Thanks to the internet we can now buy eyeglasses online without burning a hole in your pocket. If you’re here, you maybe wondering if Zenni is the real deal or another scam. It's probably why you're reading so many Zenni reviews. Well if you want the truth, read our shocking review below! You've been warned.
What Is Zenni Optical?
Zenni is a website that sells prescription and non-prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. Zenni Optical, LLC was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by entrepreneurs Tibor Láczay and Julia Zhen in 2003. They initially started as 19dollareyeglasses.com but they renamed it to Zenni three years later.
What Types Of Glasses Does Zenni Sell?
As mentioned earlier Zenni sells prescription and non-prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. They claim they have over 3000 different frame styles and options for men, women and kids.
Zenni Lens Options and Frame Selection
Zennis offers various types of lens and frames. They sell single, bifocal and progressive lenses with the option to choose the shape, color, size and material. Their frames are mostly made of plastic, titanium or steel.
Buying a pair of eyeglasses from Zenni begins with you knowing your PD (pupillary distance). If you’re wondering what that is, go here. Once you have your PD measured up they’ll ask you to upload a photo of you facing forward and upright to their virtual mirror. The virtual mirror helps you see how the frame would look on you. You can then use the filters to find what you’re looking for.
Once you find something you like you can proceed to fill out your prescription and then check out. They also claim that all glasses include free anti-scratch coating, UV protection, single vision lens a hard case and a cleaning cloth.
How Do I Get A Zenni Prescription?
They don’t actually have a way you can get your prescription from them unlike what goes on at Warby Parker. So you’ll have to get one on your own. But of course you don’t need a prescription if you’re shopping for sunglasses.
Where Can I Buy Zenni Glasses?
You can get these glasses off their website. If you’re not out for prescription glasses, you can buy their sunglasses and non-prescription eyeglasses on Amazon.com for better deals. But if you really want to save money while buying stuff online, you may want to consider a site like EBates.com where you earn cash back and they have tons of coupons you can get. SwagBucks.com is another great place to check out. They allow you to earn free gift cards and cash for things you already do online. You can use the cash or gift cards to save while shopping on Zenni or any store you shop at online or offline.
How Much Do Zenni Glasses Cost?
Zenni eyeglasses go for as little as $6.95 to their hundreds at the time of this review. Most sunglasses go for $15 on average, but you’ll probably find the same on Amazon.com at a cheaper price. Lenses cost upwards of $50 depending on what you want and the options you choose to include like polarity and photochromic impact resistance.
Zenni Optical Shipping, Returns and Refund Policy
In the US, standard shipping costs $4.95 and takes 14-21 business days. Priority shipping costs $8.45 and takes 10-14 business days while express shipping costs $18.95 and takes 7-10 days. Damn! Maybe you’re better off buying on Amazon where you get FREE Guaranteed 1-2 Day Amazon Prime Delivery.
If you’re in Canada, you’ll pay $9.95 for standard shipping and $15.95 for priority. International shipping costs $9.95 and it takes 21-28 days. They ship via either USPS or UPS.
Their return policy says you have 30 days to decide whether you want to return or not. They’ll either refund you 50% of what you paid excluding shipping or you can choose to get 100% store credit. But if you want a replacement for an error they are responsible of, they’ll do that for free within the 30 days warranty period.
You can read all about shipping, returns and refunds here.
Zenni Optical Customer Service
If for any reason you want to talk to customer service, you can call them on (800) 211-2105 5am – 9pm PT every day. You can also email them on service@zennioptical.com and word is they are very active on social media, so you have that option too.
Zenni Optical Complaints
If you’ve ever felt the pain of losing money, you know better than to shop online without knowing what customers are saying about a company. So here are a few negative things you should know about Zenni.
You Get What You Pay For
Some customers say they were promised strong, sturdy and durable frames but they turned out to be anything but.
Slow Customer Service
It seems their customer service can’t keep up with customer complaints. Quite a number of customers said it took weeks before they could be attended to. Others were forced to look the other way as getting their issues sorted out took longer than the 30 days warranty period.
Zenni Optical Competitors
If the fact Zenni won’t give you a full refund and paying for shipping rubs you the wrong way, you have alternatives. You can check out either Warby Parker or EyeBuyDirect as alternatives.
Should You Buy Zenni Or Not?
