This is the second time I have ordered from Coastal Contacts.  I repeated my order on the advice of a friend, who had great service, and had his lenses within 48 hours.  My experience was not good.

I placed the order October 24th.  They "shipped" on November 14th(!!!!), and they STILL have not arrived.  I think I have figured out what is going on:


The lenses (a "plus" prescription) are not the most common prescription, so they seem to outsource the order - this time from OUTSIDE OF THE US!  The package is sent via International Mail, so it may be 10-14 business days from date of mailing until receipt.  I do not mind ordering lenses from reputable Canadian optical dispensers, but at least tell me this up front, so I can compare apples-to-apples.   I was comparing their prices to other US dispensers, and I think I made a bad choice.

I could never reach them by phone, and attempts to "recover" my password were futile - the email that they "send" just doesn't exist.


Shoddy, intermittent, unreliable, poor customer service.  Intermitable waits without explanation.   It's 1-800-CONTACTS for me from now on.

Terrible.  Website, specifically the order page, is constantly broken.  Checking in with online customer service for the past FOUR days, each day they say "oh they'll ship tomorrow, they'll ship within one day, they'll go out tomorrow" now today I'm being told it will be 1-2 days before they're shipped.  Why does it take them 5 days to package a pair of glasses (already supposedly passed their quality inspection).  Each customer service agent I've talked to promised to email me when they shipped since their track order page sucks, haven't received a single email.  Never ordering again.

HORRIBLE!!! I placed my order on 10/10/12 and paid extra for expedited shipping (2 day)... it is now 10/24/12 and I still do not have my glasses.  They have been on a clearance hold/problem with clearance since 10/16/12.  I have place numerous ...
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Awful!  Went through the whole process and coastal.com would not accept the FBDEAL.  Ugh!  Tried to talk to an agent and waited for 30min. What a waste of time.  I notice that there are a lot of 5 star ratings from people who seem suspicious, like they are from coastal.com?  They are even scamming the rating sites!

I been wearing glasses all my life an been wearing progressive for aproximate 10 years I ask to the customer service if they carry Varilux Physio and the gentleman responded my question with another question "VARILUX PHYSIO" is a frame brand waooooooo I respond no is a progressive Lens oh ok he respond we only carry Somo and Dynamics lenses made in Korea . My next question was did you guys carry Crizal easy his respond for that was that contact lenses we dont sale I explain to him is was a AR or reflexion free coating. 
My impression is that they dont have any Idea what they are doing and what is a quality Cheap is JUST CHEAP and most of the time is BAD!!!
Somo Lenses are not FDA approved. 

Took advantage of their "get first pair free" for their glasses selection. Ordered on a Monday. Received by Wednesday afternoon. Noticed there was a slight nick due to shipping on my left eye lens - notified Coastal Thursday morning via Chat with a very helpful rep. Given a return shipping label no questions asked via e-mail. Replacement item was already fulfilled the SAME DAY with UPS tracking number. Replacement glasses are set to be delivered today, Friday, afternoon. Customer service at its best! Thank you Coastal!

I was informed that it is a very good place to buy contacts from ....
It was a good buying experience till check out.
Unfortunately, it looks like they are not keeping their promises as they state on their website.
They claim that they will give you free shipping for orders over $99 but NOWHERE on their website they state that this applies ONLY for US shipping !!! and when you point it out to them they try to make you look crazy ...!!!
As you can understand i had to pay the extra shipping plus a handling charge that nowhere i found any statement about it and what it represents ... The good think is that as a new customer i had a 20% but once again promises should be clear and kept.

First time trying them out.
The cons:
- They didnt have all the attributes available to choose from when ordering contacts...I could choose the power and base curve of my contacts, but not the axis or cylinder.

The pros:
- They shipped my order out without Rx verification from my doctor.
- The shipment arrived 2 days after I placed it.
- Product appears perfect and undamaged in any way.
- They threw in a free contacts case and some cheapo sunglasses (that went right into the trash, but still, that was nice)

Would definitely shop with them again.
And to help show I'm not affiliated with them in anyway, here's my blog, where I also wrote about the experience:
http://phaserware.blogspot.com/2012/06/so-heres-deal.html

Honored the individual order of each of my family members, for their first pair for free promotion. Coastal lives up to my expectation in terms of quality, customer service, and most definitely, prices.
First pair did not arrive due to mistakes on Fedex, but Coastal immediately shipped a replacement pair without questioning. The customer service was open, supportive, and friendly.
Love the store and will most definitely shop again there.

