Do not come to Stanton Optical. Unprofessional service, employees not knowledgeable about basic policies, eye exam process was a nightmare without being properly advertised. Made the tech (who was on a zoom call) aware of the of the ineffectiveness of the test while in the middle of the test, and there was nothing done about it. They then gave me a prescription that was worse than my original eyesight with no glasses. After bringing this up I was told that I would have to pay for another exam with a doctor who is only in once a week. If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. read more

Needs to have an optometrist on site, and hire knowledgeable technicians. Wrong prescription times two. The virtual exam room had a hole in the wall and was conducted by someone with a very heavy accent who was difficult to understand. It was a waste of time and they tried to make me pay for nothing. read more

I needed an eye exam and prescription to help improve my vision. I booked the package that offered an exam, prescription, and two lenses for $79. The prescription that I received did not improve my vision at all and was not accurate. When I brought this up to the technician, she said that I would have to come back in and do another exam with a doctor in-house for an additional $30. This proves that the exam I had received prior was not a proper, professional exam and just another way to get me to spend more money. So I still had to pay the $79 for the inaccurate exam, the useless prescription, and the lenses that I didn't even get to take home. Nowhere was it stated that the prescription and the lenses had to be completed and taken home the day of service in order to be included in the package. This feels like deceptive and false advertisement. Now I've wasted $79 and an hour of my time. Will not be coming back or recommending Stanton to anyone to needs proper care. read more

This company does not reflect their national TV advertising and on-line pricing on their computer system. I was really surprised when I showed up for my appointment, that I was not meeting with a physician, but it was a telehealth appointment and there was Tech online in the exam room. Very strange! In addition, this was the first time since I have been getting my eyes checked, 35 years, that I did not get a peripheral vision check. She said that they do not do that here. The receptionist/tech (Alex) did not know what the pricing was for their advertised special on TV and on their website. She had to find a sticky note on another desk and then quoted me the online special. After the appointment, Alex charged me more than was advertised with the rebate and more than she told me before the exam from her sticky note. I had to screenshot the offer from their website, and then Alex and Emma, the cashier, still said it was going to be $50 more. Alex had to call her Manager, Theresa, so they could figure out how they can honor their advertised price. I had to wait 10 -1 5 minutes for the two of them on the phone to figure out how to alter the pricing on the computer to honor their advertise special. They should have just done an adjustment to honor it and not have me wait around while they tried to figure it out. They told me that they were going to adjust off the $50, but it is an expired promotion. However, it is on their website and has no expiration date. I had to wait for the only one person in the store that could do this adjustment: Emma. After a half an hour of waiting my turn to meet with this one employee, she told me she was unable to do it, and had to call her Manager Theresa again to have her walk-through how to honor their advertised promotion. I am very confused why I am the first person since their rebate offer on January 1, 2025 to inform them that they are not honoring their advertised special. When I let them know that it was not an expired offer, but it is on their website, the technician (Alex) simply said, "we are going to honor that price ma'am." The only reason I came here, rather than my regular Optometrist, who is in person, is for this special. I do not recommend this business, even though they have flashy TV commercials. They are unethical and are trying to take advantage of customers with reasonably priced advertisements that they do not ring up correctly in the store. I had to wait an hour for the three of them to figure out how to alter the computer to honor their advertised and in person, quoted price. read more

Stanton Optical - Advertise special with no expiration date. - Eyewear & Opticians Near Me - San Diego, California

Thank you for your response. I will adjust my review to 3 stars because I don't want to negatively impact your business. However, eye health is a top priority. Although a licensed optometrist approves your remote exam, a comprehensive examination can't be fully guaranteed unless an optometrist is physically available. I can't stress enough how valuable it is to have that option, along with the human connection provided by having a doctor on site. This aspect is truly irreplaceable. Therefore, I cannot recommend your business to others and advise them to proceed with caution, as these remote exams cannot compare to those conducted by an on site optometrist-- particularly when it comes to the option of a comprehensive exam, really, at any time during your visit. Thank you. read more

