Visual Eyes

Grossly overpriced. Worst customer experiences ever. Will never spend another dime there.
I have been a customer of Chicago Vision Club and its proprietor, Roman, for more nearly 20 years. (I’ll refer to the Evanston stores as «Visual Eyes» even though they have changed their name recently.) But the price point and quality of customer service have degraded over time. This week, my experience caused me to permanently take this store (and its sister stores) off my list.
(1) Prices. One month ago, I bought my son glasses at the Sherman St. store. I used a Groupon deal for $ 39 that covered a free eye exam and $ 200 off glasses; I still spent over $ 300 on top of that, including $ 109 for the lenses alone.
At that time, I also looked for and found myself a pair of frames that they told me in the store cost $ 400. That day, I found the same ones online at multiple websites for $ 130. But Visual Eyes told me they could not sell them to me for below $ 350. That’s just the frames. (I will be ordering them online.)
Today, having purchased the same Groupon deal for myself a month later, when i asked for a quote on the cheapest frames in the store and the most basic lenses, she priced them at $ 129 for the frames and $ 119 for the lenses, thus ensuring that I could not use my Groupon without paying extra cash at the store. Confused by the cost of the lenses, when i asked her to show me the receipt from my son’s glasses one month earlier, it confirmed the lenses alone cost $ 109. In other words, they just make up prices on the spot and increase their margins whenever and however they see fit. These people are not to be trusted.
(2) Customer Service. My experiences with this store this week included (i) their mistake in scheduling my appointment for the wrong store so that when I showed up for my eye exam, they told me without apology that there was no doctor on site and I’d have to come back another time; (ii) their changing the quoted price of the eye exam (on the phone, they told me $ 59; but when they wrote the ticket up, they told me $ 69); and (iii) their refusal to honor the terms of the Groupon I’d purchased for the store allowing me to use the $ 39 paid (Groupon’s rules for all deals provide, «the amount paid WILL NEVER EXPIRE and must continue to be honored by the merchant after the promotional value expires») against the $ 59 owed.
In fact, the receptionist refused to give me my prescription unless I paid (which I offered to do, minus the Groupon), and then forced me to call Groupon and sit on hold while in the store just to work it out. Fortunately, Groupon offered to refund my money when they heard the receptionist refuse to honor it. The receptionist also refused to put me on the phone with the owner even though she was talking to him about me right in front of me. And that was on top of the unapologetic response to the scheduling mistake yesterday.
Again, I have been a customer of these people for nearly 20 years. That ended today. Never again. And I recommend that you do the same.

Great experience and Paulina is extremely helpful and provides a great service to all the customers.

Looking for a close place for contact lenses exam and found this one just a block away. When I entered the shop there were two old men discussing something on the computers. I said hello and one of them moved his eyes up and replied hi in a very inpatient way. I feel like he was accusing me of coming in 30 mins before they close.
Anyway I asked what’s the price for doing that examination and when is the next available appointment. One of them said $ 109 to $ 159 depending on the prescription. I repeated that so $ 159 blah blah and another man interrupted saying «it’s a range!» Well I was just making sure the price because other stores I went to only have fixed price. And he ask me to grab a card to call for appointment and told me they are not in store everyday… Then they continued discussing. I said thank you and none of them said anything. In fact they did not even look at me.
With this attitude I suggest that they close the store forever.

READ THESE REVIEWS — THIS STORE IS TERRIBLE! This was the worst retail experience ever. Staff is EXTREMELY RUDE! Don’t be fooled by the great selection of (expensive) frames, but they will fall apart within weeks and they won’t fix them or replace them. A very expensive lesson, learned the hard way.

One star for the rude Optometrist, thanks to him it will be my first and last time visiting visualeyes.
he was being totally inpatient, especially when I misunderstood his instruction during the process, he acted like I was wasting his time and alluring me of being too dumb to understand his «direct instruction». I’m not paying 40 bucks for that.
This is an awful experience, though the glasses part is ok, but bundled with such lame services I don’t think I will revisit.

I’ve worn glasses since I was 11 and have never had a bad experience dropping into any optical shop for an adjustment. I happened to see this shop and thought I’d get a quick adjustment. The woman (I hope she was an optician!) looked over my glasses with this attitude of disdain and informed me they were bent and were going to break and she was «not responsible.» (I’m not sure how plastic frames can be bent.) She asked me where I got them and she pointed out once again that she was «not responsible.» By the third time she informed me she was «not responsible» I insisted that she give them back.
The next day I went into a chain optical store and the optician cheerfully adjusted my glasses and cleaned them. No warnings they were going to break or disclaimers or anything. He did note they were Morgenthal Frederics Lifesavers and he complimented me on them.

I work in Evanston and this has been my go-​to place for years! The service is professional and I always get exactly what I need. Not to mention they have a large selection of designer and affordable specs and sunnies. Definitely loving my new burberrys! :-) and I definitely recommend this place!

