I went to Cohen's Fashion Optical on July 1st to get a new pair of glasses. I had a coupon that I was hoping to use and thought they had good service as they are a well known brand. I gave my glasses to someone to take the prescription of off and they assigned me a salesperson. From the beginning she was pushy and not very helpful. She was trying to deal with me and another customer at the same time and was going back and forth btwn us. After trying on some glasses I narrowed it down but couldn't decide. I tried telling her I would come back. She kept pushing. We negotiated a price for the glasses but I still was unsure. I took my credit card out but had not said yes and she took my card and charged it. Immediately I knew I did not want the glasses and asked her to reverse the charge (I had not signed the cc slip). Instead she kept taking out more and more pairs of glasses and getting everyone in the store to tell me which looked better on me. It was so overwhelming I had a panic attack. I finally signed the slip just to get out of there. I figured I would have glasses any way.

I was called on July 7th to pick up my glasses. I went in on the 8th at 6:30. When I walked in and said I was there to pick them up I was rudely asked if anyone called me. Yes, in fact, they had. I was handed the glasses, not asked if they fit or anything and basically expected to leave. I tried them on and could tell the prescription was off. I asked the woman who helped me originally about it and she said they would be fixed by the 11th. I asked her again if I could just have my money back. She told me that I would need to speak to the owner/manager. He seemingly did not believe that the prescription was wrong so he tookthem himself. When he came back he told me that both lenses were wrong and to sit down as he fixed them (originally I was told only the left lense was wrong). I waited and waited. At 7:20 I asked to speak to him (so I could tell him I would come back). The woman came back and said he'd told me I'd have to wait. When he gave me the glasses back finally I again said they did not seem right. I asked for my money back and said that I had never had anyone pressure and bully me like the people at that store. I told him I'd had a panic attack they were so aggressive. I was told I was "some kind of actress" and that the reason I couldn't see in the glasses must be "all the pills [I] was on." Shocked does not begin to describe how I felt. I took my glasses and walked out.

The next day I took my glasses to my usual place and had them check the prescription. I was told they were so far off it was unbelieveable. He had no idea what they had done to those glasses. I can't believe that this store (Cohen's) could send people out with the wrong prescription- and be so ugly and rude and aggressive on top of it.

I am in the process of reporting this store to corporate, the Better Business Bureau and my credit card company. I have told everyone I know to avoid them and their horrible business practices!

I visited this store on Tuesday, 2/8/11 to have my prescription filled. I was told that the order could take up to 5 days so I told them I wanted to cancel. the manager promised that she would put a rush on the order so that I could have them on Friday, 2/11. On Friday, 2/11, I called to find out when I could pick the glasses up. the salesperson and manager told me that they weren't in yet. The manager promised to follow up and let me know the status. On Monday, 2/14, the sales person told me tha they still were not in and she could not tell me when I should expect them. I told her I wanted to cancel and I wanted a refund because I needed to order another pair of glasses. I asked to speak with the manager who was expected in after 3 p.m. called back after 3 p.m. the salesperson told me that they would only issue me a store credit the manager would not be in. I spoke with a man and again requested a refund. this group is most unresponsive. I do not want a store credit because I do not want to do business with Cohen's ever again.

I had a contact lens fitting exam in April 2010 at Cohen's Fashion Optical in Shirley, NY. The first time I went, the doctor tried some brand of lenses that were totally uncomfortable, so he asked me to come back in a few days so he could order some other brand for me to try (apparently they only carry one brand in the store?). Part II of my exam, I tried and liked the brand (1-day Acuvue Moist). So, the exam was over and I was at the front desk getting ready to pay for my exam and order the contacts...the woman at the desk gave me some ridiculous price for the lenses - so I said yeah, no, I can't afford that...so I just paid my insurance copay for the exam and left. Didn't think to ask for my prescription at the time (and, of course, now I found The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act issued in July 2004 - which requires prescribers to give patients a copy of their contact lens prescriptions at the end of a contact lens fitting, even if the patient doesn't ask for it).

So, I've been wearing my glasses exclusively for some time now, but still had a few pairs of my old contacts left - so I wore those once in a while. Ran out of those in June 2010...so I called Cohen's in Shirley last week to get my contact lenses prescription, so I could order them online. I got some super snot (Dominique) on the phone who said the doctor was on vacation through July 5th, and there was nothing she could do...my prescription was never "finalized." I asked if there was another doctor that could look at it and "finalize" it...she said no doctor today, but one would be in the next day and she'd call me back. She didn't. I called either the day she said she would, or the next day, and she said "oh, the other doctor said he can't get involved...you'll have to wait until the doctor gets back from vacation." I said, well, I'm out of contacts and I don't really understand why my prescription wasn't "finalized" - since I was standing at the counter ready to order them after the exam...she said there was nothing she could tell me.

