I just love this practice - Jasmine is a great tech, so patient and ready to explain anything we needed. Dr Kaplan is equally patient and really wants her patients to be in the very best eye health possible. Borden Burr Burns is fantastic at helping pick frames that make you look your best. Everyone is friendly and helpful and they all seem to genuinely like working together. I just love coming here! read more

Eyewear selection is phenom! From very pricey (Tom Ford, Salt, Oakley) to moderate, they make it impossible to NOT buy something stylish. While trying out different styles, salespersons are patient, considerate, and helpful beyond what's expected (thanks Katie and Borden!). Of course Dr. Schaeffer and Kenzie provided professional care and knowledgeable advice throughout my visit. I'd recommend and will certainly return. read more

Schaeffer Eye Center - Survey and drawing! Fingers crossed! - Optometrists Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

Eye exam, January 8th. Glasses that I can actually wear delivered, March 29th. Here is the good and bad of my new set of glasses from Schaeffer: The bad, it took over 2.5 months, 4 sets of lenses, lots of headaches, bumping into furniture and people, about 10 trips to the store and resorting to writing a short term paper explaining the list problems to the doctor to get a set of glasses that actually feel like mine. It's been way too much headache for what I consider to be a premium price optical shop. It was about $1300 bill for the eye exam, frames and progressive lenses. The good. The new glasses look great and most importantly, I see pretty well through them. Not as good as my old glasses but honestly as well as I think they can do. The folks at Schaeffer have been very nice throughout the process and were very committed to finding a solution for my vision problems. They were apologetic and very forthright in admitting that had they read my chart at my first exam, they would have understood the type lens and prescription I needed and not put us both through such a lengthy ordeal. Honestly, that admission was very refreshing.Huge marks to Bernadette and Dr. Kaplan. They are nice humans and I appreciate their patience, professionalism and persistence in working to get things right. Having worn glasses for a really long time, I understand that getting optical correction is a mix of art and science. It's also highly subjective based on the patient and how they work, and live. The doctors and technicians rely on training and intuition in an attempt to help everyone see as well as possible. In the end, my latest experience was a mix of good and bad. Great people, fantastic selection of frames but possibly not the best solution for people with picky eyes. read more

I tried to get glasses here for 2 months. The ordeal began in May. At first, Tania one of the managers seemed nice and helpful. When my glasses came in I had just sustained an abrasion on my cornea and could not test the reading portion. I explained this and told her it would be a few days before I would be able to read (I have little center vision in the other eye. Once my eye cleared up, I noticed I only had a couple of mm right against the bottom of the frame to read, which is not sufficient. So, I returned to have the lenses corrected. About 1 1/2 weeks later they called me and told me the lab had scratched the lenses, so my glasses would be delayed another two weeks. When they finally came in I went down to pick them up. The first thing I noticed was that the rose tint I had originally ordered, which was correct the first time, was only visible when you held the glasses up the white paper. In addition, the reading portion of the expensive progressive lenses was still incorrect. My mother ordered her glasses at the same time and experienced the same problem, so she needed to return her glasses to have the lenses corrected as well. A male was working with us, he had blond hair but I didn't get his name, and he began arguing with us. He told me the tint was correct, which I told him that is basically no tint (needed since my eyes are sensitive to bright light), the tint was correct the first time, and the reading portion was still not corrected. He told me they are correct because it says so in the computer. He also argued with my 79 year old mother about her glasses. He was rude, disrespectful, condescending, and arrogant. He finally walked away and got this african-american female to come over, who was the one that returned my glasses the last time. Unfortunately when he went to get her, we could hear him complaining about us and telling her that the glasses were correct. She then came over and argued with me about the tint saying the coating on the glasses made the tint lighter. I explained the tint was correct and darker the first time and she continued to argue the point. She did finally agree to have them remade and did not argue with my mother. A week or so later my mother's glasses came back almost correct, but she later admitted to me that she still had problems reading with them, but did not want to go through the hassle again. Mine finally came back for the third time. The tint was still not as dark as it was the first time and then I asked for something to read, which seemed to annoy the person helping me. I discovered the reading area had still not been corrected. I requested a refund. They told me I would have to wait the one of the managers, who turned out to be Tania, so I thought that maybe things would go better. Oh, was I wrong. They first told me that I would have to sit and wait for her to finish her lunch for an unknown period of time or I could come back later to get my refund. I explained I would not just leave the glasses and return later for a refund with someone who may not know or they may forget that I did not have the glasses in my possession. I also experience severe back pain, particularly when sitting in hard plastic seats like theirs. I explained that I would wait as long as it would take me to write my review. Suddenly the manager had time for me. I paid for the glasses mostly in cash, but she refused to refund any cash to me and would only put the amount on my card. She also tried to say it would be immediately available in my bank, but we all know that is not how it works. She did not care. I then told her that I was going to call my insurance for her to speak with so that my benefits could be released and I could go get glasses (remember I had already been waiting two months). She told me that is not how it works and she has to make the call to them later on from their line, which is incorrect. I explained that I had already spoke with my insurance company and this is what they told me to do. She reluctantly spoke to them. It did take about 4 days for the money to show up in my bank. I have had glasses since about 2002 and never experienced so many problems or such rude people. Their sign even states that you can return your glasses for any reason within 30 days. I guess they try to get out of this by trying to intimidate you or just attempting to make you think it is all in your head. I will never use this place again for any reason and highly recommend everyone avoid this place. read more

