*Snotty, haughty staff (except for the receptionist, who was sweet), broken equipment, suspect PD measurements, high pressure sales tactics, expensive frames & lenses.*
The only reason I patronized this shop is because they were on my insurance company's list of approved providers for eyeglasses and the insurance was expiring in a couple days.
The shop is small and dark. The furniture is old, and the chairs you have to sit in to have your pupil distance measured are uncomfortable. The selection of frames isn't great, but what they DO have is very pretty and very very expensive.
I kept telling her I only had $470 to spend for my eyeglasses, between the insurance and cash on hand, but she kept pressuring me to buy the premium lenses that had a widest field of vision across the lens. This was surprising to me because I am wearing eyeglasses from Walmart that had these so-called "premium" lenses, the entire bill for THOSE was only about $280, and I had never been presented with this kind of choice between not-so-good lenses and good lenses. Why would anyone set up this arbitrary division? Why not give everyone the best vision possible? I could only afford the "lowest" quality, with limited field of vision.
Eyeglasses were invented more than 700 years ago. It's not like it's a new thing!
I should have walked out, but I was pressed for time; I had already spent several hours on the phone, trying to figure out my insurance; and I really loved the Betsy Johnson eyeglasses I had picked out, which fit my face and style. if the Betsy Johnson's hadn't been so unusual, I would have given this place a "pass."
A day or two later, I got a little more money so I could get some sunglasses, which I really need for my macular degeneration. I wasn't about to buy another pair of eyeglasses from Accent on Vision. I couldn't afford them and I didn't like the way I was talked down to and pressured to buy what I couldn't afford. A friend had told me about an online company where she got all her eyeglasses. I decided to give it a try, since I was even more limited with funds than the day I had gone to Access on Vision.
I called Access to get my 'PD' measurement to give to the online company, and it was a tremendous hassle. I had to talk to three separate people, hanging on the phone for some time between each one, and had to repeat, over and over again, all my identifying information. Finally, I was connected with someone who deigned to give me the measurement. I had questions about the measurement, and the woman acted like I was a huge waste of time. In withering tones, she answered my questions and when she hung up, she slammed the phone down loudly.
That night, I spent several hours online, researching eyeglasses and finding a pair of sunglasses that would fit my odd face. When I tried to order the sunglasses, I was told that the PD measurement I had been given by Access was not something they could work with, when it came to progressive lenses. The online company could not accommodate a difference in PD that was greater than 2 mm. According to Accent, there was a 3 mm difference between my two eyes. I thought this was very odd, and resolved to investigate further.
The next day, I went to another eyeglass dispenser in town and had them measure my PD. They came up with a completely different set of numbers in 5 tests on 2 different machines. The difference between my eyes was not 3 mm on those 2 machines. It was barely half a mm difference between the two.
I called Accent and left a phone message about the issue. When I didn't get a return phone call from them the morning of the next business day, I called them at 11:30 am. The gal said she was just taking the messages.
When I talked to the woman about the PD measurement,I got a frosty reception, again. They were just not helpful. I made it clear that I was concerned about this discrepancy, but the woman said they wouldn't do anything until the glasses came back and I tried them on to see what i thought about them.
I really thought they should want the measurement to be right to begin with. She finally agreed that i could come into the office again and they would remeasure me.
The next day, I went back to Accent and the snooty girl re-measured my PD. I noticed that the machine she used was RATTLING. There was something that had come loose on the inside of the machine and it was rattling around in there. The computer PD machine was not working, so we couldn't verify the reading with that.
The girl refused to do anything for me, refused to acknowledge her machine was broken with a piece rattling around inside it, said "it's never been a problem" and continued to say that, even when I indicated it was a problem for me. She also badmouthed the company that had measured my PD & got the different measurement.
I REALLY dislike this place and I resent deeply their snotty attitudes, high pressure sales tactics and blatant disinterest in getting it right to begin with. read more
