Cohen’s Fashion Optical

This is the second time I’ve visited this Cohen’s for an exam. My company doesn’t offer vision insurance, but because my eyesight is so poor, I like to make sure everything is in working order with regular visits. The location is clean and the staff were helpful. The doctor was thorough, explained each step of the exam, and was nice enough to provide a signed stamped copy of my prescription. No complaints here; I’ll be back again!

The Haitian– American Doctor hits on his female patients. I would not recommend this place to women for that reason.

I thought this place was fine. It wouldn’t necessarily be my destination of choice but it’s so convenient that I’m into it.
Pros
Both of the women working the desk were very nice
Insurance process (VSP) was super easy, limited forms to fill out
Cons
It doesn’t feel very clean — you walk through an area behind the counter to get to the restroom to remove your contacts and it’s kind of scuzzy, which isn’t what you want in a doctor’s office.
The doctor is fine, but a little stand off-​ish at first. Like, he didn’t introduce himself. Who doesn’t introduce themselves to a new patient?

I don’t really know why there is so many bad reviews, my experience went very well when I went to this Cohen’s today. Both the ladies where very helpful and nice in helping me pick my glasses and understand what my insurance did and did not allow. The doctor was very straight forward and did his job well. In the end I picked out some nice frames and left satisfied. So I would recommend this place to anyone.

I walked in with reservations after seeing all of the really negative reviews on Unilocal.But I really need a new prescription, this place was convenient, and I wanted to see if I could get a fast walk-​in appointment. I had a perfectly pleasant experience, so I think the place deserves a positive review along with all of the negative ones.
The staff were all friendly, helpful and professional. The optometrist was very professional and knowledgeable, and gave me one of the most helpful explanations that I’ve ever gotten of what factors I should keep in mind when choosing between contacts and glasses. He answered all of my questions fully, and explained why he was making the recommendations that he was making. I felt that I was in very capable hands.
Back at the counter to choose new frames, I continued to get friendly and professional service. The saleswoman was warm and patient as I tried to figure out exactly which frames worked best, and she went out of her way to make sure I had all the choices that i could.
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Not sure why others had a bad experience, but mine was quite positive. I’d happily go back.

I didn’t really enjoy my experience here. I wanted to get prescription sun glasses. The person behind the counter gestured me to an opposing wall to let me try on glasses myself. (I guess I would have thought they’d come over and help me make a decision?) I did appreciate that she mentioned prescription sun glasses are better with lenses that aren’t too bent around the edges, but otherwise, she really could have cared less about helping me find glasses.

I did get the nose pieces for $ 5 from an independent optometrist on the Upper East Side.
Cohen’s Fashion Optical is a money grubbing, unscrupulous outfit regardless of its «professional expertise» whatever that might be.

I received the WORST customer service from the receptionist.
Never go there to waste your time.

I went in here as a last resort as I was out of contacts. I’m a germaphobe especially when it comes to my eyes, so as soon as I walked into the bathroom to wash my hands I should have bolted. For an office that offers medical exams, I’d expect the bathroom not to have trash, weird pools of water, and watered down soap.
Only pro is that I got in and out in about 20 minutes.

I made an appointment online the night before for 1pm the next day. They called me in the morning to confirm. When I went there, I still had to wait about 15 minutes even though there were no other customers in the shop, but I didn’t mind that much. I didn’t know what insurance I had because the store I went to last year looked it up with my social. I told her that, and she said there was no way she could do that (nor did it seem like she wanted to put the effort in). So I tried to figure it out myself, but she ended up typing it in anyway and guess what? She found it! Just like I had said in the first place.
The doctor I saw was alright – sort of apathetic and quiet. He seemed to rush through my prescription and when he gave it to me it was slightly less than my prescription from the previous year. The glasses I had been wearing had suited me fine (this was just an annual visit type thing, I didn’t think I needed a new prescription), so I’m not sure how much I agree with his prescription, even if it is just slightly less. Eyesight doesn’t really get «better» in that regard. Also, the prescription I had received the year before from another store seemed more valid because the doctor had spent way more time with me and helped me find the right prescription, whereas this doctor breezed through it.
Anyway, none of that was really what bothered me. What bothered me was one of the employees behind the desk. She was rude to me from the start (with the insurance thing). Later, when other customers came in, she plainly ignored me, even though I was trying to give her paperwork that SHE had asked me to fill out.
Finally I decided I would either come back for frames within the next week or not get them at all at this overpriced shop, at but I definitely wasn’t getting them that day. During the exam I had asked the doctor for my pupil distance and he said they would give it to me at the desk. So I asked her. She refused. She said I needed to pick out frames first because she «couldn’t do it without the frames». I’m not an idiot. I’ve had it measured before – you don’t need frames. The distance between your pupils doesn’t change. There are even online tools you can use to measure it at home, which is what I ended up doing, which matched up to what I thought the PD was from my prescription last year. Either way, I asked her several times and she refused and lied to me every single time.
Basically, my review isn’t a nasty one, but I agree with the other reviewers here – their customer service is absolutely horrid and I wouldn’t go back there.

