My EYE GUY Coffee Guy — Local services in Pensacola

Disappointed and Misled — Never Again

I recently visited Eye and Coffee Guy (formerly “$50 Eye Guy”) for an eye exam because my insurance covers the exam with just a $10 copay. To my surprise, I was charged an outrageous $143 for the exam, with insurance.

My insurance also includes a $250 allowance toward any frames, but I was told by the sales associate that this didn’t apply to frames in the glass case (such as Oakley, Tom Ford, Coach, etc.). That is completely false. I ended up using my own frames and was charged $568 for just the lenses. After insurance, I still had to pay $170 out of pocket — just for lenses with anti-glare. I needed the glasses urgently, so I paid it, but I absolutely regret it.

On August 1st, I placed my order and gave them my $500 Tom Ford frames to have the lenses fitted. Instead of handling them carefully, they broke my frames during the process. Not only did they fail to apologize, but I was told over the phone that I would need to purchase another set of frames because they were not liable for frame damage per the paperwork I signed. When I asked about a credit or refund since they broke my frames, they refused. I then asked for a refund on the lenses so I could take my business elsewhere, but they told me the lenses were already cut and nonrefundable. To make matters worse, if I bought new frames, the lenses would need to be remade anyway. At that point, I ordered new frames from another store, choosing not to give Eye and Coffee Guy another dime. Twenty-five days later, my glasses finally arrived — far too long for something so basic. Horrible and slow service from start to finish.

For comparison, I later went to another local optometrist who immediately told me that my $250 insurance frame allowance was still valid since I hadn’t used it. I was able to use it toward a pair of Dolce & Gabbana frames with no problem. The competitor quoted me $125 out of pocket for lenses with anti-glare, anti-scratch, and UV protection — all made in-house and ready the same day. Meanwhile, Eye and Coffee Guy quoted $399 for the same lens features and still had to send them off. Even with insurance, I paid more here than I would have paid in full elsewhere without insurance.

I feel completely misled, taken advantage of, and frankly, ripped off. The lack of transparency, the misinformation, the refusal to take accountability, and the careless handling of my expensive frames is unacceptable. I will never return for optical services again.

To top it off, I’ve been a loyal coffee customer here 4 times a week for the past 2 years. But after this experience, I will no longer be giving this business a single dollar for coffee or anything else.

The only thing close to $50 here is the coffee and...

I’ve gone to various optometrists for well over a decade across many different states, to say I’ve had my fair share of experiences with the ranges of professionalism/care optometrists treat patients with would be an understatement. I did a lot of research on practices in the area and the options they provided for exams; unfortunately, when it comes to your eyes you really can’t “cheap out” so price wasn’t a factor I was considering. That in mind, The Eye Guy has great technology available for a more complete exam. I genuinely felt like I could see better with the prescription Dr. Grace gave me, I’ve never gone to an optometrist and left knowing I could see smaller print without the headache of an overly strong prescription (which is more often than not what ends up happening to me sadly), Dr. Grace was incredibly professional and efficient. The front office staff?? PHENOMENAL. Steven was a joy to talk to and helped me decide on exactly what I wanted/needed. If you want an honest opinion about glasses that suit your style/vibe, Steven is your guy. If he’s not at this location he’s worth seeking out at the other for your glasses purchase, I cannot stress enough, if you’re not confident in glasses or are indecisive Steven is a great help. Overall, this experience has been the best I’ve had with optometrists and I felt like the price of everything was actually worth it. I can’t wait to leave an update with how the glasses preform once I get them in and at a later time when I revisit getting contacts!

UPDATE: I absolutely love the fit, feel, and quality of the glasses! I really appreciate Steven’s help with getting my order in as soon as possible and his customer service. I really appreciated that he adjusted the glasses to have a better fit and walked me through how the next few days might feel with my new glasses. He’s wholeheartedly secured my business.

Also, their contact exam is one of the most extensive I’ve seen and would definitely be worth looking into if you’re wanting contacts. If you’re in doubt just call around and ask other practitioners what they do for contact exams. No doubt you’ll realize there’s a huge difference in what they’re...

Gotta say I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here, too bad it was overshawdowed by their dishonest price model.

Went in and fell in love with frames that had the $50 price tag attached and had a great experience with the receptionists and the optometrist there, not expecting to shell out too much money since the name of the place is "fifty dollar eye guy" and that they were running a promotion that allowed you to get a free exam with the purchase of a pair of eyeglasses. I had also asked repeatedly before and after the examination how much the lenses would cost separate from the frames and was told every time that it depends upon your prescription. Base price I came to find out after being there for about a half hour at this point was $150 dollars which I would've loved to know from the get go, and thats without their suggested anti-glare coating (starts at $50) that was pushed onto me. They should call this place "One-hundred fifty dollar eye guy" cause that's how much you'll be actually paying for a pair from here.

I implore you to use an online retailer after coming here to get your eyes checked instead of buying them at this location. Zenni.com or goggles4u.com saved me hundreds of dollars and it's nowhere near as expensive as here, not to mention their pricing is honest from the get go cause the lens literally come with the frames from these stores and they can be as cheap as $20 and have the quality you'd expect from a $100+ pair.

Anyways I'd recommend you do everything but buy glasses from here as everyone was nice and the coffees pretty good. And just so you know I'm not hating on the place too much because the pair that I did end up getting from here is actually really cute and I'll enjoy them just fine...