If it weren't for their hip buyers, I would never have found my beloved Oliver Peoples Monroe frames! I heart them...

I have cut all ties with this company. Their Administrative team is going to be the demise of their business. If you have good doctors it doesnt matter if your Admin Team is making it hard for your customers. I just reported them to my insurance company for them pulling benefits before appts have been scheduled. In the last 30 days this has happened twice and I have had to wait an extra 30 mins for my appt with other doctors. Mind you I have NEVER seen a doctor here, my child did so they had no right to pull and hold my benefits so that they could not be used else where. Shady practices!!! read more

My husband and I went for our annual eye check up after 5 years and were greeted and welcomed so warmly. It was if we were regular customers at the Mountain Brook store. Everyone was warm, courteous, knowledgeable and professional. We were so impressed with our doctor who is Dr. Schaeffer's daughter. She was cute, funny, engaging and provided us with the information we needed for both of us, Even when we picked up our glasses, the associate was absolutely GREAT!! We are customers for LIFE!!! read more

I am very unhappy with the service I received at Schaeffer Eye Center. Instead of greeting me with a "hello", the optometrist tried to intimidate me by threatening to take away my "contacts privileges" because wearing contacts is a "privilege, not a right". Come on, I wore my contacts for 2 months instead of the recommended one. Get real. I am a physician and I have seen many patients with far worse compliance than that! Secondly, if a patients was non-compliant, that is certainly not how a physician should approach the subject. So, its the following year and I make a second appointment for new contacts and glasses. I go to the Montclair Road branch and I waited an hour and fifteen minutes, was never called back, and I left. An hour and fifteen at the eye doctor is insane I have never waited that long for the OB! Who knows how long I would have been there had I stayed. So, I decided to order my glasses from an online site, and listed Schaeffer, so they could call for my prescription. Schaeffer Eye refused to fill it because my prescription "had expired". It had been a year and a few weeks. What a racket. I'm never going back. read more

I had hands down the worst experience with a doctor that I have ever had in my 37 years of life at this location today. I will never go here again. The doctor was so rude and basically yelled at me because I had not been to the eye doctor in 2 years. She told me that she "fired" patients for not making it into their office on a regular schedule. As of today, I am "firing" myself from their office! read more

They had very cute glasses which are under lock and key! Therefore, the technician needs to be with you when you're trying to select that cute pair. When it comes to service, the technicians are not helpful once your selection is made. They do no sit down with you to order your glasses. They immediately go on their computer and write it up! Finally, when I did go pick them up, the young man said,"here you go! Do you want a hard case or soft case?" and bagged up my nearly $600 purchase! I asked him if he was going to fit them. He replied, they look great. So disappointed! I had also bought a pair at Davis optical in Athens and at Lens Crafters in Huntsville. Both business were FANTASTIC! I will not return to schaeffer's in Madison again! read more

I'm sorry. I think Schaeffer is horrible. I know Yelp is allergic to negative reviews (gee I wonder why), but I have to be honest. I went to several Schaeffer locations to test out frames and gather information about how they operate, and also called the switchboard (thanks) and several offices beforehand and afterward -- and was more than a little underwhelmed. Their precious little monopoly in the Birmingham area makes it annoying to work around them, but avoiding them is ultimately the right thing to do if you can. They're so corporate, so pushy, so superficial, and poorly trained. I had a tough time sincerely believing they knew what they were talking about. Each of my experiences in person and on the phone were unpleasant and/or unnecessarily awkward, save one: there's a great guy at the tiny, dark, outdated Eastwood location in Irondale. Not to mention the fact that the frames and lenses (at all of the locations) are wayyy overpriced for what you're buying... they mark up like you wouldn't believe and none of it is special quality. Sorry. read more