Warning - *long* post ahead. If you don't want to read further, the nutshell is that WP sucks, especially for those that have complex RXs. Stay away! But how I got sucked into the WP vortex is entirely my own fault... I got glasses from them in '22, they're OK quality wise, but not as good or really that much cheaper than what I've been getting from Kaiser Optical for years. My RX changed this spring, and I went back for a 2nd round - and their lab couldn't deliver my entire order. After 6 weeks of having a 2nd pair remade 3x - and the first two involving lens failures, and the 3rd - well the pair was never shipped out - I was fortunate to get a refund... and I went to Kaiser and got two pairs 8 days calendar days after I ordered.

Disaster Details/How I Got Sucked Into The WP Hype Vortex:

They have great frames, and a compelling story, I remember reading about this company in the NYT. But my experience buying from a "life style brand" - you might have MBAs from Columbia and think you know the optical business, but glasses are FAR more than a cool frame. Well I like the idea of socially conscious capitalism... um

When you build a business that under the hood has awful QC, terrible customer service - they are nearly unreachable via email or if someone in Appalachia picks up the customer service phone - and you have to go to an actual brick and mortar storefront to be able to get any information on the status of an order... I wasted a lot of time, emotion to get a product that was maybe half as good as what Kaiser makes for me at not that much less money.

To be fair, not everyone can make the lenses I require. Lens Crafters can't do it, nor can Costco. While there are literally 100s of different kinds of lenses available, it all comes down to the lab(s) a mass optical retailer uses if you're not getting your glasses at a local brick and mortar where the work is done is in-house.

I have a complex, high index RX - and I'm now at the stage of life that progressives are in the mix - not everyone can make the lenses I need. And one of the things I'm always looking for is a more circular, smaller frame that will minimize surface area and the thickness of the lenses.

I had been using Kaiser and pleased with the results, and honestly, as I have learned - you get what you pay for. However, last year I decided to try WP since they now had a local store (buying glasses online when you have a RX in the - 12 range is kind of silly), and they had more frames in the size and shape that fit my needs than what my local Kaiser optical shop had a the time.

So I gave them a whirl. The first pair wasn't bad and arrived in my mailbox fairly quickly. I will note I did NOT order online - I went to the local store they'd opened here in Sacramento. After being rained with compliments about my cool new specs, I went back and ordered two more pairs - and this is when the issues began.

WP says they can roll and polish lenses. Well, most of the time the lab just crams the lenses into your frames and doesn't follow directions. 1 of the 2 pairs I ordered in '22 - they didn't do the polish. So literally, that frame was re-made by WP - because of their insistence that they use a new frame anytime they make new lenses - 5x before they got it right. I actually had the last few attempts on that frame delivered to the store so they do check in - rather than get them in my mailbox, see that they weren't right...

My RX changed again this Spring as I'm growing lovely cataracts and that can change the power required to penetrate corneal haze - until I get bad enough that I'll qualify for cataract surgery. I checked Kaiser's glasses inventory after getting my RX because it is absolutely BLEEP ridiculous to have to remake a pair 4-5x to get it right. But they didn't have the kind of frames in a size I wanted, so back to WP.

They'd opened a second store here and I went to the one in the mail since it was close to where my eye examination was. And I should have walked out based on the total lameness of the staff. The main person that helped me didn't seem to know how to order glasses in their system, and to top it off, was sick and blowing into a cloth snot rag every 5 seconds. Fortunately I didn't get sick... but I walked out wondering if they'd get my order right...

And they didn't. I look at the email the next day - after I'd paid by credit card - and it said "Order Cancelled". So I drove to the other store that I ordered with before to figure out what the BLEEP was going on. Apparently when another person in the ordering store had gone in to put roll and polish in my order, it "cancelled" my original order.

I should have walked right then, called Kaiser, made an optical appointment and saved myself 6+ weeks of annoyance. But I figured I'd (stupidly) give them another chance. The 1st of the 2 pairs I ordered arrived at the store OK, but, I could tell the optical quality wasn't as good as it should be - but rationalized that it was the new RX.

If I switch between contacts and the glasses in this frame, eye focus is an issue in glasses, and if its late at night - or I'm tired - the glasses aren't quite right in the left eye, which is the one that changed the most. Since WP isn't consistent about measuring the vertical and horizontal placement of your eyes - for high RXs this is critical, because the focus area need to be the right place for a high index script vs. someone who's - 3 or less - you can get away with a lower level of precision - but not for someone with my RX.

