Visionworks

Compared to the optical stores in Ellicott City, I expected much better service from this Columbia location. Unfortunately, every time I visit, I leave frustrated. The staff are friendly only until they ask whether you want to order lenses. The moment you decline because you buy your lenses elsewhere, their attitude changes completely. They become cold, dismissive, and sometimes even come across as sarcastic. That's not how customers should be treated. The biggest issue is the lens pricing. I was quoted over $200 for lenses that cost around $50 online. I understand retail stores have higher overhead, but charging four times the price is unreasonable. Then acting annoyed because a customer doesn't want to pay those prices makes the experience even worse. Good customer service shouldn't depend on whether a customer spends more money. Every customer deserves the same level of respect from the moment they walk in until they leave. Management seriously needs to do a better job training employees on professionalism and customer service. If you expect customers to come back and recommend your business, stop making people feel unwelcome simply because they chose not to purchase overpriced lenses. I won't be returning unless the customer service improves significantly.

Two stars only because the doctor is amazing, attentive and sweet. When I first walked in there was an associate (long blonde locs and not wearing a name tag) on their phone texting which is fine, but when I stated my name and that I have an appointment she continued texting. Finally she looks up and starts helping me but while asking for my insurance information she bursts out laughing in my face from what I assume is something funny on her phone. This is so unprofessional. After that she did my eye exam and did not tell me at all what she was doing, what to expect or any information. She just told me to put my head here and proceeded. This is just poor people skills and training. If you work in healthcare you know you need to explain what you’re doing and give a heads up for anything unpleasant. The puff of air happened and I had no warning or knew it was coming. After my visit with the doctor I was going to get my glasses there, but no one greeted me after I was finished so I went to the desk and the question was “do you want to get glasses here?” Again just people on their phone and with horrible sales skills. After I said no, due to the horrible environment, an iPad was slid to me and they told me to sign. I left with my script and bought glasses elsewhere just due to the horrible customer service experience.

Went to Visionworks expecting ‘walk-ins welcome’ like they advertise, but they actually don’t take walk-ins. Very misleading and frustrating. On top of that, the customer service was really poor, unhelpful and dismissive. Definitely not a good experience.

Charmayne was extremely cordial and accommodating. I confused my appointment time and she was able to get me in the same day. She also went above and beyond to contact another location to inquire about a particular frame I was looking for. The Dr. at the Columbia location was. Pleasantly informative and knowledgeable. Great Staff. Good positive energy.

Visiting the Columbia Crossing location, I had the best experience from the time I walked in the door. Immediately, I was greeted and asked if I could be helped, but I declined initially as I was only browsing. This team works so well together, every last one of them were friendly, professional, and even though there were other customers I couldn’t help but feel like only I mattered. This is so important as we all this type of customer service is so rare these days. I take my eyewear very seriously so it takes me a while to choose a pair. In the end I selected two new frames with the assistance of this amazing team, and am very happy with my selections. I’m so looking forward to the arrival of my new frames. Thank you again for all of your help!