There are so many low-cost choices out there today so how do you know if you are getting the best value? We have captured some common questions about the Walmart eye exam costs from our readers. We have also included information about their frames and eyeglasses brands to help you make the most informed decision.
Eye Exam Costs at Walmart
The eye exam costs at Walmart are around $60 for a prescription for your glasses. This is just for their basic eye exam and does not include an exam for progressive/bifocal lenses. If you add a retinal photo such as an Optos, expect to pay an additional $30. We prefer getting a retinal photo instead of getting dialated. A contact lens exam costs are extra and will cost more – expect to pay around $125. Astigmatisms will be extra.
Eye exams without insurance will cost $60 for a standard eye exam. While most independent optometrists honor several insurance plans, you may not be able to use many of the popular health and vision insurance at Walmart vision centers. Many of their optometrists work on cash-based systems. Some of their doctors also provide ancillary services such as treatment of eye infections or disease which would be covered under your health insurance plan. But this is not covered in a standard examination for routine vision care.
Contact Lens Costs at Walmart
A contact lens exam at Walmart costs between $125 to $150 based on that location. Many people think that a vision exam includes a contact prescription but this is not the case. We also recommend getting retinal imaging scan from a machine like Optos. This is an HD-quality scan and picture of your retina. It will cost you about $30 more but well worth it. Your optometrist can keep it on file so it can serve as your baseline. This helps them detect changing medical conditions each year.
What are the optical ratings for Walmart eye exam costs?
The eye doctors at WalMart have the same degree of any other eye doctor. They are just renting a space within or next door to a WalMart instead of having their own stand-alone facility. Every doctor that WalMart hires or contracts with is licensed and fully certified optometrists. Concerns about quality should have nothing to do with where they work, as much as it does with experience. I would look for an optometrist that has been out of school for 5 – 10 years and has seen lots of patients. And if you have a fairly detailed prescription or you may have additional medical issues, you may want to stick with your existing eye doctor. They will be more familiar with your history and will be able to provide more time for the exam.
Because healthcare laws vary from state to state, some doctors are actually Walmart employees. However, most are independent doctors of optometry who lease their equipment, staff, and office space from Walmart. Because of this lease situation, the turnover rate among Walmart’s doctors is fairly high. Therefore, you may not see the same doctor every time you return for an office visit or examination. I have found that most patients enjoy developing a relationship with their eye doctor over the years.
Many people just assume that since they are the low price leader in household products that this means they will have low price eye exams as well. But we have found that their prices on eyeglass lenses and frames are often the same as those of many private, independent optometrists. In fact, Walmart once boasted extremely competitive contact lens prices. They claimed that their prices were below those found in private practices or other commercial practices, such as Lenscrafters. However, many of their suppliers now require Uniform Pricing to level the playing field on pricing between retail, online and private practices. For example, Walmart made an agreement with 1-800-Contacts for contact lens purchasing. You may be surprised to learn that your private practice doctor is just as competitive on contact lens prices.
Buying Eye Glasses at Walmart?
Expect to pay $150 or more for basic single vision, polycarbonate glasses. The price will be more if you add an anti-reflective coating, a progressive lens or designer frames. Overall they have a pretty good selection of Walmart eyeglass frames. The selection includes brands like Glasses at Walmart will Vera Wang, Ray-Ban, Tom Ford and Steven Tyler. They also carry DKNY, Giorgio Armani, PUMA, Montblanc, Phat Farm, Hugo Boss, Body Glove and more. For kids, look for brands like Nickelodeon and Hanna Montana. Other shoppers have claimed to find it difficult to special order certain items, such as brand name progressive lenses or high-profile brand frames. Do not expect to find the higher end frames and lenses. Remember that they are a “value provider” so their overall quality will be lower than you may see at many private optometrists. The prices vary widely. If you want to learn more about the cost of eyeglasses, we have an entire article about it.
Millions of people each year turn to Walmart eye care. They are in most cities in the United States. They are well known for services like photography, automotive needs, nails, banking and beauty needs. It’s no surprise that they also offer eye exams, eyeglasses, and contact lenses. When Walmart first entered the optical industry back in 1991, they were already known for their affordable prices. But they applied this same approach to glasses, lenses, and contacts. They have been able to keep their eye exam costs at Walmart fairly low. However, their quality was average but still on par with other big box stores and eyeglass chains. Because of Walmart’s size, they have become one of the top 5 largest optical retailers in the United States. Their mindset in the optical reflects their overall mindset of convenience and low cost. You can often walk-in and get an eye exam fairly quickly.
