A Visual Affair

Received ‘drive by eye exam’. Lots of people in waiting room. Was charged 70 co-​pay but no idea what for. When I asked about my dry eye syndrome and if it had been improved was told ‘it was not covered on my insurance’. When I called my insurance to verify they said the health of the eye they said it should have been checked. The Dr ‘forgot’ I had astigmatism. Do not take the exam at the back of the office, as they flash your eye with a blinding light. I did not receive a statement or breakdown of costs, I did not receive any kind of update on the tests I was charged for, or the health of my eye. Was not told when the trial lenses would be ready for me to pick up. I walked out with ill fitting contact lenses, and could barely see. You get the feeling this establishment is about how much money can be made from our insurance. Awful experience, and not worth the very convenient location.

Fantastic service! Highly recommend these pros! Customer oriented and friendly. They provided courtesy adjustments to reading glasses with no waiting.

After reading all of the great reviews decided to stop by here and use my FSA balance on a new pair of sun glasses. After getting the representative to notice me and help me out with some sun glass options, the representative was nice enough to offer various options and running my insurance for the total cost. I purchased the prescription sunglasses and came back when I received the call that they were ready. When I came in during the middle of the day to pick up my sunglasses my wife and I were the only customers in the place with a rep at the front desk and the same rep who helped purchase the sunglasses doing some stuff at a near by table. The rep at the front desk brought out the sunglasses and offered for me to put them on. After I put them on out of the box, her first response was «they are perfect». They felt off and not perfectly level on my nose. I walked around with them and looked in the mirror and they were obviously off and crooked to one side. I then asked her to adjust them for me but her response was «I won’t be able to make them any better then they are and that everyone’s face is not perfect so they may feel a bit off but they look even». After that the phone started ringing and I never saw or spoke to her again. I again looked at myself in the mirror and my wife agreed that they were crooked to one side. I walked up to the other rep at the table and had to basically force him to stop doing what he was doing so that he would adjust the sunglasses. After adjusting them a bit, I put them on my face and his response was «they look perfectly even», even though it was clear that the adjustment was insufficient and they were still off and now even more uncomfortable than before. I brought them back and again asked him to adjust them to be centered over my nose. He proceeded to say that my nose was not even and that no matter how much he adjusted them they would never look perfectly even. He reluctantly adjusted them further per my request and this time they seemed to fit better and looked a bit more centered. We decided to accept good enough and left. Considering that I was the only customer in the store and just spent $ 400 on sunglasses, I expected the service to be substantially better than what I received. I could go to Costco, buy $ 50 glasses and receive substantially better service and care. Will have to continue looking for a different local glasses shop for my future business.

I posted a positive review of this office a long time ago but have since had nothing but negative experiences with this office. The process of getting my first eye exam and getting a pair of glasses went smoothly enough at first, after which I posted my review. After that, it’s been downhill ever since.
It started when I was promised a rebate for my purchase. When I went in to claim my rebate, suddenly people acted like they had no idea what I was talking about, and I was told repeatedly that they would «check on that» and call me back. Each time, no call came. After well over a month of this game, calling them every couple days and receiving this treatment (it seemed like they were just hoping I’d forget about it and give up), finally it was elevated to the doctor’s attention. He apologized and finally provided my rebate. The experience put a bad taste in my mouth, but since he apologized, I opted not to revise my review that time.
Well, once again I needed something and got no service. I went there to see if I could have my glasses repaired with my warranty. The office person took down my name and contact information, pulled my file, and said he would check on it first thing tomorrow morning and call me. Surprise, no call. I am tired of being ignored by the service staff.
I have since connected with another optometrist that treats their customers much more respectfully, and if I have to pay out of pocket to repair my glasses, my money will go to them. A Visual Affair may get you an okay appointment and have you in a pair of glasses soon, but if you need ANYTHING else from them, I’d say you should expect to get a lengthy runaround from disinterested staff that will leave you with a sour feeling about the whole experience, unfortunately. I’m very glad I’m going somewhere else now.

Been going here for a couple years. Best place in the area. My wife switched quickly after I told everyone her how great my experience was. Very patient and helpful… I need both of those very much.
highly recommend.

worst experience ever! The staff there especially the ones named Joe and amber. Lie all the time. First they told me my lens will be ready the next day and then continue lied and make up stories like the ups car is towed blablabla. They also play with the calculator and told me that my total amount is 600. If I do not double check it I may not found out that the total is 400!

I visited this office for my contact lends exam, and it was a great experienced I have with a doctor, but billing. It cost almost same amount as non insured charge. I contacted my insurance company, and their explanation of my bill & the amount this office charge to my insurance company does not match. unsure if a receptionist is doing correct billing or not. I have experienced high pressure sales practice by previous receptionist at last time there also.
Otherwise, a doctor is fantastic, and other employee for eye glass frame sales is also very kind and approchable.

Great place for getting your eye exam and glasses. Dr. Bindal was very friendly and super informative to help me take care of my eye health. The place is beautiful! There are many options for glasses. They also worked great with my insurance Davis Vision /​Carefirst.

