Vision Associates?

[Joann Raytar]

A bunch of us got job op letters from a place and I was wondering if anybody here knows who they are. I think they are either called Vision Associates or Vision Center Associates. Are they Walmart guys?

[stephanie]

Hi Jo, hmmmm I have never heard of them. I work there so I would think I would have heard of them before but I haven't. It doesn't necessarily mean they didn't leave me out of the loop on something. LOL!!
Have a great day!!!
Steph

[Texas Ranger]

Jo and Stephanie, it's really a loyalty check by Walmart, send job op letters to their employees, check out who responds! LOL.

[EyeCon]

Jo and Stephanie, I think Al has pegged this absolutely correct!!! Vista!!! IS Wal Mart...and I believe are in Chapter 11 and are doing some restructuring of finances and personnel...I have a very good friend who is an Optometrist in one of the Vista ( Wal Mart ) vision centers who keeps me abreast of the happinings...I once worked in a Corporate Wal Mart Vision Center owned and operated by Wal Mart...Before Vista gobbled-up an entire block of leases, it was NVA who had an entire Mid-Atlantic Region of the leased vision centers...that being said, I believe just as employers, at one time placed ' Help-Wanted ' ads to see if any of their employees would respond!!! I agree with Al; this is a loyalty check...perfectly legal, ya just have to look for key-words, even if it's just the name of the company i.e., ' Vision Associates '....Vista Eyecare!...Don't mean to alarm anyone, it's just that I've become suspicious of certain business practices...like companies advertising for an ' Dispensing Optician ' with no particulars about the job...just send your resume to whoever...it could very well be that there is no job, they just want to know who's looking!

[EYERX]

VISION ASSOCIATES IS A COMPANY BASED OUT OF WARREN TWP NJ.THEY ARE A MANAGEMENT COMPANY WHO GO INTO OPHTHAMALOGY OFFICES AND SUPPLY THE OPTICIAN IF HE IS NOT ALREADY THERE (and only if they like the present optician will he be allowed to stay) THE FRAMES ALL SUPPLIES AND JOBS ARE SENT TO THEIR LAB.....VISION ASSOCIATES FOOTS THE WHOLE BILL AND IN RETURN THE DOCTOR USUALLY RECIEVES 10% OF THE GROSS! BUT BEWARE I WORKED FOR THEM AT ONE TIME AND THEY ARE A BUNCH OF MONEY HUNGRY THIEVES!!! OWNED BY TWO GUYS JOE AND KURT......BEWARE OF THEIR FALSE INTENTIONS AND THEIR TWO DEVIOUS HENCMAN PAT AND ANGELO!!!!!!

[Joann Raytar]

EYERX:

Thank you; you appear to be correct. Here is the URL:
http://visassoc.com/advant.html

[Steve Machol]

Message to K.B.:

My response to your email regarding this topic bounced due to 'Invalid recipient'. Unless you want me to publish your email and my response on this public forum, you'll need to send me another email with a valid return address.

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OptiBoard Administrator

[stephanie]

And what happens to you if you do reply?? A cut in pay?LOL!!! Treat your employees fairly and pay them fairly and there would be no need to send out "HELP WANTED" ads. I never stop looking for employment so I probably would have answered the ad to be honest with you. I am constantly looking for "better". When I find it I'll let you know!!! LOL!!!
Steph

[ctoptician]

Jo,
Vision Associates is a real company. They are a management company based out of NJ. I can't help but laugh at the reply that EYERX has posted. (Sounds like sour grapes!) I've worked for them for over a year and I honestly can't say enough good things about them. As a CT licensed optician who's been in the business for well over 15 years I'd worked for the same company for almost 10 when I first spoke to VA. (They came highly recommended to me by a few respected opticians I knew.) They offered me a great opportunity to run a dispensary for prominent doctors in the state and also offer me a product line of frames and lenses that are known as the best in the industry. It's a great situation for me and as a result I've recommended a few of my associates for positions and they're happy, too. They are a successful, growing company looking for good opticians. Check them out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

[Steve Machol]

ctoptician,

Thanks for reminding us there there's always more than one side to a story.

Messages like EYERX's leave me with an uncomfortable dilemma. On one hand, I firmly believe in the value of free and open communication and have always strived to keep OptiBoard a place where people can discuss serious (and other!) issues without the threat of censorship. In fact, over the years there've been many messages which were harshly critical of my employer (Sola Optical) and even myself - yet I have never used my position as the administrator of this forum to punish or prohibit people from expressing their opinions.

On the other hand, it's altogether too easy to use forums like this to launch attacks against others. I believe that along with freedom of expression there must be accountability. For this reason, I've prohibited anonymous attacks on OptiBoard. Everyone here must use a vaild email address so there is some level of accountability.

While I'm sure EYERX believes he has valid reasons for feeling the way he does, your message is a pointed reminder that we all percieve the same events and entities differently. Otherwise everyone would come to their senses and see everything the way I do! :D

Thanks again - and welcome to OptiBoard. By the way, where in Connecticut are you? I was born in Hartford and still have lots of family back there.

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OptiBoard Administrator

[stephanie]

Steve, I do agree with you on this one. There are usually two sides to alot of stories. Some people may work for a company and have a fantastic experience while others may have a horrible experience. I have been known to defend opticians on here who work for wm. I don't intend to defend the company instead some of us out there. I understand exactly what you mean. It just depends mostly on who you are dealing with. I have never worked well for a large company past or present. I feel like an inferior little pion in a huge industry. I feel much more comfortable with the person who signs my paycheck being the person I come in and say hi to in the morning. That is just my personal feelings about things not to be confused with how I actually feel about my job. Optical I LOVE...just because I don't care for the way things are run at the company I work for doesn't mean I don't enjoy the work. Most of my resentment stems from a personal experience rather than that of the company. That is the reason I am not the lab tech anymore not because I don't love being it but for other reasons I felt that it was time to get rid of some of the stress it was causing. Remember for those of you ready to come at me on this one...you DON'T work at the same location I do or else you might understand.
Have a great day everyone!!!
Steph

[Maria]

I think it tends to depend more on the people you see on a day-to-day basis, than the company, really. You can have two people who work for the same chain, one who has fabulous colleagues and loves it, and one who has awful colleagues and hates it. And if you asked them, they would say "Walmart (or whichever company) is fabulous,/Walmart is awful"
Although in big companies, you do tend to get more awful people, because there are some people who want to 'work up the ladder', and seem to think the best way to do this is to pretend to be really important. You know the type, the ones who, if you talk to them about work for more than 30 seconds, call someone and say they're 'in a meeting'.When really, they're only in charge of making coffee :)
In small companies, there is no ladder, so no-one can do that.
But on the other hand, you can't transfer out with a small company, so you're pretty much stuck with them. :)
Hmm, I'm very philosophical tonight. And I'm not even drunk ;)

[stephanie]

YEP Maria you hit the nail right on the head on this one. Seems I am the only one in this store that doesn't want to climb this ladder. Don't even care to be on the first rung if you want to know the truth. We have way too many people who think that they are "in charge". I feel that my growth as an optician is not going to be with this store unless some major changes occur. I am more interested with optical NOT with management. Although I realize we need management I would prefer to be a great optician than a good manager. How do you even manage a store when everyone already knows everything?? Gee I guess I really don't know anything so don't bother to ask me any questions because I probably wouldn't be able to give you an intelligent answer anyway!!! LOL!! Oh well so the saga goes....
Thanks for letting me vent!
Steph