Deceptive pricing practices They also rescheduled me said I had to meet with the optometrist, that only comes in on wednesdays and I asked him, well, does that cost extra.And I was assured, no, but when it came time to pay, they charged me extra the same person ! I had asked the question to just lied to my face. so no I would never be a repeat customer or recommend them. read more

Hmmmmm. This was a stop on behalf of my parents. Regardless of when your appointment is, expect to be there for a long while. There seems to be one optometrist and that causes back ups. Additionally they advertise a $79 eye exam with two glasses, but that is a unique selling point. The affordable selections are limited and you might find yourself sprinting a few hundred bucks. Also, the deliver timeline for your ordered frames vary and usually don't show up on time. Use if you must. read more

Stanton Optical - Eyewear & Opticians Near Me - San Diego, California

Horrible customer service....as the sorry lady messed up my order and I had to wait another 2 weeks. After waiting again, my glasses still were not ready as they were still sent in as dumb readers which I still dont understand why she kept putting it in as readers. Such a complete waste of time. I found a better place to go with better and faster service. read more

I'd never had an experience such as I had with this visit. Haven't had a opportunity to get new glasses since 2016 . This was the first time in almost 10 years getting an opportunity to purchase new glasses. Jasmine.... professional and inbuede with knowledge about the Stanton Optical process. I'm very impressed by the quality of the process. After getting the simple exam I proceeded to choose frames. out. $400-500 with no insurance. Aint my fault! Back in 2016 I paid $700 w/o insurance. Great experience very good customer service. read more

I had an impressive eye exam. The doctor was professional. The exam details were explained to my satisfaction. The tech who processed my order seemed bothered with my order. Once I placed the order I was told the progressive glasses order will take about two weeks and I will receive a phone call. I showed up July 31st four weeks from my purchase date and asked the male tech at La Mesa about my glasses. My order was forcefully handed to me and the tech left without asking me to review the fit and quality. A few years back I used Stanton Optical in Santee CA where I found every tech had great follow-up on my and families purchase. read more

Alejandra is a wonderful tech. She explained everything clearly about the exam and gave me really clear and helpful instructions for my first time putting in and taking out contacts. She made it easy. I understood beforehand that the doctor would be joining via telehealth. I had absolutely no issues compared to an in person exam. The doctor was patient and when I asked to see several slides again and my prescription is perfect. read more

I want to make it clear that my review is based solely on the fact that I felt money, time, & resources were wasted. The staff were friendly and the place was clean. I came here because I needed an updated prescription and my husband said it was quick. I got my prescription, ordered new glasses & contacts. The prescription was so off, I had double vision! Also, for some weird reason, they wrote a prescription for a specific brand of contacts that were also irritating. I ended up having to go to another place to get another exam done. read more

very dissatisfied with my experience- I went in for an exam and ordered three pair of glasses. When I received them I went out of town for 10 days. When I returned I reached out to them and was told I could be re examined in the office instead of the remote assessment I initially received. Now they won't honor that. read more

Store manager Jose has amazing customer service always helps in a bind whenever he can I commend him and recommend him to all clients/ looking for help finding glasses or figure8ng out costs read more

I just had a retina Detachment eye surgery a month and a half ago time for new glasses doctor said I could update my prescriptions. Surgery was a success I could see again I was blind in my left eye. THANKS Jennifer read more

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Wonderful group of people, everyone was very knowledgeable and engaged. I was in and out in no time.Great customer service. read more

I do not use their eye exam service - i get that done at Shiley Eye Center at UCSD - so I can not speak to their exams. But I can say their service getting my eyeglasses prescription filled has been excellent. The staff is very knowledgeable, and I think the quality of eyeglasses I get from them is better than another eyeglasses vendor I've used in SD. Very happy with Stanton's product and service. read more

Appointments were easily available. Unfortunately, I did not read all the fine print regarding the appointment. To my surprise it was a telehealth appointment, meaning it was like a zoom meeting with the eye doctor, not a one on one with the eye doctor in person. But the eye doctor went through the exam too fast for me and had a thick accent so it made it hard to understand/concentrate. I asked her several times to repeat questions . May I suggest just slowing down and explaining things better. My classes were ready within six days. I went to pick them up and the girl at the counter just handed me the case of my eyeglasses and said "here you go". I insisted on staying and making sure that the glasses fit correctly and that they weren't too tight. I felt rushed. The glasses are fine with the progressive lenses that have no line. My appointment was one of the last few days in December so I could use up my vision benefits. read more

