9th Street Optical

Bad service all around, horrible experinece

Great place finally a place where I feel comfortable with getting good service and not getting robbed in park slope. They were very helpful and most importantly I didn’t feel like I was getting taken advantage of. Very big selection of designer frames.

I wish help had minus stars… Because this place deserves it. Went here because the insurance said it was in the network. The first appointment was at11am the optometry check her up at 3:30 (that’s is waiting for more than 4 hours. Verdict: she need to have a surgery…
They tell me they have an ophthalmology in house and gives me another appointment… I thought give them a second try but what a mistake I made.
Appointment at 2:00 pm when I go there is a long line of people who has been waiting from 11:30 am and finally the doctor arrives at 2:30 after waiting for an hour and a half I called the insurance to recommend another provider. And the insurance tells me that we needed a referral to see the ophthalmology. If not the insurance will not cover the visit. When I talked to the receptionist a guy he made a fuss. Why did you call the insurance. We don’t need a referral. And all I thinking where is the door… Because it clearly is not a right place to check you vision… Beware … Beware … Beware

This place is awful. I will never go back here. I went here once last summer with my husband so he could get prescription sunglasses. The service is just awful. The man running the store is extremely unpleasant to deal with. He’s pushy and has an abrasive personality. However, we really loved the sunglasses we bought here and because of this, we unfortunately came back. The quality of the glasses clouded our judgement. The eye exam I received was fantastic. The doctor I saw was wonderful, thorough, pleasant. My advice to this doctor: Run. Get out fast and find an office that deserves you. Again, the man running the store was hard to deal with. My husband needed new frames and the frame selection they have is very small and very expensive. He started out by reprimanding my husband for only wearing his glasses for distance and driving. My husband wears a small prescription and it just isn’t necessary for him to wear them constantly. So this man, who has no medical training, essentially yells at my husband for only wearing his glasses when he thinks he needs them as if he has ANY idea of what he is talking about. This goes on for a few minutes and when he is done, he comments, «I never wear my glasses either.» Are you joking?!
After going through many options that were outrageously expensive, we settled on a pair. Meanwhile, I was ordering contacts and the total came to double what I have paid in other stores. I asked if it would be cheaper on 1800 contacts. They told me they didn’t know. I started to look it up on my phone and the people running the store proceeded to be so pushy and rude that I went ahead and paid for the contacts. I felt forced and rushed. They also tried to tack on a fee for a contact fitting because the doctor gave me a free sample of contacts; ones I have been wearing for years. The woman at the front desk argued with me for a few minutes regarding this charge and I told her to go speak with the doctor. She came back and told me, «You’re lucky, the doctor won’t charge you for this today.» As it so happens, my husband was in the room with the doctor and overheard to conversation with the woman behind the desk and the doctor. She explained she wanted to charge me for a fitting and he said, «No don’t do that. She did not even get a fitting, as I wrote on her chart.»…
Finally, once the website loaded on my phone I found that I would have saved $ 150 if I had gone with 1800 contacts. I tried to cancel my order with them and they said they could not cancel my order, that was placed 60 seconds before, and would only give store credit. My husband tried to stop the man behind the desk from swiping our card again for his glasses so we could use the store credit on his glasses, but the man swiped anyways. Shame on us for going back the second time, but you better believe we will never be back again.

Beware of this place. Visited it twice and they charged me a copay for the service when i was not suppose to pay anything. My insurance had me covered. When i told my insurance they tried to reach out and the staff kept dilly dallying. Mike the manager is never ever available and did not return my insurance agents calls.
The staff is quite clueless, does not even know the name of the doctors working at that location!
I saw Dr. Inna, while she was very helpful and good, i will not visit this location ever. They cheat and have horrible customer service. My insurance company is still chasing them and it’s been two weeks now. Disappointing. Stay away!

Ok, so I was super scared about this place given the other reviews, but hear me out.
1. Some of the other reviews are outdated. My optometrist was Coleman and the other doctors rated poorly in other reviews probably aren’t even there any more (as it’s a small place– not sure if the other docs are hiding in a broom closet – but probably not). Dr. Coleman was friendly, efficient in finding my RX, and explained to me exactly what my rx was, what it meant in lay man’s terms, and how it differed from my current set of glasses. Really what else do I want from an optometrist?
2. The complaints about this place charging more for frames than a bigger optometrist office, and some that mentioned the small selection, three words: economies of scale. There’s a wiki page on economies of scale so I won’t say more about that here, but I will say I have gone to bigger places and wasted way too much time trying on 100+ pairs of frames. Es no bueno. Also, in terms of psychology, customers are actually happier when making a selection from a limited number of choices than an endless amount of choices. Science, b! tch! Anyways, I settled on some hipster looking versace frames. Es muy bueno.
Service good. Better when the place is empty so try and go during 9 – 5 weekdays if you can. Yes the prices are high, but go for ones with a discount, and it’s not like they’re robbing you. Decently fair.
TL; DR: I’ve been to way shittier optometrist offices than this, in my experience this place is good. Try and go during business hours/​when the place is empty for more personalized service and attention, but service isn’t bad on Saturdays either. 5 stars.

