Any advice on varifocals from online opticians?
Discussion
Evening all,
I had my eyes tested today, which resulted in a recommendation of getting varifocals.
This is all perfectly reasonable, but the optician's varifocal lenses start at £150, then there's frames on top of that which seem to start at around £80, so to get a pair of clear glasses and a pair of sunglasses, I'm looking at £500+, once decent polarised lenses for the sunglasses are added on!
By comparison, I can go online and get both pairs for less than half of that. I've bought single vision glasses online with no problem before, but the optician today was going on about the importance of measuring your face accurately and stuff for varifocals. I'm not sure if this is really an issue, or whether it's just a bunch of sales FUD to try and justify the huge price gap?
Has anyone got experience of online varifocals? I can get them on a 30 day money back deal, so it's fairly risk free, but how do I know if they're as good as they could/should be?
I had my eyes tested today, which resulted in a recommendation of getting varifocals.
This is all perfectly reasonable, but the optician's varifocal lenses start at £150, then there's frames on top of that which seem to start at around £80, so to get a pair of clear glasses and a pair of sunglasses, I'm looking at £500+, once decent polarised lenses for the sunglasses are added on!
By comparison, I can go online and get both pairs for less than half of that. I've bought single vision glasses online with no problem before, but the optician today was going on about the importance of measuring your face accurately and stuff for varifocals. I'm not sure if this is really an issue, or whether it's just a bunch of sales FUD to try and justify the huge price gap?
Has anyone got experience of online varifocals? I can get them on a 30 day money back deal, so it's fairly risk free, but how do I know if they're as good as they could/should be?
Your pupillary distance needs to be measured accurately to stop you getting headaches etc.
Then of course an opticians can make adjustments to the frame to fit comfortably on your head.
The opticians will naturally want you to buy from them and will tell you things to get you to do that, but the whole accurate face measuring thing is not total bull.
The risk with going online is that you will be supplying the website with your PD, and it's your fault if you get it wrong, and you will be left alone to make adjustments to the frames yourself.
Obviously if you're happy to accept that risk to save the money, then go for it. Personally I'm happier buying knowing that if anything goes wrong - either immediately if I find I'm getting headaches, or longer term if a screw falls out - I can walk back in and they will fix it there and then. I need my glasses all the time and see good value in that service.
Then of course an opticians can make adjustments to the frame to fit comfortably on your head.
The opticians will naturally want you to buy from them and will tell you things to get you to do that, but the whole accurate face measuring thing is not total bull.
The risk with going online is that you will be supplying the website with your PD, and it's your fault if you get it wrong, and you will be left alone to make adjustments to the frames yourself.
Obviously if you're happy to accept that risk to save the money, then go for it. Personally I'm happier buying knowing that if anything goes wrong - either immediately if I find I'm getting headaches, or longer term if a screw falls out - I can walk back in and they will fix it there and then. I need my glasses all the time and see good value in that service.
Edited by Brainpox on Monday 4th December 22:31
Agree with Brainpx.
Had varifocals for last two years and noticed recently I was using the bottom of the glasses to see when doing work. Had a test this week and prescription has got worse so another set of £350 lenses ordered
You may want to consider a cheaper lens for the first set as some struggle with them and it could be a waste of money.
However it's better than not being able to see
Had varifocals for last two years and noticed recently I was using the bottom of the glasses to see when doing work. Had a test this week and prescription has got worse so another set of £350 lenses ordered
You may want to consider a cheaper lens for the first set as some struggle with them and it could be a waste of money.
However it's better than not being able to see
It seems almost random with varifocals anyway.
My first pairs (one clear, one photochromic) were done without any great palaver and were absolutely fine. I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, with people saying they took a month to get used to varifocals, falling down steps etc.
Second pairs, from the same optician - nightmare. They ended up remaking them and they were better, but still not as effortless to wear as first ones. Wife had exactly the same experience too, and she used a different optician for her second pair.
My first pairs (one clear, one photochromic) were done without any great palaver and were absolutely fine. I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, with people saying they took a month to get used to varifocals, falling down steps etc.
Second pairs, from the same optician - nightmare. They ended up remaking them and they were better, but still not as effortless to wear as first ones. Wife had exactly the same experience too, and she used a different optician for her second pair.
My lenses were remade three times by the opticians. I'd never worn glasses before and they took a lot of getting used to. The opticians (a high Street brand) were great and couldn't do enough to help. I ended up getting upgraded lenses for no extra cost.
I paid nearly £400, but would've wasted around £250 if I'd gone for the 'cheaper' option.
I paid nearly £400, but would've wasted around £250 if I'd gone for the 'cheaper' option.
I got my first pair of varifocals a month ago, in fact, these are my very first pair of glasses other than sunglasses.