Just got back from Cohen’s on Bwy and 96^th. Have to say, I had a very nice experience there. I got there just as they opened at 10 and was taken care of promptly and courteously by Denise. She confirmed my insurance, helped with my selection of lenses for my new frames, even asking the optician which lens
would better suit my strong prescription.
Dr. Louis did my contact lens exam and was very thorough, explaining about why I was seeing double vision. I have the beginnings of cataracts which was causing the blurry doubles. I also had the wrong contact prescription from a previous optometrist. Both lenses were wrong and Dr. Louis corrected the numbers. I have them in now and seeing better than before. Thank you so much Dr.
Great customer service with an extremely competent and pleasant staff. I will recommend Cohen’s here to anyone who wants a great customer service experience.
See you in two weeks to get my new glasses.
Kathleen F.

Told me they’d take my insurance at first. Came back the next day and had my eye exam and then was told that they were out of network. Ended up being charged the full price.

Worst service ever! Told me to come Fri. I am handicapped, arrived and nothing ready. Told to come back in 2 hours — yes, wander with your cane & broken shoulder! Arrive 3pm, still not ready! 40 minutes later, tada — glasses. Also, glasses on «special» are NOT the designer, so you still end up $ 475…

Why there is no ZERO star choice!!! Cannot bear the service at Cohen’s Fashion Optical (2933 Broadway). The sales girl was very mean and rude to me. The first first I came here for an eye examination about half a year ago, they let me wait a really long time even though I arrived exactly at the appointment time. Then they charged me 130 dollars for an eye contact examination which would cost much less in any other place. Not to mention the 48 dollar per box contact lenses which later I found only 16.9 dollars on-​line even before rebate. Today I wanted to make a followup exam appointment and the first girl told me it would be fully covered by my insurance and then the mean girl said I must pay the full price for the «contact lens» examination because it is contact lens!!! And this time, the girl let me wait again, servicing other customers who came after me because they looked more like buying something! And the girl even didn’t say «sorry to let you wait» while she said this to a middle-​age lady besides. Just because I look like an international student??? Actually my husband and another colleague are considering eye examinations and I tell them never try to think about Cohen’s!

Worst customer service! Do not come here! I came here because it was in network for my insurance. I made an appointment and showed up at the correct time. I was told that the optometrist was seeing a patient at the time. He comes out and takes another patient despite being 20min late for my scheduled appointment time. They take a walk in over scheduled appointments. Why bother having scheduled appointments? I would have to wait for another 45min to be seen! Do not waste your time coming here!

Horrible customer service. I purchased the crizal lenses, not only did it still fog but it had scratches on it. I called in and spoke to someone asking what exactly did the crizal lenses advertise because I paid almost 400 dollars at my visit and my glasses were the opposite. A few days later she called me back saying the manager said they will fix my glasses for free. A few days later I go in and another women was telling me I can’t get them fixed. I was basically lied to on the phone and waited my time going in for NOTHING. Not only did she tell me I can’t get the fixed for free but she was beginning to catch am attitude with me. I work in customer service myself and I know that is NOT hoe to treat a customer. I will much rather spend 400 dollars at a store with better communication and customer service. You’ve officially lost a customer!

i bought this groupon coupon that said $ 37 for a eye check up and a pair of glasses upto $ 200…
I ended up paying $ 200 more, because they don’t have any decent pair of glasses that my coupon would cover… which was deliberate
the store manager is horrible… may be he’s related to the owner… otherwise such terrible customer service guy wouldn’t be a manager…
it’s a total rip off
the location i went to was near port authority

Other then the worst costumer service, this place has a fraudulent deal were sold on
, the deal says it includes eye-​exam and glasses but actually would charge you separately for the glasses for couple hundreds and they will only explain it to you after you finish the eye-​exam, so if you don’t wanna pay extra for the glasses, you will have to pay for the eye-​exam then, because they will see you as «not using this package».
This was totally a fraudulent conduct, I reserve my right to use legal means.

This is my second review in 2 days. I wrote a bad review yesterday, and they somehow deleted it!!! Not right. Someone sent me a message from Cohen’s today saying they wanted to fix the problem. Since I already have the glasses, what do they think they can do? Service was bad, so you get a bad review, deal with it. Unilocal should not allow businesses to delete reviews, especially since there was nothing inappropriate written; no profanity. Review is still listed under my reviews but not under Cohen’s listing. Very Wrong.

I went here today for an eye exam to get a new prescription for contact lenses & glasses and to buy a new pair of glasses. Previously I have been going to a couple different Lenscrafters locations and had been more than satisfied with the quality of the eye exam and the customer service. I came here for convenience as it is one block away from my apartment.
So here are the highlights –
Pros:
*I was able to schedule an appointment with the eye doctor for the following day and I believe they can do same day appointments as well
*The doctor gave me a week trial of a new type of contact lens that are far more comfortable than my previous ones
*The new prescription is great and the correct strength
*The young girls behind the counter were very helpful in guiding my eyeglass frame selection and did not try to push me into buying something more expensive — they gave honest opinions about what looked best
*Convenient location
Cons:
*They do not accept my insurance
*The bill ($ 1200 for exam, new glasses & 6 month supply of contact lenses)
*The eye doctor is not an Opthamologist but is an Optometrist (which is true of Lenscrafters too but it’s worth noting just the same)
*While the exam yielded an accurate prescription I did not receive the full eye exam that I get at Lenscrafters which I think is definitely necessary
*Store ambiance was lacking (Lenscrafters for example is a much more welcoming store setting and a cleaner one… I don’t know about other Cohen’s locations)
In summary, the experience was serviceable, but for future exams & eyeglass frame upgrades I will be sticking to Lenscrafters.