Cohen's Fashion Optical
Reviews and Complaints

Cohen's Optical in Hato Rey P.R. promised on 08/20/2010 that I would receive my contact lens in DE, USA, in 2 weeks from that date. It is 1/12/2011. I've called 6 times. I've been told they'd call me back but never did.On 11/18/2010 a woman tells me she has the lens and will send the the following business day.Again, I waited a week and got nothing from Cohen's. I was told lies and I paid for my product. I can't see well.Until yesterday I used the sample lens given too me but they are too old and hurt my eye.

This store do not show the prices of their glasses on display. Got a pair of ALAIN MIKLI eyeglasses which I paid $950 (minus $100 discount) only to find it elsewhere, including 2 other Cohen's Fashion Optical stores for less than $300... and at most, way below $500... and definately nowhere near the $950 charged. This store does not give refunds so I am hoping to work with the BBB to get back at least my $500 overpaid for this overpriced item. I am African-American and wonder if that's a "Black Tax which was imposed...sorry but I could not help but feel seriously hurt and discriminated against.

I had a contact lens fitting exam in April 2010 at Cohen's Fashion Optical in Shirley, NY. The first time I went, the doctor tried some brand of lenses that were totally uncomfortable, so he asked me to come back in a few days so he could order some other brand for me to try (apparently they only carry one brand in the store?). Part II of my exam, I tried and liked the brand (1-day Acuvue Moist). So, the exam was over and I was at the front desk getting ready to pay for my exam and order the contacts...the woman at the desk gave me some ridiculous price for the lenses - so I said yeah, no, I can't afford that...so I just paid my insurance copay for the exam and left. Didn't think to ask for my prescription at the time (and, of course, now I found The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act issued in July 2004 - which requires prescribers to give patients a copy of their contact lens prescriptions at the end of a contact lens fitting, even if the patient doesn't ask for it).

So, I've been wearing my glasses exclusively for some time now, but still had a few pairs of my old contacts left - so I wore those once in a while. Ran out of those in June 2010...so I called Cohen's in Shirley last week to get my contact lenses prescription, so I could order them online. I got some super snot (Dominique) on the phone who said the doctor was on vacation through July 5th, and there was nothing she could do...my prescription was never "finalized." I asked if there was another doctor that could look at it and "finalize" it...she said no doctor today, but one would be in the next day and she'd call me back. She didn't. I called either the day she said she would, or the next day, and she said "oh, the other doctor said he can't get involved...you'll have to wait until the doctor gets back from vacation." I said, well, I'm out of contacts and I don't really understand why my prescription wasn't "finalized" - since I was standing at the counter ready to order them after the exam...she said there was nothing she could tell me.

July 6th, I call back and say I was waiting for a call on my prescription...she says "oh, the doctor won't be back from vacation until tomorrow..." I call around 11 this morning (July 7th) and ask for my prescription again. They say they will call me back, the doctor is busy. I call back at 5:30pm...she says the doctor said he will match whatever price I found online. So, I pull up the website I was planning on ordering from and tell her the final price per box I would be getting it for. She puts me on hold for a few minutes, then comes back and asks if she can call me back in about 10 minutes. She calls me back and says she can order them for me tonight and put a rush on the order, but for ~$25 more than the price online. So I said, OK, then I just need the prescription information so I can order them online...then she says, oh, well, you can pick up your prescription tomorrow and do whatever you want with it.

At this point, I have really lost my patience with this place. I tell her that I have been calling repeatedly and trying to order these contacts for over a week now and she says she knows. I quote from the FTC.gov Act that it is federal law for them to release my prescription to me - and that it was federal law to give my prescription to me after my exam (which they didn't do). She says it is the law for my prescription to be signed off on by the doctor, but it isn't signed, so she can't do anything. I ask her "how were you going to order my contacts tonight for me, if the doctor hasn't signed off on my prescription? Or is it just that you won't give it to me now because I'm ordering them from someone other than you?" We kept going back and forth, each time I got more mad and she got more snotty. She kept talking over me...and I started to lose it (I was shaking at this point). I finally hung up on her.

AVOID Cohen's - please! This isn't the first time I have had an issue with them...it is just the most recent, and the most against the law...

I went to Cohen's @ 50 East 42nd Street and was treated very nicely the first time. Not knowing the procedure for the insurance, I was told by one of their sales persons that I would have to pay upfront and then complete the forms for reimbursement...no problem, I did that. Found out that they young lady scammed me! She needed to accept my insurance first and then I'd be responsible for any co-pays.

Today - 06/30/2010 - I have a refund in the works. Their "manager" was not very happy. I paid $539.93 for my exam, frames & lenses...of course, when I was buying them, the frames were half off ($149.99). Now that they have to reimburse me, the manager is telling me that they have to use the full price of the frames, deduct what my company will allow (because they are not "insurance brand" frames...I was not given the option of seeing those frames!) and give me back the difference between what I paid and the balance - great! I get back a whole $13.99 on the frames!

