Cohen’s Fashion Optical

I had decided on going to Cohens when I finally decided to treat myself and stop buying 5 $ sunglasses in Flushing. I had pretty much settled on a pair that I wanted to buy and was ready to order it. I will never forget the ridiculous ordeal I had to go through to get one simple pair of sunglasses. Lets go over the timeline shall we?
I ordered the sunglasses with Iris on April 22^nd. Since they didn’t have it in stock, she stated that it would arrive in 5 business days after checking that it was in stock at another store. Now since I wasn’t in a particular hurry, I didn’t mind. I just wanted it in time for me to have it during the five boro bike tour. They said they would call me with updates.
April 29^th rolled around and I still haven’t heard anything from Cohens. I had stopped in after work and they stated it wasn’t here yet and that it was out of stock.
After the five boro on May 1^st, I was already pretty upset with the entire situation. I finally received a phone call from Cohens on May 5^th stating that my sunglasses had finally arrived. Making my total sunglasses experience at 2 weeks, when I could have simply went to another store and had it the same day.
What really irritates me about this Cohen’s location is their lack of follow up. They have stated on multiple occasions that they would contact me back regarding my order and I have only ever received one call back from them telling me that my order was here.
The extra salt in the wound is that they stated they would refund me $ 20 directly to my CC for the delay. Not only have they not done so, but they once again promised a follow up and failed to follow through. I have now been waiting 20 days for any information on my refund. Honestly I doubt I’ll ever see it in my account but it’s really about the principal.
If you’re ever in the market for sunglasses or anything at all, stay away from this location. Try another store.

Luisa was very warm and welcoming. She was professional and extremely courteous. We had a great time and would come to this location again because of her.

Edit: upgrading from 2 to 4 stars. Customer service was very proactive in reaching out for my feedback and the visit to pick up my glasses went much better.
Old review
The appointment with the optometrist went just fine. I’m taking stars away because the logistics I agreed to with the front desk weren’t followed. I ordered a delivery and instead of just owning up to the mistake, they’d like for me to feel guilty for not checking my voicemail. I shouldn’t have to check my voicemail when we planned for a delivery. Minor inconvenience, but I’ll probably go somewhere else next time.

NOTE: The online coupons ARE misleading in a sense, but they DO still say «present prior to PURCHASE» so you really cannot complain of the coupon being intentionally deceptive. When in doubt, call and ask before you go into the store (I did, thankfully).
I really don’t understand why this place gets such a bad rep on Unilocal.The reviews here scared me off to contact a place more downtown called Angel’s Optical or something like that, but when I asked for a quote of the eye exam cost, the figure was $ 80 or something along those lines even with insurance, and for eyes without astigmatism. So I called Cohen’s and was told that with insurance, a contact lens eye exam would cost $ 60 for normal eyes and $ 100 for astigmatism. I decided to go with Cohen’s. TL;DR: Everyone is incredibly friendly, not at all pushy, and this place is priced reasonably.
When I arrived at the store, I was told that Cohen’s unfortunately did not accept my particular type of insurance, but they also told me they would honor it anyway. Talk about great service?! Afterward, I waited maybe 15 minutes to see the doctor. I don’t remember the doctor’s name but he was an elderly gentleman who was very patient, courteous and great at explaining questions.
I paid in cash, and didn’t receive a receipt so I worried I would get scammed but 2 days later, I received a call informing me that my contacts had arrived and were ready for pick up!
I took a star off because when a saleslady measured my eye’s pressure via a machine before I went in to see the doctor, she failed to tell me that the machine would suddenly blow a puff of strong air into my eyes until AFTER it had happened. I thankfully had an inkling it would do that as I’ve had many eye exams previous to this one, but a warning still would have been appreciated.

Poor ratings were not reflective of my experience. Service was excellent, they took me on the same day as a new patient (after I called 7 different eye offices) and made me smile. Trust your own eyes with this one.

