1-800 Contacts

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 3 historical complaints about 1-800 Contacts, published between 2006 and 2012. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• Extra $250 charged after legitimate purchase and wrong lenses sentPublished Aug 29, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• Bait and Hold Rebates until the rebate expiresPublished Sep 5, 2007 · Historical consumer allegation
• Is purposely withholding the rebate form they promised to send mePublished Jul 23, 2006 · Historical consumer allegation

Complaint Themes

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website (1-800 Contacts): https://www.1800contacts.com/
• Customer service (24/7, per company): +1 (800) 266-8228 1 complaint mentions this number
• Legal department / IP notices (BBB-listed, Terms): +1 (801) 924-9800
• Dispute notices under Terms (legal@): [email protected]

Locations

1-800 Contacts order, prescription, return and billing problems: where to go and what the company says (checked October 12, 2026)

The company's contact page says it offers "U.S.-based customer service ... 24/7" at 1-800-266-8228, by live chat, or through an email form whose subject choices include prescription problems, order status, billing and shipping questions. Its returns page lists the same number for starting a return or exchange.

Prescription checks. The company's FAQ says that, if you do not have a copy of your prescription, "we'll verify your prescription with your eye care provider ... This may take up to one business day," and that with a verified prescription, orders placed weekdays by 3:00 PM Mountain Time ship the same day. Under the FTC's Contact Lens Rule guide, a seller's request is treated as verified if the prescriber confirms it, corrects it, or "fails to communicate with the seller within eight business hours of getting a complete verification request." The same guide says the Rule sets "a floor, or minimum, expiration date of one year" for prescriptions, and that state law may require longer periods. If an order is held for a prescription problem, the practical step is to ask your eye care provider's office whether a verification request arrived and to upload a copy of your prescription (the FAQ's fastest route).

Returns and exchanges. The company's returns page says: "Get free returns/exchanges on all unopened contacts," and in its FAQ section: "You can exchange any unused contacts for any reason, including opened boxes, no questions asked with free shipping both ways." For exchanges it says it gives "an up-front credit" and that "If we haven't received the old contacts within 30 days, we'll charge you for the new contacts using your original payment method." For returns it says: "Once we receive your unworn contacts, we'll issue a full refund." It also says there is "no expiration date" on the return window. Keep tracking numbers and the date you sent the box.

Rebates. The company's rebates page says to enter the order number to create a rebate form, print it, and mail one form per rebate to the Rebate Processing Center, P.O. Box 7777, Sandy, UT 84091; it says "Your pre-paid Visa card should arrive by mail within 6-8 weeks." Orders placed January 1 to June 30 must be postmarked by July 28, and orders placed July 1 to December 31 by January 28. The page also says rebates "may not be combined with insurance benefits." Keep a copy of the form and proof of mailing.

Insurance. The company's vision-insurance page names five in-network programs (Davis Vision, Superior Vision (Versant Health), Spectera (United Healthcare), Blue View Vision and Anthem BCBS administered by EyeMed). For other providers such as VSP or EyeMed it says to place the order, complete the out-of-network form, and "submit both the invoice from your order and the completed form to your insurance company for reimbursement."

Price match. The best-price guarantee page says it compares the "cart-to-cart total," requires the lower price to come from a U.S.-based competitor, and cannot be combined with insurance. A price match is a promise to compare a total price; ask in chat before ordering and save the chat transcript.

Disputes. The Terms and Conditions state that claims about the Site and products are resolved by "binding arbitration on an individual basis," with a class action waiver, and that disputes within a small claims court's scope may be brought there on an individual basis. The Terms also require written notice of a claim first so the parties can "try to resolve the claim or dispute informally"; a customer's notice "must be sent by email to 1-800 Contacts at the following email address: [email protected]," and arbitration may begin only if the dispute is not resolved "within sixty (60) days after the notice is received." The Terms also set separate Mass Case Filing Procedures. BBB accepts complaints through the "Submit a Complaint" link on its complaints tab. See the complaint-record section for BBB and Trustpilot figures as displayed.

Regulator action: FTC antitrust case over search-advertising agreements (2016 to 2021)

This case concerned competition among online sellers, not a complaint about an individual order. The FTC's case page says the administrative complaint (Docket No. 9372) issued on August 8, 2016 and charged that 1-800 Contacts "unlawfully orchestrated a web of anticompetitive agreements" with rival online contact lens sellers to limit search-advertising bidding on Google and Bing.

• October 20, 2017: the FTC's chief administrative law judge filed an initial decision upholding the complaint.
• November 14, 2018: the Commission issued its opinion and final order, with Commissioner Phillips dissenting and Commissioner Slaughter concurring (per the FTC case page). The order's paragraph II.A barred 1-800 Contacts from agreements with a seller "to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise place a limitation on the ability of a Seller to participate in a Search Advertising auction."
• June 11, 2021: the Second Circuit (No. 18-3848) decided 1-800 Contacts v. FTC. Its opinion says: "PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED, FINAL ORDER VACATED AND REMANDED," holding that the FTC "improperly considered the agreements to be 'inherently suspect'" and "incorrectly concluded that the challenged agreements are a violation of the FTC Act under the 'rule of reason.'"
• August 6, 2021: the FTC filed a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc. The FTC's Semiannual Federal Court Litigation Status Report for December 31, 2021 says the June 11, 2021 opinion granted the petition for review "and remanding case with instructions for Commission to dismiss the complaint," and that the "petition denied 8/26/21." The FTC case page itself shows August 6, 2021 as its last update.

