Glasses Buying Cost Cutting Plan Article Discussion Area

I did too! Our coach guide advised anyone who wear glasses or lenses to buy them in Cyprus as eye tests were free and glasses were so cheap!
I went to an opitian in Ayai Napa a few years ago and they were fantastic. Eye test was done with state of the art technology, they were far more thorough than Specsavers back home. I got a lovely D&G designer frame with Ultra Lite Hoy lenses before they were avail in the UK all for about 150. They kept my presciption on file and were happy to supply me me again if I gave them a current presciption and the style number of any frame. I even got some of my tax back for them at airport. Considering it only cost us £500 for the pair of us to go there for a week I was chuffed!

All our family use Glassesdirect now. The service is excellent, fast and accurate and they have a money back guarantee. If you want to they will post you a frame of your choice with clear glass to try at home. This costs £2.50 which covers their postage and return postage and is about as much as it costs me to drive to the High Street and park. They'll do this as often as you like and I have always received the frames the next day. There is a wide choice of frame styles and colours, you can have bifocals and varifocals. The site is clear and easy to use. Unless you want super designer frames, it meets every need.

We started using glassesdirect as my husband loses his glasses every five minutes and the cost was getting out of hand. I can now just call glassesdirect and they send out an identical pair within a couple of days as they keep all the info on their database. I can't praise them highly enough.

PS I think they are doing contact lenses too now.....

Does anyone know if its possible to combine this kinda online deal with the monthly cash plans ie http://www.bhsf.co.uk/ ?

Hello all

Just came here to relate my experience of buying glasses in Dec/Jan
I have a fairly high prescription +5.00 and +5.25 with a further +1.00 for reading.
Went to the asda opticians in December costs were as follows for my glasses.

£10 eyetest, - £70 frame, - £170 (1.74) thin lenses, £90 for varifocals - The total cost was £340.

As you can see by far the biggest cost was the thin lenses.
At the time I was purchasing I was told by the sales assistant about the three different types of thin lenses (1.6, 1.67 and 1.74) - My comment at the time was "Why don't actually stock a box of each of the different types in various prescriptions of lens - so you can show the customer exactly what they are purchasing in terms of how thick the lens will look".
In reply to this she showed me a brochure diagram of the different thin lenses.

After finding this thread I decided to order me a pair of reading glasses from glassesdirect.co.uk - just to try them as lots of folks here seemed to like them.
I ordered some £17 frames with the free standard lenses - To be honest I was expecting Milk Bottle lenses to arrive in the post. LOL thought if the worst came to the worst I could use them as coasters on my desk.

As you guys are used to hearing - this company is fab - the glasses were so much better than I was expecting.

When I look at the difference between the standard lenses from glassesdirect I paid £17 for and the £170 ones from the asda I realise just how much of a moneyspinner this thin lens lark is.
I think I have answered my question as to why high street opticians do not stock sample boxes to show customers.
I have serious reservations whether anyone would buy them if could see the differences before handing the money over ??

Granted there is a difference but I really do not think the difference warrants £170.

Friends and relatives also say the £17 glasses also look more expensive and stylish than the ones that cost me £330. Grrr

High Street opticians will not get my custom again. I feel like I have been totally ripped off.
I have just ordered me some more glasses from glassesdirect and also am trying some bifocals from spexmaniac who do the 1.6 thin lens for free