Heights Eye Studio
I sought out the Heights Eye Studio for progressive glasses because they are both an Essilor (Varilux) and Zeiss (SmartLife) progressive lenses dealer. I am currently wearing off-the-shelf progressive glasses that work pretty well but aren’t perfect.
On 3/8/24 I met with an optician and described to her the previous problems I’ve had in finding progressive glasses that will allow me to read, work on the computer and drive. She assured me that they would be able to make glasses to fit my need. We discussed the pros and cons of the two different lens vendors and I decided on Zeiss which seemed to be a better option. I selected very basic frames and then ordered the most expensive glasses I’ve ever purchased. I discussed with her my need for email notification when the glasses were ready instead of texting. She agreed to email me when the glasses were ready for pickup.
Friday 4/5/24 I received a text message that I didn’t see until 4/6/24 that my glasses were ready. No email was sent. I was already in the Heights area on 4/5/24 and could’ve swung by to pickup the glasses but since I didn’t see the text notification until 4/6/24, a special trip to Heights Eye Studio was required.
4/6/24 I went to the Heights Eye Studio and again met with the same optician to pickup my glasses. At first the glasses didn’t seem right and she made some adjustments. I agreed to use them for a while to allow time to acclimate myself to the new lenses.
Over the weekend I used the glasses exclusively and tested every possible scenario. The final result: Only the distance portion of the lenses were correct. In the intermediate viewing area, I was only able to focus on two lines of text on my monitor and of those two lines, only a few words in the center of the screen were in focus. The reading portion of the lenses were even worse. With my left eye the performance was similar to that of the intermediate viewing (very narrow field of view). With my right eye, nothing was in focus. In total disgust at yet another failed attempt to find the right glasses, I decided to return these glasses.
4/8/24 I met with a different optician and explained my wish to return the glasses for a refund. His whole demeanor changed. He offered to remake the glasses but I had lost all faith that this company would be able to fit my need so no amount of retries would help but would just waste everyone’s time. Then he offered to swap the progressive glasses for single vision glasses. These are of no use to me so I declined and insisted on a refund. He then told me he would process the refund but offered no receipt. I stated that written confirmation was required. He said it would take 30+ minutes to process and I told him I would wait. Soon I would find out why he wanted me out of the store before providing a receipt…
He came back a few minutes later and advised there would be a restocking fee as these were custom lenses. In my disbelief, I stated that they had not delivered functional glasses as promised. He then said “We don’t even have to refund your money” which was basically a “Take it or leave it option”. I very reluctantly agreed to the restocking fee. When he returned from the back of the store with my receipt I was again shocked that they had charged me a restocking fee of over 30% amounting to $285.00
I left the store without incident, a pit in my stomach and a hole in my wallet.