I unfortunately cannot remember the name of the doctor to whom I saw at Lensemakers (as this was roughly two years ago), nor if she still even works there but I cannot say my experience here was very good. Initially they were very polite over the phone, the prices seemed to be fair and so I decided to utilize their services. Upon going in with my mom I was at first greeted kindly but that tapered off when I was alone with the doctor. I could not quite understand what she was asking me to describe (as this was my first eye exam in quite some time and I had no idea what to expect) and she seemed to get more and more frustrated as the appointment went on and wouldn't elaborate to ease my confusion. This in turn only served to make me more anxious and feel quite stupid.
The service improved once we were out and in front of my mom again, and she decided that I needed custom lenses for a mild astigmatism and farsightedness. Frames were picked and lenses were installed and I ended up paying $200.
There is a problem with this.
I do not, according to the doctor whom I spoke with today, need custom glasses. My eyesight is in fact OVER 20/20. The difficulties that I have had have been to do with EYE STRAIN, as I illustrate a lot which, of course, taxes my eyes. This can be rectified while I'm drawing with readers at the absolute lowest prescription of 1.25+, FAR less expensive than custom glasses and something that I do NOT need to wear all the time, as was reccomended, and most certainly not for distance.
I am grateful that I never got into the habit of wearing these as anything other than readers, as it just never felt right somehow, and then stopped wearing them completely when they gave me migraines. I would recommend very strongly against using this place. Perhaps this could have been rectified at the beginning had I been able to understand what exactly I was supposed to be seeing but the doctor never made an attempt to elaborate or to put me at ease, and her demeanor was such that I frankly didn't feel comfortable asking her to elaborate.
Either way I was either scammed or misdiagnosed, and neither feels good. At least they sent me away with free eyeglass cleaner solution, which is refillable. If you're in the area I would suggest Shuswap Optical in Salmon Arm off the Trans-Can HWY. Exemplary service front and back, all smiles and very gentle, especially when I was getting anxious with them as I tend to do.
The cost of the exam I believe is roughly the same at $109.00 if you're between 19-65, and they suggested I bring $300 just so we could be certain everything from frames to lenses was covered, should I have decided to get frames there. Mr. Alloway, the doctor I saw, also had a very handsome set of oxfords. Should I need to get my eyes checked again I would not hesitate going back there.