I was sold a prescription I did not need for reading glasses (I am 24), and they talked me out of fixing my primary glasses prescription which was the reason I came in to their office in the first place. I go to NU and thought this would be an easy way to adjust my lenses without having to wait until I went home. I’m young and have pretty good vision, and I figured it would be hard to mess up such an easy order. Boy was I wrong! They put the WRONG prescription in my glasses! Such a careless error. What was more, the frames I was sold (the VERY expensive frames) were not compatible with the type of prescription I was given, but this was not realized until after the fact. When I went in to have the glasses fixed, the doctor was initially baffled at my feedback that these new glasses made my vision worse. They made the room spin. They were clearly not right for me. He was said that he would find out if the frames could be modified to become compatible with the lenses, and that he would call me the next day. He assured me that he would let me know what the status was with these lenses prior to ordering the new lenses.
The next day his assistant called me, and left a message stating that she was submitting an order for new lenses and that she would let me know when they would be ready — which would be approximately Saturday. I was confused. None of my questions from the previous day had been addressed. When I called to ask about my questions, the assistant had no idea what I was talking about. She had the doctor call me back. He answered my questions and told me I should be able to pick up the glasses on Saturday. Later I found out that he never told the assistant to place the order. I ended up canceling my glasses order, because after all the back and forth and frustration, I became doubtful of his opinion that I needed reading glasses, and still wanted someone to adjust my primary glasses prescription. Overall, I was very unhappy with the service and how I was treated. I would not recommend this place. Even if you don’t mind shitty service, I strongly question the eye doctor’s judgment and professional opinion. When I went elsewhere, it became very clear that he was wrong about the reading glasses, and another eye doctor was able to correct my primary lenses. What a waste of time and money.

I bought an expensive pair of glasses here and took another pair, Warby Parkers, to be adjusted. They refused to adjust my glasses for me despite me having spent a lot of money with them. Even for a fee. I know online retailers are a new threat to greedy rip-​off optometry shops, but that’s a dumb business decision. Adapt or die!!!

I always thought of Visualeyes as a decent place. I’ve bought two pairs of glasses there (Silhouette and prodesign) at a good price with the ultra-​thin lenses. Courteous service, timely delivery — very pleased with the whole experience.
I know some people here have had issues with the eye exam, but mine was ok. I did think that Dr. Mosqueda was an eclectic character, but can’t recall having any issues with the exam. The prescription was stronger than the one I had had before, so it took some adjustment, but I didn’t find it uncomfortable.
For a place of their size, they have surprisingly many good high-​end frames, and can deliver almost anything upon your request. I was actually in the market for a certain shape of frame, and the manager (Paulina) followed up with me over the phone twice when she had new arrivals that met my criteria.
Because they don’t actually install the lenses in-​house, it does take a bit longer to have your glasses ready, that’s why I’m not giving them 5 stars.

It’s been over a year since I had glasses made for me and my boyfriend at Visualeyes on Main St in Evanston. We selected this place because Dr. Mosqueda did lots of good work for under-​served communities. Too bad his services are under par. We were charged for scratch guard that wasn’t applied. My guy’s lenses are cloudy with scratches at this point. And, the good doctor allowed me to select frames that were too small for progressive or tri-​focal lens to work properly. I was Unilocaling in search of a new provider when Visualeyes came up, so I wanted to post a warning about this place.

They have some nice, fashionable frames, and the shop-​floor people were friendly enough, but I thought the eye exams (one from the primary Dr. and one from a younger person filling in) I had here were a bit weak. They didn’t test me for glaucoma or any other eye-​health issues, and I’m old enough that that stuff should be at least checked. Pretty much a «which is better, this or this» exam. I didn’t find the optometrist particularly personable, but that’s not what really matters. I just didn’t feel like I got great service.

This place is so shady! I had an eye exam somewhere else and just came in to get my eyes re-​measured for contacts, a prescription for contacts, and possible glasses. I wanted to switch contact brands and I had to convince them to provide me with a trial pair before a purchased a 6 month or year supply. The trial pair were the wrong measurement and prescription, but the doctor assured me that this didn’t matter. I couldn’t see, and the contacts kept falling out and moving around in my eyes. A long story, several trips back to the store, and three trial pairs later, I decided it was a wash and went to For Eyes on Chicago Ave. Do yourself a favor and go there first! This place is horrible. The receptionist would never call me when my trial pairs came in, so I had to check back. When I came to the store, it was a huge inconvenience for her to stop her Skype session to help me. I also looked at frames there (before I knew what a disaster this place was). The frame were over priced and they only carried discontinued frames. I can’t say one good thing about Visualeyes. Don’t go there!

I needed to get new specs and a new prescription, because it had been about two years since my last one, and I wanted to find somewhere close to NU so that I’d be able to pick things up without having to go too much out of my way, or GOD FORBID get somewhere during business hours — honestly, how do people with real jobs get anything done? Do they just take time off work? Someone please enlighten me as to how you accomplish daily tasks.
Anywho, called and made an appointment within a few days of my call. I ended up late to the appointment due to CTA issues, but they were still able to take me without too much waiting. Dr. Mosqueda is really nice, and was all about making with the chit-​chat. The receptionist, Norma I think is her name, is also really nice.
After my exam, I lingered over the frames and finally picked out a pair. They have a wide selection, especially of some nice name-​brands, but most of the frames seem to be upwards of $ 200. When I picked my frames, I found out they offer a Northwestern discount, so that if you get an exam, you get ½ off frames. That was totally a pleasant surprise. All told I think I paid $ 250 or so, without vision insurance (grumble). I ended up getting my glasses within a week, and they gave me a copy of my prescription to keep on hand.
They also cleaned my old glasses, and have fixed them when I went in another time because I had lost a screw — I went in and just asked for them to be fixed, and they screwed the stem back on, just like that. No questions asked.

the selection here is small but cute. prices are totally affordable – they even give student discounts! the eye doctor is very helpful and friendly, and so is the receptionist!