Spex- Hinsdale

I’ve worn glasses since I was 7. Yes, a lot of glasses over the years. I’ve tried many shops and thought I would try Spex/​Hinsdale.
Well, I bought the most expensive frames I have ever purchased and they looked great.
The issue I have is they broke after just 15 months. The only frames that have ever broken on me — ever. So I go back to Spex to see if they would stand behind their product and this is the point where I feel completely betrayed.
Yes, out of warranty but the whole cavalier attitude of you just need to buy new frames really left me feeling mad and frustrated. A phone call to the lab even without seeing the issue was meet with a resounding NO! No simple apologies, just buy new frames and at full price no
less. No attempt to find a solution or even contact the manufacturer to see if they would stand by their product. I have subsequently contacted the manufacturer myself and I am waiting on a reply.
Needless to say I will never shop there again nor recommend them.

We’ve shopped here for the last couple of years, and have spent a lot of money at this store. However, the optician we always worked with left the company. Too bad, she was great. Today we went in and browsed frames for 40 minutes and NOT ONE EMPLOYEE approached us to offer assistance. To them we weren’t even in the store. For that reason we will never shop here again. We got the brand names and info from the frames we liked, but will buy from another company. HORRIBLE customer service. Snooty is a good way to describe their demeanor.

We were here today to look at frames — spent about 35 minutes looking around. NO ONE helped us (even when I stood waiting in front of two different counters) or even acknowledged our presence — even to say they were busy and would be with us in a minute. Guess we’ll spend our $ 600+ on glasses somewhere else

A glasses wearer since age 5, I was used to going to one location, and nervous about having to go somewhere else with my new insurance. I feel like somewhat of a glasses snob– since I have REALLY bad vision, I «demand» designer brands, since I’ll wear the heck out of them.
After much searching, I decided to try Spex, and they’ve been nothing but wonderful. The doctor offered me a new option of contacts, something I never thought I could have, and explained everything in a way that was easy to understand. He was friendly, and seemed interested in me as a patient, not just another set of eyes.
Jessica and Megan are who I’ve dealt with for my contacts and glasses ordering. Props to Jessica– she ordered me an extra set of trial lenses, since my brand is hard to get, and saved me in a pinch when I ripped one! She also worked with my desire for Chanel glasses, even though the frame wasn’t ideal for my lens type/​prescription, and helped adjust them to become more comfortable. They also arranged to have the rest of my contacts sent to my home so I don’t have to come back– HUGE plus!
I definitely feel like they all put in the extra stops to help a patient out. I’m so happy I chose here!

This was my sons first pair of glasses so I wanted his experience to be special. And, special SPEX in Hinsdale made it. We drove all the way from Hammond, IN because NPR says that SPEX is amazing and I agree. The Doctor was kind, patient and fun with my three energetic sons. The assistants were all very accommodating. I want to give a special mention to 2 things. 1. Assistant Humaira after five visits now, since my son has gotten his first pair of glasses has gone ABOVE & BEYOND EACH & EVERY visit. 2. While waiting to have my sons frames/​lenses tilted (as they were pushing up against his very long {jealous} eyelashes) a gentleman assistant overheard my son & I talking about how he should bring his case in the car as the drive is long & he tends to nap & his glasses tend to fall on the car floor… This kind gentleman got up and came back and handed my son a very nice case JUST for the car. He did NOT have to do that AT ALL. But, overhearing our conversation, he accommodated a need. In closing, I am very sad that Humaira is leaving and wish her best in her new endeavors. She will certainly be successful as an insurance broker in the Big City. She has recommended Rebecca for style and Laura for optometry.

I have been coming to Spex for a few years. In each case Gina or Rebbecca have helped me. Not only did they help me maximize my experience with the best fashion choice, but the really knew their product from a user friendly approach as well.
I do not mind spending the money when the products and service is a high level.

