Eyeglass Chain Stores Put to the Test (cont.)

As seen on ABC News - Good Morning America Consumer Stories

The LensCrafters glasses — the most expensive of the four — were called the worst of the bunch by two of the three optometrists.

"This was an absolute failure," Frazee said.

Frazee said that according to industry standards, the lens power in one eye was out-of-tolerance. The bifocals lines were crooked and too small, he added.

"The individual wearing these glasses would have been raising their head like this all the time," Frazee said.

To be sure this wasn't an isolated incident with one LensCrafters, WFAA went to two more LensCrafters to fill the same prescription.

One pair passed, but the other failed for not meeting industry standards for lens power. And all three optometrists observed the bifocal lines were crooked and could be hard on a patient's eyes.

Of the three pairs of glasses purchased from LensCrafters, two failed quality testing.

And it turns out that Target contracts with the same company that owns LensCrafters to make its glasses and those also failed.

Opticians Need Better Training

LensCrafters inspected the four pairs of glasses, and while they disagreed with some of WFAA's findings, they still failed two of four pairs.

The company said in a statement, "We stands behind our products and services and encourage our customers to allow us to fix any errors that do occur."

Frazee believes poorly trained opticians are to blame for most of the problems.

Opticians fit you for glasses and check to make sure they were made correctly — they are not the same as optometrists.

In more than 20 states, opticians are required to get two to four years of on-the-job training and be licensed by the state.

But in nearly 30 states, that means there are no licensing requirements.

In response to the WFAA piece, LensCrafters said it could have corrected some of the problems if someone had sat for a proper fitting.

Wal-Mart issued this statement: "We pride ourselves in the accurate fulfillment of prescriptions, and if we have fallen short, we will do anything we can to put things right."