Costco Optical

I would much rather leave a positive review, but can’t. I want to warn others. Do not go to the optical center at the Waite Park Costco if you care about good customer service, quality, and competency from the staff. My husband and I both had awful experiences. You are left on your own to pick out your own frames and are not advised if they are a good fit for both your face and prescription. The pair my husband picked out was too small for his bifocal prescription. When he put them on they were terribly blurry. They advised on repeat that you just need to get used to them and you can come back in for adjustments. The only way they somewhat worked was if they were on the very tip of his nose. One adjustment involved bending the frames into a very unnatural position so that the front and sides of the frames were no longer at a 90 degree angle, but more of a 45 degree angle. They looked ridiculous! Most of the staff made us feel like a nuisance. We took them elsewhere to have them looked at and they shook their head in wonder at what a mess they were! He needed larger frames and the lenses were not even centered how they should be. No wonder he needed them on the very tip of his nose as if he were a librarian. And then the frames I picked out for myself were too big and needed multiple adjustments. The tools they used actually left dents in mine. Seriously?! And they put the wrong type of lenses into my dedicated pair of sunglasses. I didn’t want transitions for driving because they don’t work inside a vehicle, but they did do some sort of transitions that were only dark enough when I was outside which defeated the purpose! The protective coating does not hold up either. Going here to try to save money is not worth it!!

I would give this review a zero if I could. Just a warning. Do not buy your glasses at Costco. Optical. I made the horrible mistake of thinking I was going to save some money by getting my glasses at Costco with my membership but instead it has cost me thousands and thousands of dollars and out of work for over 8 weeks. When I picked up my glasses I told them there was something wrong with the bifocals. It was brushed off that I needed to get used to my glasses. I have had glasses my entire life and bifocals for the last 20 years. I came in numerous times complaining about how distorted everything looked when I looked through the bifocal. But was continuously told that I needed to get used to the glasses after they did a few minor adjustments each time. Then I took a horrible fall and smashed my upper arm up against a countertop falling full force. I was totally bruised and went in to tell them that they either needed to fix the problem or give me my money back. At that point they finally took me seriously and found out That the frames that I purchased from them were bent incorrectly. making the bifocal look like I was looking through a magnifying glass. I ended up having an MRI and found out that the tendon was torn completely off my rotary cuff along with other injuries to the shoulder. Costco is denying the fact that this is their issue. I was even told by the assistant manager that it's not their fault once the patient leaves with the glasses if they do something dangerous. (I was walking when the accident happened. ) REALLY.. And he stated that they do not document when you come in for adjustments. So beings there is no documentation Even though all the girls know that I have been in there numerous times and the last person I seen knows what adjustment was done and that it was the fault of the glasses I purchased from them. Costco will not take any responsibility or reimburse me for any out of pocket costs that were not covered by my insurance. It is not my fault that they don't document every single thing that is done when you come in every single time. Glasses are medical equipment And every time I came in I was sure that everything was being documented. So like I said, be careful. Do not go to Costco to get your glasses. I did not save any money by going there. Instead it cost me thousands and thousands of dollars and tons of pain and suffering and not being able to go to work for at least 8 weeks. It is so sad that a company as large as Costco would treat one of their member customers this way. I am writing this because I don't want this to happen to anyone else. I would rather pay a couple extra 100 dollars for a pair of glasses then to ever have to go through something like this. I am in such disbelief over Costco and how I was treated.

Do not recommend, this place is a disaster. I’ve had glasses for over 30 years and contacts for 25 years and have never experienced anything like this place. The eye exam was literally 3 minutes long and I have a very complicated prescription and haven’t had an eye exam in 3 years. When she put the new trial lenses on me, I told her that can’t be right, things are very blurry. She said to just wear then for a few days and come back if there are any issues. I wore them for several days but things did not improve and I was honestly scared to drive in them because things were that blurry with this “new” prescription she took all of 3 minutes to figure out for me. I called and their first suggestion was that they could look at my old prescription and “estimate” a new one for me. I’m just baffled. I’m not interested in a prescription “estimate.” I need to be able to see correctly and accurately. I went back in and instead of checking my eyes again to get a more accurate prescription so I can see properly and drive safely, their solution is to just order contacts in a different brand with the same blurry prescription. I asked about getting my prescription for glasses and she said “that’d be a separate appointment.” I’m all my years wearing glasses and contacts, I have never experienced such incompetence and poor customer service. Gave them many opportunities to make it right and now I’m just going to pay out of pocket to go somewhere that knows what they’re doing.

The Dr. that did my eye exam was very nice and did a great job, but the ladies fitting my glasses didn’t know what they were doing. The quality of my glasses are horrible, I have been back 3 times to have them adjusted and they still don’t fit right. Just very poor quality!!! I will not go back.

I recently decided to try the optical department at Costco and I am quite thoroughly pleased that I made that choice. Same level of care as the specialists I used to visit at quite a savings and I discovered that they have the most modern equipment available which made my appointment even more pleasant!