I came in for a $ 20 eye exam as offered by this coupon
Note that the coupon does not specify that a purchase is required. In fact, given that it enumerates the many stipulations with the coupon, it would seem to make it clear that purchase of a pair of glasses is not necessary.
Of course, I walked in and found out that not only do they not honor the coupon without buying glasses (despite the language), but that they receive this complaint and complaints about misleading Groupons ALL THE TIME. The whole staff seemed totally unmoved that much of their customer base comes from fraudulent advertising.
I do not have vision insurance, and had to pay $ 49 for an eye exam that took them all of 10 minutes to do. I plan to file a complaint with the better business bureau over the misleading coupons and suggest other Unilocal reviewers with similar experiences do the same.
I would not suggest this location to anyone.

This is the worst optical shop I have ever been to. I have a feeling some of the 5 star reviews are fake, because when I was there the other customers were annoyed and complaining to the salespeople as well. Do not enter this shop. THEY WILL SCAM YOU. I bought a groupon for an eye exam and 200 dollars off an eyeglasses purchase. They refused to let me use the groupon for the eye exam without buying a pair of prescription eyeglasses (which started at 450 dollars each, so I would be paying a minimum of 250 dollars.) I wish I had listened to the Unilocal reviews, instead of trying this place out for myself. The salespeople are obnoxious. I hope this Unilocal review helps people save their money and not get scammed by this awful place.
In response to every negative review on their Unilocal page (and there are many) Cohens Optical leaves this message.
Our company is committed to delivering the best possible customer experience and we’re sorry to hear that you had an issue at our store. We’d love the opportunity to help resolve this matter to your satisfaction. Please email Customer Relations at
.
Cohen’s Optical, don’t bother leaving a message in response to my review. You refused to listen to my complaints in the store, and the only way to redeem yourself would be to give back the money for my eye exam (which you won’t do because you clearly don’t care about scamming people out of their money. For everyone else reading this, if Cohen’s Optical responds to my Unilocal review, it’s clear that they didn’t even bother reading it and gave me their canned response, just as they didn’t bother listening to me in the store, and just kept repeating that my groupon was worthless. As the saying goes, a leopard never changes his stripes. This place doesn’t care about its customer, just getting as much money out of their clientele as they can. DO NOT ENTER THIS STORE.

I’ll preface this by saying this review is based off of my appointment in August which I forgot to review until I was recently reminded of it. It was a horrendous experience so trust me when I say I still remember every part of this and still warn people about it to this day.
At first, my appointment wasn’t that bad. I remember waiting a long time to see the doctor but it was busy and I was just glad to be getting contacts again after a long time without them so I wasn’t mad about it. When I finally saw the doctor she was very sweet and professional. But then I went to pay.
When the woman behind the counter was ready for me she went over everything and then told me my total was going to be $ 800. 1) I have vision insurance which 2) is accepted by this place which 3) had a copay at the time of I believe $ 30 and 4) it covers a year of contacts for free. So needless to say I was shocked as I was expecting to pay a little less than $ 800. I thought they had maybe forgotten to take my insurance into account so I had reminded her about it to which she said «well the contacts you’re getting aren’t covered», as it turns out the doctor had prescribed me a brand new type. I never asked for this and I don’t have any crazy eye problems (I had contacts for about 7 years, and I assumed, due to my past experiences with eye doctors, that they know what is and isn’t covered by my insurance as they take it before you even go into the appointment. When I asked if I could get a type that was covered I was literally told, verbatim, «well it’s not about the money it’s about what’s good for you».
I was so shocked by the fact that those words came out of her mouth I didn’t even respond at first. Why would I spend $ 800 on contacts when I can get them for free? What kind of crooked sales pitch is that? I told her I just couldn’t pay that and she gave me an attitude and told me I’d have to be re-​fitted then for a new brand but I’d have to wait, and after already being there for well over an hour at that point I just left. But not before having to pay $ 100 for going (once again, much more than my copay but I was so upset already I didn’t even fight it). I actually made an appointment to go back and get refitted but then realized why give these people more of my money and time.
Needless to say, I’ve told everybody I know to stay clear of this place.

