Visionworks

Dr. Greg Actipes is easily my favorite optometrist, and I can’t recommend him enough. He cares, listens and has a genuine passion for the work and the people he helps. Since sitting in on my girlfriend’s eye exam with him last year, I have booked appointments exclusively with Visionworks. He’s the only optometrist I’ll go to now. Great service and staff all around.

While my rating is 4 stars, I do want to mention that I do give Dr. Greg Actipes 10s across the board!
I initially stopped in on a Saturday with the idea of getting a walk-​in appointment and the shop was really busy. I was told to browse for some frames and that someone would be with me shortly. I started looking around and after about 15 minutes and 2 other people who came in after me getting helped — I went up to the desk and asked to make an appointment. The paperwork was emailed to me so I was able to take care of that online beforehand which was really nice. I came back on Sunday and arrived 15 minutes early for my appointment and was seen before my scheduled time, which I appreciated!
The preliminary tests were fine and the woman who was administering them was very patient with me when I was blinking during the air puff. Then I went in and saw the Dr. From our first web to web handshake I knew it was going to be a great exam, and I wasn’t disappointed. Dr. Actipes explained everything going on with my vision issues — and asked my permission to show his staff my ‘textbook floater on my pupil’ — which I was happy to show off, recommended a great OTC eye drop, and even went out of his way to look for a cheaper set of frames for me and threw in a cleaning kit for being a good sport about my floater! If you are going to visit Visionworks — I highly recommend making an appointment to see Dr. Actipes.
Alicia was great — helping me get the best bang for my buck while not being super pushy — which was appreciated. My glasses were ready by 5pm the following day.

Great experience at Vision Works. Thanks Daniel T.
We were a little early for our appointment and they took us back right away. Paperwork was emailed to us so we didn’t have to mess around. They looked up our insurance and explained our benefits.
Daniel T. was super helpful even helped us pick out our frames.
Just disclaimer — they do not have seating or waiting area but since it was so efficient it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Offered a $ 19 eye exam. When I wanted to schedule it, they said they had no appointment times availability for days (naturally after the coupon expired) and though it was due to their inability to schedule me — they would not honor it. So I called Lenscrafters, set my appointment for the same day, ordered my glasses and had a great experience. Seems absolutely ignorant that Visionworks would rather lose the high profit margin on glasses and lenses rather than honor a vision exam coupon on their first available opening even though the coupon would expire. Really ignorant and certainly not customer oriented.

I just want to specifically give a special thanks to Paola who works here. She truly was super helpful in the whole process of ordering my glasses.
There was a bit of a problem that was happening with my insurance where they didnt want to cover my glasses that should have been covered. Paola made sure to explain to insurance that it was not my fault that my glasses werent being covered, it was a glitch in the insurance system and in the end the insurance agreed that it was in fact a glitch and they covered my glasses.
After that ordeal, Paola was patient and kind when ordering my glasses and even stayed later for me until i figured out how i would pay with my parents.
I really appreciate the service at Visionworks lately for my approx 5 visits in the last 3 weeks, that could have been super stressful, but thanks to Paola and staff i felt like a first priority. Many many thanks!

Avoid this place. Customer Service is terrible. Only thing good about this place is the doc.

The optometrist is the about the only good thing this Vision Works location has! Although the staff is friendly they are very disorganized when it comes to placing and ordering contact prescriptions and not that great with customer service recovery. Two years in a row this location doesn’t fail to disappoint. Last year ordered new glass and after going back several times to get the frames adjusted I asked for an exchange and was told they didn’t offer that service and I could repurchase another pair after my Insurance had already paid them for the glasses that I was unable to wear. Thinking I would give them another shot with contacts was a mistake. It’s been almost a month and I’m still waiting for the right prescription to be ordered. Beginning told yesterday that they were «going to overnight them and I would get a call this morning «well I’m still waiting! Worse location for custom service and Efficiency ever!

Staff here is pretty clueless. Maybe taking Customer Service 101 would help.

I couldn’t wait to write this review for Jose the store manager. I also work in customer service/​sales and sure cringe every time a client walks in 10 mins b4 closeing time. Not Jose! I hated being that person that makes me cringe but i rode my bike and got lost. sooo far from my home. He actually kept apologizing to me as he was also training new employees. I can’t explain how comfortable he made me feel choosing the exact frame not only to fit my small face but also to fit me and my personality. He showed me every possible pair of frames that would work while giving me his expert advice. I definitely felt his passion for helping people. I never felt rushed even one hour after there closing hour. I have never experienced such outstanding customer service. Although i still need to pick up my frames I’m confident it will be a perfect fit.

Every time I called I had to explain who I am and what I am calling for to every person that picked up the phone. It doesn’t make sense to me why you wouldn’t just ask the original person that picked up. I went in to pickup my contacts for a 4:15pm appointment, at 5:00 Dr ask who I was waiting for and I told her I was there for a follow up for the contacts I wore for a week. She apologized I wasn’t put on her list and took me in after her next pt. Found out in that appointment I didn’t need the contacts the other Dr was pushing me to get which would have been more $$$. I just can’t trust this place. Never going here again.

One of the most professional and caring vision works 5 Stars. The staff Jessica and Guadalupe have excellent employee customer service skill. The general Manager Jose was excellent. Doctor Dzejna Mezbur eye doctor her professionalism is beyond words.

I’ve gone to Visionworks for more than just glasses. One time I felt something in my eye. I was given an exam and discovered I had a torn retina! They scheduled an emergency appointment with a specialist for me. I recently developed a stye. I saw an eye doctor who explained everything about styes in detail. I was given antibiotics and instructions for my condition. Everyone I came in contact with was so nice and helpful. The doctors are thorough and caring.

