Harvard Square Eye Care

I called Harvard Square Eye Care literally in tears after an awful experience with Pearle Vision at Twin City Plaza — Todd was super helpful. I read him my script over the phone, and he had the lenses waiting for me when I arrived. Overall super happy with the service and glad I found a local place to do business with. I’ll be happy to take the extra time to go to a professional office with a kind and helpful staff.

My insurance changed, so in order to get free glasses I had to go here. Like most eye care centers, in order to get your free glasses you have to get an eye exam same day. My exam was pretty fast and right on time. I had to pay extra for a contact lens exam ($ 100! which is definitely at least $ 20 more than I paid at other eye doctors) but I didn’t really have a choice since I didn’t want to go to get a separate exam at another eye doctors. At least they throw in a free pair of contacts (I think every place does though) so that took about 5% of the sting out of the high price.
Once I had my exam done, a clerk saw me right away and showed me a case of the glasses my insurance would pay for. It was super easy. In the past, when I went to Vision Works Harvard Sq, they had all of the insurance covered glasses scattered around the store so you just had to hunt for them. That was annoying, but it was more annoying that I knew why they did that (so you would look at their other glasses and spend more $$) This place wasn’t like that at all and I was happy because of that.
My glasses came in about 3 weeks later and even came with free cleaner and a cloth. Unlike VIsion Works, even when you pay out of pocket for your glasses. So overall I highly recommend this place if you are going here because of your insurance.

Efficient, authoritative and highly demanding. Traits of dictators and now good eye doctors? Who’d of thunk it? Dr. Ng and her staff got me in and out and made sure nothing was forgotten or not explained. They handled all of my requests with skill and for the folks that get their glasses online a prescription without any hassle. Important things to note is that their selection here is much smaller than their other branches so if you’re looking for that specific pair of specs you may need to visit one of their other branches. Other than that, they also can see you almost immediately which is nice.

Went in to see if the frame style match that of my husband. He is pretty traditional so I thought he should find something he liked first before handing over all our information. The staff took our information and immediately started scanned and wants to look up our insurance information without even asking if we would mind. BTW, I mind! Although the other reviews said the staff is friendly, I didn’t get the same sense when all I heard during the entire time I was in the store was a staff yelling at a customer because they had the luck of finding a pair of glasses that will fit them from the discount shelf and was asking about the fit. Seriously! After the customer left, they continue to bash the person in front of other customers. Is this really how you do business! I had such a bad taste that I would never go there again. Maybe the staff just had a bad day but in the retail industry, you should be professional no matter if it is a bad day or not. We ended up going down the street to Central Eye Care for a much friendlier environment.

It has taken me about three months to get glasses that I can see comfortably with. Third set of lenses finally are right and I paid a premium price, just over $ 1000 for frames and lenses even after Harvard Pilgrim discount. On the plus side, store manager Walter has been super professional, polite and steadfastly pursued the perfect lenses for me with sincere apologies for the tremendous inconvenience. The optometrist at Eye Q contributed to delays by prescribing the wrong prescription as well, which didnt make Walter’s job any easier. I still do believe i am owed some compensation after what I paid for my glasses; everyone gasps when I tell them this price. Because of the way Walter handled everything, I will probably remain a customer, but it’s too early to say for sure.

So awesome! Everyone was really friendly and helpful, and the doctor actually took time to explain things to me that my other eye doctors have never mentioned or bothered to explain to me (like how to correct my super dry eye issue). They didn’t try to push any kind of specials or frames on me when I was browsing, and gave me free lens cleaner when I lamented how I had just run out. The only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is because they were a bit too hands on — I didn’t like that one person had to stand by and open each and every glass door for me and explain each brand. I like browsing on my own and taking my time, however others may really enjoy the personalized experience.

A++++++
+ #1: the friendliest, most helpful staff on the planet.
+ #2: seriously, they know their jobs. Glasses aesthetics are tricky, because we don’t actually know what looks best on us, we just know we want to look cool. All the cases were unlocked, my face was stared at intensely for a few seconds, and the first pair he picked off the shelf was the one I went home with. They look amazing, and I never would have picked them out for myself. That’s an art.
+ #3: And don’t get me started on glasses insurance. Quick! Name your insurance provider. See? You can’t. Nobody knows. Except these people. Click click tap tap, they had my prescription from my last pair at their fingertips, they had my insurance info, and my super expensive purchase was whittled down to a nice, manageable sum.
+ #4: they were refitted when I went to pick them up. «You sure they feel right? Really?» I was asked. «SURE DO!» I said, entranced by nice, tight plastic frames after years of annoying looseness. Two days later, I went back, all sheepish. «Ah, I knew they’d be too tight,» I was told with a big smile. I left five minutes later, my frames perfected.
+ #5: I can’t emphasize this enough. This kind of warmth and knowledge across the board is rare in this city. I kind of just want to go back there to hang out with them.
+ #6: I was celebrating my new glasses. That’s Kahlua. Mmmm.

I feel that I really need to write an update for this place given my recent eye infection.
My contacts were really bothering me for a couple of days, but somehow I’d always manage to make it through the day. One day however, I woke up with the worse pain in my left eye and was in tears all day. I was able to get an appointment the same day, within a few hours of calling in. Got my prescription, headed off to CVS and walgreens (this would require another review), picked up some antibiotics, and stayed at home the rest of the day. It was a horrible day, but I was up and running the next day.
The front desk people are a little lost sometimes, but they are definitely nice and helpful. However, Dr. J. Pena really stands out above all of them. Really awesome guy, friendly, easy to talk to, and most of all he looks out for you. If you really care about your eyes, ask for him.
They went from a complete joke to nearly saving my vision. I still have to take off a star, because, like everything in Boston/​Cambridge, its ridiculously overpriced. I guess having an office in Central Square costs a lot…

The optician here, Todd, is the most helpful one that I have ever found. He is extremely knowledgeable, knew about my insurance plan, responded to emails, dealt with problems, and remained patient and polite throughout. The place is easy to find and there is on street parking. The only reason I didn’t give a 5^th star is because I didn’t find the petite, feminine frame styles I wanted but there is a large selection of other contemporary frames. Of the three in this chain, this location is clearly the best based on my experience.

This office have a very wonderful frame selection and the staff is very knowledgeable about new technology and product information. The frames are reasonably priced for the brands that they carry compared to other stores in Massachusetts. I find that the optician wants the best for his patients and discusses options within your price range. Beautiful store.

While I really enjoyed one of the eye doctors when I came in to get a contact lens check, my interactions with this place have been a financial bloodbath this fall. In the summer I came in for a medical visit (I thought I had pink eye, turned out to be a contact lens allergy) which should have been covered by my insurance, which is really good. I started getting letters asking me to pay for the visit out of pocket. This is a huge loss for me financially as I am living hand to mouth while trying to get my dance career off the ground.
Then, I asked to have my prescription, and the office told me it had expired and that the doctor could decide whether to give two years validity or one. Legally, glasses prescriptions are for two years, and contacts for one, though the practitioner has discretion and can make the glasses for one. For no good reason except to make more money (or so every eye glasses shop said when I shared this story with them) HS eye care could not be reasoned with and refused to validate my glasses prescription for another year. This has cost me about $ 200 which is a week of work for me. NO thank you I don’t appreciate wasting my money.