Jeffrey R.

BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE. Their lab seems to do a good job making lenses, but in my opinion they can't be trusted!

Here's my somewhat long story:

I was looking for a specific model of progressive lens (Varilux Physio W3+). They only sell one Physio on their site, but there are about 12 different Physio models out there and they don't specify which one it is, so I emailed them and asked if it was the Physio W3+. They replied that it was. They were offering a 25% discount, which gave me a great price, so I ordered them. Just to be sure, I put a note in my order that referenced the email and said that I was confirming that I was getting the W3+ lenses.

When I received my glasses back with the new lenses from LensesRX, there were cards enclosed from the manufacturer verifying that the lenses were in fact Varilux, and that they had a Crizal coating, which is what I ordered, but I wanted to make sure the model I received was the W3+.

What many people don't know is that most progressive lenses have tiny engraved markings that identify which manufacturer and model the lens is. The markings are difficult to see, but they're there. If you do a search for "progressive lens identifiers" you'll find information about how to see them, as well as a link to The Vision Council's EPIC database of symbols.

So i looked at the identifier markings and found that the lenses were not the Physio W3+ lenses, rather they appeared to be Physio DRx lenses, which don't have the advanced technology that the W3+ lenses have and are significantly less expensive: I'd estimate the price difference to be about $80 based on looking at quite a few web sites.

I immediately emailed LensesRX saying that what I received wasn't what I ordered and asking how they wanted to handle the problem. I didn't get a response, so the following day I called and left a detailed message on their voicemail (they don't take "live" incoming calls; you can only leave a message and they'll return your call). I got no response to my call, so the following day I wrote them a somewhat less pleasant email, saying that I'd rather work out the problem with them than to go to the trouble of filing a dispute with my credit card company.

This time they responded. They didn't offer an explanation or offer to replace the DRx lenses with W3+ lenses, but to their credit, they made good on the guarantee on their website and offered to refund my payment and pay for return shipping since I wasn't happy with the lenses, so that's what I did. The lenses are still in transit back to them, but they said the credit will be issued when they receive them.

So, other than a lot of aggravation and wasted time, I came out whole. And while the lenses seemed to be well-made with my correct prescription, and I respect them for standing behind their guarantee, they never gave me a believable explanation of why I didn't receive what I ordered. I can't help but wonder if the same thing has happened to other people. If I wasn't aware of the engraved marking system, I never would have known that what I received wasn't what I ordered.

Let the buyer beware, as the saying goes.