If you want a high-quality pair of glasses for a fair price, in my opinion LensCrafters in Corpus Christi isn't the place to find them.
As a new Corpus Christi resident, and after visiting numerous opticians in the area, I was disappointed to find there are no shops offering higher-end frames - Tag Heuer, for example. LensCrafters didn't carry the brands I wanted, but they had the best selection short of traveling a couple hours to San Antonio, so I went with them.
The staff was friendly, and the fitting and ordering process was efficient. The end result, unfortunately, was a pair of glasses that was unusable. The progressive lenses were severely out of alignment: the section of lens used for reading was not aligned with my eyes or with each other. The reading section was up and to the left on the right eye, and down to the left on the other. Reading with one eye meant the other saw only blurry print.
When I returned the glasses, the clerk insisted I needed to get used to progressives. When I explained I'd worn progressives for years, she continued to insist the lenses were properly ground, and the problem was on my end - again insisting I get used to them. Ultimately, after I insisted they double-check the lenses, they found they'd measured my eyes incorrectly and agreed to re-make the lenses.
When the new lenses arrived, they were improved - but still didn't seem right. Still, because they were better than the first set and, in fairness, the prescription was new, I wore them for a couple weeks to see if the problem was on my end. After a couple weeks with no improvement in the experience, and rather than deal again with the folks at LensCrafters, I brought the glasses to my optometrist and asked that he read them, explaining things didn't look quite right. He did, he confirmed what I suspected. The "vertical prism" was wrong; the various distance sections were not aligned between the two lenses. The lenses would need to be remade. In other words, same problem as the first set. LensCrafters screwed up again.
I opted to risk buying a replacement pair online from FramesDirect. I found the same frames I'd bought at LensCrafters were considerably less expensive and, better still, they carried the higher-end frames I wanted in the first place. For the same price I paid for a good frame and poorly-ground lenses I got a very high-quality frame with lenses with all the bells and whistles - and they were made right the very first time.
To their credit, LensCrafters refunded my money without problem (a surprise - I'd think they'd want to try to keep a $650 sale and ask for another shot to make things right.)
How many others, particularly those new to progressive lenses (or new to glasses in the first place, or children) fall for their insistence to "just get used to them" and live with lenses that are close, but not right?
If you want a high-quality pair of glasses for a fair price, don't risk going with LensCrafters in Corpus Christi. Give FramesDirect a shot instead. read more
