VisualEyes Optometrists

I saw Dr. Frederick for the first time here and I really enjoyed my visit. She was very knowledgable, took her time and answered all of my questions. On top of all of that she was very nice and personable.
Making an appointment was easy, I used their online option and received an email the next day with one of my appointment choices.
The front staff are nice enough, though I can’t really give them a much of a review since I didn’t need new glasses.
Overall I enjoyed my visit here and will be back again for my next eye exam.

Thank you, Mina, for your customer service and help. You are the reason I return to Visual Eyes Optometrist. Great selection of glasses as well!

I’ve been coming here since it opened a few years back. Never had anything but a positive experience. When I was searching for the phone number to make an appointment for my annual checkup I came across some of these tough reviews and thought something happened with a change of Doctor or ownership. In any event, I returned and was happy to have another pleasant experience. I was taken at my appointment time, the staff out front was very friendly and helpful, and Dr Vo, as always, was very professional, friendly and helpful. I definitely would recommend Shirlington Visual Eyes to anyone.

Broken Maui Jim glasses again. My fault sat on them they are not sure they can warranty but they will try I am out of my 2 year warranty. They ordered another set and will talk with rep to see what can be done. They could of just said no but they tried. I always get great service from this place.

I was just about to update my review after another great experience and I saw all of these reviews. I was so stunned. Out of curiosity I googled the shop to see the reviews there and they have 4+ stars, so weird. Not sure what gives but my husband and eye have had nothing but good experiences here. Terrific, knowledgeable, honest staff and the doctors have been outstanding.

Horrible customer service. On Monday I filled out an online request for an appointment requesting a Saturday or Sunday. On Thursday I hadn’t heard back and used their online contact form to inquire. I then received an appointment confirmation for a Monday appointment. I emailed back and said that I needed a weekend appointment and they apologized and scheduled it for Saturday. There were a couple more back and forths to provide insurance information and confirm that it was with the doctor I wanted. I received both email and text confirmations of my appointment, which I responded to.
When I arrived they told me they had no record of my appointment, so I showed them the confirmation.
They then took me back and had me do the depth and color blind tests and then had me sit to wait for the doctor.
They then came up to me and told me the doctor was behind and couldn’t take any more appointments. When I explained that I wasn’t a walk-​in, that I had an appointment and showed my confirmation. He then conferred with woman at the desk and told me they couldn’t see me.
Needless to say I didn’t reschedule, and my husband who had a good experience last year won’t be coming back. A good doctor doesn’t make up for a poor staff and wasting someone’s Saturday afternoon.

To echo what everyone else has been saying, the doctor herself is great, but the customer service from the staff is terrible. I had an eye appointment here a month ago. They won’t give you your prescription right away. That’s already annoying, but fine, I can understand they want to be sure they give you a prescription that works for you. Per their instructions, I waited a week and then called to tell them everything was good and I’d love to get my prescription (I want to order my glasses and contacts elsewhere). They told me they could either fax or mail it. Since it’s not 1997, I don’t have access to a fax machine, so I asked them to send it in the mail (I don’t really understand how emailing a pdf is different from a fax, but whatever). I waited a week and didn’t receive anything. I called again, explained I hadn’t received it, verified my address, and asked them to re-​send. Waited another week, didn’t receive anything. I just called for the third time and they assured me they always mail things promptly. Well clearly that’s not true.
It’s now been a month since my appointment, and I still don’t have my prescription and have been trying to make the one sample pair of two-​week lenses I have last until I can finally get my prescription.
The doctor was nice, but this hassle is just not worth ever going back to see her.

When I made my appointment, I was confirmed with Dr Vo, who wasn’t even in the day of my appointment. When I walked in, I wasn’t even greeted by the receptionist as I walked up to her desk. I had to ASK her myself if I needed to sign in. I ended up seeing Dr Bieber. I was only in to have an annual eye exam to renew my Rx for my contact lenses, but I wanted to try some others as well. She went downstairs (storage room???) to grab me a few different lenses and I sat alone at a small desk with a mirror to try them on. She re-​checked my eyes for fit after I had them on and then disappeared downstairs. I sat upstairs for almost 20 minutes when I finally asked the receptionist where the doctor was, to which she replied «getting some more contacts downstairs». So I waited another 5 minutes. Dr Bieber came back upstairs, still chewing on her lunch and told the receptionist that I was «all set». At this point I just paid my co-​pay and left. I ended up having to call them three more times to get them to send my Rx so I could order my contacts online. I don’t know how this place is still open — I’ve never had issues at any other business in Shirlington.

