Costco Optical Department

"This is the second year I've got my new glasses here at Costco. If you want to save money big time on glasses this is the place. My glasses are transitional, with no line bifocals, designer frames along with prisms. My cost was under $80 for all of these extras compared to the hundreds that I use to pay for my new glasses. So, if you have never checked the Optical Department out you have been missing out on monetary and styles as well. Big Shout out to Erica and Sandy, these ladies are so nice and kind, along with giving you the prices and discounts that are available to you. Not to mention how helpful these ladies are with all your needs. If you have vision insurance go check Costco Optical out, we buy the Costco card just for our glasses."

"I've been going here for three years now for my yearly exam and to buy glasses. First and foremost, they have great pricing on the exam and especially the glasses when you factor in they include all of the usual things other companies upcharge for for free, and that they have their glasses in-store to try on (sure some websites are cheaper but you can't actually try on for fit and color). You can also take your prescription with you, you do NOT have to buy from them. The doctors are competent and friendly. Note that the doctor is an independent contractor and not a Costco employee. Minimal wait to get in to see them, although they usually don't do walk-ins. Cons: It can take a while for the glasses you ordered to come in (like 2 weeks). Sometimes they don't have enough people staffed, so ordering glasses on a weekend can take a while for your turn. I see some people had a problem with the staff but I have never experienced this."

"Terribly understaffed and don't care about their customers at all. 1) I had an appointment once and had called to reconfirm the date of my appointment. I called while the optometrist was in-house. The optical department told me that the optometrist had the appointment book and they transferred me to the optometrist's phone, which sent me straight to voicemail. I called again to ask the optical department if they could just take a look at the book and tell me if my appointment was that day or the next week since the optometrist seemed busy and wasn't answering the phone. They transferred me to other phone again mid-sentence, not even listening to what I had to say. I had to call them 5 times before I could get it sorted out what the date of my appointment was. 2) On the actual date of my appointment, there was a winter storm warning. I had an appointment at 4:30PM. I had to take time off of work in order to make this appointment and I drove 30 minutes in the sleet/rain to make the appointment. Only to be told that the optometrist had already gone home for the day due to weather. I asked why I wasn't informed of this or called to reschedule my appointment. They looked it up in their appointment book and told me it was because I didn't have voicemail. Except, I DO have voicemail on my phone - I even checked once I got home (for proof of concept, I even turned off my phone to see what would happen if I didn't have signal and the call went STRAIGHT TO VOICEMAIL). There was no missed call from them, no voicemail message. Not even an email to let me know that my appointment was cancelled. They essentially never told me, wasted my time, and then lied to my face that they reached out to me. There is a total disregard here by the optometrist and their staff for patients, their safety, and time. I'd rather go to Clarkson Eye Care and deal with the higher prices there because at least the service there is acceptable and professional."

"The doctor was great. There was a snow storm, and she needed to leave early to pick up her kids from school, and she still gave me her undivided attention and a trial pair of contacts new to the market, as well as a trial pair of the traditional. Unfortunately, the optical department itself is a mess. They appear to be understaffed and don’t care. I called for days to order my contacts, and no one ever answered the phone. I had to go in person and wait 15 minutes to talk to someone, just to be treated like a nuisance for not knowing the relationship between the optical department and the independent doctor. Then it took two tries, and I had to wait even longer to pick them up a couple weeks later, because of the line of disgruntled customers wrapped around the counter. As much as I like Costco, I probably won’t return to their optical department."

"If you're there for an eye exam, Dr. Bowman is great. Very knowledgeable and kind man. If you're there to buy glasses, don't bother. Terrible customer service. When I first walked up, the first woman over the counter didn't say hello, she said "it will be a while," to which I replied I had an appointment. "Oh.. go over there and fill out paperwork." Ok, fine. Maybe she was having a bad day, no big deal. Nope. While I'm picking out glasses, the second woman over the counter re-directed me to the most expensive glasses, saying I was looking at the "wrong ones", and "these are the ones you want." That was quite literally the only "help" I got from her. She didn't explain any of Costcos special lenses or promotions. I asked a simple question regarding my bill and received a nasty attitude in response. Come on Costco Optical, you can do better!"