Standard Optical Review

With 2 kids wearing glasses and myself, I have been buying glasses for a long time. I usually get my glasses at Costco or JCPenney and have never had any complaints. This year I fell in love with some red Ray Bans at Standard Optical and bought them after the quote I was given was within my budget and comparable to Costco and JCPenney.

I like transition lenses since I am very sensitive to the light and always wear sunglasses outdoors. I especially like how the thick Ray Bans look as sunglasses when they transition.

My problem with Standard Optical's transition lenses, is that they don't ever turn clear. In the photo above I am wearing my Costco transition lenses in the top and the Standard Optical transition lenses in the bottom. I use make-up to get rid of dark circles under my eyes, so I don't like that Standard Optical's lenses create those dark circles that I worked so hard to get rid of. Both glasses have all the same specs (anti-reflection, poly, UV protection, etc.).

I took the glasses back to Standard Optical where they acknowledged they were not clear and they told me to put them in the freezer for a few days. I did as instructed and took them back again when freezing them didn't work. They sent them back to the lab to be redone and I had to wait a month to get them back. When I finally got them back, they were no different. At this point the employees told me that it was just an illusion that they are darker and they can't issue a refund. I decided that I would live with the darker glasses and made a mental note to never buy glasses from Standard Optical again.

It turns out that Standard Optical wasn't done ruining my opinion of them. I bought the glasses on February 3rd and paid the full amount they told me they would cost after insurance which was $226.64. I would not have bought the glasses had they charged me a higher number. 

A little over 2 months after I ordered and paid for the glasses, they sent me this bill, claiming that I owe $106. After calling Standard Optical and the insurance company, I was told that insurance didn't pay the entire amount I was quoted they would. Really!!!??? Why didn't they figure that out before quoting me? JCPenny has never done this to me and I've had the same insurance for years. Costco isn't on my insurance, so I always pay them and submit the bill for reimbursement without issues. I've never had my bill raised 2 months after buying the glasses! Not only am I not satisfied with my gasses from Standard Optical, they have deceived me and robbed me. I will never buy from them again and will discourage anyone I know from going there. This is unacceptable.

Update:

Since writing this review, Standard Optical has contacted me. They insist that it is not their fault that insurance did not pay what they said insurance would pay. I still disagree with this since no other eyeglass company has ever misquoted me before and I've had the same insurance for 5 years. They did make me a clear set of lenses and let me pick out some cheap frames to make up for the transition lenses not going clear. I am happier, but still not happy.