Bard Optical - East Peoria

Fixed my glasses for free and quickly. Also, they do have beautiful frames.

Everyone in the Peoria office are wonderful. These girls treat you with the utmost respect and you feel like Family. Dr Bard you have a great crew representing you so hold on to them

My daughter had an exam here for glasses and contacts. After the exam we paid for the glasses and contacts in full. They set up a separate appointment to teach her to put in contacts. This was strange, because she already had contacts and it was unnecessary, but they acted like we had to do it. When we went to that appointment she went in alone because she just had to pop in some lenses and move on, she's 17 so we figured she would be fine. In that appointment, without speaking to me or my wife, they changed the contacts we had already paid for to a set that was over $100 more expensive. When I went to pick them up they asked me for the remaining balance and I demanded a refund instead. This is blatantly dishonest business tactics. It was a bait and switch by taking advantage of a minor child. Even if there was a necessary reason for a more expensive brand, which there wasn't, (we went somewhere else and got contacts without being ripped off) that should require at minimum a phone call to the legal guardian and/or the person whose credit card was used.

EDITED AGAIN for clarification: BARD OPTICAL was GREAT. BOND EYE were the ones recommended for retina surgery that messed everything up. It was all downhill after that. EDITED: My first few visits were great. Then my retina became detached. Dr. Adler is the retina specialist so he did surgery. He had to put an oil bubble around it to help it heal. Then another surgery to remove the oil bubble and put a gas bubble around it. My eyesight in that eye wasn't that good in the first place, so while he and Dr. Bond kept doing more and more tests on my eye I wasn't aware of the extra damage it was causing. Then both of them began talking about my eye looking like the retina might be detached again. Dr. Bond was going to do cataract surgery to replace the lens but to also get a better look at the back of my eye. (?) I thought that surgery went okay until 2 days later and everything went black. I then had to go to Chicago to the Illinois Eye Institute. There I had to have another surgery by their specialist, who also taught the retina surgery procedures. She stated that there was still oil from the first surgery, pieces of cataract from that surgery, and a lot of scar tissue she had to clean out. Prior to this surgery she had told me that my retina looked like it was folded over. Once surgery was over, everything cleaned up and out of the way, she said my retina was just hanging on by a thread, literally. So I have been blind in that eye since. FIRST review: My experience here was great. All of the reception staff were welcoming and helpful. The technician who did 5-6 different tests was knowledgeable, and thorough. The doctor spent about 30 minutes with me going over everything to see if we could figure out what was causing my eye pain. Then Taylor helped me to pick out new glasses. She was friendly and informative. I think the overall experience was very pleasant.

We went to Bard Optical due to insurance and also thinking we would receive a better product and service. Absolutely not. Our 6yr old son needed glasses. A couple months after we got them the side ear piece fell off. We went in to get them repaired and had to pay to repair them as they were not under warranty. Then again about 3wks later they broke again in the same spot. Brought them in again and again no warranty. They were very adamant about their product. At least they super glued them for me. The kids glasses are overpriced and flimsy. Their hospitality was less then what they stand for. We came here thinking we would get a good product. However Wal-Mart glasses were much better, never had any issues, and they have a warranty if so. I will be paying out of pocket from now to not go to Bard. Very disappointing.

This is a different kind of review. I was in town on business and sitting in my hotel room Sunday night. All of a sudden, plop, one of my lenses fell into my lap. I thought "OK, I'll just snap it back into place." No such luck. The screw holding the frame together was gone and the frame was hanging open. So I did a Google search (with only one eye) and found Walmart and Bard. I decided to try the local business. First thing Monday morning I found a parking spot right in front of Bard (1 star). I was greeted promptly by Ashley (2 stars). I showed her my glasses and she immediately said "Sure, I can fix that." (3 stars) She had the job finished in less than five minutes. (4 stars). And when I tried to pay her she said "No sir. There is no charge." (5 stars) And she flashed me a perfect smile. Here's the thing. I can't honestly tell you that Bard does a good job making glasses. But what I can tell you is that employees make the company. And I can also tell you that Ashley is a wonderful employee. Based on my interaction with her, this has to be the best place for you to go when you need new glasses. So go see Ashley and tell her "That old guy with the broken glasses sent you".

I almost didn't visit this location based on the low rating, but I'm glad I did. Dr. Schussele was wonderful - very thorough, yet fast. She was down to earth and very understanding. The first eye doctor I've seen in a very long time that I felt was on my side and not just trying to sell me something and push me out the door. The only negative was a very long wait - about an hour past my scheduled time - but I've been used to that considering I used to visit Illinois Eye Center. Dr. Schussele apologized for the long wait, saying she was running late that morning. I had a 11:40am appointment, so it's not surprising I ran into some backed up scheduling. I won't hold it against her or my rating. The front desk girls were very helpful. One even helped adjust an old pair of glasses for me that my son had mangled.

Not the best bard optical I've been to, staff seems incompetent in their ability to comfort the customer, my questions and concerns were not given a complete diagnosis, nor were they even troubleshooted. I was rushed through the exam with contacts that don't fit right. Not very pleased with my overall experience, I was being talked to like I was incoherent of some sort. Though the manager is probably the only one that was helpful at this location. Every single time I've been in there they are 100% of the time behind schedule. Always running late.