Visions

I like these guys a lot, Their prices are fair, their service is consistently good, they are very nice and they are not part of a chain. They are two brothers who’ve worked in the business for decades. I am happy to support them!

My family members have been customers of Visions for over 25 years, and I agree with the positive comments posted here. The opticians and the optometrists have always been most professional and courteous through all these years.
I have a severe astigmatism which makes preparing my lenses very difficult, and when they were not perfect, Visions replaced the lenses with precisely the correct fitting without any problems.
They accept our insurance plans, and once they matched COSTCO’S low price for my son’s contacts. I really appreciate the personal attention and fine service we receive at Visions.

Place is empty literally all the time. (?!)

dont’ waste your time.
I had a horrible experience. In addition to the bathroom being in extremely shoddy conditions (especially for a medical office) the optometrist was abominable.
I was first drawn into their store due to the giant ‘SALE’ signs. The man behind the counter was very kind and helpful. He mentioned the vision exam was only $ 10 so I had ‘nothing to lose’. The doctor (and older woman with very curly hair and glasses) was in and so I went to the side room to get my eyes examined.
The room itself was very dated and dusty which i originally found charming but then realized it’s just old and hasn’t been updated in 25 or so years.
The first time the doctor was very friendly and engaging and i told her the reason I was there was because my eyes seemed to be getting worse and I needed new contacts.
She checked my eyes and sent me home with 2 different kinds of contacts. The man behind the counter was extrememly generous, allowing me to bring home 5 different pairs of glasses to see which worked best. When I asked how much all of this would be i could not get a straight answer except for the fact that ihad ‘very good insurance and needn’t worry.‘
I returned the next day with the glasses frames and returned both contacts as neither of them worked (one i could see far but not near and the other I could see near but not far.) I made an appointment to meet with the doctor again.
When I came back the optomistrist was in a very nasty nasty mood. All of a sudden I felt that I should no longer be there. I told her how neither of the lenses worked and she didn’t believe me. She had me try on one of them (saying ‘YOU tell me which ones these are’) and when i told her they weren’t working, she sighed loudly and had me come back into her room.
There she told me that nothing would work for me and that because i was «old» (mid 40s) that my eyesight would only get worse and worse and that it was something i just ‘needed to deal with’. She was then going to do another test to my eyes and I said ‘i’m sorry, the whole reason i came here was because I needed new contacts and now you’re telling me it’s impossible?’ Then I said, «I still don’t know how much this is going to cost me’ she meanly directed me back to the man behind the counter.
He said it would be a couple hundred dollars. I was shocked. I told him, ‘you said the eye exam would only be $ 10. When the doctor asked if i wanted my contacts checked she didn’t say that it would be $ 100 extra or else i wouldn’t have done that’… I also mentioned that the doctor was exceedingly rude to me, that there was ‘a lot of tension’ and that I wanted to leave and go home.
I would recommend YOU STAY AWAY from this place.

Visions is my go-​to place for eyeglasses care. I’ve gotten several sets of lenses from them, since I keep frames forever and just swap the lenses around. I’ve gotten my regular lenses, sunglasses, reading glasses, and another pair of regular glasses here. This has been since 2006 until the present.
The two brothers who run this place are very knowledgeable and I’m pretty shocked at the negative reviews. Their lab is very quick and my regular glasses are Brooks Brothers frames, with special pins in the temples, so they’re tricky. But they’ve been done correctly, twice, once when I got them, and recently when I changed prescriptions.
There’s also a very good female eye doctor who does the exams here. Skip the pricey and gimmicky Park Slope Eyes on Union and go here.
Basically, this is the ONLY place I will trust to do my eyeglasses, and literally no one is more anal-​retentive about his glasses than I am. Seriously.

I am visiting Brooklyn and had a fall, bending my frames. Needed them fixed ASAP. Visions is convenient to where we are staying and the guy fixed my glasses as good as new as soon as I got there. I was very pleased with the service and friendly manner. I don’t know about Visions for more regular eye care but they were all I could ask for in this little emergency.

