Dean Optical

Dr DeLee is an expert in the field; Tom us the best in helping with eyeglasses and lens selection and ordering

Great service… so accommodating any time I need to see them or have an issue they are great. Always make time, fast and friendly. Dr DeLee and his staff are great. I’ve seen all the doctors and I highly recommend Dean Optical.

I think I’ve seen all of the doctors, and they are all very nice and professional. The office is clean, timely, and convenient. I would definitely recommend.

Dr. Meifert is a very patient eye doctor. He helped me to transition from hard lenses to soft lenses, which was not as easy as it sounds. The only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is the wait time can be very long. I’ve never started an appointment on time.

I’ve been seeing Dr. DeLee for nearly 8 years now, and have always had a great experience with him and others in the office. Last year, I tried a new eye doctor located closer to my work purely for convenience, and was so disappointed in the service that I have returned to Dr. DeLee this year, and will not think about changing doctors again! The extra travel time to get to Dean Optical is worth the better service and very friendly experience. I have never encountered any billing issues that others have noted, and have always left satisfied with my experience.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Meifert for the last four years and have been very happy with my experiences at Dean Optical. I always get a comprehensive contact lens/​eye examination and the front desk staff have been helpful and friendly. Late last year, I got new lenses for my glasses and the turnaround was pretty quick. Plus whenever I order my year supply of contact lenses, I get them delivered for free and receive them within a matter of days (even though I’m told it can take 7 – 10 business days).

Ok. I never right reviews. Even when I’ve had bad service. Who has time for that? Plus you have to setup an account and express your frustration through complete sentences. Not my thing. But today. Today is different. Dean’s Optical struck a nerve I didn’t know I had. But it’s there, trust me.
I would avoid this place like the plague! It all started when my husband had new lenses put in a frame he bought elsewhere. He got top of the line lenses and asked for anti-​glare, that was it. My husband was walking in downtown Chicago and caught a reflection of himslf and noticed his lenses had darkened. He called me and said they put transition lenses in his frame. No offense to people with transtion lenses but we do not like them, honestly we think they are for old people. We are in our mid-​twenties. They did fix them but another 10 days without glasses.
Fast forward. My turn.
I go in for an eye exam and contact lense fitting. All was good, until I went to order contacts. I’m at home trying to find the contacts online (becuase they’re typically cheaper online) and I can’t find them to save my life. I was drowning. So I go in there the following day. What’s that you say? I can’t order them online? They’re a speacial lense for that doctor? WTF, are you serious? So I have to order my contacts through you now matter what? Can I get a different brand? Oh, Id have to see the doctor again? And give you more money? Awe gee wiz do I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Here take my money.
Fast Forward somemore.
I order some frames online and bring them in to have lenses put in. They’re a thick black frame with no edges on the lense exposed. Mr. Wonderful who ordered my glasses had the edges polished. Anyone who’s worked in optical before know that having a polished edge on a lense in an enclosed frame will cause a glare around the edges (I worked optical in college). So I immediately bring them back in (I work in the same buidling) and they say they can fix it. When I go to pick them up I notice they buffed the edges so much that there is a nasty line all the way around the lense. I go back up stairs to work and asked a few collegues if i was crazy or did they notice it too. Everyone agreed, BRING THEM BACK. So I did. When i brought them back this man tried to tell me that if I got them made with no edge polish it would be worse. At that very moment, I lost it. Needless to say they’re fixing them. I pray to God they get it right for their sake. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Now in their defense I kept bring my happy butt down there knowing damn well that they just can’t get it right.

Needed an emergency eyeglass repair. There was no technician available. Had to go somewhere else.

I had been going to Dr. Meifert for years, but after two billing mistakes I am not going back. They double billed my husband (the amount I don’t remember) and just recently sent me a bill for $ 233.11 from contacts I got a YEAR ago! There were no bills sent during the year– and though they called me to schedule an appt there was no mention of an outstanding balance. On the notice I received it didn’t even state what the $ 233.11 was for! No thank you!

I will say that this office is not cheap. But, the staff is top notch, and I’ve found the medical care can’t be beat. I’m as blind as a bat without my glasses, so high quality optometry is of the utmost importance to me, and Dean Optical is far an away better than other optometrists I’ve tried in the city.