If you’re shopping for cheap eyeglasses and sunglasses, Zenni is a great place to look. You get anti-scratch coating, UV protection, single vision lens a hard case and a cleaning cloth at no extra cost. They also have a positive BBB rating which may give you peace of mind.
But you can only get back half of what you paid for if you need refund and unlike most online glasses companies, you’ll have to pay for shipping with this one. Their customer service isn't the best according to some customers. But they're definitely winning on the pricing end of things.
So if you would like to try out Zenni, you may get better deals on sunglasses and non-prescription eyeglasses on Amazon.com especially if you’re a Prime Member. You can also earn free gift cards and coupons on a site like SwagBucks.com that you can use to shop for Zenni online glasses by doing what you already do online like watching videos, reading emails, playing games and more. Sites like EBates.com also give you the chance to earn cash back and coupons while shopping for online glasses.
Hopefully you’re now in a better position to know whether Zenni is worth your time and money. We would also like to know what you think about this or any other online glasses company out there. So feel free to chime in on the comments section below. If you still have questions about Zenni, you can check out their FAQs page here.
Until next time
Eddy “with a Y”
Zenni Optical Review
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Our Overall Rating
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Support
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Quality
Summary
Zenni says they found a solution to expensive prescription eyeglasses. But if what customers are saying about them is anything to go by, you may want to re-think purchasing from Zenni.
Zenni Glasses
I got a pair of glasses for $339 at Costco and a pair at Zenni for $109. Bottom line, I never wear the ones from Costco, but the glasses from Zenni make it easier to read with less strain. The prescription was identical.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
The coating they put on their lenses rubs off and customer service manager unwilling to fulfill their warranty
Buyer beware, the coating on my lenses from Zenni rubbed off prior to the 1 year mark. A pair I purchases 15 years ago from an optical center in my hometown still has the coating. Zenni optical failed the test and although inexpensive compared to the brick and mortar optical center, I would almost prefer paying more for a product that I can use for several years. I don’t see value in Zenni anymore and their customer service was less than ideal. They inquired about when I first started noticing the coating flaw and I was honest and advised prior to the 1 year mark. I am at the 1 year 20 day mark but the coating was wearing off around approximately 10 to 11 months of wearing them. I will not purchase from them again and hoping others are warned properly about the lens coating issue.
not good
they dont seem to be able to read an eye prescription from eye doctor…
Shipping Promotion Rip-Off
I received a PROMO code from Zenni offering 20% discount and free shipping on orders over $75. They charged me for shipping, and I called customer service. Everyone was polite, but no-one would credit the $9.95 US shipping fee. I was told, ”you are in Canada so that doesn’t apply…just go to our website and see”. The point is, they sent a promotional email with a link when you press on the link to order through the promotional email, you don’t go through the HOME PAGE. THIS IS AN OVERSIGHT ON ZENNI OPTICAL’S PART and all they had to do was to have ”NOT APPLICABLE OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL USA” on the promotion regarding the shipping part, which they did not do. By not giving me a credit, they essentially advertised falsely by misleading consumers in Canada and probably other countries and would not be accountable for THEIR ERROR. I have purchased 5 pairs of glasses from them over the last couple of years and was ready to purchase more. I will be going elsewhere.
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Zenni is fabulous!
Me and my family have been buying our glasses from Zenni for a few years now and I absolutely love them. Affordable and great selection of frames.Thanks Zenni♥️
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These glasses are so bad I can’t even see out of them not near or far I had cataract they were supposed to fix the far vision so these were for reading up close and they don’t they make it worse and they’re not helpful at all their customer service staff are foreigners so I can understand and can’t understand me and they keep asking me to send the same damn prescription over and over and over again
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Zenni Sucks!!
If I could I would rate them a zero!! I had them referred to me by a number of people. They told me how great they were. I ordered my glasses and when I got them I couldn’t read with them. I actually got nauseous trying to wear them. I called Zenni and told them about the problem. I was old I could get a 50% refund or a 100% store credit. I returned my glasses to have them do a quality check on my lenses. After about 20 days I got an e mail telling me that the lenses were correct. Because they refused to give me 100% of my money back, I had them return my glasses. I am going to have to spend more money to get correct lenses out in the frames. I would not recommend Zenni to anyone!! They are going to simply scan you!!!