So, needless to say, I will be writing to the CEO, Chairman, and Marketing VP at the management firm to complain.

Worst eyeglass shopping experience of my entire life! I had been there once before and had no problems besides for their horrible glasses selection for my insurance and then if i wanted other ones it cost me an arm and a leg to get semi nice ones. I just went back to Cohen's to get an eye exam on sunday because i hadnt gotten one in 4 years. I had bought designer frames at costco because i knew i could get really nice glasses there for cheaper than any gross pair i could get at Cohen's. So i go and i get my perscription and then i go to order lenses so that my insurance can pay for them. I have a really high perscription so i always have to pay a little bit extra to get the lenses thinned but its been 4 years since i got new lenses and frames that i didn't remember how much exactly. The woman than informs me that to get them 25% thinner is $50 to get them 40% thinner is $100 and to get them 75% thinner is $200 but then says it is impossible to know how thick they are going to be without anything. If i cannot know how thick they will be how do i know how much to get it reduced? they want me to spend $200 thinking that they are going to be hideously thick, no way. So i asked her to check what i did last time and apparently they dont keep your records after 4 years? I thought it was supposed to be 7. And that there was no way to know how much thinner i got them last time. Well can you tell me anything? No! So i decide to screw them and i will take my prescription somewhere else to get my lenses but they refused to give it to me. Withheld my own medical information from me! Can you say ILLEGAL. She said since it was sunday the insurance was closed and she cant call it in and get payed for the exam so she cant release my prescription. That is not how this world works. My insurance doesnt cover it you send me a bill. Thats how the world works and you cant hold my prescription hostage. So than she tried to scare me into thinking that if i didnt get lenses right then and there that i would miss out on my chance to get lenses from my insurance altogether. Lies. She told me i could come back monday and it would be called in.I called my insurance and they told me that they are not allowed to withhold my prescription and whether or not the insurance company is open makes no difference. And they also told me i can get my eyes checked wherever i want and get my lenses wherever i want so long as they were in the insurance network. I walked back in there today which is tuesday and there was no record of me even getting an eye exam because that fat slob didnt put it in the coputer and she didnt call it in. And the woman "assisting" me said she'll be in at 1 if you want to come back. Excuse me i cannot spend my entire life walking in and out of cohen's to get my prescription. So i asked to speak with a manager and aparently one wasnt there. she than decided to cll the girl who originally helped me and i demanded that i get my prescription. It is not my problem that somebody didnt do their job and it has been the most inconvenient 2 days of my life. After causing a scene and demanding that i get whats rightfully mine i got it and will never go back there again. This is a poor excuse for a business and they have 0 customer service. I hope this complaint saves the readers from watsng their time there.

When I received the call to pick up my new glasses, I called to confirm their Sunday hours. When I arrived, I was quickly handed my glasses and no offer followed to fit them. When I noticed that the edges had not been polished I was told that the optician had left early and was given the hours that I could return for fitting and polishing. Remarkably, they have no one licensed to adjust glasses on Saturday, so I returned the following Sunday. Guess what? The optician had left early, AGAIN. I was told to come back. When I asked for a better solution I was given the owner's name and told to call her on Monday. I did...got an answering machine and left a message. No one returned my call for 4 days, so when the lens popped out of my new glasses, I called again. Still no response. I called corporate who encouraged me to make an appointment with the owner for a fitting, which I did. She pretended not to be in when I arrived so she could "surprise" me with her expert polishing skills, but still did not notice that the glasses sat on a 20 degree angle on my face. I had to ask for an adjustment and ASK for an apology. Absolutely the worst experience in my 50 years of wearing glasses!

Cohen's Fashion Optical at this location charged me a $59.99 copay for a basic exam, even though I am fully insured. They also overcharged me for frames and lenses and mislead me about my insurance coverage.

Overpriced product. Overpriced exams. A yuppy decor and indifferent Israeli staff does not justify ripping people off.

I was a fool for going there, don't let yourself become one.

Do you know that the Optomitrists within these franchised locations are unaffilliated with the company?
My complaint is that I went back to the store where I received an eye exam and purchased my glasses to get a copy of the prescription so that I could buy some contact lenses. I was told, brusquely, by the clerk, "That doctor don't work here no more...and she took her records with her". When I complained the clerk said, "That's not my problem" and walked down to the other end of the counter to talk to her boyfriend. As I walked out, I heard her say, "Jerk" under her breath! Wow, what a spectacular customer service moment!

How can a store allow a doctor to leave without maintaining a copy of the medical records? Basically they told me "tough luck"...and now i have to start all over again with a new doctor. Well, guess what, it won't be the one currently working in their back office!