I have been using Dean Optical for 10 years and will not be giving a positive review to the 100 employees that could be customers in the building.
Eye Exam was good and would give exam five star
Glasses frames are 60% over priced, flat out rip off
Did not give insurance discount of 20% as they should on both lenses and frames
This is the second problem with ordering in 12 months, The first time was for a sunglasses and they took the order and payment then called back to say the girl had messed up and I needed to pay much more.
Get an exam and then run for the door

Yay! I have new glasses and I love them!
The review is really about the appointment, though. I really hate having my eyes checked. I’d rather go to the dentist. Dr. DeLee and his team go out of their way to make the appointment as best as possible. Even I admit that some of the stuff is pretty cool– all of the health conditions that you can see by looking at the eye. They explain everything really well and were really patient with me. they always have new machines and the latest technology. I still would rather go to the dentist, but it is pretty cool stuff.
A for the vsp comment. I had the opposite experience. They’ve been asking me for years about my eye insurance (which I had none) and were pretty excited for me that my new job came with vsp.

Was surprised to have to pay for a «contact fitting.» This was not mentioned at the beginning or during the appointment. I was merely asked «contacts or glasses». I checked with my insurance provider and found that you charged the MAXIMUM possible for the contact fitting ($ 120) where I had no need to try new contact lenses, or needed any explanation of how to put in contacts. I also walked away with a sub-​par brand of contacts that, as we speak, are hurting my eyes.
If you really are going to charge for a «contact fitting» you should do the following things:
1. explain at the beginning that there is a charge for contact fittings and what that charge is.
2. give quality contacts for the fitting. These are the worst I have ever used.
As an addition, please do not try and up-​sell me on reviewing and storing photos of the interior of my eye. Once again, if you are going to pull that tactic, at least be honest up front. Don’t waste my time taking photos if you are not going to look at them! You are bordering unethical behavior for taking these photos, having them immediately available to the doctor and him not reviewing them.

Negative stars all the way. I emailed the owner Dr DeeLee. He said he would call in his email and never did. Also, I have given this practice mutiple chances to get it right, they have failed MISERABLY every single time.

I’ve been going to Dean Optical for a few years and have found the service there to be good. (I saw Dr. Olson for contact lenses.) Unfortunately there was a recent billing incident, after which I will not be going back. After each visit, I always settle up in full for my outstanding bill. At my last visit in August, per usual I settled up again. I was surprised to receive, about a month later, a bill in the mail for $ 4.50 — apparently they made an error and short-​charged me $ 4.50 when I settled up. Normally I would not mind a small bit if human error, except that this invoice was marked in all caps «THIS ACCOUNT IS OVER 31 – 60 DAYS OLD.» I recognized this to be a paper trail so that Dean can ship my account off to a collection agency immediately and make it appear that my account is past-​due.
I called Dean Optical to confirm this, and the receptionist did in fact confirm that the bill was designed to be sent to a collection agency if not paid, despite the fact that this was their own error. I explained that when I go to Target, and the cashier forgets to scan a pair of socks I buy, Target a) does not come after me later for the $ 4.50 and b) will not send my account to collections. This is how normal commercial transactions are done. Yes — Target screws up my bill from time to time and overcharges me, and the reverse happens as well sometimes, but the risk likes with the party that was not diligent during the transaction.
I understand this is small potatoes, money-​wise, but this is exactly the sort of nonsense that characterizes the medical/​insurance community. I pay in full (in combination with vision insurance) at check-​out. I do not want to be subtly threatened — and then overtly threatened on the phone — with collections actions due to Dean Optical’s error. Haven’t we all heard horror stories about mishandled medical bills on a much, much larger scale, resulting in personal bankruptcies and financial disaster? I may be tilting at windmills, but I am going to leave Dean Optical and look for another eye doctor that treats its patients (a/​k/​a clients) with more integrity.