The first pair is fine for the swimming pool and the beach, but they're not Kaiser quality - I kept them, and hoped the 2nd pair would show up in a reasonable period of time at the store (and I had the order delivered to the store because of my previous experience of WP being unable to deliver glasses made to all of the order specifications).

Well, WP just couldn't get the 2nd pair done right. 3x at bat - the first pair had the left lens installed upside down. The 2nd pair left lens was made in the wrong RX - and the 3rd pair never showed up at the store, although the system, according to the store staff, says the glasses were made... just apparently not shipped...

So, they were fine on refunding the 2nd pair, and also gave me gratis a pair of my frames so I could have lenses made elsewhere. The refund appeared promptly on my credit card... and I did some calls around and a visit to Costco to see if other places than Kaiser could make my specs. During that time, I sent an email to WP Customer Service and actually got a call within a half hour from them, during which I explained what happened, and WP offered to have my next pair run through their process by "one of our top optical people".

I thought about that offer for 5 seconds, and well NOPE. As noted, went back to Kaiser, where I know a few the the opticians quite well, and one of them spent an hour with me making sure my order was right and we found frames that weren't super ugly that would work. By the time discounts were applied, two pairs in the best hi index progressive lenses they offer with transitions were actually cheaper than WP by roughly $50 on the grand total.

And, as noted above, *both* pairs arrived 8 calendar days after I ordered, are perfect, and the quality of the vision is much much higher than I've experienced with any pair that WP made.

What WP doesn't get is their glasses making model is essentially broken. Kaiser has its own lab, and as a HMO, they see lots of high index scripts and they know how to make them. Moreover all of their optical shops have basic optical equipment in there, and the opticians are trained to use it and they can do minor fixes / adjustments right there and not *have* to have a pair of glasses remade.

And if there's a problem with your order, they can call their lab and talk to a human about it. Which neither WP or Lenscrafters can do. WP's model *might* work if they were using state of the art labs, but all these QC issues they had with my glasses says to me - as well as what many of the reviews here have indicated - that their labs well suck and probably aren't state of the art.

Kaiser has had a few issues making my lenses, but these were at the lab and things that just happen sometimes - a lens is broken in the production process. But Kaiser lets you know what happened and they don't send any glasses to the dispensing shop if they have any issues at all.

My experience says to me that WP is a broken company and likely - since they went public on the stock exchange - woefully undercapitalized.

One *very* interesting thing that I've noticed since I complained via email, talked to the customer service guy, and got the "offer" email to help out - is that all of the WP buying spam that was flooding my email inbox this past year has disappeared. GONE.

I think I showed more patience than God has with this company... I get that glasses aren't cheap and are probably overpriced, but you do get what you pay for, and if you can, shop around and deal with brick and mortar situations if at all possible... but of anything I've ever bought in my life, this was by far the WORST quality and customer service shopping experience I've ever had. Stay away! There is no comforting light in the WP store!

This is the email I shared with their customer service team, and was essentially told "thanks, hope you get your frames soon."

I'm not sure if there's a customer feedback tool or something, but this is my second time ordering with Warby Parker and both times have been disruptive, and not in the good, cool way.

I like the idea of the company, the final product - and even take my share of responsibility for the shipping address issues, but there has got to be a better system for handling order issues than what I've encountered this far with Warby Parker.

Let's review, just for the record:

Earlier this year, I ordered sunglasses. I paid my order, uploaded a prescription, and was billed. Then, I needed to update my prescription info. Then, all over email, I'm getting sold into an additional $130 for high index lenses, instead of making that suggestion at my point of purchase. Then, a debacle about my shipping address, getting the address fixed, and glasses sent to me.

I made a really bad assumption when this process was completed, which is that Warby Parker had updated my shipping address internally so if I were to order again, the address would be correct and I wouldn't have to think about it again.

The glasses are great, by the way, but the "seamless order online" glasses experience is kinda disrupted by this process.

So, not a great experience, but it's still cheaper than LensCrafters, right? Especially for high index lenses, and especially when you're not a snob about Ray Bans.