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Person on phone told me they could make prescription sunglasses in 30 minutes, so I made appt. Appt. times next day were not convenient and drove through traffic to get there. Person at store was nice, but said prescription sunglasses take over a week to get. So that was a big disappointment and a huge waste of time. Phone person said my prescription for lenses wouldn't work and I had to get another exam, but person at store said it was still good and did not give exam. If the staff was trained and coordinated this would not have happened. read more

So I go for the exam...which is done by a tech and some guy on a video screen......pick out a pair of glasses that were semi affordable. (My Groupon was useless, and they really didn't seem keen to redeem it anyway). They just point out your options with no explanation, in my opinion, just to up sales, and you wind up with a completely useless but TOTALLY expensive pair of glasses. The fact that there are no qualified professionals to help you make informed choices defeats the purpose of buying glasses. You think you're saving money but it's still just a corporate chain that doesn't give 2 hoots about you and what you need to see. read more

Avoid this place at all costs - I went in for a contact lens eye exam today 12/1/25 and was there TWO AND A HALF HOURS! The optometric tech, Alex, was kind and caring, but the management/ customer service was absolutely awful. The staff is clique-y and very unprofessional at times, conversing with each other instead of helping out the clients. My appointment was at 3:15pm and I was not seen until 15 minutes after. During the actual appointment, there is no optometrist present in the office NOR is there an optometric technician conducting the refraction. It was only an online technician based outside the US conducting the exam. Being alone in a room with a technician on a Zoom screen was very jarring. After that, I had to wait another hour for my prescription to be approved by the remote physician. The prescription ended up being wrong, and the tech had to submit a request to change the prescription, which took another hour. Their business model is EXTREMELY INEFFICIENT and it is clear that the customer experience is not valued AT ALL. I explained my frustration to the manager, Emma, who was quite passive aggressive and seemed to show minimal care for my terrible experience here. She was quite unknowledgeable about my insurance, VSP, and took a long time to get my contact lenses ordered. I asked to order them on my own at home since I was tired and starving after being there for 2.5 hours, but she said the lens order can only be done in store. After 15 years of eye exam appointments, I can honestly say that this was the worst experience I have ever had at a vision clinic. If you value your time, patience, and vision experience, I would avoid this place at all costs. You are better off going somewhere a licensed optometrist is physically present so they don't mess up your prescription and make you wait 2+ hours. read more

Horrid delays on getting your glasses and never follow-up. I got warranty on glasses and two months later still no replacement for glasses. My husband has a spare that are absolute trash and has been using them meanwhile but imagine if he didn't? They have no consideration or urgency for matters like this. I've had to call over and over even come in person with my husband so he can get new glasses because they do not call you back for updates. Im done with Stanton and I highly encourage you to keep looking for somewhere else to get glasses. Though prices might be better customer service is definitely not. read more

Come to this optical, it's literally the best location and they will help you with anything from budgeting to helping you look for the glasses that YOU want and feel good with. And they have a lots of options!!! Make the appointment, you won't regret it. Shout to the ladies at this location Jenna, Teresa , and Alison thank you !!!! read more

I was fortunate enough to have Christina O. assist me one evening, and she was absolutely spectacular!!! Christina O. was kind, patient, and educated me on how a different shade could aid me during a migraine. I went with the Rose tint. She took the time to engage and make sure my new glasses would be beyond beneficial. Overall, I was extremely impressed with the professional manner in which Christina O. treated us, and I'm grateful that she took the time to make my overall experience a positive and educational one. Thank you kindly Christina O.!!! Stay classy!!! read more

