2/5

posted Jan-20-2012

Recently ordered a pair of glasses from this site while waiting on an order from Zennioptical.com. It was taking a long time so I figured give Coastalcontacts and their first pair free a try. The glasses came in 7 days and look nice, just like the picture, and my prescription is spot on. The only down side is that the bottom of the left lens was left unpolished on the bottom edge right in the middle. It looks like a white fuzzy spot on the bottom edge of the lense, because the plastic has been sanded along the edge but not polished like the surrounding plastic, so a noticeable white spot is apparent along the edge. It's slightly jagged and so tears bits of micro fibre cloth off if you make the mistake of rubbing the unpolished section when wiping the lenses off. If it wasn't for that small quality control problem I would have been very happy with my order. Admittedly the pair was free and I only did coatings and shipping so 20$ is way cheaper than I could get these for again from this site.

Even though the shipping was faster, once my Zennioptical order arrived I was glad I had ordered from both. At least the Zenni pairs(I ordered 2 from them since no discount code was needed to keep it cheap) came properly polished so there were no funny looking defects making people wonder if I ever cleaned my glasses. The quality of the frames seemed equivalent, and the lenses from Zenni were slightly thinner due to their free option of 1.57 index lenses. The anti reflective coating on the pair from Coastalcontacts has a green tint to it, vs a purple tint to reflections on the Zenni anti reflective coating. A good company that just needs a bit more quality control for the prices their asking in comparison to their competitors.

Edit 1: I contacted their customer service concerning the polishing defect on the lens, and they offered to reimburse the cost of having the lens polished professionally at a local establishment. The message came three days after the complaint, but the website stated I would receive a reply in 24 hours or less. If I end up trying to get the glasses polished I will update this as to how smooth the reimbursement process goes.

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5/5

posted Jan-14-2012

I ordered January 2 of 2012. Their site did not ever update, my package still says "processing" even though it's here in my hands. Other than that everything went according to plan. I have my glasses two days before their estimate which makes me happy. What makes me even happier is that I can see excellently from these glasses, they have next to no reflection with the anti-reflection coating(very noticeable), and I got two pairs for just over 50$. Both pair have excellent fit and finish quality with no noticeable imperfections in either pair(even though one was only 6.95) Even though I took no time to measure my face width or temple length(although I did of course have a professional measure my PD), both pairs I randomly selected fit well, I'm not even sure I'll have them adjusted. I received my order after 12 days, quite good considering the product is manufactured in China, shipped to California, checked, and then sent to you door(assuming US order)Many people mis understand what shipping takes place. Customs CAN hold an order for up to thirty days if you are unlucky, explaining the occasional upset person who waited forever on their glasses, although its not the norm. No other site can match their prices, BBB standings, overall quality and dedication of service.

When my order never got past the "processing" stage on the website I called into their customer support. I had read the reviews online of zennioptical customer service and prepared for the worst. When I called it was near lunch time, and I was one of 2 people in line. I waited on hold for a couple of minutes before being greeted politely by an employee. I explained my situation and they assured me that the package would clear customs any day and ship to me. That's exactly what happened the next day and they did not try to give me the run around in any way.

The frames appear strong and flexible, even the really cheap frames. I grew up with glasses and I've had the name brand nike "flexon" unbreakable glasses for many years growing up. I have experienced that left in a pocket any pair of glasses can and will break over time at the bridge. Anyone whose glasses break at the bridge are probably flexing the glasses regularly at the welds near the bridge, one of the weakest points on all glasses. I've gone through countless "expensive" name brand pairs of "flexon" flexible titanium due to keeping them in my pocket and after six months of abuse they break right in the middle like any other pair of glasses. Zenni optical does not offer an inferior quality pair of glasses, but if you treat them like you paid 20$ for them(which maybe you did) don't expect them to last as well as the 400$ glasses you put on a silk pillow every night before bed and always kept in its case when traveling. If you treat a pair of Zenni's well they will give you years of service like any pair of glasses.

I'm very satisfied overall with my experience, and if you're glasses are taking forever just look at the BBB ratings and take heart in the fact that they will try to take care of you, they have a vested interest in doing so.

Edit 1:
I also placed an order with Coastal Contacts to see how they compared to Zenni Optical. My order from Coastal took only 7 days to get to me, vs 12 for Zenni Optical. The only down side is the the single pair I ordered from Coastal was not polished properly on one edge(along the bottom edge) and so the entire edge of the lens is perfectly polished and clear except for one white spot where the plastic is still rough.(easily visible in other words) The prescription was spot on, I think the rims look excellent and feel strong. Their reflective coating seems to reflect a bit more light than Zenni Opticals coating.(more noticeable reflections on the coastal contacts pair) Also the coating used by Zenni has a purple reflection/tint and the Coastal Contacts reflects green/tint so from that you can tell the coatings are different, and if you prefer one color reflection vs the other there you have it.

Overall that left me a bit dissapointed with Coastal, because their price would have been "much more" if it wasn't for their "first pair free" program. Since the pair was free, I only paid for coatings and shipping, still just over 20$ so no savings compared to Zenni even with free frames. The standard index offered free by Coastal(1.5) is also slightly thicker than the standard index offered free at Zenni(1.57) resulting in thicker lenses, and the cost of higher indexes are also poorly matched with Zenni being much cheaper.

The 6.95$ pair I ordered from Zenni on my original order was intended as a "backup" pair, but overall their fit and finish is nicer than the "expensive" pair from Coastal. In fact I even find the cheapo frames fit more comfortably(nearly weightless), so if the pair I'm wearing starts to bother me from sitting the same way too long I can just switch to the cheap "spare" pair and keep working in comfort. I was more satisfied with my order from Zenni(even though it took longer) than I was with my Coastal order, because of the overall quality of product delivered and the price and service I can expect in the future.

One last note in favor of Coastal is that their glasses case they send is nice looking(especially next to the cheap Zenni shell case) and they even send a keychain mini screwdriver(flathead + phillips) that you can keep with you in the circumstance that a screw does begin to loosen unexpectedly. Their package was nicer, with more advertisements, if they had gotten the workmanship on the lenses right I would have suggested them over Zenni for the accessories and faster shipping time.

Edit 2: I contacted Coastal over the issue of the lens via email, and the customer service rep did offer to reimburse the price of having the lenses professionally polished. I may or may not end up taking them up on that offer as it took three days for them to get back to me(on the site it states you will receive an e-mail within 24 hours and "most likely much sooner" which was not the case in any way) I'm not too interested in reimbursement shenanigans as getting them to honor a receipt could be a pain, and there's the turnaround time and the lack of BBB accreditation. But they did offer, and I would be lax not to mention this as it at least indicates the existence of customer service.

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