«You need a new pair of glasses,» said my friend, Carey. «Ones that aren’t so oval. What you’re wearing now doesn’t suit your face.» And with that innocuous statement, an adventure began.
My last few pairs of glasses had come from Spex, so it was a no-​brainer that I would hit them up again for this round. The staff there has always been knowledgeable, friendly, and super accommodating, and their selection of frames top notch. I’m also a high myope, so all of the work that their labs do to reduce the «Coke bottle-​ness» of my lenses is greatly appreciated. Yes, they are pricey — think those eyeglass stores that the low-​end chains mock, the ones where the glasses speak French or act like X-​ray Specs or Beer Goggles or whatever — but the last time I checked Hinsdale doesn’t have any Dollar Stores or Walmarts in town, so anyone coming into the village expecting discount anything (including eyewear) is sorely deluding themself. If you want quality you must pay for it; shortcuts in life rarely pan out. Sadly for some, the axiom «You get what you pay for» needs to be viscerally experienced in order to be fully understood. I have bought many a pair of glasses over the years from countless different stores, and Spex has always ranked right at the top; it’s truly money well spent.
So on a Saturday a few weeks after having the above mentioned conversation, I called up Carey and yelled, «Help!» into the phone. Okay, okay, I really said something like, «I’ll buy you lunch if you come with me to Spex and give me your opinion on new frames,» but my tone was pure panic. (Yes, I am a clueless male with no sense of fashion who must rely on his wonderful female friends for assistance. I ain’t the first and I ain’t gonna be the last!) Not being one to turn down a free lunch, she agreed and off we went.
At midday on a Saturday Spex was a mob scene. Seriously, I was looking for the Maximum Occupancy sign the whole time; it’s no wonder they’ve since had to move to a larger location. Despite the crowd, Carey and I managed to scour the cabinets of frames within ten minutes and extracted a suitable number of candidates that were much less oval-​y than the pair I was wearing. We then eked out an encampment on two of the cushy chairs scattered around the space, and the fashion show started. Within a few minutes a moonlighting-​as-​a-​salesperson Dr. Potts (did I mention that the place was busy?) appeared, listened to what I was looking for, and grabbed a few more excellent frames that we had somehow missed. Five minutes later a pair of Oakleys was deemed the winner, and a short while after that we were done and eating burgers at Page’s. A little bit of flirting by Carey with the checkout guy even netted me a discount. (Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with relying on my wonderful, HOT, female friends for assistance!)
Now since this is a review of Spex and not Oakley’s quality control department, I won’t go into the details of the problems encountered with the frames themselves. A snapped temple during a simple adjustment, totally inconsistent coloring of the replacements, and a complete overuse of enamel that left the final pair essentially unusable — none of these issues are relevant to this review. The story as a whole is hilarious, mind you, but there’s not enough space here to go into it. What I do want to touch on, though, is how the staff at Spex responded to all of these challenges and how two of them in particular — the amazing Rebecca and the vivacious Jasmine — went above and beyond all normal constraints of customer service to make the situation right. Over the course of six weeks I saw both of these women experience horror (at how wrong everything continued to go), regret (expressed as profuse apologies every step of the way), anger (I believe Jasmine made her Oakley rep cry), exasperation (try putting lenses in a sealed shut pair of eyeglasses), and ultimately joy (as everything finally came together). Despite this wide range of emotions, they never lost their cool and I felt 100% confident in everything they were doing; I knew I was NOT going to be screwed by them. Try finding that at a discount place. I mean, at one point Rebecca told me that the final replacement pair was locked away and that she was «guarding them with her life!» And her last name must be MacGyver given the innovative trick she came up with to finally get everything to come together. Plus, like I said, Jasmine made her Oakley rep cry. Both of these women rock!
In the end, I feel that I was treated so well at Spex that despite the calamity with the frames I can’t help but look back at the entire ordeal as something positive. I will no doubt be returning there in the coming months for a pair of prescription sunglasses, as well as continuing to look to them any time I need a new pair of eyeglasses proper. Needless to say, they receive the highest recommendation from me (Oakley, though, not so much!).

Quite expensive, but really helpful.
I recently discovered that I have vision insurance, so I wanted to take advantage of it. I wear contacts pretty much ²⁴⁄₇ but I also wanted a nice new pair of glasses that I can actually wear in public.
Pros:
1) I arrived 15 minutes late to my appointment with the optometrist, and at first they told me I would have to re-​schedule… but after a little pleading, they managed to squeeze me in. I am chronically late, and I appreciated that they were able to accommodate me.
2) The optometrist was very friendly, as were the people on the main selling floor. —- but, this could’ve been largely due to the fact that they could tell I was a gullible new patient with loose purse strings.
3) I was able to find a wonderful set of frames (Oliver Peoples!), a new brand of more comfortable contact lenses and was introduced to a more effective cleaning solution.
4) The eye exam was very thorough and the optometrist was both knowledgeable and accessible.
Cons:
1) All in all, for the eye exam, a pair of designer glasses and a year’s supply of contacts (and remember, I have pretty decent insurance coverage that purportedly covered over $ 400 of the cost of my frames) my bill came to almost $ 800. DAMN.
2) When first stepping into the store (on a Saturday), it was very busy and I felt a bit neglected. This was, as previously mentioned, quickly resolved when they realized how much money I would be dropping at their establishment.
I will be returning to Spex because of the wonderful service and I’m now committed… but beware, if you’re looking for a quick, affordable solution, this is not the place.

Got my eye exam done in the mall which was a big mistake. They are always way too busy and unaccommodating. I took my PX here to Spex and the girls working in the store were very helpful.
I picked out a pair of Chanel glasses from the new Pearle collection, to match my new sunglasses from the same collection. They were very expensive but they will last me a long time. I got a pair of Chanel’s 6 years before and the only thing that really needed updating was the PX, so the glasses are well worth the $ 700+ price tag.
The glasses were ready when they said they would be and they were perfect.

The only reason why I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because the frames were so expensive! Maybe I just haven’t been shopping for glasses in a while or because I just have always gone to cheap places like For Eyes. Overall though I did find a pair that after my insurance I only had to pay like $ 80 for. The people are really friendly and they give you an honest answer about which frames look best on you.
Dr. Pott was really friendly, professional and honest. Customer service is the thing that will keep me coming back to places and I look forward to my next visit!
The store was really clean and modern, the one thing I wish is that they would run their business on a mac :) It would go with their décor a lot better!

I needed both a new pair of glasses and an eye exam. I fled to Spex after being screwed on my last pair of glasses by another optician.
I looked around while I was waiting for my appointment — they have a nice selection of glasses, as well as art from local artists that they change out every so often (complete with gallery opening, etc).
Dr Pott was very nice and very professional, the office staff was helpful. I wanted a particular pair of frames that were not in stock and I wasn’t sure if they were even available anymore — on top of that I was hoping to get my glasses done before I left for a trip. They made it happen! Six months later when there was a problem with my frames (a manufacturing defect) they quickly got a replacement in for me.
Definitely check them out!