The concept of Glasses USA is that you can save on eyewear compared to buying it from local eyeglass shops, and other online retailers. Sounds great for those in the market for spectacles, but how well does it really work at keeping more money in your pocket?
Overview
Money saving sites are big right now, and this is one that represents a specific niche where it’s altogether too easy to overpay for a pair of glasses. Places like LensCrafters and America’s Best do a decent job of creating the idea that you’re getting a good deal, but they still leave plenty of room for a site like GlassesUSA to come along and offer rock-bottom prices on the most popular and in demand frames out there.
The Claim
They claim savings of up to 70$ off retail when shopping at Glasses USA which sounds amazing, since eyewear can really add up, especially when you are looking at designer frames. Being able to look good in your new glasses is important, so you want to go with some of the more current designs, and it just so happens that the ones that look the best usually carry with them a higher price tag. It’s nice to think that you could end up with a pair of great looking frames for the same price as the bargain brands you find in stores.
The Hype
Everybody likes a good deal, and when you’re shopping around here you’ll feel like you’re getting your frames at the lowest price possible. This helps cut down on buyer’s remorse later because you won’t be sitting there wondering if you just paid more than someone else for the exact pair of glasses.
The Cost
They have frames starting at $38 and going up from there. The thing is that even when you’re buying their lowest-priced frames you might be paying twice as much somewhere else for the same glasses. That represents a cost savings, and so it’s free to use the site, and in fact it ends up allowing you to keep more of your hard-earned money.
The Commitment
It’s nice because this is a straight up deal, you’re not committed to buying a membership in order to get the savings, and there are no recurring charges or commitments that you have to make in order to enjoy the deals they have.
Evaluation
They do have a pretty extensive collection of frames, and cover everything you need in the world of eyewear, from sleek and sophisticated frames to sunglasses. The feedback from customers that have used it to purchase their specs has been overwhelmingly positive, according to third party reports from those that don’t have a vested interest in the company. They’re able to tell it like it is and describe the kind of quality of the frames you receive, and also to judge whether it is the exact frames sold for more at other sites.
So the question is: how can a site like this sell glasses for so cheap and still be able to make a profit. The answer is that with some industries there is such an inflated overhead compared to the cost of manufacturing that there is too much wiggle room left for a site to come in and undercut the competition. With many people making the switch to contacts, glasses are becoming less and less of a hot item, and the competition is getting more and more fierce among designers and manufacturers. Therefore what we’re seeing is better looking glasses and more affordable prices than we saw 10 years ago.
One nice feature is their frame finder, which will help you drill down to a selection of potential perfect frames for you. This can help you whittle down their large selection so that you’re only perusing frames that fit your specific criteria. This is especially helpful when you show up not really knowing exactly what you want, and seem overwhelmed by the number of choices. It helps dramatically to remove some of the clutter so you’re not looking at frames that just don’t work for you.
Aside from that you’re able to search pretty effectively by selecting the price range of frames you want, the color, and even what kind of material you want your glasses to be made out of. All of this makes your decision that much quicker to make when you are choosing between 3 frames instead of 300.
Final Glasses USA Review
Glasses USA is a great place to start when you’re shopping around for eyewear, and after an extensive search and comparison between different sites, we were unable to find another location that offered the same brands of frames for less. So this makes it a great site to use as a starting point because you’ll know how low you can get them, and you can get all the details on a frame from the manufacturer’s website, but then make your purchase at Glasses USA.
Our Recommendation
Contacts may be very popular, but if you’re going for that sophisticated look then you owe it to yourself to check out this site and see what’s on offer and for what price. Since they don’t ask you to sign up as a member in order to see what they’re offering, you can check here first, or check here after you find the frames you want at another site to see which has the best price, either way it’s worth bookmarking.
You can get decent glasses designs from this site, but the quality is not great. Its passable. I got my pair as a backup in case my current glasses break.
Also, they shipped from Thailand?! So I had to pay half the value of the glasses again for customs, which is annoying.
That was not clear on their website!
Glasses arrived after a week and a half in good condition.
I wish I would’ve read these reviews before I ordered from this company. I’m experiencing the same thing with my order. Going on day 20 and they’re finally being shipped from Thailand. Last I checked I ordered glasses from GlassesUSA not GlassesThailand. This company sucks.
I ordered my glasses it’s been several days. The company stated it give me updates I have received none. I emailed them and they sent me a generic email. I will not be fine from this company again because they advise me they give me updates and they have not done so.
So far a confusing experience. I paid for express shipping. I received an email yesterday with an update to track my order. When looking at the tracking information it indicates the order was shipped from Thailand, then India then Germany and had to go thru customs?? hmmm. GlassesUSA? Did I pay extra for my glasses to go thru your quality department in Thailand? I also called customer service. The person on the other end of the phone had such a thick accent I couldn’t understand what she said other than “glasses shipped”…gee thanks a lot. I really hope if and when I receive these glasses they are better than the experience I have had so far.
