It’s very appropriate that everyone’s talking warranties because I’ve been dealing with them myself with Franklin’s glasses. In my last post (which was a long, long time ago it seems), Franklin’s Jimmy Neutron glasses had just popped a weld and the lens had dropped out. We had already gotten a new frame from the little shop in our optometrist’s office once because the screws were falling out, so I took his glasses in a baggie to the shop the day of the drive-by-stuffed-animal incident and asked what could be done. They told me that we’d already gotten the one replacement pair that came with our warranty (?), so our options were buy another frame for $150+ or pay $20 to have them re-welded. I’m so disappointed in myself…..Did I ask to see the warranty? NO. Did they show me a warranty when I bought the frames? NO! Did I ask if it was the store’s or the manufacturer’s warranty? NO! I decided to pay for the welding and go to Costo.
WOW COSTCO! They had me at “We replace anything and everything within the first year”. OK, not stupid things you do to them like drive over them with a truck, but Todd, the very friendly manager of the Vision Dept at Costco, said he would have replaced everything for free that our eye doctor’s place made us pay for. But let me back up first . . . Costco is WAY CHEAPER than any other glasses place I’ve seen! Again, their kid selection isn’t great and they didn’t have anything for toddlers, but they had SpongeBob and Jimmy Neutron, which is about all Franklin cares about, so we decided to buy a second pair. Get this: The frames cost $49.00. The lenses, with scratch-free coating, glare-free coating, and all the other stuff, were $59.00. Total? $120.00 with taxes and stuff. That’s less than 50% what I paid at the eye doctors! PLUS, scratches, screws falling out, occasional damage from stuffed animals, etc is all covered! AND, Costco gave Franklin a neon yellow glasses case and a special cloth to clean his lenses, which we didn’t get from our eye doctor. What the h***? I’m never buying glasses there again!
The not-so-good side of Costco is it took over 2 weeks for the glasses to come in. I’m glad Franklin had other glasses to wear because otherwise that would have been a long wait. I think it’s a good thing for him to have two pairs in general, just because he seems to be hard on them. That and his little sister likes to grab them off. 🙂 But, the 2 week wait did seem excessive.
The good about Costco? PRICE, WARRANTY and CUSTOMER SERVICE. I guess it comes with membership, but I couldn’t believe how cheap a pair of glasses were there. Todd, who again is the very friendly manager, said Costco provides a vision service as a service, not as a money maker for the store. They basically sell glasses at cost and make money on the other stuff. For the price, quality, and service, I think I can deal with a small selection and long wait!
For Little Eyes 
This sounds great!
Unfortunately, we do not have Costco here in Maine, but we do have BJ’s…My concern, though, is the expertise of the people who work there. When we went to Lenscrafters (or Pearl Vision…I forget which chain it was), I was not impressed. Eliza’s perscription is unusual because one lens will have to be so much thicker than the other…at the eye doctor’s, they offered to “balance” the lenses so that the less-strong perscription lens would be slightly thicker, to make the pair look less weird.
So…I want to make sure we work with someone who knows what they’re doing. It sounds like your Costco guy was pretty knowledgeable.
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Hmmm, yeah, I hadn’t considered the expertise of the employees. I had a horrible experience with Lenscrafters myself, which is actually why I decided to go through my eye doctor’s with Franklin’s (assuming they would be better for some reason). For the work I’ve needed with myself and Franklin, it seems like employee knowledge was about the same at the eye doctor’s and Costco’s, and below average at Lenscrafters. However, I will say Customer Service trumps all, which is what I found at Coscto. You’d think any place you went could do a balance though, I’ll ask next time I’m at Costco and report back. (I’m waiting for a pair of sunglasses!). I guess the moral of the story is just find the place that treats you the best. PS – Franklin’s girlfriend’s name is Eliza! 🙂
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I have used Costco optical for my contacts and glasses for over 6 years now. Never had an issue. Prices are very low and they actually take care of me BETTER than my old optometrist who charged me an arm and a leg and a kidney. The independent optometrist at my Costco is very good and more thorough compared to my old one. The optical staff behind the counter at both stores is excellent and they WILL bend over backward for you within reason if you have any problems at all. I recently had to buy two new pairs of glasses and spent around $230 for both. I also added 2 pairs of prescription sunglasses for about $240. Talk about a deal! My eye exam was only $55 and good for two years. If you need a quick check or a followup exam most Costco optometrists will see you again at no charge. I shop at both the Springdale and Deerfield Township stores located in Greater Cincinnati.
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Thanks so much for this info!! I recenly found out that my daughter needs glasses and all of this is very new to me. I want to make sure I do things right the first time. So, I’m off to Costco:)
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Just found the most stylish glasses at Costco for my 5 year old. That trumped all the other little shops I tried first which had an awful selection. They told me the wait would be 5-10 days but more often than not come in a week. If you buy two pair they took $25 off the second pair. I got two full sets of high fashion Guess kids glasses with scratch resistance/antiglare, etc… for $180. WOW! Can’t wait for them to get here!
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Excellent! I got both Zoe’s and my prescription sunglasses there last year. We’ve been really happy with both of them. A couple of weeks ago, I accidentally ran over my pair with my car (!!). Luckily, they were in a hard-shell case and really, really bent, but not completely ruined (though the case was ruined). I took them to Costco, expecting them to tell me I’d have to buy a new pair. But the woman in the optical shop managed to get them back in to shape, and gave me a new case, too. I really like their optical department.
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I know what you mean — this post is kinda old but I was Googling Costco and glasses. We went to an eye doc and got these glasses for like $300 (including taxes etc.) All they seemed to have there was “designer” frames. What is it with all this designer frames garbage, anyway? I have been wearing glasses for 27 years and never once has anyone come to me and commented on my “designer” glasses or asked what kind of glasses I wore or even mentioned my glasses! Anyway, they were very ill fitting (for my kiddo) and kept sliding down (no nose pads). They also refused to give me my pupilary distance so I could get glasses online (seriously I had JUST spent $500 on the optician and the two pairs of glasses and they couldn’t do that for me? seriously?) Sooo we went to Costco and got an excellent pair of kids glasses that came with that magnetic sunglasses attachment (yay!) and the entire bill was $159 compared to the $285 I spent on the crap “designer” glasses. They said it would take two weeks but it only took one. We’re very happy with Costco.
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