses there. Went back to have them adjusted and was met with exasperation and annoyance. Oh, and my glasses there were far more (hundreds) WITH insurance then at Costco without. And the folks at Costco are always friendly and willing to adjust my glasses, which for some reason seem to need it fairly frequently.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

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