Zenni Optical

06/11/2008 Posted by andreaaaaaaa

Sure, this place might be great if you aren't that near/farsighted and don't care about quality or customer service. However, if you are blinder than average (I am a -9 or so) then DON'T GO HERE. The pupilarry distance seems to be just cut in half and applied to each one. So let's say you have a PD of 60, but that your left eye is 31 and your right eye is 29. Well, good ol' Zenni Optical will stick a 30 in each lense and send you on your way. I got my glasses back, after forking over the extra $40 for high index (in other words, thin as possible lenses), and not only had the warped "fishbowl" effect PERMANENTLY, thanks to the PD being applied incorrectly, but also THE LENSES DID NOT EVEN FIT TO THE SHAPE OF THE FRAME. I had gaping holes in the center corners where the frame had more of a cateye shape and the lense was more of an oval. When I attempted to e-mail them, I never got a response. When I called them, I sat on hold for 2 hours ticking down from caller number 10 to caller number 2, and then no one ever ever answered. I called several times and nhever reached a person. Sometimes it was even a busy signal! And do you know why? Because according to some other consumer reports I have read, THEY ARE RUN OUT OF SOMEONE'S GARAGE. And when you read the fine print, they only will give you a 50% refund anyway, and there is NO insurance or guarantee at ALL. I ended yp having to go to a real place and spend $300 to have real lenses put in the frames, after suffering from warped vision for weeks on end. Trust me, just spend the cash on the real thing and forget about this too-good-to-be-true operation. It is just that: not true!

Pros: cheap

Cons: you get what you pay for, and then there is no way to reach anyone for customer service.

03/22/2008 Posted by rubabega

My last optometrist visit resulted in a new prescription that cost me $290 for a new pair of designer frames, "because your prescription is a bit unutual". So my left eye is legally blind and my right eye is almost 20/20, big deal! Sigh. While wearing my $290 frames, I googled "cheap designer glasses" - and that's how I found Zenni Optical. I must had browsed their website for several days before I narrowed down my choices to 3 frames. SO MANY DIFFERENT FRAMES TO CHOOSE FROM!! The photos all looked beautiful, sturdy, and EXACTLY like the "designer frames" that cost me $290. My final decision varied between $8 - 12 for the frames and lenses, plus $5/pair for anti-glare coating (I stare at the computer screen for about 10 hours a day). Shipping was about $7. I paid a little over $50 for 3 pairs of glasses. Turn-around time for production and shipping is 2-3 weeks. I emailed and asked them where exactly do they make their glasses? They replied a day later, "China". Makes perfect sense - my friends in China pays about $15 a pair there. Their problem is that they're never really sure about the prescription, since ANY optometrist in China will tell you that your prescription is wrong, just to get you to buy a new pair of glasses. Makes me a bit weary... ...3 weeks later, my order from Zenni Optical arrived - from their address in California. There was some Chinese scribbling on the envelope - so it DID came from China! The glasses feel absolutely fantastic. They fit well, the prescription feels EXACTLY like my $290 glasses, and they're just look SO COOL!!! But I'm still not convinced, so I took them to LensCrafters along with my $290 glasses and a copy of my prescription. "They're exactly the same, miss", the clerk told me. So I did just pay $50 for 3 pairs of glasses that would otherwise cost me $870. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

Pros: QUALITY and selection, and the price just CANNOT be beat

Cons: turn-around time takes a little longer than the promised 2-3 weeks