View Poll Results: Which Is The Better Overall Company?

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  • Essilor

    23 46.94%
  • Hoya

    26 53.06%
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Thread: Help! : Essilor vs. Hoya (Company Comparison)

  1. #26
    On the Sunset Tour! Framebender's Avatar
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    We used to use both, but have since dropped Hoya. Our experience with Hoya Dallas was a nightmare. Breakages with no notification. Problems that sat on someones desk for more than a week with no notification. Then there is their policy of not even looking at a job until they get the frame. (VSP job where the frame was signed for on one day and not entered into their system for another 4 days. Then 4 days later they tell us there is a problem. 7 working days and no one has even pulled blanks!) Hoya San Diego is a good lab, but we just decided that they were more problems than they were worth.

    If you are here in Austin we have a new rep that they brought in from West Texas. The one's we used to have were good, but one was moved to key accounts and the other one quit to work for a different lab. Kind of made me wonder. I honestly don't know anything about the new rep either good or bad!

    Good luck to you!!
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  2. #27
    One of the worst people here
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    I really wish these companies would come up and provide the same stock selection as Essilor. Stock Club and RX Club are so inexpensive that getting a lens from a lab. The Essilor Stock selection is huge compared to the competitors.

    For instance, take Trivex. I do not know if this has changed over the last few years, but it was impossible to get Stock Trivex with Super Hi. I could get Hi Vision or their slip coat, but not the main AR. So I would have to surface it. I could replace it with 1.5, poly or 1.6 from Essilor for 10% to 25% of the cost. Even their stock lenses, since they went through labs, were at least twice the price than I would have got from Essilor.

    In is unfortunate, because there are good arguments for why you should not deal with Essilor. The problem is that I feel the competitors are lazy. In this thread, we are all talking about PALs and customer service. Yes, PALs are the big purchases, but we still do a lot of stock. Why these companies have not come through on that is a joke.

    And telling me that your 3rd tier coating is comparable to your 1st tier really does not make your product look good.

  3. #28
    OptiBoard Professional RT's Avatar
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    I do not know if this has changed over the last few years, but it was impossible to get Stock Trivex with Super Hi.
    HOYA Phoenix (Trivex) has been available in stock FSV with SHV in US and Canada for over 2 years.
    RT

  4. #29
    One of the worst people here
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    Ok thanks. Like I said, I was not sure if it had changed.

  5. #30
    OptiWizard
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    Quote Originally Posted by Framebender View Post
    We used to use both, but have since dropped Hoya. Our experience with Hoya Dallas was a nightmare. Breakages with no notification. Problems that sat on someones desk for more than a week with no notification. Then there is their policy of not even looking at a job until they get the frame. (VSP job where the frame was signed for on one day and not entered into their system for another 4 days. Then 4 days later they tell us there is a problem. 7 working days and no one has even pulled blanks!) Hoya San Diego is a good lab, but we just decided that they were more problems than they were worth.

    If you are here in Austin we have a new rep that they brought in from West Texas. The one's we used to have were good, but one was moved to key accounts and the other one quit to work for a different lab. Kind of made me wonder. I honestly don't know anything about the new rep either good or bad!

    Good luck to you!!
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  6. #31
    Rising Star listenclose23's Avatar
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    I have used both companies and in my mind there is no comparison...Hoya by a landslide. You get a better product at a better price and the service has been impeccable. They have great rewards programs and spend their capital in research and development instead of marketing. The new SummitIQ have received great accolades from my patients and they now have a super individualized progressive called MyStyle. Their ARs are in my opinion the best hands down and their warranties are amazing. I cant believe the poll is this close but the big hand of essilor has hypnotized many in the biz. Hope this helps..and btw we use Hoya Atl, they have had the same staff forever, the turn around time is super fast, and the % of remakes is very low (this says alot if you knew how closely we inspect each job).

  7. #32
    Rising Star listenclose23's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SailorEd View Post
    If you ask me, Zeiss outshines both of them, as do their labs. Do yourself a favor and "investigate" Zeiss' "OD Excellence" program. You just might find that it offers superior benefits that this "buying group" can't even compete with.

    Hoya Dallas used to be Benedict Optical and it was really great. Then Hoya took over and we saw a very severe decline in quality. We had a remote tracer and the percentage of jobs that had to be returned to be redone was unacceptable. Went from there to Hoya Cleveland, same thing. Then to Hoya Chicago, same thing. Then Benedict's Daughter opened up Legends 4.0 lab in Lewisville, Tx and it was great until they sold out to VSP.

    Now, we're at Zeiss Kentucky and it is a great lab. Very customer service oriented and I am personally happy with them (being the perfectionist that I am). Excellent work and very good product (Hoya and Essilor don't even come close to the "Individual").

    As I said, do yourself a favor and investigate what the OD Excellence program from Zeiss can offer your practice.
    Zeiss does not offer trivex ...when I first took over here we used a Zeiss lab, great products..good service...but no trivex

  8. #33
    Rochester Optical WFruit's Avatar
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    I'm very surprised the poll is tied (with all due respect to Pete Hanlin, I'm discounting his vote because he works for Essilor). I guess it's because it's about whose labs are better, as opposed to whose lenses are better......

    GO INDPENDENTS!!!
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  9. #34
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    That's a HIGHLY subjective subject on the quality of lenses as well.

  10. #35
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    I will weigh in here. I am part of that same "buying group" I'm guessing, if the initials are V.S., then I am. I'm in the midst of comparing prices between similar products from Essilor and HOYA. I'd say that, as part of the buying group, the HOYA prices are better and their rewards program is better. I have two large practices that have a lot of experience with both companies and they choose HOYA when they can. In our area, New England, apparently there are no HOYA lab issues.

  11. #36
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    I don't have a clue what that one guy was talking about when he said that Hoya doesn't have the prettiest looking product. We do a bunch of work with Hoya Atlanta and the finished product is top shelf. The lab will provide overnight shipping labels. Why would you be confined to the Dallas branch?

  12. #37
    OptiWizard
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    I’ve noticed on the job board, Hoya Dallas has an opening in customer service. “no experience required”
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  13. #38
    Rising Star specs2see's Avatar
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    personally and for whats it is worth. i dont care for either one. i would much rather give my business to one of the mom and pop labs. (which are fading into the sunset) you will get more personal service. sometimes better prices because thier mark up is smaller and most often better quality work. lets face it. we can all surface any name brand lens. however if you process 50 jobs a day as oppossed to 500. who is going to do the better work? the down side to a private lab is the turnaround time. they will not have in house AR labs and may not have huge amounts of stock on the shelves. but i have experienced slim stock with the "E" lab i use. but you will get the personal care of the small labs that you will never see with the big fish. all a matter of opinion. and we get to help support family owned business that the sharks have taken over.. choice is yours
    Last edited by specs2see; 03-30-2011 at 09:50 PM. Reason: cant find the spell check. lol
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  14. #39
    Rising Star specs2see's Avatar
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    and as far as the poll. which lab is better, Hoya or Essilor. we need a "NEITHER BUTTON"
    Donald W Summers,B.S,A.B.O.C,N.C.L.E

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