[update]: As other yelpers here have experienced, this place really follows reviews. Sure thing, only like 20 minutes after I posted it, I received a phone call from the owner. I actually missed it but we then talked through texts and then phone. He apologized and offered me a refund (which I turned down).
At the end, I'd say that I might have used words too strong, such as "rip of" or "absolutely nothing". It does seem that I didn't get the full experience that so many here raved about (all the people who explain how much info and all they got). I guess I was unlucky. The fact remains though that the contact lenses evaluation wasn't done properly. The owner and I agreed about that and again, he apologized. I maintain my opinion that the cost is high though (for the complete eye exam) by comparisons of what you pay in Vancouver. But it's not a rip off.
I see that a couple of people here originally posted a 2 star review and then updated it to a 5 star one. To me, that doesn't make any sense, Yes I appreciate the customer service after I posted the review, but it doesn't change the original service I received, I think it's important to update this review to show my appreciation for the time taken by the owner to take care of my case, but I left my original review below. I'd say that a 3 star review is now maybe deserved, but updating to 5 star is wrong if you ask me. A true 5 star business on Yelp is one where the original, normal service was top notch, not the customer service.
Original review:
It's a complete mystery to me why this place is rated so high. I was looking for a new optometrist and I decided to trust Yelp.
It's not a bad centre or anything, just not worth all the crazy reviews here. First of all, their eye exam is incredibly expensive and they rip you off by adding a "contact lens patient evaluation" where they do absolutely (I can't stress that enough) nothing (it costs $30 to simply look for 2 seconds at my current box of contact lenses, really? And it's not even the doctor who does this). I called them to ask what the $30 was for and they told me that the doctor had to "fit the lenses" and write a different prescription. I don't remember having been through more testing than usual and on the printed prescription they gave me, it was only valid for glasses. It's only when I called them that they told me that in my file, there were two prescriptions, one for glasses and one for contacts.
I asked for some samples from other contact lenses brands (as I always do so that I can try other lenses). The doctor did give me one pair (only one, usually you can get more than that when you ask, but fine) and I put them on. Right after, they directly ask if I wanted to order for like 6 months worth of lenses of this brand (that I literally just put on 2 minutes ago!). I said no, that I wanted to try first (to be honest, the price tag was way too high, on top of the fact that I hadn't really tried the lenses properly). Again, when I called them to inquire about that, they told me that the doctor "probably wanted to do more testing" and that was the reason I wasn't given the prescription in the first place. That doesn't make much sense since they directly asked me if I wanted to buy for like $300 worth of lenses. If I needed more testing after trying this brand out, shouldn't we wait before we place the order? And since I never returned, how can the prescription be in my file?
Oh and by the way, before someone says that they did do the lenses evaluation since I put on the new pair, you should know that the $30 was included in the price even before I requested to try new lenses.
To be fair, after I called, they did agree to email me the complete prescription. But I shouldn't have to.
The eye exam itself was just super standard. Again, I don't understand why everybody seems to think they are so awesome. Exact same test I got everywhere else for about half the price. I see a lot of people here saying how great the doctor was and how much information they got. Well I must have been unlucky. I got Dr. Roger Gafur and that was one of the quickest eye exam in my life. Definitely didn't get any more information.
Overall, I'd say that the high price isn't worth it. You can easily find similar services at a better rate. And the weird tactics at selling you services and lenses is more reminiscent of selling insurance than eye cares. At least they included the PD measurement automatically (which is the law, but a lot of places are trying to charge you more since they know you need the number to order glasses online). read more