I bought them from an independent opticians local to me at a cost of £450+
I was warned that they take some getting used to and headaches could be an issue. Thankfully they took all of 10 minutes to adjust to and I have had zero issues with headaches or any other associated problems you may get.
Now, I was with the optician for quite some time and they took all necessary measurements before the lenses were ordered. This is something you are not going to get with an online optician.
I would never consider spending that kind of money on something I will wear every day without making sure what I am getting is exactly what I require.
I bought them from an independent opticians local to me at a cost of £450+
I was warned that they take some getting used to and headaches could be an issue. Thankfully they took all of 10 minutes to adjust to and I have had zero issues with headaches or any other associated problems you may get.
Now, I was with the optician for quite some time and they took all necessary measurements before the lenses were ordered. This is something you are not going to get with an online optician.
I would never consider spending that kind of money on something I will wear every day without making sure what I am getting is exactly what I require.
I decided in the end to try the online route with Glasses Direct, as I've had reading glasses from them in the past which have been absolutely fine.
Two pairs of glasses (one sunglasses, one normal) came out at £242, which is less than I could get a single pair for at the local optician. They might prove to be dreadful, but they've got a 30 day money back guarantee with absolutely no catches, so I figured it was at least worth giving them a try.
I'll report back once I've had them and been wearing them for a few weeks.
Two pairs of glasses (one sunglasses, one normal) came out at £242, which is less than I could get a single pair for at the local optician. They might prove to be dreadful, but they've got a 30 day money back guarantee with absolutely no catches, so I figured it was at least worth giving them a try.
I'll report back once I've had them and been wearing them for a few weeks.
airsafari87 said:
I got my first pair of varifocals a month ago, in fact, these are my very first pair of glasses other than sunglasses.
I bought them from an independent opticians local to me at a cost of £450+
I was warned that they take some getting used to and headaches could be an issue. Thankfully they took all of 10 minutes to adjust to and I have had zero issues with headaches or any other associated problems you may get.
Now, I was with the optician for quite some time and they took all necessary measurements before the lenses were ordered. This is something you are not going to get with an online optician.
I would never consider spending that kind of money on something I will wear every day without making sure what I am getting is exactly what I require.
My experience was similar to the above. I had put off getting varifocals for several years due to the horror stories. I picked up my first set last month. Took me 10 minutes to get used to them. Wow! should have done it years ago. Purchased from Specsavers with a money back guarantee if I did not get on with them. Absolutely , no way I would get these on line. I bought them from an independent opticians local to me at a cost of £450+
I was warned that they take some getting used to and headaches could be an issue. Thankfully they took all of 10 minutes to adjust to and I have had zero issues with headaches or any other associated problems you may get.
Now, I was with the optician for quite some time and they took all necessary measurements before the lenses were ordered. This is something you are not going to get with an online optician.
I would never consider spending that kind of money on something I will wear every day without making sure what I am getting is exactly what I require.
Pickled Piper said:
Purchased from Specsavers with a money back guarantee if I did not get on with them. Absolutely , no way I would get these on line.
Given exactly the same money back guarantee, why on earth not?The best that can happen is I get great glasses for half the price, and the worst is I have to send them back at no cost and just lose a bit of time before spending twice as much with an optician.
Good luck OP, personally I would not give online suppliers the time of day. In my experience most issues come at the stage of dispensing and glazing. You will have provided PD to the supplier. What about vertex distance? Pantoscopic tilt? Face wrap? What do you do if the distance sight is good, but the medium distance is distorted and/or the near distance isn't right. Is it the scrip, is it the configuration, the design of the progressive, or just a mistake somewhere in the glazing.
Getting lenses configured correctly in front of the eyes make all the difference, configured = positioned correctly. A proper professional should make far more measurements than you can do, with full knowledge of exactly where you look through the lenses.
All the online lab can do is glaze the frames using measurements that work for an average person in the population, have mentioned some of them above. They may be fine for you, they may be utterly awful, or somewhere in between, which makes you decide progressive lenses aren't for you. When in reality they may be perfect when properly done.
Yes, I hear the full refund tag, personally still wouldn't touch online with a barge pole. Anyway hope it all works out.
Getting lenses configured correctly in front of the eyes make all the difference, configured = positioned correctly. A proper professional should make far more measurements than you can do, with full knowledge of exactly where you look through the lenses.
All the online lab can do is glaze the frames using measurements that work for an average person in the population, have mentioned some of them above. They may be fine for you, they may be utterly awful, or somewhere in between, which makes you decide progressive lenses aren't for you. When in reality they may be perfect when properly done.
Yes, I hear the full refund tag, personally still wouldn't touch online with a barge pole. Anyway hope it all works out.
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