I read the reviews here on Unilocal before going to this establishment. I thought «This place can’t be THAT bad and I just need an eye exam and this place is a block from my home.»
When I arrived for my appointment I was seen by the optometrist right on time. The doc was pleasant and as far as I could tell did a thorough exam. The verdict: just as I feared, I needed my first set of reading glasses.
After the exam I politely asked for my eyeglass prescription as I wanted to do some comparison shopping, and the receptionist obliged. I took the script to a local «glasses made in an hour» type of shop and bought my first pair of spectacles (which I look darn good in by the way).
When I began to pay for my new glasses at the quickie eyewear establishment I happily explained that my health insurance would be picking up a large portion of the tab and asked them to run my insurance card. Imagine my dismay when I learned that per my insurance, VisualEyes had claimed I had utilized both my eyeglass and contact lens benefits! WHAT!!!
Fortunately the capable staff at «Quickie Eyewear Place in a Mall» worked with my insurance company who in turn worked with VisualEyes to check my story and reverse the exhaustion of my insurance benefits.
In summation while my experience with the eye exam was fine, if you have insurance coverage and don’t plan to buy your eyewear at this establishment I’d suggest you go elsewhere as they might just screw you over. Not sure if it was purposeful or if their staff just don’t know how to properly submit insurance claims.

I took my mom to this office and had a great experience. Not only was the doctor knowledgeable but the staff was fantastic. They helped us pick out glasses and explain our insurance benefits to us. After a week and a half I got a call saying the glasses were ready. I came in with my mom and they fit her and made sure everything was perfect. I would definitely recommend this place not only do they have a good selection of glasses but the staff is professional and very helpful.

REALLY wishing I had read the reviews before I came in. Great eye doctor but HORRIBLE customer service. Reordered my contacts, picked them up, began wearing them only to realize that i was given the wrong prescription for one eye. No big deal… mistakes happen. Bring the box to the store and have them reorder it for me at no cost. Great… until I go pick the new ones up and they ordered the wrong one AGAIN! waited a week — called to confirm that the box had been ordered and they tell me (for the second time) that the contacts were on back order. When I ask them why they keep having this problem they tell me it’s typically because of the brand (mind you I’ve worn the same brand for almost 10 years… so clearly not the issue). I call back again a week later and what do you know, the box has finally arrived.
I will NOT be going back to this eye doctor and it’s really unfortunate because I really liked her, but the shop itself is awful.
Sorry for such a horrible review — I’ve never done this, but I am so irate with the whole situation.

VisualEyes is a cute little boutique optician in Shirlington. I love the neighborhood and thought I would treat myself to some nice designer frames and high end service.
Severely disappointed with nearly every aspect of the product and service there, and especially the utter lack of customer service, in particular, Pat the lone Licensed Optician.
The Optometrist, Dr. Vo was nice enough and apologetic for the multiple delays and shoddy workmanship on my glasses, but kept blaming the lab that contracts with my insurance company.
The first time I got glasses back, after a two week delay, they were mounted incorrectly and sat crooked on my face.
Pat, the «licensed optician» was nice enough to claim that not only were the glasses fine, even though they were plainly crooked, maybe it was because of «my facial features» that the glasses were not even.
I went back to speak to Dil (sp?), the one front office staffer who was reasonable, who said, oh these are crooked, we’ll send them back to the lab.
It took another 3 weeks to get a replacement part and when I went back the lenses were barely mounted onto the frames and the frames were damaged from where they took the old lenses off.
Not only were the glasses shoddy, which I guess you can blame on the lab, but the staff at VisualEyes called me to pick them up without doing so much as a simple inspection. Wasting my time making repeated trips to the store to find glasses that were not close to right. Especially given the prices they are charging.
Since clearly couldn’t make rimless glasses I ordered new frames (store credit only), some nice Mykita frames.
Those took another 2 weeks and when I went to pick them up, they were completely jacked up too. The frames were bent out of whack and essentially broken.
Again, they called me in to try to sell me glasses that were worthless.
After nearly three months of back and forth and no glasses to wear, I demanded a refund and they finally gave it to me.
I wanted to like this place, but I would not recommend it.

Pros: Optometrist is very thorough and informative during the exam.
Cons: Make sure you’re billed correctly for services & products provided because they attempted to bill my insurance company for products that I didn’t authorize. Receptionist are horribly catty and lacks knowledge, even on their own services and products.