It took 33 days to get my glasses. Over a month. They lie about production and shipping times. Customer service is AWFUL. If you complain, they apologize and say there is nothing they can do. If you ask to speak to a supervisor, they give you a tracking number and tell you to contact the USPS, even when the issue is not how long the item has been in transit from shipping and all you are doing is asking for a supervisor. I had to cut and paste my request for a supervisor so many times that she had no choice but to tell me to call the 800 number and ask for one. When I did, I got the same runaround, and an agent telling me my tracking info and thanks for calling. I continued to ask for an agent until she gave in. The agent understood that the order should not take 33 days. She then gave me tracking info and expected me to be satisfied. What is wrong with these people? I made her read the chat transcripts and look at my order information. She realized that on multiple levels, things went wrong with my order and it is not right. She said she would pass all of this along and offered me expedited shipping on my next order. As if I would ever consider ordering from them again. She offered to let me return my glasses and I said I have read reviews about your return process and I don’t want to spend any more time dealing with the incompetence of shipping and returns at the company. Avoid this place. Like the plague.
THEY DELETED MY PURCHASE & SHIPPING CONFIRMS FROM MY INBOX AFTER I COMPLAINED!!!
I ordered a pair of RayBan New Wayfarer prescription sunglasses. When they arrived they appeared to be knockoff frames- brittle, flimsy plastic frames that were so large they fit outside of my ears. (I tried the same glasses on in a department store- different material (nylon), and a proper fit). I notified the company that I was returning them and printed out a label, then shipped them back to Glassesusa. The next day, ALL OF THE EMAILS CONNECTED TO THE TRANSACTION DISAPPEARED FROM MY EMAIL INBOX!!! No purchase confirmation, no shipping notice, nothing- all gone from my inbox. I searched and came up with 20+ promotional emails from them, but all records of my purchase were set to auto delete (or manually deleted with the gmail unsend feature?). I’ve never seen a company so sketchy. I have a complaint in to PayPal, and I’m waiting for a resolution, but I’ll say this- Don’t do business with this company!!!
I’ve just begun what I now fear will be a long and arduous journey with this company. I’ve been waiting for two weeks for the glasses that I assumed would be here by now. I just learned this was wishful thinking. After two weeks they just went into “production” which their website claims takes 3 days. I’ve waited the 3 days, but they are still listed with the same status. I tried chatting online with customer service and it was abysmal. She offered no real information and said that she would make my order a “priority”, but couldn’t tell me what that meant (would I get my glasses sooner? When can I expect them?). She literally told me that there was no way she could tell me when to expect them or if this delay was usual. Hopefully, you’re reading these before you purchase from them and not after like me. Go elsewhere, it wasn’t a deal and I only used them because they had the frames I couldn’t find anywhere else.
Wrong size, incorrect prescription, hidden shipping delays.
I ordered glasses over a month ago, they went “into production” which they said would take three days, two weeks later I get an email that the frame I ordered is out of stock and I need to choose another one. I called them and asked what had been in production if they had no frame to produce. They had no real answer and just kept asking me to choose another frame so I did. Two more weeks in production and they’ve supposedly shipped five days ago but the tracking number provided still says waiting for shipment. I’m over it.
Shipping took a long time with almost no updates through the provided tracking number. I wasn’t happy with the quality of the glasses (the lens didn’t even fit in the frames), so I began the refund process. The return policy on the website states that you can return your first order within 14 days, no questions asked for a 100% money back guarantee. I shipped out the glasses about a week after receiving them, using the return shipping label that THEY provided.
A few weeks go by, and I still haven’t received any kind of update on the return process. Reached out to them, only to be told they supposedly never received my glasses and can’t help me. They are asking for proof that I sent the glasses, but I’m not really sure how to do that since I used the shipping label that they provided to me. It’s not like my mailbox prints out a receipt when I put things in it.
Over a month of trying to get a refund and I still haven’t spoke to someone helpful. $190 wasted. I will happily post reviews of this company forever in hopes that I can at least save one person from going through all of the grief that I’ve been going through.