I had a very unpleasant experience with this store because the staff were unfriendly and inpatient. When I got there on time with my appointment, the doctor was not there and this woman simply told me to leave without an apology. It was a waste of time to be there for nothing. I do believe I deserve a notice and explanation in advance.
Several weeks’ back and forth, I finally came to the stage of purchasing contact lenses. The experienced manager — Wendy — who is also in a sales role told me I need to buy one year supply to qualify for insurance discount. I bought two boxes at full price because she said my amount did not qualify.
However, I felt things were not right. I later called my insurance provider and confirmed she was wrong, got my money back. I think she was trying to trick me to buy one year contacts at the beginning which would bring $ 700 to her sales perfo.

Doctor was nice enough, but she did not give me my pupillary distance making my glasses prescription completely useless. Thanks for nothing.

Great service, great eye exam. Thorough doctor.
Will price match frames that one can buy directly from designer for much cheaper.
Make sure to check website for current coupons to save some money.
I bought one pair there 4 years ago, and just bought my second pair last week and was compelled to write a review encouraging others to do the same.
Only downside is that because they are smaller they don’t have the machine that heats the glasses to pop lenses out and clean inside frame. Other than that they are perfect, and if nothing else just go for the eye exam here.

I had a good experience with the optometrist and the sales representative until I finally made a decision on glasses and asked for the price. They calculated the price by hand in bad handwriting and without explanation. I think this procedure is designed so that the charges will be difficult to understand. When I asked why they were adding additional fees for the exam and glasses, the sales person became very impatient. I was under the impression that my insurance should cover most of the visit, they curtly explained that most of the things I asked for were extra. I had to be very persistent to get my prescription from them and I ended up paying much more than I expected given that I have insurance.
I think this place uses very aggressive sales techniques. If you do go here, I recommend that you ask how much everything costs (eye exam, contact fitting, etc.) before you commit and know exactly what your insurance is supposed to cover.

I’m not sure about other Cohen’s storefronts, but buyer beware at this particular one. While customer service deserves around 3 stars at most, my entire experience here deserves no stars.
I came with insurance and still had to pay $ 300 for the «fitting» fee and contact lenses. I recently came back to ask if they would measure my PD, fully disclosing the fact that I was planning on ordering online instead because I could not afford their lofty prices, I was told that they were «not allowed» to do so and that PD changes according to the glasses you chose. I’m sure that my PD will stay the same no matter what frames I decide to buy, and I’m sure you’re only «not allowed» to provide it because you can’t stand the idea of money walking out the door. Fat chance I’ll ever come in here again. At least have the decency to tell the truth, that would be more respectful than making bad excuses.
Long rant short, you can spend your money wisely elsewhere (like the optical across the street). The selection here isn’t even that great. They are over-​priced, and they scam insurance. Trust me, I just got off the phone with mine, and this store is in for a «re-​education». Don’t be fooled by the rave reviews (look at the date on them!), and don’t be fooled by their deal banners. The fine print is about the thickness of your dissertation.

With an expired prescription and the need for new contacts and even a new pair of eyeglasses, I decided to try Cohen’s instead of going to Columbia Opticians because the reviews on Unilocal were much better and it’s very close to where I live. I keep seeing that it’s a bit on the pricey side, but at this point I would rather pay a bit more out of pocket and be sure that I have good and reliable service than paying less and having a problematic experience.
Cohen’s welcomes walk-​in appointments, but you can also schedule them online at their website. I scheduled mine three hours in advance and while there was a tiny schedule mishap, they were still able to see me a few minutes after the appointed time and they were also very friendly as well as professional about it. The doctor was fantastic and very straight and to the point while also being very considerate. Going through my exam, she explained everything that she was doing and why she was doing it, and she also told me about everything that had to do with my vision.
In the end, the offer that they had going was if you purchased a year’s supply of contacts, the glasses come at a free/​discounted price; the frames would either be free or discounted and you would just have to pay for the lenses. The woman at the counter was very helpful here and not only pulled out a bunch of different frames for me to try on but also helped me pick a pair that would look best. While yes, it’s a bit more expensive at Cohen’s, it was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had with optometrists.