Yeah… no.
I popped in to VisualEyes in Shirlington after leaving my opthomologist not being able to see! :(He didn’t believe me that my vision had changed and didn’t even do a thorough eye exam! Although Dr. Mehta @ VisualEyes took my concerns seriously, did a thorough eyes exam, and I left with a proscription that enabled me to see — the FRONT OFFICE STAFF!!! EYE-​YEY-​YEY!
The girls at the front desk are snotty, disinterested, and more than slightly defensive.
I did return a year later for my yearly exam hoping for a new experience. First, they refused to see me as a walk-​in ***even though they had time because they hadn’t followed up on an unpaid bill from my insurance.***
So, let me get this right… you’ve had over a year to rectify this situation, and *I’m* not being seen as a patient because you can’t get paperwork done on time? Uh, no. I should have said «no thanks» and made an appointment elsewhere, but I didn’t…I came back the next day and got seen. (Issue with insurance still not cleared up at this point, btw.)
Again, Dr. Mehta impressed, and even sent me for an unusual test because of an issue I was having in my right eye — she wanted to make sure everything was ok, and I was fine with traveling to their Fairfax office for that.
Unfortunately, Dr. Vo at the Fairfax office hasn’t been educated on HIPPA, and had a discussion with me about the exam results right in the store-​front — with another customer a few feet away. Thanks — that was splendid.
I placed an order for contacts to be picked up @ Shirlington, and Dr. Vo asked me what my proscription was because their Fairfax office and Shirlington office don’t share a computer system??? I said I didn’t know, so she looked it up and *read it* to the staff at Shirlington — it’s 2012. Get a system that shares information between two locations in one business!
I was told that I would receive a phone call when the contacts were ready, and I received a call…3 ½ weeks later. A voicemail was left by someone who is kind of attitudinal telling me my contacts had been ready for a while. Well, you never told me that. I’ll be there when I can — and that’s the last time you’ll be seeing me.
Goodbye VisualEyes.
Oh! And I just remembered — they charged me $ 65 for contact «fitting» and all they did was ask «how do they feel?» — huh? The rising cost of health care is in your hands, guys! I did mention to Dr. Vo when I went to that extra exam in Fairfax that I was having difficulty with contact (and slightly glasses) vision in the left eye, and Dr. Vo was like, «Hmmm…well, sorry! Are you going to place your order for contacts?» Sigh.

I would not recommend this place, and I’m someone that isn’t too difficult to please. Please note my reasoning below.
Originally I was quite pleased with the service I received the day of my appointment. I liked Dr. Mehta’s thoroughness and her interest in my needs. The day of my check-​up, I ordered a new pair of glasses and contacts.
I am a very infrequent contact wearer and had explained that I just wanted a few pairs of contacts. The Dr. told me it wouldn’t be a problem to order me trials and if I needed more at a later date, then she would order more as needed. I have a very odd contact prescription and knew they wouldn’t have them in stock. I was quite pleased to get a follow-​up call in two days that my trials were in.
However, when I went in to pick-​up my trials I was told there was a fee I hadn’t paid on the initial day of my appointment. I was a little surprised as I was quite certain everything had been settled on the day of my appointment, but the receptionist insisted there was a fitting fee I hadn’t paid upfront. I was a little taken aback because nothing was done at my appointment regarding my contact fitting. I had simply handed Dr. Mehta my previous contact prescription, she reviewed it, and asked if I was pleased with these contacts. I told her that I was and that I would like to stick with what I’ve been using for the past several years. She said that sounded great and since I’m such an infrequent user she would order me a decent amount of trials. I wound up getting five trial pairs. Which is probably a fair amount, but in the past other doctor’s have given me ten trials which are able to last me a year. I have no problem with five, but I was given the impression that it would be more. In the end I paid the fitting fee because I was in a hurry to get back to work, even though I felt it wasn’t justified.
Going further, I recently received a good deal for contacts through 1−800-Contacts and decided to take advantage since I knew I would be needing more. Shortly after I placed my order, I got a call from VisualEyes informing me that if I wanted to order through 1−800-Contacts I’d have to come in for a follow-​up appointment. I didn’t have a chance to speak with the office since this was left in a voicemail. After the suspicious fitting fee and then being told I’d have to come in for a follow-​up exam for contacts I just feel they only care about the money. I’m really put off by these deceptive practices.
Regarding my glasses, the optician Pat was very helpful in originally helping me select a pair. When I went to pick-​up my glasses, the receptionist handed them to me and I put them on. She just asked, «how do they feel?» I’ve been wearing glasses for 15 years and have gotten new glasses virtually every year. In every instance the optician has examined the fit of the glasses, looking behind the ears, the nose bridge, etc. Nope, not in this case. All I got was how do they feel? And, okay enjoy your day. Pathetic service from the receptionist. And in my opinion, a receptionist shouldn’t be working with the fit of the glasses. This is a job that should be left to the optician.
Although I liked Dr. Mehta’s service, I’m very disappointed with everything else and feel completely ripped off and taken advantage of. Needless to say, my search for a caring eye doctor continues.

