Walmart Vision Center

The unapproving stares of strangers are no longer just in my head, because I can actually see them.
I just got out the door of Walmart Vision with glasses for 36 dollars. That’s WITH tax!
I lost my old glasses and went to get a prescription from America’s Best, which is literally the WORST place to get glasses. I have been putting it off because I am the cheapest person alive, and I never want to be one of those people who gets glasses just to look cool. I kept telling myself I didn’t NEED glasses, but one mistake too many finally convinced me, yeah, seeing better would be helpful. Mainly when driving. Ooops.
Didn’t make an appointment– just walked in. The staff here were über amazing. I didn’t have my vision re-​checked (exam is not included and costs an extra 40 or 50 bucks I think), I might regret that later, but picking out frames was painless. I didn’t feel too stupid trying on every frame in the store, and even though I didn’t get much assistance during the process, once I had painstakingly narrowed it down to two pairs, the associate helpfully told me both were all wrong for my rotund face and helped me pick out a different pair. His honest assessment puts him in best friend zone, as although I value honesty, we all need friends who are going to tell us which glasses make us look the least fat and lame.
None of the frames were on the right price thing, so check the tag. Mine said 9.99, but luckily were on some sort of back-​to-​school sale for 5. Five dollars! With a year-​long warranty. That’s gonna hurt a lot less when I sit on them or lose them, or run them over with my car, which will be a lot less likely to happen now that I have them.
I’m still having an eye problem, though. I can’t see myself going anywhere else for glasses! Hardy har har har har…

It’s not fancy. It’s straight to the point. I got out of there quick. No upselling, no scaring me into thinking I need something I didn’t, and have the price of my old eye doctor I’ve been going to for 14 years. Doctor Finch is nice an personable and bit stand off-​ish like other doctors.

I gotta say I’m not usually a fan of Walmart, but their vision center at this location was great. I got a contacts exam with zero wait, and got a free trial pair of contacts on the spot. I ordered 2 boxes of contacts and was told it would be 5 days for them to arrive. They arrived in 2! So I was pretty happy. The doctor was very professional and friendly as well.
Also, Kevin, the associate who did part of the exam– the glaucoma test, etc, was very friendly and HILARIOUS. If you go here, ask him to tell you his expirience at a haunted house on Halloween. I was crying with laughter. :P

So I went back for my annual checkup and it’s basically the same song and dance here: fantastic optometrist, less-​than-​stellar support staff.
Upon arriving for my appointment, I could tell right away that the vision center «associate» (and that’s a bit of a stretch, but I’ll humor the title for now) who was helping me was either new or not the brightest tool in the shed. After filling out the necessary paperwork, I sat waiting for him and the other associate to finish goofing around to notice that I was done.
The actual exam was great. I love the optometrist here — he’s funny, does his job well and does it quickly. Not sure why he works in a Wal-​Mart, but I’m sure he has his reasons.
Wal-​Mart does accept some vision insurance, so my contacts weren’t very expensive this time around. But I got a phone call last night from the «associate» who let me know that they forgot to charge me for my exam… would I mind coming back to pay or could I pay them over the phone? Say what?
Of course I’m not going to give this clown my credit card info over the phone, which means I’ll have to trek it back to Kirkwood sometime in the next week or so to give them money. Fantastic!
The reason why I like going to Wal-​Mart centers is that you get contacts almost anywhere. So if you’re out of town and rip a lens, you can easily call up a Wal-​Mart and have it taken care of in an hour or so. And almost every small town or big city has one. But maybe I should just buy a surplus of contact lenses at a different eye doctor so I don’t have to put up with the b.s.

Ok, I generally abhor all things Wal-​Mart. Generally, I refuse to enter these places and will only do so with great trepidation and often because I frankly have no choice.
However, I think I may be in love with the vision center. Three years of law school left me with failing eyesight and a lack of vision insurance. This combination of things had me at a loss of where to go to get my new contacts/​glasses, not to mention the eye exam I knew I was in desperate need of. I, with great trepidation (as mentioned above) called Wal-​Mart and made an appointment.
It was a very pleasant surprise. The doctor was great, completely understanding of my fear of all things touching my eyeballs, and was entirely patient. The girl that taught me how to put my contacts in was also amazingly patient and sat with me for a half hour while I poked and ripped the new things from eyeballs. The prices were amazingly cheap, and they did not even charge me for the contact fitting. For the eye exam, the new contacts, new glasses (which I got in three days, can’t beat that!) I spent less than $ 150. Good luck finding that at any other fancy schmancy place.
So yes, I hate Wal-Mart…but I love their optometrist… and if you are lacking vision insurance… I think you might fall in love with this place, too.