Great Cheap Glasses Hunt

newleaf

Just received my second pair of specs reglazed by Ciliary Blue, a website I first heard of when it was mentioned way back somewhere in this thread.
I have a high prescription (-11) and astigmatism, so my Px is outside of the range they offer online, but a quick phone call and all was sorted. I got my 1.67 ultra-thin, light reactive lenses for £105 for the pair. (D&A charged me £250 per lense).
I cannot fault the service from CB, regular emails to update on progress, and my newly glazed specs were returned on Tuesday after posting the frames to CB on the previous Friday.

newleaf

To add to my previous post. I read on the Ciliary Blue blog that if you buy a pair of frames from this ebay seller http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Eyewear-Warehouse you will recieve a 10% off voucher to have them glazed at Ciliary Blue. I bought a pair of Morgan frames this morning for £15

brinky_2

can i warn fellow money savers about the perfect glasses group of companies.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/33464901#Comment_33464901

absfabs

Just had 2 new pairs of specs from glassesdirect again, buy one get one free, even for 2 different prescriptions. Had one for distance and one for reading. good service, contactable by phone. Might even try getting my next pair of varifocals from them, which I haven't dared to do yet.

brinky_2

Derby fan,

your experience with exclusive eyes seems similar to mine with perfect glasses.

Exclusive eyes, perfect glasses and eye experts have the same set of directors (from companies house).

If you have already been caught out by these companies then you can do a VISA/MASTERCARD chargeback if (=when) you get no joy from these companies.

Chargeback was new to me (im in the process of this now). It is separate to section 75, the goods dont have to be over £100 and applys to non delivery or unsatisfactory goods.

My credit card company are relatively confident of a successful chargeback.

darren72

Has anyone been charged Customs/Duty for ordering glasses from 39dollarglasses.com (United States) ??

I've thinking of ordering from them, but concerned about possible charges on top.

Thanks

brinky_2

Bitterwallet are continuing to run articles on exclusive eyes and associated companies.

Prospective buyers might want to read the following articles before reaching their decision of which company to use.

http://www.bitterwallet.com/eyeexperts-com-is-a-shambles-says-bitterwallet-reader/32235#comments

http://www.bitterwallet.com/eye-eye-online-retailers-guarantees-are-short-sighted/25000

http://www.bitterwallet.com/why-theres-more-than-meets-the-eye-at-exclusive-eyes/31871

I have used goggles4u, eyebuydirect and glasses direct recently.

Goggles4u and eyebuydirect have been excellent but glasses will take 2-3 weeks to manufacture and ship.

mishkanorman

brinky wrote: »

Bitterwallet are continuing to run articles on exclusive eyes and associated companies.

Prospective buyers might want to read the following articles before reaching their decision of which company to use.

http://www.bitterwallet.com/eyeexperts-com-is-a-shambles-says-bitterwallet-reader/32235#comments

http://www.bitterwallet.com/eye-eye-online-retailers-guarantees-are-short-sighted/25000

http://www.bitterwallet.com/why-theres-more-than-meets-the-eye-at-exclusive-eyes/31871

I have used goggles4u, eyebuydirect and glasses direct recently.

Goggles4u and eyebuydirect have been excellent but glasses will take 2-3 weeks to manufacture and ship.

eeeeek :eek: read the articles AFTER i had placed an order with eyeexperts !! luckily my specs arrived today less than a week after order and i cannot fault them !! very pleased :j which is rare

Johnny_B_good

This is getting ridiculous, how on earth are these companies getting away with it?
I had to do about 3 days of research before I ordered my glasses because of all the horror stories I'd read on the boards. You just can't tell where these companies are based even if they have a UK contact address and you can't guarantee you'll get the goods, it's a flippin' joke!!

Because I live in the South of England I ended up going with a company that was based in Surrey (Eyewear Glassest) as they were the only people I found who didn't put you through to a call centre and who answered my call with an English speaking person. It's absolute madness that I had to go through all these checks just to make sure that I wasn't going to get stung by a group of crooks!

Surely there must be some kind of governing body who can look into this mess and close down those sites who claim to be based in the UK if they actually exist at all!!???

FIL!!*_2

Johnny, good question. Because optics was deregulated, that means anyone can sell specs without any knowledge or qulification. It's not quite so easy on the high street because the rest of the competition employs regulated (qualified) staff which means they are governed. On the internet it is impossible to regulate them. The best tip I can offer, as a registered Optician, is that you look for website that is run or owned by Opticians, this means that these sites are regulated and have to offer a service in line with their professional bodies guidlines. There aren't many though! So have a good look.