I came here based on a recommendation I recieved and am glad I did. I had broken my glasses a few years earlier and never really bought any new ones and so my vision was getting worse. I was using an old pair from the person who recommended me to this place just to be able to read the board at school and get important things done. Eventually that wasn’t working for me anymore so I gave in to his recommendation and finally made an appointment.
This place is excellent. The doctor who checked my eyes didnt seem very friendly he was sort of stern and straight to the point but that could just be his personality. They have a wide variety of frames here especially Ray Bans which I went with in the end. After my insurance I paid $ 100 out of pocket. Due to the fact that I had no glasses they rushed to put it in and my order was ready about 4 hours later. Excellent customer service! The guy who fits your glasses was friendly and helpful.
The best place I’ve ever gotten glasses from. Hands down.

Awful customer service experience twice in a row now. I’ll give them two starts only because there is a very friendly member of the staff who is very helpful and knowledgeable, but he is really carrying the weight there.
I came in for an eye exam towards the end of the day since the hours aren’t very convenient for anyone with a day job. The technician who prepped me for the doctor rushed through the process and discarded any concerns I had about my results while being visibly annoyed throughout the entire process.
Patience is everything when you are servicing customers, and a little goes a long way. If you don’t like people, get a different job please.

TERRIBLE customer service here. Had a normal eye appointment with Dr. Delee and then the most shoddy customer service afterward.
Trying to order my glasses and pay for my appointment took forever… the guy who was ‘helping’ me had to ask two other people for assistance, and then of course spend some time chatting to coworkers about how much colder it was here than when he was on vacation last week.
I ordered contacts and was told to come pick them up anytime after 2/​5, when they’d be in. I came in on 2/​6, and spent 20 minutes waiting while the same guy bumbled around the office trying to find my contacts, my missing file, etc… turns out the contacts hadn’t come in, so I’d wasted a trip. I told him to let me know when they came in. No call, no call, finally I called back this morning to tell them to refund my card and I’d go to 1−800-CONTACTS. The woman I spoke to was so rude, needed my card number again to HOPEFULLY refund my card, hung up on me when she tried to put me on hold and never called back. Then when I called back and gave her the card number for the refund, I also asked for a copy of my prescription to be sent to me and she said «Ok» and hung up on me again! I called back to see HOW she was sending it and the second lady I spoke to was equally rude. Not only did they not care that they were in the process of losing a patient, they didn’t even display the most rudimentary customer service you’d expect as someone calling a business… you know, like not being hung up on twice.
It’s too bad all the front of office staff are so terrible, because Dr. Delee was really nice and professional.
UPDATED TO ADD: I got several messages from the office manager at Dean Optical, and called in. She was very apologetic and thankful for my feedback. She asked what they could do to make things better, and I said I just wanted my refund. She eagerly said she’d mail me an itemized receipt and that I’d see the refund within a day or so, and then said she’d also be mailing a Starbucks gift card. I think she wishes as much as I do that what happened hadn’t, but her swift and sincere response was much appreciated.

I found this place on
and am not disappointed. I go here for my routine checkups as well as to buy contacts. Did you know that they will match competitor pricing you find elsewhere on contacts?! Pretty neat. The doctors are super knowledgeable and have great bed side manner. I go to whoever is available. And they are great with scheduling last minute appointments. I never feel like I am at the eye doctor, but instead just chatting with a friend. You can tell that the doctors here are very passionate about eye care.
I have not purchased glasses from here, but they seem to have an excellent selection. And the location of this place cannot be better… The Rookery Building.

I’ve been to Dean Optical 4 times in the past 6 weeks. My eyes are so needy lately.
I made an appointment with Dr. Meifert because my vision was blurry in my right eye. He was running late and I couldn’t wait that day so I saw Dr. Olson instead. Turns out my contacts were irritating my eyes and a little eyeball tlc was in order. So, a couple weeks later and I think my eyes are back to their healthy selves.
Dr. Olson has been very professional and helpful. I think I’ve now seen all the doctors are Dean Optical and they are all great. One of the best parts about these frequent follow ups… they didn’t charge me for them! So, now I have my vision back and no ridiculous bill to pay for it.
The only downside… spending so much time at the eye doctor means more time for me to look at new frames. I really don’t need that kind of temptation, before I know it I’ll have 5 pairs of glasses.