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Eye Exam Costs at Walmart Vision Centers - Learn More About Walmarts Optical Department
Talk to your doctor before starting the exam. You should make sure that you are comfortable with their education and experience. In addition, make sure to shop for the best value – this does not mean just looking at the eye exam costs at Walmart. Look for brand names with high-quality lenses at an affordable cost. This will leave you with the best long-term result. Still, Walmart is the leader in affordability. In our opinion, your eyes are one of the most important organs in your body. This is a good solution if you are young and only need single vision glasses. However, if you are looking for more of a medical exam or you have a more complex prescription, then I would get an exam at your local eye doctor.
Basic eye exam costs at Walmart are $60 for a standard exam. A contact lens exam costs around $125. Progressives or astigmatism may cost extra.
It is important to note that they do NOT take VSP which is the largest provider of vision insurance in the US. In fact, Walmart is an Out-Of-Network provider for the many of the popular vision insurance companies.
We agree. Walmart has always been great regarding customer service.
One great thing about Walmart is they will fix your glasses for free or if they can’t be repaired they will put your lenses into the frames you buy for free. I even took in a pair of frames a friend didn’t want anymore and they put my lenses in for free. Maybe my store just has a very nice staff.
Is there a fee for using lensometer to determine my existing prescription?
Beware the coated lenses for dark to light is the worst I have ever had. I am 64 and been wearing glasses since 5th grade, photo treated lenses since high school. These lenses are impossible to keep clean. They get greasy fast from brow contact and fingers, anything. Even running under not water doesn’t always work.I can not wait to get new lenses from somewhere else!.
i printed a coupon and my walmart said it was a fraud and i had to pay more than paid. shame on u walmart for not honoring this price! i will never shop with you again
I’m I able to walk in or do I need to make an appointment. I’ll be visiting Virginia in a couple of days and wanted to know if there is a vision center near Chesapeake
Thanks for sharing Luna. It varies by location and depends on how the doctor’s relationship with Walmart is structured.
They do actually take VSP – I got my exam and glasses there this week and that’s the insurance I have.
even though I paid scratch coating at different store such as Costco, JCPenney or Lenscrafters, my glasses still had scratched on it. I change my glasses every 1-2 years, I guess that’s how they makes money. It does not last forever.
Nagla – Simple answer: You will need to go back to the original doctor and get another copy of the prescription. Even though Sam’s Club is owned by Walmart, it is a different story in the optical. Most of the eye doctors in those stores own their own practice and simply lease the connecting office from Walmart/Sam’s Club. So they cant legally share patient records between stores. In most cases, they do not own the optical itself. (The area where you buy the glasses.)
I recently went into Walmart to get an eye exam after I failed my eye screen for my drivers license. I also was tired if everything being blurry!
It took 15 minutes before they could see me – not back for a weekend. The optometrist was very nice. Since I havent gotten many eye exams, I really didnt know exactly what to ask. The doctor was not rushed and took plenty of time to answer all of my random questions!
They recommended non-glare glasses since I drive at night and work with a computer every day. I ended up buying 2 pairs of glasses. The total bill for both pair with the non-glare was $450. The eye exam costs $44.00. They were able to rush one set of glasses and it was ready in 4 days. The second pair took 2 weeks. I will definitely go there again.
i did eye exam at sam’s club and i want to make the eyeglasses in Walmart eyes center but i lost my paper test
is there any connection between sam’s club & Walmart system by my information?
This article is not an advertisement for exam prices, Dena, and no Walmart offers a free eye exam.
I just received a quote of $100 for the exam. The OD at the Derby location said he wouldn’t honor the $60 exam cost shown in this advertising. He is charging $100 for a kindergarten student! I wonder if home office in Bentonville is aware of this. I’m not impressed. Then in the website, it advertised 2 pairs of glasses for 69.99, with a free exam. I don’t think the Derby OF knows what is being advertised.
I used them for a contact lens exam before. The Dr. Was at times rude when I couldn’t tell him if one slide looked more clear than another. I have astigmatism in both eyes. He insisted I didn’t so when I ordered my contacts, I couldn’t even wear them because I would blink them right out! No luck in getting my problem resolved either!