Phenomenal service. I don’t often write Unilocal reviews but I felt like they were going above and beyond for me.

TERRIBLE !!!
Purchased glasses, when picked up they had the wrong screws, must have been the display frames. Went back, TREATED RUDELY like I was scamming. Called the 800 number, blown off there too, they ordered new frames, got them and they could NOT adjust correctly. Went to ForEyes and they adjusted correctly and pointed out that the LENSES ARE NOT THE SAME SHAPE! What a pita this place is, really wish I had never gone here!

To start with my contacts are muti-​focal and correct for astigmatism, which make them very expensive. I had been wearing glasses because I had not reordered the lens prescription. I came back after 6 months and tried to order them. Dr. Fakhoury would not just order my lenses. He rechecked my eyes and changed the script a little. He is a great doctor and so is the lady doctor that works there. The staff is professional maybe too professional but, you can’t fault then for doing the job correctly. When the lenses came in they the lady doctor rechecked my lenses and the fitting. WHAT A GREAT PLACE.

I’m going to have to agree with all the recent reviewers, this place is not worth the time! I’ve gone here twice now, once for myself and once for my boyfriend. The time I went I had made an appointment well in advance since I had somewhere to be an hour and half after the appointment time. When I got there it turns out the doctor had just taken a walk-​in prior to my appointment time that ended up making me wait for my appointment for about an hour. An HOUR! When I was finally seen, the doctor seemed frustrated because it was late (similar to anther reviewer’s comment). Also, the staff and the doctor both made me feel terrible for not being able to open my eyes wide enough to take images of my eyes, which seemed really silly. How’s it my fault I have tiny eyes? The appointment took about two hours in total and I missed my next appointment.
The time I went with my boyfriend we were seen quickly but they ended up doing all kind of unnecessary testing and not explaining the mark up. So, what we thought would be a $ 20 visit ended up being $ 60. This would’ve been fine if the process had been explained throughout, not just tacked on to the bill at the end.
The staff people have also given us a hard time on both occasions we visited. The first time we were trying to buy glasses with their buy one get one free policy and, because the staff kept telling us something different, we were very confused what the deal was. Every time we asked they made us feel like total morons. The second time we went, when my boyfriend asked why the bill was so high, the staff woman rather sharply kept telling him that the price she’d given him on the phone «was just a quote.» Again, that’s fine, but the tone of the whole thing was not good.

I am so frustrated with my experience at Visionworks.
First off, when I went in for my visit and my bill ended up being way higher than I anticipated. When I called up they said they took my insurance and that everything should be covered under the insurance, but when I went in they had me pay for over half of everything out of pocket.
Second, they gave me a copy of my prescription and it was so badly written that it is completely unusable.
Third, I called in to get my prescription and they do not have email in the store so they cannot give it to me that way, and they cannot give me the numbers over the phone so I have to figure out a way they can fax it to me. I don’t own a fax machine because I live in 2014 not 1988.
So much extra work on my end and they are still pretty expensive. If you can go somewhere else, don’t go here.

I’ve been wearing contacts/​glasses for almost 20 years now and Visionworks (Elston) is probably the WORST business and optometrist I have ever been to. The customer service representatives answering the phones and working the front desk are the most incompetent people I’ve ever dealt with at a doctor’s office. I have never been to an eye doctor that performed a thorough examination of my eyes as quickly as this doctor did. I’m going to assume it was because it was a Saturday evening right before closing time.
Upon buying my glasses, the customer service rep tried to add on that glass coating for my lenses unbeknownst to me until I reviewed the line items and requested to have that removed. I am currently waiting on SAMPLE contact lenses which have taken FOREVER to get delivered to their store. Every time I’ve called, each rep has told me they have no notes about my sample contacts.
I’ve given up on this place and I HIGHLY recommend people going some place else. If you’re in the WIcker Park/​Bucktown area, I’d suggest going to For Site Optical on Milwaukee Avenue. It’s a local optometrist who has very reasonable prices and they can overnight contacts to their store or have them within a few days. I’m hoping they have their $ 190 eye exam and 6 months of contacts deal, because Visionworks only cares about the bottom line. They are a chain and I would just rather support a local business like For Site that actually CARES about its customers.

Amazingly positive experience! I called at 12Pm and got a 3:15PM appointment THAT day. I walked in and immediately started looking at frames. They didn’t have every designer, but they have a very extensive selection of pretty up-​to-​date frames. Both technicians I worked with wiere super helpful and friendly. They weren’t too pushy trying to upsell me and understood that I didn’t want to pay too much above my insurance coverage amount. My optomotrist was the young and very capable, Dr. Mezbur. She was efficient, friendly, and very informed. I previously had lasik and she was even able to give me insight into «touching up» and dry eyes. After perusing the glasses options available, I decided to still with the plan to replace the lenses in my old frames. The lens technician fufilled the request in 15 minutes! I was in and out in less than 2 hrs. I was shocked! They made the experience of being told that my lasik wasn’t a complete success much more tolerable. I might even like having my glasses occassionally!
FYI lens replacement with my insurance came to $ 117. Didn’t love that price, but it was happy pay it for the fast turnaround.

Yuck. Twice I tried getting in and they lied about the wait time. The worst part was that I’m legally blind without my contacts and they left me in the waiting room after they had me take my contacts out for an hour. Imagine sitting in a blur for an hour. You can’t read magazines, you can’t read facial expressions. The staff was very arrogant. I finally left after watching 3 people go in who came in after me.
On another note, the frames here are not very nice. I think you can find a better place that will take your insurance. I did.