Seattle Optical

I have been a client of SO for several years, just had my second exam with Dr. Hamilton and ordered a new pair of glasses. I have been extremely happy with every experience at SO. Dr. Hamilton is as much a perfectionist as I am and understands how my quirky brain sees. He is always spot on with my Rx! I am so grateful as I’ve been to several other optometrists in past years and always frustrated that the glasses/​Rx didn’t work. And then there’s Patty, the optician — always cheerful and patient with my pickiness, always finds the perfect frames — they have an amazing selection of traditional and modern styles. And the place rocks b/​c of Mark — he can make most any shape of lens (for frameless lenses), has some great ideas of what looks good, is super helpful and isn’t happy until I am happy. I am a hard sell and do my research, but ultimately trust SO with my eyes and expressing my style. Thank you, SO!

I just bought a year supply of contacts from here. I had been wearing Wal-​Mart brand. Dr. Hamilton is awesome! He took the time to educate me on my eye chemistry, eye health, and the differences in the lenses. Plus he’s really funny and personable. I would recommend this clinic to anyone!

Not only is the staff very friendly but I had arrived thirty minutes early for my eye exam and I was seen right away. Dr. Mark Hamilton was very thorough and informative. He gave me a number of recommendations for contact lenses as well as several different types to try. Even without insurance, my visit was still very reasonably priced. I would definitely recommend Seattle Optical!

Met a friend of mine today, for her eye appointment at SO. I was there purely to offer advise & give my opinions on frame choices.
Her main criteria for new frames; FUN factor!
SO has a smaller selection than your basic chain eye glass stores. However, SO offers a much more attentive staff & a variety of frames you can’t find at your basic eye glass store. A lot of brands I haven’t heard of, but then again; several that I had.
So after I found the perfect glasses with the FUN factor for my friend, I decided to do a little looking; since I was in desperate need for a pair myself!
The first pair that I found that I loved I asked how much they would be after my insurance coverage. According to Mark, I have the «Cadillac» of eye insurance.
So much to my surprise, my out of pocket was doable. I’ve never bought glasses through insurance and I didn’t know how affordable they could be. Glasses were cheaper than my contacts are for 6 months!
The best thing, my glasses were in stock and were made them for me in 45 minutes!!!
They also take down payments. So, had I wanted to only put $ 50 down, and then pay the rest upon pick up, they are totally cool with that!
Oh and did I mention they offer a 2 year guarantee on the glasses/​frames for FREE?!? (Lens crafters charges you for a warranty, by the way!)
Seattle Optical is great!
AND I love my new specs!

Loved this place. Dr. Mark Hamilton is very nice. I took my 6 year old in for his first official eye check and he was very thorough and extremely patient with my fidgety child. The desk staff and optical technician were very friendly and knowledgeable as well. I will continue on with them as my son gets older.

Seattle Optical is one of the best places of this type I’ve ever been. The people who own it are so kind and easy to work with. No sales pressure or snobbery whatsoever, just really solid and friendly customer service. They are very knowledgeable and will help you find great glasses within your price range. My whole family goes here now and we will be loyal customers as long as they are open! They have an amazing variety of frames, too.
The optometrist also provided me with one of the best eye exams I’ve ever had and really knows a lot. I highly recommend Seattle Optical!

The 1 star is for customer service and irrational profit seeking behavior. After having paid out of pocket for a contacts prescription and an eye exam, we had a very thorough eye exam with a pleasant eye doctor and were very happy. Contacts ordered, success right?
Not so fast. After having mentioned that we were wanted to buy the actual glasses from a fair-​trade company and not the attached eyeglasses store, we ended up getting a prescription missing the «pupillary distance» or PD. We made another trip in to see if they could rectify that (remember, we paid out of pocket cash money for the exam), we were told that no, they only do that if you buy the glasses from them.
Here’s the really fun part: They said they wouldn’t measure the PD because it was dangerous if the PD was measured wrong, so we should do it ourself. But wait, «wouldn’t it be more dangerous to do it ourselves then?» I queried. «Yes but that’s what you get when you try to buy cheap glasses online» — Remember again that we are trying to buy from a fair trade company, not «cheap glasses online» because that’s something we deeply believe in, but apparently because we aren’t giving our money to them, they’d rather we mess up our eyes.

A little metal piece on my glasses frames had snapped, leaving the glasses not sitting right on my face. So I looked online and called around to find a place that could do the fix fast and for a decent price.
I went with Seattle Optical because they were far friendlier and more helpful on the phone than the other places I called, who acted like I was annoying them by asking if they made this type of repair and if so, whether I could get a general idea of what they charged.
So I brought the frames in the next day (a Saturday) without an appointment and they were fixed in an hour and a half, even though a custom metal piece needed to be cut and sautered on.
Both the technician and the support staff were very friendly and helpful. I sort of winced at the $ 40 price tag ($ 43 with tax), but it is in line with other shops in the area I called (who quoted up to $ 49 for fixing a frame if sautering needed to be done), and Seattle Optical also puts ½ of that towards the bill if you come back to their shop for new glasses.

I came into Seattle Optical because of their sign on Northgate Way. I was overdue for a checkup and needed some new contacts and glasses asap before leaving for an upcoming vacation. Even though when I came in, no optometrist was available, Patty (receptionist/​glasses fitting genius) was wonderful, made me an appointment for the next day, assured me my glasses would be ready later in the week before my flight and being the fairy-​Godmother that she was, all came about just as she said. Dr. Hamilton’s tough love about eye care and expertise made me completely confident I had chosen the right place. I’ll be back again for any eye care needs.

They are the best. From fashion forward but well-​priced frames to expert advice on vision correction.
I spent less and got a better result than I did with my fancy downtown optical guy.
Their optometrist is extremely competent and progressive. She actually tried to talk me into a solution that was less money for them (no frame sale), and presented a convincing argument as to why contacts would do a better job correcting my extremely weird vision than glasses would.