Optical Gallery At the Eye Associates

Awesome staff & service. Friendly and helpful. 5 stars!

A SERIOUS PROBLEM
With a prescription from The Eye Associates in Sarasota, I ordered new prism lenses through their Optical Gallery on 4÷11÷2014. The lenses arrived on ⁴⁄₂₉. Although ground correctly, they were not properly measured or fitted by the optical technician. Initially, my vision improved but I was soon experiencing problems that I attributed to a longer than expected adjustment period. But over time, after stumbling, falling and driving with high levels of anxiety, I decided my vision was rapidly deteriorating. So, after two unproductive visits with my Gallery representative and my inability to get a near term doctor’s appointment, I visited Dan Schmidt, a referral and a highly respected optician. He carefully analyzed my glasses and found that they were improperly fitted and that the mechanical measurement (the measurement of optical centers related to the pupil centers) was wrong. In addition to noting this on the prescription form, he also suggested the correction.
This error caused me weeks of discomfort and unnecessary risk and was unquestionably caused by the technician. On 12/​18/​2014, I wrote a letter to the owners of The Eye Associates (who also own the Gallery) and requested a refund; which was granted on 1÷7÷2015. Soon thereafter, I met with the Gallery Operations Director, a Master Optician herself. She confirmed the mistake, apologized and stated «errors do occur». Great! Although the problem was resolved to my satisfaction, I have no intention of ever returning to the Optical Gallery when I know I can receive careful, professional and incredibly conscientious service at Soto Opticians (Hillview location) owned by Dan Schmidt.