Had an appointment with an actual Optometrist at an actual doctor's office today and, to the surprise of no one, it turns out that the prescription Stanton gave me WAS wildly inaccurate. For instance, Stanton had my right eye at -12.75 on my glasses, yet the correct prescription is -10.50. (Which is just a slight difference from my previous) I can't imagine the headaches I would have suffered through if I had not questioned it. All of their other measurements were incorrect as well. I compared this new one to 2 previous old ones, and all of the numbers were right in line. Only Stanton's had completely different measurements straight across the board. Lesson learned, going to the "cheap" place often costs more in the long run. And no, I am not interested in Stanton "reevaluating" my prescription. I'll deal with real doctors from here on out. read more

Great and calming experience here, everyone was so nice and super helpful throughout the process. It was my first time doing this by myself and everyone was super nice. I would highly recommend coming on a weekday in the morning. 10/10 read more

Spent $600 on lenses that don't work. My old lenses work far better than my new ones. Total waste of money and time. I also went around and around in circles trying to get my records so I could go somewhere else to get my prescription lenses made. I also went through Better Business Bureau to try to get help. Stanton Optical responded, saying that they would get back to me. Never did. The people in the store are friendly but that is not suffiicent if you want to get lenses that work. read more

I had my first visit here today and here is what I think. My first impression was that the atmosphere is very laid back. The employees and customers seem very comfortable which I am not used to in an optometrist office. The second thing I noticed was the exam was very different from anything I have experienced before. The optometrist works remote so you are chatting with a TV for the actual exam portion. She was nice though tbh I want sure she was a real person at first and I felt rude cause I literally said out loud "is this for real?" Obviously she was real. The future is now. I shopped around and found some nice frames. Overall I enjoyed my experience. I can see why the customers are so relaxed here. The employees seem to really care and I never felt rushed or uncomfortable. Charlese was the technician who helped me out in the end. She was kind and attentive and really worked with me to get what I wanted and keep it in my budget. She helped me pick my perfect frames and thoroughly explained every thing to me. I gotta say she was a total rock star! I'll be coming back to this location again in the future. Though I will have to become accustomed to the tele-health style testing. read more

Should have read the reviews before going in.. I drove 45min to my appointment had a employee tell me how they don't actually have a DR in the office I was a little confused but went ahead with the appointment when she was trying to get pictures of my eyes her instructions were to place my forehead again the machine and look down, so I do this went on for quite a while as she continued to get frustrated because she was having a rough time getting her pictures and I was also because it was getting uncomfortable looking down and holding my eyes open as far as possible. Come to find out I should have been looking straight forward into the machine not down. SMH wth is wrong with ppl? I eventually got upset because she then continued to tell me that if the doctor decided that I needed to go see another eye doctor that I would have to pay for this exam and for the other eye doctor which oh my gosh how is that even a thing? This place is ridiculous. I will go somewhere else and pay the same price to see a real doctor and have a real exam! Terrible place and the woman who work there it was totally something else. read more

Scheduled appointments. Their error not mine. Improving the listening skills to hear what kind of service i needed. Wasted my time, won't be returning. read more

I arrived and was ask to fill out some paperwork that I already did online before my appt. When asked to go in the first exam too. It smelled like BO so bad I had to ask the girl to spray. She was offended. Once done, I realize the exam with the optometrist is virtual. I walked out. I won't ever go back. read more

As any place, the window sticker deals are very specific- so didn't apply to me, but the staff went above and beyond to help me get exactly what I wanted at an affordable price. I feel like it was a thorough exam and look forward to seeing how the prescription feels when my glasses come in! read more

I'm new to Stanton Optical, so far they have been an amazing group of people to work with. My original exam was online examiner, kind of weird but, the rest of the procedure was good. The glasses arrived within 2 weeks, I had purchased 2 pair same prescription, but different frames. When they arrived one frame fit me perfect. I requested that they replace the second pair which did not fit comfortably. They were out of the frame I preferred, So they traced the style to get it for my 2nd pair. They ended up find them in NYC, they filled the prescription and sent them out quickly. The new manager Jon, Noor, and Jenna were very accommodating! Stanton Optical located at 9261 Mission Gorge Rd. Santee Ca. 92071 read more