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I'm out of pocket with Zenni
What absolute rubbish Zenni are.
The glasses came to about $130 with a “sturdy” looking frame and some bells and whistles.
When they eventually arrived I couldn’t see at all with them, gave me a terrible headache and couldn’t get used to them at all. Prescription was entered correctly. Return policy is awful but they said they will refund me if they find it was their fault.
Due to the terribly long process to return them I ordered another pair with same prescription elsewhere and they were perfect. But Zenni, a month later said their’s were correctly made, which can’t be true otherwise beacuse I couldn’t see at all through them. The process is not transparent and they say whatever they like of course. I have no option but take their word.
They offered me only 50% refund (and no shipping refund) or store credit which I won’t use because I can’t trust them. The sturdy frame also turned out to be flimsy.
What a rip off. And yes, came from China. Not only I didn’t save any money, I’m terribly out of pocket with Zenni. These are nothing but scammers. This practice is illegal in my country.
Made glasses incorrectly and lied about it
Beware of Zenni if you wear anything other than simple, single-vision glasses, which they probably are just fine for. If you need a specialty lens such as a progressive, know going in that, while they might make your lenses correctly, if they don’t make them correctly, they will lie about it and refuse to either fix them or refund your full purchase price.
After making an accurate pair of workspace progressives for me, they my standard progressives incorrectly. I couldn’t get sharp vision through them, even after adjusting the nose pads to various positions and trying several different head angles.
I called Zenni, and they had me ship the glasses back to them with a prepaid label. Three weeks after receiving the glasses back, they emailed me saying they found the glasses to have been produced correctly and offering to (a) return them to me unaltered, (b) issue a 100% store credit, or (c) issue a 50% refund.
I obviously didn’t want the glasses back. I didn’t want the store credit, since I don’t want any more glasses made by Zenni. So I took the 50% refund, allowing them to keep about $70 of my money for absolutely nothing.
Will Never Use This Company Again
After their posing of a photo with a burning police car on a Christmas card I will NEVER use this company again. Strongly recommend you boycott.
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They suck
Glasses didn’t fit, nose pads completely sideways, no tool to adjust
titanium frames un-adjustable
emailed support: didn’t offer to replace or correct them
offered a (one time 100% refund) within 30 days
or a 50% discount on another pair?
shipping took forever.
So basically threw $70.00 in the garbage.
The facial recognition software I dont like and did not want to use it
(figured they are getting a kick back from law enforcement to collect facial pictures) not good.
Beware!!
and this is why i dont like shopping online.
its nothing but a pain in the ass and you dont know who you can trust.
hope this helps.
good luck!
Caveat Emptor
I understand that one can be sued if they say things that are too awful about a service…..so I wont……just know that I am still shaking after dealing with them.
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No customers can share their honest experiences with companies otherwise no one would be able to leave a review. So feel free to really share your experience.
Bad experience
Bad experience. I felt so cross-eyed that I could not bear wearing the glasses more than a few minutes, even though we had taken our measurements the best we could. So we returned them, but because we had not been ‘authorized’ (we had no idea it was required), we were offered 100% store credit (not interested, as we were disappointed with both the product and the service) or a 50% return. It feels like we just threw the other 50% to the wind.
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Not worth what I paid for
I bought Zenni glasses to have an extra pair in case something happened to my regular glasses which I wear everyday. Bad choice on my part. Same prescription as I’m still wearing and after THREE try’s Zenni could still not make a pair I can see with. My order numbers were as follows :
378111 138212 463311 . I’m donating the newest pair to the Lions club. Shame that I spent more than $100 plus shipping for a pair I could not use . My advice ” BUY LOCAL”
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They over promise and Don't Deliver!
I had an accident and damaged my glasses. Zenni advertises 3 – 5 day (not business days …but days) with rush delivery from day after the date of order. It is unfortunate they cannot fulfill orders as promised. They are not willing to provide any names of individuals at the company that are in Senior management. Only to please send an email to customer service (which is who I was talking to on the telephone) and they would respond in 48 hours. Now I ask you does that make sense?
I would advise people to find an alternative provider. Thios is a company unwilling to stand behind their advertised commitments. A company unwilling to let you reach out to management and places customer service personnel as a buffer to keep problems from finding their way to the proper individuals is arrogant.