With my prescription, payment info, and shipping address all already saved from my last order, I think I ordered my new glasses in 15 minutes altogether. That's awesome. That beats an hour of getting sold on blue light filter oleophobic high-tech ultraUV elite deluxe plus lenses that aren't covered by your insurance any day.

But alas, my address wasn't updated. And I totally get that, as a CS team, your team reaction is probably: Why can't this jerk just put his address in correctly? I made an assumption, which is that WP would update my address after the last shipping issue. That wasn't the case, and I should have double-checked with my new order instead of breezing through the order process without thinking. I get it.

Last Friday, I get an email that my address might be wrong and we'll get it fixed up ASAP. I do, I reply with a more sensible address in just 3 minutes. WP tells me it's updated and they usually get info back from UPS within 24 hours. By Tuesday, I haven't heard back from WP at all and I'm following up because UPS shows that nothing has changed on my order at all. On Wednesday, I'm following up again and still have seen no update. At this point, 4 days have passed and I feel like I'm responsible for chasing down my glasses.

Sarah tells me that they're setting up an "expedited reshipment" and then I get this email that says my glasses are being completely remade with no expedited shipping on the order, and I'm chasing down an email that explains what's actually going on, if glasses are being sent at all, if my original pair might just show up, etc. Not only that, but you'll send me a "prepaid return shipping label" if 2 packages end up at my house for some reason? How could that even happen if we think my package was re-routed, that it somehow ends up at my house, and then I'm on to request a return prepaid label?

And then to say "I refunded the $30 for expedited shipping on your original order as an apology for the delay" - which was sent by Sarah before it was explained to me that my new order would have it added complimentary... At some point, you're starting to think this just wasn't worth the hassle at all.

Let me be totally clear: I get it. I'm the idiot that put a semi-funky address into my first order, and then I'm the fool that thought that WP might have updated my address internally. But I also want to be totally clear: I never complain about customer service. Chewy.com lost my cat tree for like 3 months and I just kinda shrugged. My boyfriend gets mad when Target won't accept a return, and I just walk to the car because I'm usually down to just write things off as my own mistake.

But this is kinda ridiculous. I could have gone to LensCrafters and ordered, picked up, wore, and returned 4 pairs of glasses at this point, and exchanged 10 fewer emails about the order in the process. There has to be a better way of communicating with customers, updating orders, and addressing shipping issues. They're gonna happen! It's a part of ecommerce to get a wrong street, a missing apartment number, and just generally have issues.

Meanwhile, my boyfriend's glasses just come in the mail and there's nothing else to say about it. He's had a great experience, so hopefully you get his treatment. Either way, hope you guys find a better way to handle customer issue tracking and that some of this feedback has been helpful.

I just ended a two month long attempt to get glasses from Warby Parker. I ordered my 5 try on pairs in the very beginning of June. They came quickly, not too dirty or smudged, and I picked my favorite. I'd had my eye exam from my long-time eye doctor the DAY BEFORE I ordered the 5 pairs: my prescription is definitely correct. The glasses I chose were made and arrived within about a week and I was thrilled - until I put them on and couldn't see a thing out of them. I called and was told I needed to talk to one of their doctors, who have limited weekday only hours that happen to be the same hours most people work. As I wasn't able to take time off from work for a 15 minute phone call, I was told to take the glasses to my eye doctor to diagnose the problem. Luckily, my doctor was very gracious and checked the glasses for me for free. They even re-checked my prescription to make sure it hadn't been measured wrong (of course it wasn't). They ended up telling me the "base curve" of the lenses was basically zero and that I would never be able to see out of them without a base curve, something that the lenses should have had.

I called Warby Parker again and set up an exchange for a second pair of glasses, supposedly made at a different lab, with a base curve. Fast forward another week or so and I have a new pair. Couldn't see a damn thing, in fact they were worse than the first pair. So I called again and set up an at home try on for 5 more pairs, hoping maybe if I picked a different style frame, I could use them to, you know, see.

I got my third pair last week and guess what... still looked like I was in a fishbowl. I liked how the frames looked on me and I can't afford $350 designer glasses, so I decided to keep the frames at least. I made my hundredth call to Warby Parker and said I give up! I purchased the frames alone for half of what I had spent on them initially, and am taking them to my trusted doctor to have lenses put in there. Hopefully before autumn comes I'll have some freaking glasses... didn't know it would be a summer long process!