When I arrived for a scheduled exam I was NOT seen by a doctor. The exam is done virtually. The "doctor" manages all the equipment remotely. My experience was that the actual time spent being "examined" by the virtual dr. lasted about 5 minutes! Needless to say when my new glasses and Rx came back 2 weeks later the prescription was completely wrong and the glasses I chose (with no fitting help from anyone in the office) did not fit at all. When I arrived to pick them up, they were handed to me at the front counter and I was thanked for coming in. There was no doctor or assistant to check to be sure the Rx was correct and I could see if they were effective. I have worn glasses for over 50 years, been seen for regular check-ups and in all that time have NEVER had a new Rx come back useless. One of the office staff told me that almost ALL new lenses prescribed by their virtual "doctor" come back with the incorrect Rx! Those patients have to wait about a month to be seen by a doctor that is only in the office about once a month. That was my exact experience. And when I met with the real "doctor" she was argumentative and demeaning. The second exam showed a completely different prescription than the one performed by the virtual "doctor" a few weeks before. When I asked why, she said it's normal. In the end, when she tired of my questions she said, "well, what the hell do you want me to do." TAKE YOUR OPTICAL BUSINESS ELSEWHERE! Lastly, there was a terrible odor in the exam room on my second visit. Definitely a foul body odor. The only redeeming aspect of my experience at this office was Eileen. This employee was friendly, professional, helpful and sympathetic to my bad experience. read more

Awesome Job Team Stanton Optical of Escondido I was having some trouble with my eyeglasses and they are making me a Brand New Pair! They are very professional and Helpful as well! I'll definitely get my next updated prescription there again! Thank You! read more

So Look out for their supposedly Insurance because I paid for the extra coverage but they fail to tell you it's only for one year if that! When I went into this location she tried to replace my frame with a $99.00 frame and said that it was the only one available. I have more to share about their supposedly discounts! It started out with 2 free frames with eye exam and by the time we got done it was up to $1000.00 but kept telling me discount for this and that so lowered it to $600.00. Wow! And Wow! All I can say is don't let them talk you into any extras period! I can pay 99 cents for super glue! read more

Stanton Optical - Eyewear & Opticians Near Me - San Diego, California

I don't know how this place is running! There are no optometrists here, eye exam is done by virtual video chat which you're guaranteed to get the wrong prescription as what was done to me, by a long shot! I thought these people were optometrists and I asked the lady " so does that mean my vision got worse or better??" My old prescription is -3.25. IT CHANGED TO A -1.25!? She looked at me in a face that showed she didn't even know and said "let me look it up" I knew from there that place is a scam because my vision definitely got worse so how did it apparently get better? I don't want an apology from the company to reply to me I just don't want people wasting an hour out of their day to go here!! read more

Julie was SUPERB!!! Not only did my daughter and I feel so comfortable and welcomed into Stanton Optical, but throughout the Eye Exam Julie was so very informative, she almost made me want to change professions (lol). Before we finished at Stanton Optical my daughter and I both had an opportunity to meet Tony who cashed us out. What I loved about Tony was his honest and tactful way of handling the fact that we could not find a pair of 2 for $79 glasses (these are the ones tgat have tge Blue dot to signify that they are 2 for $79. We honestly looked on the wall through rows and rows of glasses, but if you could find 2 pair that you liked in there you probably would not have needed an Eye Exam (lol) they were real hard to find, if you did find any. So sad, it was then that I realized what the bait was and hiw we had gotten reeled in... [[[WORD TO THE WISE]]] Next time check the wall first to see if there is a nice selection of what you want at the price you want 2 for $79. and if not you are always welcome to go elsewhere and not fall for the 2 for $79 hard to find deal. Seriously it would probably be easier to find Waldo. (Lol) read more

Great experience! Jose was very knowledgeable and helpful I will definitely be back 5 star service read more

I've been coming to Stanton Optical for years and they've been so helpful to me when I've needed to fix or replace my glasses. Jasmine and Maryou were so helpful during my eye exam. I didn't make an appointment but I didn't have to wait at all and it was very easy to find frames that met my budget! I would recommend this place to anyone who might need to pay for glasses without vision insurance and needs a new pair sooner rather than later. I will definitely be coming back. read more