July 6th, I call back and say I was waiting for a call on my prescription...she says "oh, the doctor won't be back from vacation until tomorrow..." I call around 11 this morning (July 7th) and ask for my prescription again. They say they will call me back, the doctor is busy. I call back at 5:30pm...she says the doctor said he will match whatever price I found online. So, I pull up the website I was planning on ordering from and tell her the final price per box I would be getting it for. She puts me on hold for a few minutes, then comes back and asks if she can call me back in about 10 minutes. She calls me back and says she can order them for me tonight and put a rush on the order, but for ~$25 more than the price online. So I said, OK, then I just need the prescription information so I can order them online...then she says, oh, well, you can pick up your prescription tomorrow and do whatever you want with it.

At this point, I have really lost my patience with this place. I tell her that I have been calling repeatedly and trying to order these contacts for over a week now and she says she knows. I quote from the FTC.gov Act that it is federal law for them to release my prescription to me - and that it was federal law to give my prescription to me after my exam (which they didn't do). She says it is the law for my prescription to be signed off on by the doctor, but it isn't signed, so she can't do anything. I ask her "how were you going to order my contacts tonight for me, if the doctor hasn't signed off on my prescription? Or is it just that you won't give it to me now because I'm ordering them from someone other than you?" We kept going back and forth, each time I got more mad and she got more snotty. She kept talking over me...and I started to lose it (I was shaking at this point). I finally hung up on her.

AVOID Cohen's - please!!! This isn't the first time I have had an issue with them...it is just the most recent, and the most against the law...

Worst eyeglass shopping experience of my entire life! I had been there once before and had no problems besides for their horrible glasses selection for my insurance and then if i wanted other ones it cost me an arm and a leg to get semi nice ones. I just went back to Cohen's to get an eye exam on sunday because i hadnt gotten one in 4 years. I had bought designer frames at costco because i knew i could get really nice glasses there for cheaper than any gross pair i could get at Cohen's. So i go and i get my perscription and then i go to order lenses so that my insurance can pay for them. I have a really high perscription so i always have to pay a little bit extra to get the lenses thinned but its been 4 years since i got new lenses and frames that i didn't remember how much exactly. The woman than informs me that to get them 25% thinner is $50 to get them 40% thinner is $100 and to get them 75% thinner is $200 but then says it is impossible to know how thick they are going to be without anything. If i cannot know how thick they will be how do i know how much to get it reduced? they want me to spend $200 thinking that they are going to be hideously thick, no way. So i asked her to check what i did last time and apparently they dont keep your records after 4 years? I thought it was supposed to be 7. And that there was no way to know how much thinner i got them last time. Well can you tell me anything? No! So i decide to screw them and i will take my prescription somewhere else to get my lenses but they refused to give it to me. Withheld my own medical information from me! Can you say ILLEGAL. She said since it was sunday the insurance was closed and she cant call it in and get payed for the exam so she cant release my prescription. That is not how this world works. My insurance doesnt cover it you send me a bill. Thats how the world works and you cant hold my prescription hostage. So than she tried to scare me into thinking that if i didnt get lenses right then and there that i would miss out on my chance to get lenses from my insurance altogether. Lies. She told me i could come back monday and it would be called in.I called my insurance and they told me that they are not allowed to withhold my prescription and whether or not the insurance company is open makes no difference. And they also told me i can get my eyes checked wherever i want and get my lenses wherever i want so long as they were in the insurance network. I walked back in there today which is tuesday and there was no record of me even getting an eye exam because that fat slob didnt put it in the coputer and she didnt call it in. And the woman "assisting" me said she'll be in at 1 if you want to come back. Excuse me i cannot spend my entire life walking in and out of cohen's to get my prescription. So i asked to speak with a manager and aparently one wasnt there. she than decided to cll the girl who originally helped me and i demanded that i get my prescription. It is not my problem that somebody didnt do their job and it has been the most inconvenient 2 days of my life. After causing a scene and demanding that i get whats rightfully mine i got it and will never go back there again. This is a poor excuse for a business and they have 0 customer service. I hope this complaint saves the readers from watsng their time there.

On Sunday 3/1/09 at about 2:40 PM, I waited for about 15-20 minutes for service to purchase new eyeglasses. One Salesman was occupied with a customer and his 2 companions. A 2nd employee who earlier told me to indicate when I was ready, quickly disappeared into a back room when I did. A female salesperson was squatting down looking thru a drawer for about 10 minutes as we stood nearby waiting for service. We she stood up, I asked her when we would get some service, she quickly returned to her squatting position. I thought that perhaps we were on "Candid Camera, "or the "Twilight Zone."I left the store and then bought the glasses at Sterling Optical.