This review is about the optical department and not the optometrists in Hayward, CA. The vision center in the Union Center Wal-Mart leaves a lot to be desired. The people running the optical department don’t know what they are doing. They have very little training in dispensing glasses. They may have certificates stating they are qualified from the National dispensing board but they are clueless. I went to school for 2 years and got an AA degree in optical dispensing. They seem absolutely clueless as to how to adjust a frame. I went in there and picked a frame that I liked. It came back from the lab and the frame was crooked and they didn’t seem to know what to do to fix it. The manager got impatient with me and raised her voice because I just wasn’t going to pay $346.00 for glasses that were crooked. Even the other customers in the vision center saw what was going on. I cancelled the sale. Unfortunately, other customers who visit the vision center don’t know that they don’t know what they are doing. I will NEVER, EVER buy glasses from Wal-Mart vision again. I will either go back to Sears where I know the people know what they are doing or go to Four Eyes in Berkeley.
I bought some glasses there a couple of years ago. They really didn’t hold up very well. They scratched very easily and the arm broke off. I guess you get what you pay for.
Dose all walmart charge same price for eye exzam
My experience with costs for contact lens exams was very reasonable. I have had excellent experiences with Walmart several times, once for an actual eye ulcer. The doctor was very professional, but with a comfortable rapport and conversation style that was engaging. She was very good, thorough, and obviously incredibly knowledgeable and had been working in the field for a long time. They saw me on moments notice for the infection, she literally walked by my, immediately took in my red puffy eye, and skipped her lunch break to see me. I was very unexpectedly surprised and have continued to go there for yearly contact lens eye exams with the same awesome service, AND the same doctor! I did want to add, unlike some folks above the equipment and exam rooms were spotless, and I never felt in any danger of being exposed to items that were not properly cleaned.
I went to the in N. Myrtle Beach and they are great, the Dr. is the best I’ve ever been to! Went to another optometrist first, not with Walmart and couldn’t see with the contacs she gave me, this Dr. had me go out and shop and see how they felt and how well they worked for reading signs, etc!! Makes a HUGE difference where you go and if you’ll go back!
Equipment not up-to-date; odor emitting from equipment; doctor and staff extremely rude; when I tried to ask questions, they walk backward out of the room just nodding their head(s), not really giving me an answer. I was so uncomfortable, I got up and left. As I was walking out, the “manager” (and I use the term loosely) just watched me walk away, never stopped to ask me why…and he was fully aware that I had not seen the “doctor”. Walmart……close your Vision Centers. They’re no good!
I meant I can’t go to them because it’s the weekend and they are closed.
I have a regular ophthalmologist and he was out of town so being that I needed new glasses I choose to go to Walmart for the convenience as a walk-in. Upon arrival, they had just came back for lunch. When I got a good look at the space and their casual appearance, I was skeptical of the care. However I’m picky. When the assistant call me for the initial pre test measurements and the puff of air in the eye, I notice something unpleasant. She never cleaned the equipment so the smell of someone before me was there. And then on to the main exam which I didn’t see the them wipe it down either. So I got the prescription and was on my way, thinking I would not ever return and a little mad at myself for not asking that they clean the thing before I used it. Two day later I wake to a swollen red eye and I will probably will need to see a doctor. However it’s the weekend and I can go back and tell them of my problem.
please contact 424.362.4859
Is there an office at the Auburn Walmart?
Hi is there any coupons or discounts days for exams at CENTEREACH n.y. Walmart vision??? Do I need appointment? And is there evening hours ?
I had an eye exam on May 31, 2016. My prescription was lower that what I had the previous year. I was told that my eyes had improved. I was skeptical because my eyes had not been any different for the past 5 years. I ordered my contacts and wore them for a month and started getting excruciating migraines. I went back and the receptionist was very rude. The other girls seemed clueless on what the hell they was doing. On top of that they charged me $30 for a follow up even though the doctor told me if I had a problem just to come back. Like he was antisipating me to come back just so I can pay more. The doctor and the techs need to learn bedside manners. I really wanted to cuss them out and make a scene but there was children there so I refrained from doing so. The doctor was not hearing me out and not getting it. He left the exam room and sent in a tech to try to hurry me out. I would not recommend anyone to go to any of the walmart’s optometrist unless you want low quality care that could potentially screw up your eyes and health.
I think that their customer service is not very good. They insisted that I just needed to get used to the glasses. Another guy said that I was not using the glasses properly versus just admitting that they gave me the wrong prescription. Either they are just in too much of a hurry or the guy wasn’t very good. When I explained that they did not mark my glasses properly before they ordered my progressive lenses to see where my eye was oriented, they just ignored me and told me it would take about a month to get used to the new set. So why can I just put on a pair of reading glasses and immediately be able to read with them, but my new glasses did not allow me to read anything in the bottom part of the lens. After spending $465.00 why can’t I see any better than my $12 reading glasses. I would avoid walmart vision centers because they are not cheaper, faster, and do not provide good customer service. Stick to a regular eye doctor that will spend more time on the eye exam.