My experience was great.  I liked them on Facebook so I got a coupon code for a free frames.  My eyes are bad (-7.00) and I need the thin lenses and I bought the extra scratch resistance, UV shield and glare resistance.  the total ...
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I personally had a good experience with Coastal Contacts and their "free frame" promotion. If I had read reviews about the online retailer before making my purchase I probably would not have gotten them, but I am glad I did. Hearing what others gone ...
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I've always praised Coastal for being a Mecca for my compulsive need to collect cute glasses. I recently took advantage of the latest facebook freebie. I just checked the status of my order out of curiosity, and my order has not been shipped to me. A refund from shipping or an email informing me of the situation would have been nice. Now I'm left extremely disappointed and feeling a little cheated. No more praise for coastal for simply ignoring my situation.

They charged my credit card and cancelled my order, then raised the prices on my frames and said I could re-purchase them if I wanted to. Complete bait and switch! Terrible business, they do not honor all free glasses orders. I would stay away from this company, as everything else from the website is overpriced.  Also, the customer service representative sounded like he was eighteen and did not know a thing and basically talked in circles. Save your time and don't try to order from this company. Most of their frames are cheap and low quality, and their other frames they will just cancel your order if they give them to you for too good of a price.

This website is a bait-and-switch. I found the "Free First Pair" offer on a reputable shopping website. I ordered frames with progressive bifocal lenses. The frames are beautiful. The lenses are crap. NOT bifocals at all, just blurry globs of nothing. When I called (offshore) customer service, "Joan" tried to run a BIG hustle on me. She offered free return shipping and told me that I'd have to pay the difference for progressive lenses. When I REPEATEDLY told her that I had already ordered those, AND emailed a scan of the Rx, she finally told me the exchange price after I growled at her with a resonance I usually reserve for the courtroom. She wanted to charge me $149 for lenses, $4.99 handling, $19.99 "frame adjustment," but I'd get free shipping. Nearly $200 for glasses that should have been right the first time. I told her to forget the whole thing. I'll get new lenses put in the frames at a reputable optical provider. Avoid at all costs.

I'm always surprised, especially in an economic climate like this, when companies do not put customer service as a top priority.  Coastal Contacts definitely does NOT prioritize customer service.  No need to go into the details, but let's just say I tried my hardest just to buy something from them, but I felt like they were unwilling to address my concerns in order to make the sale and then just sort of dismissed me.  As a result, I didn't buy anything from them this time, I'll never buy anything from them in the future, and I'm here writing this review to persuade others not to buy from them.  As I'm sure many people are these days, I'm very protective of my money and don't just give it away.  This company treated me as if they were doing me a favor by allowing me to buy from them, not the other way around.  There's too many alternatives for buying eyewear to put up with that.

I have been using Coastal Contacts for about 10 years now and I wouldn't go anywhere else. I had to leave my other optometrist for the reason of cost. I just couldn't afford to go to him anymore. So I go to Walmart and have my eye exam and then I get ...
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Ordered during one of their many "Free Glasses" sales.
Price was the only good thing about my experience (BTW, Zenni Optical has better prices).
2 weeks after I placed my order, I hadn't received a single follow up e-mail. I contacted customer service and was finally told I didn't qualify for the sale because I had bought from them before.
This would not have been a problem with me, except:
1) I should have been told I was not qualified for the promotion as I was ordering. Not WEEKS after my order was placed.
2) I should NOT have been charged on my credit card until my order shipped.
3) I should have been contacted proactively since my order was stuck for so long without being shipped.
Poor website and poor customer service. I'll be using Zenni Optical and Goggles4U from now on.

I saw the information this morning on the Today Show (NBC) that Coastal Contacts was offering 10 different't RX eyeglasses for $10.00 ea.  I have been trying to order a pair all day and DO NOT get the discount that they offered using the code:  "todayglasses" However I always get a much higher offer from this site for around $88.00!!!!!!
What a SCAM to get you to their site and not honor their offer.


SHAME ON THE NBC TODAY SHOW FOR SUGGESTING THIS SITE

The contact lenses took about 9 days to receive, longer than I thought. The main problem though is the Anti-Reflective coating they sell on their eyeglass lenses. Very poor quality, started coming off the lenses within 1 month. I guess there is a reason other online optical retailers charge more than 10 bucks for their coating.