I too have had quite a different experience than some of the other poor reviews. I’ve purchased contacts and glasses from them for almost 10 years and when I’ve mention ordering the contacts online they worked with me on price and informed me of a current rebate that I knew nothing about.
Yes, it’s small and has a limited selection of eyeglasses but I am mainly concerned with contacts. I personally had no problems with their cleanliness. Maybe I’m just not as particular…

Worst eyeglasses shopping experience of my life! Made the mistake of prepaying in full for both a reading lens replacements and a new frame with distance lenses at Visions. The reading lenses came back roughly cut with scratched edges – way below the standards of even low cost, budget internet eyewear. The anti reflective coating is coming off one of the lens with a visible spot of discoloration.
My other order took 6 weeks. I kept getting one excuse after another. They had my money in full, so I had to wait it out. When I finally got the other pair, I noticed that the right lens had a soft blur – which gave me headaches. The only way it would come into sharp focus was when I rotated the eyeglasses 30 degrees. Pretty absurd solution, so I returned to Visions on Lincoln Place. The owner looked at the lens and told me it was spot on perfect. It wasn’t – especially if I had to tilt the eyeglasses 30 degrees to get it in focus!
I had my eyes re-​examined elsewhere and had an independent optometrist and a different optician look at the problem lens. They told me it was markedly off in the axis as well as the PD. When I returned again to Visions, the other man (they’re brothers) got argumentative rather than taking care of the problem. In mho, an ethical eyeglass store owner would have taken care of it as part of his professional reponsibility. I wound up going elsewhere to replace the flawed lens.
Don’t make my mistake – go somewhere else.

I’ve been going here my whole life. Dr. Wendy Josephs is my optometrist and between her and the guys at the front desk we always have discussions about which frames are the best for my face. They’re always willing to talk and put in the extra effort to make you feel your best. I’ve gotten glasses repaired for free, they’re so nice about it. It’s the kind of place where they remember your name and it feels more ‘family’ like in that they’ll talk to you about anything and everything and never try to speed things up or kick you out.

I didn’t actually go here for myself, but instead took a pair of glasses that one of my students had recently bent (I’m a teacher at a middle school).
The gentleman at the front desk not only repaired the glasses and put in a new screw, but also added new nosepads and cleaned the glasses. It took him a while to find proper screws that would fit the glasses, but he persisted and worked on the classes for over 30 minutes.
We chatted about his daughter, who is graduating from high school and wants to go to college to become a teacher, too.
When I offered to pay him for the work, he wouldn’t let me! He said that I could give that same amount of money to charity. I thought this was very kind of him, and I wanted to let everyone know!

I have had quite a different experience these folks. They work with me on price and make suggestions based on my budget. The doctor is great and I would recommend this place to my friends.

I regret that I have to go negative on this, but I feel it is important other consumers are protected. I chose Visions because the eye doctors are all M.D.‘s as opposed to just O.D.‘s. While the examination equipment and space seem a bit worse for the wear I found the doctor competent and thorough. My qualms are with what occurred when I was billed for the appointment and later for my contacts. On the first occasion, I went to pay and was told it would be over $ 60. My insurance covers comprehensive eye exams for a $ 10 copay. Visions had charged me the cost of the exam PLUS a $ 10 copay. They claimed that this was their understanding of my insurance. I called the insurance company and they cleared up the matter, I paid $ 10 but couldn’t help but wonder if this was really a «misunderstanding» and not an outright scam. Later, when I went to order contacts with a $ 120 allowance from my insurance, they told me I had less than $ 90 of the allowance left. Again, I called the insurance company and they assured my I had the full $ 120 allowance. While I might expect a scam at a used car lot, I do not expect one when I am dealing with my health. If you do go to Visions, please be careful that they do not take advantage of you. Know your rights and especially your insurance coverage and don’t be afraid to assert them!