The company's June 14, 2021 press release said the ruling "confirms that the original complaint had no evidentiary merit" and that its agreements were lawfully made to protect its trademark. The FTC's position, stated in its rehearing petition, was that the panel decision "was wrong." No other enforcement action against 1-800 Contacts appeared in the pages opened for this profile on 2026-10-12; state regulator databases were not searched individually, so this is not a statement that none exists.

Who is 1-800 Contacts: entity, ownership, brands and how the service works

The Terms and Conditions say the online platform is provided by "1-800 CONTACTS, INC. or its affiliates," and that "The owner of the Site is based in the state of Utah." BBB lists the business at 261 W Data Dr, Draper, Utah, as a corporation. The company says it "started in a dorm room in 1995." It describes itself as a seller that checks a customer's prescription and ships contact lenses, with online prescription renewal through ExpressExam and eyewear through The Framery.

Ownership. A PR Newswire release dated September 23, 2020 said KKR had signed a definitive agreement to acquire 1-800 Contacts from AEA Investors; the sources opened for this profile do not state the closing date. A RTTNews item of February 4, 2025 said KKR was acquiring additional stakes in 1-800 Contacts and two other portfolio businesses. KKR's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 says KKR "had arrangements in place to increase its ownership interest" in certain businesses, and that the acquisition of those stakes, including the stake in 1-800 Contacts Inc., "were all completed prior to the filing of this report"; the 10-Q does not give the size of the interest here. On November 1, 2023 the company announced "SeekWell" as a parent company; its release calls 1-800 Contacts the "flagship brand" and SeekWell's website says "SeekWell is the parent company of 1-800 Contacts and Luna." The release does not mention KKR; the sources opened do not describe how SeekWell and KKR's interest relate to each other.

Related brands named by the company. The 2023 release names Hello Eyes (Canada) and Luna, and the CEO quote there also mentions Liingo Eyewear and ExpressExam. A March 19, 2025 release announced The Framery at 1-800 Contacts.

Complaint record: BBB and Trustpilot as displayed on October 12, 2026, and archive posts

These figures are shown separately and are not combined.

• BBB profile for 1-800 Contacts, Inc., Draper, UT: BBB Accredited, rating A+. 135 total complaints in the last 3 years and 40 complaints filed in the last 12 months. Customer review rating 2.03 out of 5 stars from an average of 132 customer reviews. BBB's raw page data gives accredited since 1995-02-01, file opened 1996-11-25, business started 1995-02-01, incorporated 2001-11-01. BBB says displayed complaint text may not represent all complaints filed. One visible complaint dated 09/22/2026 describes a delivery delay; it is one consumer's account.
• Trustpilot: 4.6 stars from 2,301 reviews as displayed. Trustpilot shows the profile as claimed since February 2021 with a paid subscription, says the company invites customers to review, and says it replied to 94% of negative reviews. Trustpilot notes it does not fact-check reviews.

Archive posts on this site. Three approved posts about 1-800 Contacts, dated 2006, 2007 and 2012, are linked to this profile. Two describe a manufacturer rebate form allegedly not enclosed or sent late; one (2012) alleges a second charge of $250 that the consumer says was not refunded. These are individual allegations from consumers; the company's response to them is not recorded in the posts.

Lawsuits: FTC case and other court filings

The FTC proceeding and Second Circuit decision are described in the regulator-actions section. In a CourtListener RECAP search by case name "1-800 Contacts" run on 2026-10-12, sorted newest first, the dockets shown included business disputes (for example 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. JAND, Inc., S.D.N.Y. and 2d Cir., in which the company is the plaintiff) and a few individual suits against it. The ones opened for this profile:

• Williams v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-01126 (S.D.N.Y.): filed February 10, 2020; the docket lists an Americans with Disabilities Act cause and shows a stipulation of voluntary dismissal filed June 5, 2020.
• Fridman v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-21700 (S.D. Fla.): removed from state court; the docket lists a Federal Communications Act cause and shows an order administratively closing the case on October 8, 2021 after a notice of settlement.
• Christopher v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-00524 (N.D. Ill.): removed; dismissed without prejudice on March 30, 2022 after the plaintiff's notice of voluntary dismissal.
• Conneran v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., No. 0:22-cv-61518 (S.D. Fla.): removed; dismissed with prejudice on September 30, 2022 after a notice of voluntary dismissal.

Separately, a Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation order dated April 5, 2017 (In re 1-800 Contacts Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2770, 282 F. Supp. 3d 1358) addressed putative Sherman Act class actions pending in the District of Utah and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that alleged 1-800 Contacts entered into reciprocal "bidding agreements" with rivals. The Panel denied the motion to centralize the actions in the District of Columbia; 1-800 Contacts had opposed centralization. This profile did not locate the later outcome of those underlying class actions.

The dockets do not state the facts of the claims beyond the cause and nature-of-suit entries, and CourtListener's RECAP coverage is not complete, so this list is not a full litigation history.

Is 1-800 Contacts Legitimate?

1-800 Contacts, Inc. is identified in its Terms and Conditions and on BBB as a corporation with a Draper, Utah address, and BBB lists it as accredited since 1995 with an A+ rating as displayed on October 12, 2026. A public FTC antitrust case ran from 2016 and its final order was vacated by the Second Circuit on June 11, 2021; the case concerned advertising agreements with competitors. BBB shows 135 complaints over three years and a 2.03/5 customer review average from 132 reviews, while Trustpilot shows 4.6 from 2,301 reviews. Those figures come from different platforms with different review methods and cannot be added together. Readers should rely on their own order record, prescription copy and the company's written return terms.

Court & Public Records

Company Relationships

• Owned by: SeekWell
• Affiliated with: KKR

Frequently Asked Questions