I usually don’t post reviews on products online but I feel like I need to do so now because of my bad experience with this company. I’m copying below a letter which I emailed them but I only received a very generic reply from one of the customer service reps on how I can return my glasses (she didn’t address any of my other concerns). This reply, btw, was already sent to me buy another customer service rep. Email is as follows:
I recently ordered a pair of glasses from your company and I am very dissatisfied with the quality of your product as well as the services I have received thus far. Hence, I am writing this letter in order to express my concerns and hopefully help in bettering your company’s processes. I ordered glasses from your website several weeks ago and have consistently received subpar services specifically in relation to the long wait time in the production and delivery of my order, the quality of the product which I received and misinformation throughout my correspondence with your customer support team. As someone with a Master’s degree in Business Administration and with a background on strategic management, I find these areas very problematic and think that these issues are very detrimental to your business, especially given that you are operating as an online retailer with competitors who are able to deliver quality products within a short span of time. I think that your marketing team is doing a good job in attracting customers. However, I believe that the ‘promises’ which your ads contain are not fulfilled well by your operations department. First off, while your website is very easy to use, the wait times listed on your website are not accurate (at least in my experience AND in the consumer reviews about your company which I have read online). The product quality I received is subpar as well and this is very disappointing especially since your website boasts of a “five-strip quality assurance”. Further, updates on my order were sent late to my email address. In particular, these only arrived AFTER I called your customer service hotline in order to get updates. While your customer support team seem pleasant to communicate with, they have consistently given me inaccurate information regarding the shipment of my order (i.e. delivery dates) and have weak grasp of your company’s processes. As an example, once I received the product and saw the frame defect, I called customer support to ask how it would be ensured that the exchanged item would not have the same frame defect as the product I currently have. He then proceeded to tell me to just write out this concern on the ‘returns and exchanges’ form and did not give further reassurance or actions. I felt that the responsibility of ensuring that I would receive a better quality product was just passed on to me and he did not even offer to communicate this concern to your product manufacturing team. This is certainly disappointing given that I had to wait a long time for my glasses to arrive and once it did, I now have to return it AND wait for a long time again in order to receive an exchanged item which I am not even sure would be of better quality.
I am unsure if your company is aware of the numerous negative consumer reviews online on your processes and product quality, all of which have not been addressed or replied to by your customer support team. It is a shame given that your company website boasts of a ‘customer-centric philosophy’. I sincerely hope that this feedback would allow you to improve your company’s internal and external processes, product manufacturing and employee training so that future customers would not have these numerous issues which I have encountered in my single interaction with your business. I would certainly not patronize your business again nor recommend it to my colleagues until these issues have not yet been resolved. Thank you.
They cannot provide tracking info. I lost my glasses so I am pretty much SOL right now. The USPS tracking tells me nothing, when they supposedly “shipped” 5 days ago. I placed my order on 2/7, it is now 2/19. I called today and they said it would be no later than 3/1. But after reading these reviews I am concerned that it will even be the right frame/prescription! I will not be using them again. I contacted customer service via email yesterday and never heard back. Also, it’s “Glasses USA” but none of the customer service people sound American.
I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. I placed an order at the beginning of December. They sent the wrong product. I returned it immediately, no problem so far. I exchanged it for the correct pair. As of this date (Feb. 6) I still have not received the replacement. I call every day and everyday I am told another lie. They have told me 13 times (and I am counting) that my order has shipped but they cannot provide a tracking no. I have to go onto there wed site for that info. So I hang up and do onto there site and guess what, still no tracking number. I am so disgusted with this company, I will never purchase another thing from them and I would not recommend that you do either. One way or another they will screw you.
Two years ago, I ordered two pairs of glasses from glassesusa.com and could not have been more pleased. My recent experience could not have been more different. I attempted to order two pairs of glasses beginning at the end of October. I had to return both pairs once to be remade and the second pair twice. They have still not gotten the second pair correct. The prescription is incorrect and they still can’t manage to add the blue light digital filter I requested. Now they tell me that I have used all my returns and will neither refund or replace the glasses they have made incorrectly three times. Mind you, this last time, they admitted to me that they had, in error, used my progressives prescription to make my single-vision pair. In addition, dealing with their customer service department has been a nightmare. I have been promised emails and even telephone calls from “a supervisor” that never arrived and had to spend half a day during this process to cancel a revised order that one of their reps got completely wrong. This is now currently in dispute by my credit card company, but I want to warn anyone considering placing an order with this company not to do so. Go to Zenni or EyeBuyDirect unless you want to waste months of your time and all of the money you are hoping to save by ordering your glasses online.
Don’t know if it saves you money or not because I never got that far. When inquiring about the total width of frames I was told “less than a gram” (??) and references were made to the stem lengths and the lense
heights. I figure if customer service is this bad now, how bad will it be after they have my money!!
I ordered glasses and waited two weeks. They shipped my glasses to CO. I live in TN. I called again and they said my glasses were on the way. I waited two weeks. I called again and they said the ordered had never been put in. They told me I would get a free pair of glasses. Now they will not issue me a credit and will not return my phone calls. Get your glasses somewhere else. I got some from Frames Direct and had no problems.
I have been buying glasses for almost 5 years now and I know that the prices can sometimes be ridiculously high. I like glassesusa.com because of their affordable price ranges and discounts. I find that I can purchase cheaper glasses elsewhere but that they will not have the same quality . Some of the glasses available are designer frames but not all of them. I found that if it is designer you are looking for, glassesusa may or may not be the best deal for you. I found some Karl Lagerfeld frames and lenses for about $200 but the selection was small.