I needed an eye exam and new contacts and I needed them today. I’ve been to the Cohen’s in Times Square before and was pleasantly surprised. But I did not want to go into Times Square, so I chose this location based on the reviews on Unilocal.
I was in and out in no time without feeling rushed. Everyone was friendly and professional. I didn’t feel like they were trying to upsell me. I wasn’t pressured to buy glasses or get a year’s worth of contacts.
I don’t have insurance that covers vision, which wasn’t a problem. The exam was $ 99 and they promise that the contacts are the same price as 1−800-contacts is selling them that day. I didn’t check, but I doubt I was ripped off.
I have a very strong prescription in my left eye, and I’ve had optometrists not have my prescription in stock to give me as a trial. But they did — and I walked out with a fresh pair of lenses. Theoretically, my contacts will be ready for pickup in a couple of days.
The other patients on the store also seemed happy and satisfied. I will definitely go back.

I had a great experience here with my exam (5 stars) but it was when I went back in to order my glasses that I would like to be able to give this place 10 stars. Tiffany is FANTASTIC! Not only did she have personality PLUS but she is so great at helping you pick out glasses, she took the time to figure out what I do so she could make sure that my glasses were more for professional vs funky/​fun and I felt that she truly cared that I looked good in them. She made spending this much money FUN. I would highly recommend this location!

Just to update everyone on my continuing mess of an experience with Cohens, I was messaged privately on Unilocal by some woman who is responsible for customer service, she says her name is Jenna H. and she sent me a CLEARLY pre-​written message about how sorry she is for my experience and would like to solve the issue. I searched and saw this EXACT same message posted on every other negative cohens review except under Jennas name it is signed Sharon and some other name! This place is such a scam, don’t deal with them!
I’m filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau immediately!

Ever since I was a student at Columbia, I’ve been ordering my contact lenses here. Now that I moved on to graduate studies at Stanford, I still prefer to get my contact lenses here whenever possible. Here’s why:
TIMELY DELIVERY
For prescriptions that are in stock, you’re guaranteed to get your contact lenses within 2 or 3 business days. For prescriptions that are out of stock (especially if you’re looking for a year supply), they work hard to make sure you get it asap.
GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE
A week ago, I ordered a year supply of 5.50 Acuvue True Eyes. After the 5^th business day, I dropped by to inquire about my order status. One of the sales girls was a bit defensive at first. But once I made it clear that I was not gonna yell at her, she became super nice and referred me to the doctor.
The doctor put a lot of pressure on the supply company. She had them deliver my year supply in single boxes, as opposed to the 90 days packets. with same day delivery. She could have just told me that my order was out of stock and the supply company sucked, as most optical stores would do these days. But she went above and beyond to help.

My previous review is a little bit emotional after the bad experience. The manager called me one day after. She asked about my feeling and offered a free pair of glassed to make up my inconvenience. This is the kind of customer care I hoped to receive, so I updated the rating to 4 star.

I came to this location because it’s covered by Columbia’s Aetna plan, expecting disappointment simply by virtue of my being forced into their care and the hit-​or-​miss Unilocal reviews. Glad to say I was pleasantly surprised by my experience.
I got a GREAT deal on a year’s supply of one-​day Acuvue toric lenses, and only paid $ 140 for some hip frames with polycarbonate, anti-​glare lenses. Three weeks after I picked up my glasses, the OCD part of me was devastated to find that I had a small nick in my right lens. I brought my glasses back to Cohen’s to see what my repair options were, fully expecting that I’d have to pay for the cost of a replacement lens. Again, pleasantly surprised by Cohen’s customer service — they agreed to replace my lens for free.
I would give five stars IF they weren’t so protective about giving out the pupillary distance number. I do think this is part of the prescription, and I should be able to get a cheap/​backup/​fashion statement pair of glasses elsewhere if I so choose.