Sterling Optical

Doctor is abrasive and at times rude.
Not a fan since this is a required paid service to obtain contact replenishment, not a favor.
Please take lesson in customer service.
General office staff was fine.
If you have a choice, choose somewhere else.
If not, be ready to leave irritated.

Was a customer of Empire Vision/​Visionworks in the past because the location was convenient. Customer service was terrible and would wait an hour to be seen. Decided to give Sterling Optical a shot, I figured it couldn’t be any worse. I was helped immediately and within a minute, while I was working on paperwork they started my daughter with the pre-​exam stuff. The moment I was done with the paperwork the doctor was ready for her. Prices of frames are clearly marked on the frame themselves rather than have secret color codes. The doctor HERSELF assisted us with finding a pair that was right for her. Because we also wanted to make the current glasses into sunglasses, they took the time to figure out the least expensive way to do this with my insurance.
The staff couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. If you’re looking for excellent customer service, this is the place to go.

My tour of every optical shop in the Tri-​County area continues (so it would seem) with Sterling, which unlike every other shop I went to, did not simply say «oh, we don’t have that» and try to sell me something I didn’t want, but went out of their way to look up things in catalogs and try to find something precisely like what I wanted and in my size. They came up short, but did not give up trying per se, as the optician promised to meet with a frame rep who was coming in later in the week to see if there were things that hadn’t made the catalog yet. This was a sign of someone who knew her business, her industry, and who gave a damn.
Was I successful? No, sadly. But they get major brownie points from me after the last nine (literally) stops at competing shops where they didn’t bother to even try when they discovered I wasn’t going to be an easy sell. Definitely worth your attention in that regard.

The new eye doctor is terrific. I went in for an exam expecting to be rushed through and she spent a lot of time with me to discuss options for correcting my vision. The last doctor there told me that contacts wouldn’t work, and guess what, now I am wearing contacts! The opticians are very nice, but at times I do feel rushed through the process. I wish they had more frames to choose from. They are somewhat pricey if you don’t have insurance.