Inside Melbourne Plaza is an entire floor dedicated to opticians, with a whole slew of mom and pop glasses shops. One in particular is my favourite, William's Optical Co. in Melboure Plaza.
To be fair, they are much of a muchness compared to all the other opticians. They sell a range of glasses, from Ray Bans to cheap Chinese brands, contact lenses form all the big manufacturers, can get any of the specialist lenses - all fairly standard stuff. However, the husband and wife owners are so friendly, I find myself going back for the banter alone! It's also easy to get an appointment there, I often just walk-in and find that I can get an eye test.
What I do particularly like about these folks is that they are a bit more logical and flexible with their operation. Anyone who has tried to shop in HK will have come across the "so solly, cannot, la" attitude of the staff, and I put this down to an inability for people to think for themselves. Here, they are able to make practical and sensible decisions to better my customer experience, which I wholeheartedly welcome. Let me give you an example; I wanted to buy some specialist contact lenses, which have a three day order time on them. It just so happened that someone else had ordered exactly the same lenses, and they were ready in store for their collection. However, this customer was out of HK, and not due to collect for another week, so the optician gave me their lenses and ordered another set for them. Made a lot of sense, I got my lenses immediately, the other customer got a fresh from manufacturer set, everyone's happy. This shop is "can do, la"! read more