OK — The location is seemingly perfect since there is so much in Shirlington and I really wanted this place to work out, but it didn’t. The dr wouldn’t work with me or consistently examine my eyes to get a good fit with contacts and after several trials informed me I couldn’t try any more, so I should just choose one of the lenses I tried already and didn’t work well. They just handed me lenses to try without examining them on my eyes or testing the power to see if they were the best script. I ended up giving up and going to another eye dr (having to pay for exams again) and found out the script they gave me was incorrect, so the glasses I got were the wrong prescription as well as not getting fitted with contacts. The new dr I went to fitted me with contacts with no problem pretty much on the first try and gave me a new script that works great and I get no headaches (like I did with the other one). They did give me a partial reimbursement and are remaking the glasses, but all with attitude. Don’t bother …

I saw Dr. Mehta and she was excellent! a very thorough, calming, sweet doctor. I also thought that one of the licensed Optician’s, Pat was very informative and helpful. I would have given this place 5 stars, if it weren’t for the receptionist. She was a bit rude and her attitude was partly the reason I did not purchase my glasses or contacts for them. I had asked her a question relating to my contacts and she seemed hesitant to ask the doctor and in a rude way said, «she’s with someone right now, and you’re going to have to wait.» which is fine, but her attitude was bad. The girl she was training though was Very sweet and eager to learn. I was there at around 4 – 5 PM on ³⁄₂₃)

This is a pretty solid place to get an eye check up. It’s not overly crowded, and I was in and out. I didn’t have any problem withthe customer service, but then again I wasn’t buying any glasses. My mind grapes felt at ease after the appointment.

Absolutely do not waste your time or money here. The doctor is nice, but you can find nice doctors somewhere else. A few months ago I went in for a new pair of glasses, fully planning on spending a decent amount of money for a nice pair. I settled on a pair of Burberry frames and paid over $ 200 after insurance. The glasses were beautiful, and I was pretty pleased.
Until a few weeks later when I looked closer at the frames and noticed that one of the lenses was not properly placed in the frame. I took the glasses back to the office and they sent them to the lab. I picked them up about a week later and left for a business trip abroad. While on my trip, I noticed that the lens was still NOT secure in the frame. After my 3 week trip, I took the glasses back to the office and they said they’d take a look at them. They called me back a few days later and tried to return my glasses to me, saying they were ready. This time, I made sure to carefully inspect the lens and noticed that it was in the same condition as when I dropped it off. Apparently the doctor had just manually popped the lens back in, and they tried to pretend that this was a normal occurrence. I have worn glasses for almost 10 years and have NEVER had this issue, but they tried to argue that perhaps it was my strong prescription that made this lens thicker. I countered that I’ve had multiple pairs of glasses and never had this issue, even with the cheap ones. As for my «strong prescription,» I am only mildly nearsighted and really only need glasses for driving at night. I’d like to see how they do with someone with a legitimately strong prescription.
The girl working the desk then said that maybe it was a problem with how the lab cut the lens, and that they would have to send it back to the lab. I stared at her blankly and asked her if she might be able to do that. «I guess we can,» was her response.
Finally, over a week later, I get called back in and notice a SLIGHT improvement in the lens fit. The girl said that this was as good as it was going to get. It is clear to me that the lab did not recut my lens, and I’m not even sure if the glasses were ever sent back to the lab.
So here I am, stuck with a very expensive pair of glasses, with a lens that creaks and pops out every time I clean it. While I certainly don’t think it’s their fault that the lab messed up, their complete lack of customer service or quality is what really takes the cake.

this is a toss-​up on the rating because the eye doctor here was very nice and informative, but the staff was lacking in customer service.
unfortunately i can’t remember the doctor’s name, but she was very friendly and did a thorough job and also saw me quickly. i had made an appointment before i came, and she saw me immediately after i finished filling out my paperwork.
the office was small, but very clean and i felt like i was in good hands.
my only complaint is about the staff. after my exam i wanted to look at some of the glasses they have in the shop area. it’s a pretty small selection, but has some nice stuff. i started to explain to the lady working there that i wanted a «nerdy look.» she kept handing me pairs of glasses that were totally different than what i was looking for, and also making comments about the glasses i was choosing.
she repeatedly told me what SHE liked, and also told me what SHE didn’t like! she was quite opininionated, and it wasn’t totally positive. i found a pair that i really liked and when she saw them, she literally LAUGHED! i felt like i was being teased on the playground, and i was trying on glasses that are for sale in the office where SHE works! shouldn’t she be trying to sell the glasses, and not making people feel awful about they way they look in them?
i finally said i would just take my prescription elsewhere.