Not good in two main ways. Poor customer service and poor selection. I went in to check out their eye wear. The people working inside we’re hardly welcoming. I suppose treating customers right isn’t important to this business. I asked about their sunglasses and my response was «yes» and that’s it! The male employee was too busy texting on his phone to help. Why spend money here? I left immediately.

I visited this shop after visiting Urban Optical to browse for some spectacles. I was really hoping to like this place since it’s a lot closer to my house than Urban but I was pretty disappointed. When you first walk in you fell like you’re bothering them and the staff just doesn’t seem friendly. Once I did get someone to help me, they did spend time with me going over pricing and what they offered, but to my surprise, the were much more expensive that Urban as well. Keep in mind, that I had them use my insurance and I didn’t need and eye exam. With a shop as small as theirs, I was shocked at how expensive they were compared the the large clean and friendly office at Urban.
Unless you have some kind of unnatural attachment to this office, I’d recommend going somewhere else.

HORRIBLE, worst place I have ever encountered. I made appt. for my elderly mother for a second opinion with an ophthalmologist and not only did they give her an appt. when the doctor wasn’t there but they did not want a copy of her records. 2^nd appt., they had her see an optometrist instead and was told she needed an appt. with an ophthalmologist (no kidding). When I called to speak to the Manager he made an attempt at an apology then proceeded to brush me off and told me that he would make an appt. with the ophthalmologist himself. I called to confirm this appt. that he made with the ophthalmologist and was told that Max had never made the appt. The ophthalmologist’s office called Max and he told them he never made the appt. and that they should just squeeze her in.
I’m appalled at how they treat not only their patient’s but also their colleagues. I’m shocked that this place is still in business! WORST PLACE EVER!

Avoid this place! I made an appt for my daughter and was told I needed to be on time but could not arrive too early because they adhere to appointed time. When I arrived for my 4:45 appt, there were 3 people in front of us. When I asked about their «policy» of adhering to appts the woman at the counter shrugged her shoulders and said you should have come earlier. What?! I was on time. The doctor never introduced himself and was very abrupt. He asked whether my daughter knew her alphabet and I indicated, she’s 4 but knows most letters. His response «that doesn’t help». She’s 4! What did he expect. After a very quick and confusing exam he prescribed something completely too strong for a child — that was validated by the 2^nd opinion I got the next day. In fact what he prescribed would have caused more harm to her eyes.
Additionally their frames are ridiculously overpriced. They tried to sell me some kids glasses for $ 359 that I found on-​line for $ 120.
Do not visit this location unless you want an inaccurate prescription, pay more money and get belittled in the process. Coveinant to home but a nightmare in every other aspect.

My wife, daughters, and i have been going to this place for over 6 years now, the receptionist staff are great here. They take their time explaining the ins and out of our insurance plans, and the various choices of lense wear we can purchase. Today was no different my wife was very happy with customer service and her new glasses.

Now that I have a new optometrist I can finally post what I really think of 9^th Street… I hate this place! The front desk is, in my opinion, overstaffed, and the «ladies» are frequently rude; though there is one girl who is usually nice, I really don’t want to listen to neighborhood gossip and cackling during the INTERMINABLE wait for an exam. That’s another thing: you always wait forever no matter whether you have an appointment or not. It takes forever to get your lenses in, and the office visit is more expensive than some of their competitors. No-​brainer. Avoid 9^th Street Optical if you can.

I went to this in 2009 – 2010 because it was within walking distance of my home and my old optic guy quit my insurance. They are fairly nice at 9^th St. when you go there, but you always have to wait and wait. The lies and B.S. start right away. They made me do a 2-​visit exam and charged the insurance company for 2 visits when it should have all been done at once. They tried to get 2 co-​pays from me when there were none due. NOBODY I have ever been to does 2 visits for 1 exam! I told them right then and there that they were wasting my time as well. They apologized and babbled on about somebody going on maternity leave. ???
I always want glass lenses and that seemed to annoy them endlessly because they had to send them out for it instead of their guy making plastic lenses and therefore retaining the $$. Told me there was only 1 place that made glass lenses in New York City when I know for a fact that’s not true. They were saying 1 month and I told them it had better not be 1 month. The timeframe, despite the whining from the 9^th St, was a normal 1 week.
But when I got them, they were wrong. I had to go there a total of THREE TIMES to get something I could see with and they were still wrong. The first time back, I was told that I should have said I did photo retouching and computer work for a living. I DID say that! Then they said that’s why they gave me reading glasses. I told them I could go to Duane Reade and spend $ 25 for reading glasses. What were they thinking about when I said RETOUCHING? It was one lame excuse after another. It was «See, if you had the plastic ones here we could do it right away!» I just wanted out of there and now basically use my old glasses more than the ones I got here because the 9^th St glasses still keystone and distort like crazy. I can only use them for upright work 1 foot away from my face. They are only OK for some retouching and kind of useless for everything else. I think they were charging the insurance company for something every time I went back there.
Then they started harrassing me on the phone every 2 – 3 months for my «follow-​up visit. They would call and leave message after message until I returned their call, screaming my head off, «WHAT FOLLOW-​UP? WHO DOES ROUTINE FOLLOW-​UP EXAMS EVERY 3 OR EVEN 6 MONTHS? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL WITH ME?» After I told them about 20 times that my insurance only pays for glasses and exams every other year, these assholes finally shut up!
GREEE DEEE! INCOMPETENT! Run away! And don’t give them your real phone number!

