Buying prescription Glasses on the net

[Marty Funkhouser]

Anyone done this? Any sites you'd recommend?

[M001]

Selectspecs get my vote. I was dubious at first but i spotted a designer pair in one of the high street outlets that i liked for £175 plus 80 odd for the lenses.

I tried them on in the shop, noted the serial number and size which was printed on the frame then ordered them from the above for under £100! They were delivered in less than a week.

Edited by M001 on Thursday 14th June 01:12

[AdeTuono]

I've had around 20 pairs from...

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

...and have been very pleased with their service.

[Marty Funkhouser]

bump

[elster]

AdeTuono said:

I've had around 20 pairs from...

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

...and have been very pleased with their service.

This is who my mum and dad use, they both now live in France and it is cheaper to order them online than the French Opticians. Also where they live style is definitely not high on the list and they all look like the old NHS style specs.

They have used the service several times and think it is great

Send them out to you, you get x amount of days to try them out and make sure they are ok and if not send them back.

[V8Triumph]

What do you have to send in? Just your prescription? I know the opticians do some sort of measuring when you decide on the glasses you want? Anyone with a high prescription found these internet companies to be any good?

[thetapeworm]

AdeTuono said:

I've had around 20 pairs from...

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

...and have been very pleased with their service.

I've used them for a few pairs and they seem to have ticked every box I'd have in my "ideal way to buy glasses online" list. Very good service all round.

[Umar B]

i want to go ahead with this, but im just a little worried about the PD (Pupil Dinstance, i think) measurements that's required by these online places.

vision express get a bit shirty as they dont always put that detail down (could be just the idiots in my nearest branch though...)

i've just seen on the Lensway website they have a ruler to help with PD measuring, might give that a shot...

Edited by Umar B on Thursday 14th June 11:07

[thetapeworm]

Umar B said:

i want to go ahead with this, but im just a little worried about the PD (Pupil Dinstance, i think) measurements that's required by these online places.

vision express get a bit shirty as they dont always put that detail down (could be just the idiots in my nearest branch though...)

i've just seen on the Lensway website they have a ruler to help with PD measuring, might give that a shot...

I got my wife to check mine with a ruler, it's all they do in shops. You could probably do it yourself in a mirror if necessary.

[RicksAlfas]

I got some from LensWay when they had a massive offer on (£29 delivered!).
I got the pupil measurement wrong and they were unusable. I confessed to my friendly local optician and she put me some correct lenses in the frames and told me not to do it again.

[Odie]

V8Triumph said:

What do you have to send in? Just your prescription? I know the opticians do some sort of measuring when you decide on the glasses you want? Anyone with a high prescription found these internet companies to be any good?

I have a high prescription (8.5 & 7.5), you usually fill in an online form thats laid out similar to the prescription sheet your optician gives you, you will have to measure Pupillary Distance (PD) or interpupillary distance (IPD)which is the distance between the pupil centres in mm. I just measured it myself in a mirror. You could get your spouse to do it for you. Be aware that some companies might not go above 6 but some do, so you might need to shop around.

Ive only ordered online once, as I wear contact lenses all the time, but the glasses I got are perfect especially as they where £35 instead of the £300+ at the opticians. I only use them round the house when having a contact lenses break.

[egomeister]

AdeTuono said:

I've had around 20 pairs from...

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

...and have been very pleased with their service.

A work colleague used these. The service itself was pretty good, but the glasses themselves were shocking first time around - really poorly glazed. They did sort them out to an acceptable standard for the cost though.

Personally I'd buy my main pair of glasses from an optician, but would have no qualms about getting spare pairs online.

[wiggy001]

AdeTuono said:

I've had around 20 pairs from...

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

...and have been very pleased with their service.

I got 2 pairs from then last year and found both to be very bad fitting (too loose). Normally your optician would adjust them til you're happy, but you don't get that service online.

I ditched them after a couple of months as I just couldn't get them to fit comfortably, so that was money wasted really. I also didn't find the savings were that good when you added in all the extras such as scratch-resistant lenses etc.

[Hysteria1983]

My partner only buys from here now http://www.directspecs.co.uk/

They are fantastic. I am not sure how the other sites work with redagrs to measuring 'pupillary distance'(pupil difference) etc, but this site is pretty spot on, and if they do think something may be a bit off, then they will email all call.