I have to say, my review is somewhat mixed. So I will leave them to fix the not so positive things that happened and instead focus on the only part that made my visit here go so well, and that was the dedicated customer service of Jessica Hernandez. Driving back and forth from work, in the snow, enduring many set backs with this store, Jessica went above and beyond to make my experience at A Visual Affair better. Not only did she help me get my order, she called another store and had another technician come in to finish my eye glasses so I didn’t have to make another trip out to the store. Her excellent support and customer service are worth noting, and did change my experience to a more positive one. Thank you Jessica!

The customer service at this place is abysmal. The lady at the front desk told me I needed «thin» lenses and tried to explain to me that my eyes would look small with thick lenses. I cannot really be sure if that’s true or not but honestly I felt it sounded absolutely ridiculous.
In spite of her comment I was actually fine with her recommendation for the «thin» lenses — I know my prescription is high. But then she tells me that their «thin» lenses have different degrees of thinness that would cost anywhere from $ 300 – 600 but couldn’t tell me anything about how each price point would vary in thickness other than that the $ 600 lens would be the thinnest of the «thin» lenses. Um. Thanks for nothing.
Don’t go here it’s a rip off. Got «thin» lenses (yes the thinnest ones) done elsewhere for half the price they offered.

Dr. Bindal and Juan are the very BEST! Juan is amazing at finding you the perfect frames! My mother and I had been searching for new frames for quite a while and Juan immediately knew what would look best! You won’t be disappointed!

Friendly staff — Dr. Bindal is awesome. Great selection of eyewear, especially boutique/​unique glasses. Not really pressured into buying anything including contacts. In fact, Dr. Bindal said I could look online to see if I could get a better deal. I got a fabulous pair of Dolabany glasses and wished I still lived in the area to see what was in stock now. Plus: trunk shows and special events.

Dr. Bindal and staff are excellent they always are inviting. Dr. Bindal has helped me tremendously with my eye condition. He has worked diligently to provide me with optimum vision. He has worked diligently to find contacts to aid my Keratoconus.

I had to come onto Unilocal and review this great establishment because of their fantastic, personal service. I had needed to change my glasses for a long time. I happened to drive by and having never heard of this locally owned group of eye centers, decided to pop in for a check on my eyes and for replacement lenses. My eyes had been bothering me for quite some time and I thought perhaps it was my overly scratched up lenses. The front service staff led by Juan, was very nice and helpful. Dr. Binal started my eye exam and by the time we were done, we realized that my previous prescription was off by a whopping 33%. It’s no wonder my eyes were hurting! Dr. Binal helped me tremendously by fixing a really bad prescription.
I needed my new lenses that day — but my insurance required we send my lenses in. Dr. Binal and Juan told me that because I was flying out of the country in a few days, even though insurance required me to send them in, they would give me my new lenses that day and they would sort it out with my insurance. I asked them if they would get reimbursed and they said the would, it would be a little work for them but they are happy to do it. Juan then did my lenses and an hour later, I had the right prescription and new, clean, clear lenses.
I don’t get on Unilocal much. But I was so happy and so pleased with their great, personal, service, that I was motivated to get on here and highly recommend them. Dr. Binal lives in the Northern VA/​DC area, he is closely involved with all his stores, and his team is very focused on excellent customer service.

The staff is always very welcoming and helpful. Dr. Bindal is courteous and does a good, thorough eye examination, but is also chatty and friendly. It’s not the cheapest in the world, but think that’s because they sell higher-​end frames. Plus, they’ve yet to yell at me for eating a ton of their mints, which is always a concern of mine (I really like mints).

I have been a patient of Dr. Bindal for at least the past 3 years… I’ve always experienced friendly and attentive service on my visits. I like the intimate feel of the office and there was good music playing the last time I was there too! That always helps make the shopping experience more enjoyable… I can always find a good selection of cute frames at reasonable prices. I never felt rushed and the Optician — Juan who helped me gave good feedback to help me pick out my new pair of glasses…

This place has really poor customer service. Their glasses are higher-​end designer frames. Took my Prada glasses in to be fixed bc a screw fell out. They had poor follow-​up, and when I went to pick them up, they had dirty fingerprints all over them! You’d think being a glasses place you would at least clean them!

Dr. Bindal and staff are all very courteous despite my being very demanding: p I have been seeing Dr. Bindal for about 4 – 5 years now he has always shown great care in the health of my eyes. Having never shopped for frames before, I only know of the frames they sell here and can’t speak for value/​comparison to other places, hence 4 stars b/​c my cousin who works for Marchon, thinks they’re a tad pricy.

Dr. Bindal is friendly and professional, and it appears his shop has a decent selection of eyewear (though I didn’t buy any from there). Exams here cost the usual amount (about $ 100) as comparable places (e.g. LensCrafters). The staff is helpful but not pushy and friendly enough, though they should probably have someone dedicated to working the front desk if both associates are busy helping other customers and are unable to tend to customers waiting at the front desk.
The only thing I had an issue with was the waiting times — both times I went (for the initial exam and follow up) my exam ended up being 20 minutes past the initial appointment time, which is a major pet peeve of mine. So 4 stars.

The entire team here is fantastic. The optician was patient and offered tips while I tried on frames, they will work with you for deals, and Dr. Bindal even complimented my selections.
I appreciate the thoroughness of the exam and prompt attention. I don’t make it across the river often, but will be coming back here for any eye care needs.