I do not recommend this eye doctor. Not only did Dr. Lisitsyn write down the wrong perscription number so that the glasses they made for me were completely wrong, he also suggested that my eyes had changed instead of him making a mistake when I went back to get the lenses fixed.
I have tried to order online contacts twice now, and both times the doctor’s office has ‘no record of me as a patient’.
If you haven’t had enough stress in your day, then I recommend heading right over there for the sub-​par care they do so well.

I went to this place because it’s in the neighborhood and I thought, how hard can a contact fitting be. This is the worst experience I have ever had at an optometrist. The people that work at the front desk are particularly unprofessional. Long waits, mediocre care, and on top of everything, they made a mistake on the prescription measurements of my contacts. I noticed it when I received my contacts in the mail. I gave them the benefit of the doubt (though they had never actually checked the size of my eyes), and called. Perhaps some brands run smaller than others? The woman at the front desk basically tried to blame it on me, though it came out in the conversation that the prescription was in fact based on the trial lenses that they had on hand when I was there. WTF?! I found this particularly irksome considering I have gotten an eye infection in the past from lenses that are too tight. So now I’m stuck with a years worth of too-​small lenses. Don’t go here!

I made an appointment for 10:30am on a Monday morning; got there at 10:20. There were at least 15 people crammed into the small doctors office when I got there. I took ten minutes to fill out paperwork and then left after waiting for over an hour to be seen.
I don’t know if most people feel the way that I do; but I refuse to make appoints and be left waiting for that long and then be expected to hand over my money for poor customer service.
If a business is scheduling there own appointments then they have the power to avoid matters like this… it’s truly baffling to me and I saw the writing on the wall: «We want your money, and could care less about anything else.»
I would not recommend going there.

I went to this optical through my insurance company and I was very satisfied .
First of all I liked the space that they have there, it’s comfortable and very clean .
I haven’t Had my eyes checked for long time and I was kind of not sure what’s going on with me but after I had my exam there the Dr really explained well regards my prescription changes and even checked the general health of my eyes .
I had this old frame that I wanted to change and it’s been so long since I picked a frame for myself but the staff was really helpful in helping me pick the right frame — and it actually looks good on me .
This optical treats you as you were one of their family and their prices are very reasonable and from one time I went there I heard they work with most of the insurances plans — which is hard to find sometimes .
I had a very nice experience there and I hope you do too

Driving at night has become kinda scary to me. I went here because A. They were close to my home and B. They accepted Davis Vision which is connected to Blue Cross (I don’t know how).
This is a small but clean office. The_​_​_​girls that work there are about as nice as Russians and Israelis can be when they do business (not very nice, but it’s cultural, so slack is given). The girls did their battery of tests, including the one where you can’t see for three hours after. Dr. Aliya Hot, O.D., spent literally one minute with me. She tried ONE lens & sent me packing. A week later they called me to tell me to be there before noon on a Saturday to pick the glasses up. At 11:22AM the only person there was another irate customer who was told to be there before noon. BTW the sign says they’re open till 4PM on Saturdays.
When I did get my glasses (trip #3), they made me sick & dizzy to wear. Another Dr. set me up with the correct scrip, then invited me to do the three hour no-​see test. Because Dr. Hot was lazy and sloppy and in a rush, I got the wrong prescription, then she lost my eye test results! These are my first glasses. Thanks very much 9^th Street Optical for making a depressing errand downright traumatic. Please don’t go here. I wouldn’t want them encouraged into thinking they’re doing a good job. By the way, they didn’t help AT ALL with my night vision problem.

I had a little trouble with these guys. They’re either misinformed or kind of shady when it comes to dealing with the VSP vision care insurance plan. When it came time to get frames, I asked about the price of a pair of Kate Spades and she wouldn’t tell me the price, she just asked me how much discount I got from VSP. Then she told me the remainder would be $ 209, after my $ 180 discount, so $ 389 altogether. I looked up the retail price of a similar pair on
and they were about $ 125. When I called and told them they were overcharging, the owner said, «Don’t tell me how to run my business. I can charge $ 1000 a pair if I want.» Perhaps he’s right, in the legal sense, but if you’re looking for frames, look elsewhere, unless 50% markups are your thing. Also, they failed to tell me I’d get preferred VSP pricing on transition lenses, and were going to charge me $ 125 for it. A VSP rep told me I shouldn’t be paying more than $ 62 for them. I wouldn’t go back to 9^th Street Optical again.