They used USPS to mail my order from Washington state to California.  Never received order.  Took 4 days for customer service response to email.  Said they would send replacement order, never did.  Tried to call, hung up after on hold for 15 mins.  Four messages to customer service ignored.  Order is 8 days late.  No response from them.  Disputing through PayPal...they have yet to respond.  I still have not received any communication or resolution to this matter and will now have to start all over again with another vendor.  Unresolved matter will result in filing a fraud claim.  WAVE OFF...WORST INTERNET BUYING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD!  Use any other contact company NOT associated with these fools. 

I have never had this problem with other lens sellers on line.  I'm surprised PayPal keeps them as a merchant considering all the complaints noted here alone! 

[EDIT: I am updating the review listed below because Coastal Contacts personally reached out to me and made things as right as they can be, given the circumstances.  I placed a new order with them today and they gave me a discount and expedited ...
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Never Again! They charged me for two orders one with my credit card and one on credit. Told me that I had ordered both, which I did not. Asked why they did not charge my card twice for both orders then and he told me I had good credit. Wow, they didn't even have my social and no credit inquiry was done! When I called them on it, he told me the first ones I ordered were on the way and to NOT open the box. Simply return to them asap. I told them that my daughter needed the contacts right now and that I had every right to open whatever box came first as I paid for it. Upon opening it, the order was the "credit" order that I still owed them payment for. It was over $20 less for the EXACT SAME order I placed with my credit card!! This is why they did not want me to open the box as the invoice was inside showing what I should have been charged in the first place. Needless to say? They did not get their contacts back. Their mistake my reward for putting up with their bullsh**.

CoastalContacts tried to rip me off!! They cancelled my order without telling me, yet still charged my PayPal account, and never refunded it!! I had to do some detective work to figure it out!! VERY SHADY!! I WILL NEVER BUY FROM THEM AGAIN!!

I ordered a pair of glasses, Kohl LV77707 frames, from their $6.99 collection.  The frames seem to be a little flimsy, but the prescription lenses are correct with all the coatings on them.  They also included a clamshell case, cleaning cloth, ...
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I am very fashion oriented, and to that end, I collect eyewear the way some people collect shoes- love to keep lots of styles at hand. That said, I cannot support my habit paying hundreds of dollars for every pair of glasses I own, so I turned to ...
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I ordered 4 boxes of Contacts from Coastal Contacts since their $25.00 rebate made them the least expensive.  Surprise!  They wouldn't honor the rebate because included on my invoice was our PO Box number.  Even though our delivery address was located first on the address line, the inclusion of the PO Box number voided the rebate.  I feel ripped off.  When I called, they mentioned that the PO Box issue was located in the "small print".  What really irritated me was that the PO Box number was on the shipping order that they REQUIRED for the rebate!  I won't order from them again.

Website crashed while placing my order. The error caused my order to be placed twice (duplicate order).

Only received confirmation on one of the order...

When I received the two package deliveries (turns out I also paid for two separate shipping charges), not expected.

And then trying to call customer service... yeah right. I waited for 20 minutes before giving up. An apology about an "unexpected high volume of callers" ??? but when I tried calling again next day, same message... get more employees or setup a better customer service center. GOSH!!!

Finally, I'm told that I have to pay to send the extra items back and also pay a restocking fee. I do 75% of my shopping online. NOT a new online shopper - YES I have a degree in computer science and NO I do not have a problem with my internet or computer.

Before offering any solutions to remedy the problem -- I'm blamed for using their website incorrectly. And then finally, a "this happens" doesn't help me at all. I refuse to shop here again.

I ALSO AGREE WITH OTHER POSTERS, THEY ARE WRITING FAVORABLE REVIEWS FOR THEMSELVES TO DO BRING UP THEIR RATINGS. WHAT A SHODDY COMPANY.

Despite the poor reviews I read for this company (most of which were several months if not years old), I decided to order my contacts through coastalcontacts.com. The order process was easy. I got a great deal. I knew in advance that this would probably ...
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If you're in a hurry for glasses this might not be the best place to shop.  I ordered 4 pairs of glasses 3 weeks before my vacation.  I figured that was plenty of time considering they ship using overnight FedEx.  The day they ...
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I ordered glasses and sunglasses from Coastal Contacts; they had the best price and exactly what I wanted; I didn't want to take the time to go to a brick and mortar store if I could just do it from my desk. The website is a little hinky - cheap-feeling, ...
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