Every single person I talked to at Warby Parker was amazingly helpful, cheerful, friendly and awesome! Can't complain one bit about the customer service, that part of the experience was great.

I have now owned 4 pairs of Warby Parker glasses. Just recently I did their at home try on. I received the glasses to try on and loved them all but only kept them a day. I knew which ones I wanted right away and didn't want to test fate in holding them longer than needed so I sent them back. I still continued to receive the emails about the at home try on and where I was in the time line. I received the last email telling me to send them back when it had already been 4 days since I sent them back so I called to check on the order. When I called the phone rang one time and someone answered. Felt like I had called the Warby Parker house. The girl I talked to was so warm and welcoming! She pretty much told me what I already knew. That it was an automated email and yes they had already received the glasses back.

I went online and placed my order for the ones I liked. I received an email asking for a little more information for measurements. I responded with the information and received an immediate reply that some information was still missing but they were able to get it from my last order. Perfect. I responded in my normal Bubbly tone saying "thank you" to which Katie C replied in an equally bubbly tone "you're welcome". I received my new glasses on Wednesday 6/29.

I wore my awesome new glasses for three days until Saturday July 2nd which was the day of my families 4th of July party on the lake. I was in charge of filling up the inflatables on the lake. I had my new glasses with me and my RX sunglasses. I was wearing the sunglasses with my warby parkers tucked in my shirt. I thought they were pretty snug. I was bending out over the water filling the 15 x 15 foot float and my glasses fell out into the water. They didn't hover at the top for even a second. They went straight down. I was crushed but I loved them.

So on July 5th I called them. Again the call is received like I'm calling a friend. Just the most amazing feeling when calling such a big company. Like you really matter. I talked to another young lady. I told her what had happened and told her that I need to just duplicate the order but change the billing card. She responded completely in shock at my tragedy cause naturally she understands that I loved my new warby parker glasses. She asked for my order number. When she looked it up she asked "did you just get these glasses?" I said " yes I just received them on Wednesday and got to wear them for three days." she said ok hold on one second and let me look at something. When she came back she told me that they were going to send me the new glasses for free. I was blown away to say the least. What an amazing company to see how much I loved them and how broken hearted I was that I lost them and then send me my new pair free as a courtesy. Then she said "Are these your daily glasses? Do you have other ones to wear or do we need to..." I stopped her cause I saw where she was going. I said "I still have my Zagg pair that's pretty close in prescription so regular mail is fine. I don't think ill ever buy from anyone else other than Warby Parker!

I really was excited to get my 5 at home try on pairs from Warby Parker... that was until they came in the mail.

The box comes partitioned off in five slots, one for each pair of glasses. The glasses come in little ziploc bags... you can clearly tell they've been used and reused to the point they should have retired them. I opened the bag, every single bag, to find a dirty, disgusting pair of glasses. Not even just the lenses were filthy, the frames were as well. I was appalled. There was even someone's eyelash on one of the lenses, and it wasn't mine! I had to clean the lenses to see out of them clearly.

The glasses were not only filthy, but they're, in my honest opinion, not worth $100. A lot of the frames I tried on, probably about 3/5 of the pairs, were their higher-priced glasses at $145. They were flimsy and cheap feeling. I don't know how many pairs of glasses these other reviewers that are saying they were "high quality" have worn, but I've been dependent on glasses for the last 15 years, and I've never had a pair feel like this. I've never had my glasses, even after a year to two years of wear SQUEAK on me. They squeaked, they creaked, they were cheap. It wasn't just one pair that did this, every pair did.

In comparison to designer frames... there is no comparison. Warby Parker is junk compared to designer frames. The styles are there, but the quality is severely lacking. If you're someone who wears glasses daily, I do not recommend buying from Warby Parker.

I truly feel that if I were to have bought from Warby Parker, I would have spent just as much as I would have spent on a $400 pair of designer frames/lenses. I have no doubt that these Warby Parker frames/lenses would not have lasted long, and I would have had to buy more than one pair. I was really afraid they were going to fall apart before I could even ship them back to Warby Parker.

When I rated my at home try on as far as timeliness of arrival, the product, etc., I wrote a comment about how filthy the glasses were and how they were creaking and squeaking. I received no response from the company as to say this possibly was a "fluke batch of glasses." Though I have no doubt that all of their glasses are like this.