I had a terrible experience here too. I wanted to support a small local business just blocks away from my home — but I didn’t expect I’d be sacrificing quality of service to do it. This business is so sub-​par — where to start??? The Thursday/​Saturday operating hours is clue #1 something funny is going on. The unsanitary conditions of the bathroom — for a medical office — is #2. The office itself is dirty as well, old (not in a charming way) furniture, and old equipment. I was willing to dismiss all that and give them the benefit of the doubt — maybe they’re just doing a hundred other important things, or maybe they have kids and no time, or maybe they just bought the place…
So, then, the appointment — I got my eyes examined, which I’ve had done of course hundreds of times. This was the first time I’ve been told by a doctor that my eyes seem «intolerant» to contacts and I may not be able to wear them anymore. The doctor took notes on a blank piece of xerox paper and they always got my name wrong. I developed, over the course of the hour, an intution that the place is not legit.
So I ordered contacts because I was out and in desperate need of new ones — and hoped that would be that, I’d never go back. That was in March. It is now July and I just got the contacts I ordered then, and they were the wrong kind, and I ordered a years’ supply but only got 6 months. They had left them for me at the Sante Fe Grill, which kindly helps them out on account of their terrible business hours.
Over the last several months I’ve called them every saturday and every thursday to ask where my contacts are, and they’ve said it’s not their fault, they ordered them, they’re just the middle man, etc etc., but I’ve been wearing contacts for 20 years and have never known contacts to be that long on order. Four months — during which time they did provide me with temporary contacts — but they were no good, and I had to wear my original 2 week lenses for the last several months!
I called and complained and got hung up on. I had said I at least need to return them, because they aren’t the right contacts or the right number of contacts — just let me return them and I’ll cut my losses and deal with someone else. The receptionist said, «I don’t think we’re taking them back.» They hung up on me and I’ve decided not to do anything more about it, other than suggest everyone contemplating going there, please please don’t. Terrible waste of time and money. I would never dream a vision place could concoct such a nightmare experience for someone — and I hope to god they won’t be in business much longer. I love my neighborhood shops and it stinks when someone ruins it.

This place is terrible. Normally I wouldn’t write a review of an optometrist /​glasses store, but my experience here was so sub-​par I just couldn’t keep it to myself. I won’t get into the ridiculous time I had here too specifically, but here are the basics:
The office is dingy. I don’t know why a vision place should smell so musty and gross, but it certainly did. Everything looked old and in need of a good scrub.
The selection of frames is poor. There was NO selection of designer frames and hardly any «budget» frames either. All were overpriced. Worst selection I have ever seen.
The equipment is old and badly cared for. This was clear even to a layman. The examination chair wobbled back and forth and there were no paper barriers on areas where you had to press your face. I could see facial oil and flakes of skin stuck to the equipment where you have to rest your chin and forehead. It obviously hadn’t been wiped down between me and the previous patient and maybe hadn’t been wiped down in a long time.
The doctor left out at least one part of the eye exam that I considered «standard», since it had been done at every single one of the exams (with perhaps 6 different doctors) that I’ve ever had in my decade of wearing glasses — the glaucoma check. Maybe the doctor thought it was unnecessary, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they are just too cheap and careless to purchase the machine needed for the test.
The two men who worked the front desk are the absolute worst. When I ordered my glasses one was giving me a hard sell on all kinds of upgrades when I was sure I wanted just the basic lenses. I also overheard him selling a ton of unnecessary options to an elderly man who clearly didn’t understand what he was buying and who was absolutely dismayed at the cost. Horrible. Then when I went to pick up my glasses, the man working got in my face about what my vision plan benefits were. I’ve had this same plan for ten years, I am pretty sure of what my benefits are. After arguing with me and finally forcing me to say how terrible my experience had been, he at last called someone and (guess what!) I was right about my benefits all along. He then proceeded to tell me that he «didn’t want to hear» any of my complaints about the place. Believe me, his behavior really crossed the line from snide to downright inappropriate. I don’t think I was being unreasonable — I am generally a very softspoken person. All my friends tell me I should stick up for myself more. And I wasn’t making a scene — I was the only person in the store!
And finally, their hours are terrible, at least for people who work. They close at 5 almost every day and they only do exams on Thursdays and Saturdays…
The sad thing is I was ready to spend much more money there than I did. I often purchase multiple pairs of glasses, between wanting prescription sunglasses and glasses to go with different clothes, etc. I had planned on buying at least one more pair of glasses but of course I will now go somewhere else.
Edit to respond to Erika G.: Believe me, I am NOT an optometrist and as such can’t really comment on the expertise of the doctor. I just know that the service was terrible. I’m really glad that you found someone to diagnose your vision problem… But I have a pretty straightforward prescription and yet it took them THREE tries just to get the prescription right, forcing the glasses to be sent back. The impression I got was that the guy at the front desk filled out the lens order incorrectly, so it was his fault, not the doctor’s. Then the same guy who put in the wrong order argued with me when I refused to pay AGAIN for the new lenses with the correct prescription. If the doctor were smart he would hire someone else to work the front desk, because he could pretty much be the most knowledgeable optometrist on the planet and I still wouldn’t step foot in that store again. Oh, and get a new cleaning service because your office is dank and disgusting.