They allow you to return them if you are not happy with the style or fit, and will do free alterations and send them back.

Their customer service is amazing, as they were emailing my partner until 9pm over as issue with lense thickness.

I really cannot fault them, other than if the style you want is out of stock you may have to wait a few weeks as its a small business.

[TinyCappo]

V8Triumph said:

What do you have to send in? Just your prescription? I know the opticians do some sort of measuring when you decide on the glasses you want? Anyone with a high prescription found these internet companies to be any good?

+8 in one eye +10 in the other and most of the companies dont go about a +8 in precription they are getting better now but before browsing and finding a really nice frame set at a good price check their FAQs to see what strength their lens manufacturers can machine to.

[kooky guy]

Which? just did an article on this very subject.

Can't remember the full story, but it wasn't very encouraging. It might be available on their web site.

Edit: Just checked - They bought 36 pairs of glasses from 13 online retailers. Of these, 15 failed expert tests. Of the 15 that failed, 10 pairs had lenses that failed the British standard.

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2012/05/10-things-to-w...

Edited by kooky guy on Thursday 14th June 16:58

[uuf361]

Would be good to reduce glasses costs, but not sure any if these would fill my prescription (-13/-11.75).

I like being able to go back to the shop (although that does mean I have to pay their prices ) but have needed to do so when the lenses have been made with tolerances which my eyes seemingly don't want to tolerate!!!!

[unclepockets]

Another thumbs up for glasses direct, they had sent me one pair of frames in the wrong colour then forgot to send out the replacements but they were very apologetic and had the replacements with me pronto so I can forgive them , I've also used exclusive eyes but I wasn't impressed, they also sent me a pair in a weird jazz-inspired frame that I never ordered, then when I told them I hadn't ordered them and could I have the ones I did order, I was basically told 'tough, you ordered them'

As for measuring pupil distance, there are online measuring programs that use your webcam, you hold a credit card (or similar card and obviously not clearly displaying your card details!) under your nose so it can get an idea of scale, then it takes a pic and you slide two...erm...sliders to your pupils et voila, it gives you your pupil distance measurement, obviously if you're like Marty Feldman then you've got problems in fact Onespecs based here in Jersey have a good online tool although having been to their 'shop' I can't say I was impressed with their stock.

[CheekyCherub]

kooky guy said:

Which? just did an article on this very subject.

Can't remember the full story, but it wasn't very encouraging. It might be available on their web site.

Edit: Just checked - They bought 36 pairs of glasses from 13 online retailers. Of these, 15 failed expert tests. Of the 15 that failed, 10 pairs had lenses that failed the British standard.

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2012/05/10-things-to-w...

Edited by kooky guy on Thursday 14th June 16:58

I was just about to mention this exact thing... Optician Magazine said that some of the high prescription and varifocal pairs were deemed "dangerous to wear" they were so poorly made.

Pupil distance is a dispensing tool, not a part of a prescription which is why some opticians don't give it out. For small prescriptions British Standard tolerances are around 2mm so most people can get it fairly close although it won't be perfect if you haven't been trained. For higher prescriptions it will make a hell of a distance to your clarity of vision. For varifocals, PDs and heights can be the difference between being able to read or not in your glasses...!

[HammyHamster]

Regarding Pupillary Distance (PD), opticians aren't obliged to give you this information (however they are required by law to give you a copy of your prescription). There are 3 ways of getting it:

1. Opticians will usually give you the PD for a charge of around £20.
2. You can measure the distance between your pupils yourself using a ruler, or just use the statistical average PD of 63mm. An accurate PD is more important for people with stronger prescriptions or varifocal lenses.
3. The exact PD can be taken from a spare pair of glasses if you send them in.

I can understand people's concerns about buying from online companies. The Which article posted above has some good suggestions. We created our online business after being in the lens manufacturing business for over 30 years (also supplying the high street). Now we just cut out the middle man and pass on the savings - I suppose this is the future of retail.
Any online company worth their salt should offer no-quibble refunds for any reason.

HTH

Edited by HammyHamster on Wednesday 18th January 22:17