Other than the quality of the product, the service was great. I had really great communication with a few different representatives. They were very helpful and informative. Warby Parker's home try on is even free to Hawaii! The idea that the company gives a pair of glasses for each pair bought is also pretty cool.

With that said, I will not be a customer of Warby Parker. The quality of their product isn't worth taking the risk.

The first thing I have to say about Warby Parker is that their glasses are unique, beautifully designed, and very high-quality. There are so many different options and you are guaranteed to find one that you love and that you will never find on anyone else because they are so cool and unique! I love how all of their glasses are vintage-inspired.

Secondly, THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. They have a live chat on their website that can help with any question you may have, and I have probably used it at least five times because you can get an instant answer from an actual person in minutes. They are so nice and will do absolutely anything to make your experience better. I also called their phone customer service and the lady I spoke with was so nice, professional, and helpful. She gave me a tip on how I can order a frame that was out of stock, and I would have never known that had I not spoken with her. And immediately after my phone call, I received an email clearing everything up and making sure I was happy with everything.

Lastly, their stuff ships out fast. And I love that, because I am such an impatient person. The Home-Try On System says it will be at your house within five business days, and I received mine in 4 days. Super quick and easy to return since they ship through USPS and you can just put it right back into your mailbox with their return label in the same box.

I could rave about Warby Parker for a long time, but overall my entire experience with them has been beyond better than anything I have dealt with. Their website is also super informative, and I just love how helpful they are with all of the issues/questions/concerns I have had. They are super approachable and a really great company with great products.

Definitely recommend!

EDIT: I have had my Warby Parker glasses for a few months now, and I wanted to share that they are so wonderful! They are great quality, but when I got them for the first few weeks they did make "rickety" noises when I was trying to clean them. Other than that, though, I have not had any other problems with the quality. I bought the style "Ames," and I LOVE them so much because of their vintage feel. The only thing I did not take into account is that they are very heavy frames, so after wearing them for a few hours or the whole day, I usually end up with a headache or pains behind my ears/on the bridge of my nose. This is after having them adjusted, so it is not because of how they fit, it is because of their weight. Other than that, I am very happy with my purchase and would definitely buy again from Warby Parker!

I live outside San Francisco and wanted a pair of prescription sunglasses. They can be very expensive, so I made the 1 hour and 45 minutes round-trip drive into SF and the 15 minute hunt for street parking. Inside Warby Parker, everyone looks like they are 15 years old. And I'm talking about the employees. I found a pair of sunglass frames I liked, they fit quite nicely. I paid $350 for the frames and prescription sunglass lenses. Several weeks later, the sunglasses arrived in the mail at my house. While the frames look like the same ones, they are flatter or bent differently or something, as when I put them on, they are huge. They don't hug my head at all and fall off as soon as I barely tilt my head down. Argggghhh. The only place you can get Warby Parker glasses adjusted is at Warby Parker. So another 1 hour and 45 minutes round-trip drive into San Francisco, followed by another 15-20 minutes hunting for street parking. When my name was called, the guy at the counter did the old ‘dip the glasses frame in those hot beads' or whatever they are, to warm up the frame so he could bend it. He did that a couple of times and the glasses were still quite loose. So then he heated up the end of each temple where it sits on your ear, so that the temple would wrap a bit behind my ears. So that helped them not slide down my nose and I could finally tilt my head down, but the glasses still swing side to side, just barely hanging on at my ears. I asked him to bend the frame more so that the length of the temple was snug to my head, like normal glasses frames. He said he couldn't and that bending them at the ears was the best way to fix the problem I was having. Well a few weeks later, other than the tenuous hold right at my ears, I am very, very annoyed that I spent $350 on a pair of sunglasses that wobble back and forth any time I am not looking straight ahead. I am constantly pushing them back up on my nose. What you get from Warby Parker is not necessarily what you try on it their showroom or through their program where they will mail you frames to try out. I will never buy another pair of anything from Warby Parker and you should definitely beware!
**Update** I just changed my review from 1 star to 4 stars. I sent my rant to Warby Parker Customer Service and they promptly responded, offering to let me pick out different frames and make me a new pair of prescription progressive sunglasses for free, even though I am way past their 30-day return period. I'm trying out the "try-on at home" option to select a frame this time, as I'm sick of the very long round-trip into SF. Hopefully this new pair will fit better.