specsavers and nhs

xxxstephiexxx

i claim income support,and therefore am given free eye tests.
so i went to specsavers,told i need glasses,and was given the voucher,which meant i paid £15 for frames worth £75


now thats fine,but, i thought i was entitled to free lenses,as my friend got when he got his glasses not so long ago.
also,he got 2 for one on the glasses,yet i didnt get this either- i paid £30 for my lenses-making a total of £45,and my friend paid nothing for his lenses-making a total of £15!

now does anyone know if i am or am not entitled to the free lenses,and to the 2 for one glasses?

(sorry if this is in wrong section-im new to this)

shelly

Sorry can't help much at all but wanted to ask if you have ever bought glasses online? I have recently got a nice pair for $26. You choose your frames and type in your prescription (which you ask the optician for, this is free) and lenses are included in the cost. Quite a few sites charge extra for coatings but I got free anti glare, free uv protection and free anti scratch.

shykins

my underdstanding is that instead of getting free glasses now u just get a voucher which u put towards the amount of your glasses and upay the difference, i maybe wrong tho

u should still get the 2 for 1 if u picked glasses from that range.. maybe u need to go back and have a word with them

sillyvixen

the voucher value starts at about £35 depending on prescription - every opticians has its own nhs policy but most would provide standard uncoated single vision or bifocals for the voucher and some have discounts of frames, you would generally pay extra for thinner lenses, coatings or often varifocals. so the cost will depend on what you ordered. ask s/savers what the £30 is for.

msmicawber

Have a look at this as it may help - it's the official NHS Optical Vouchers bumf: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4131675

geri1965_2

Not very impressed with Specsaves personally - they charged me full price for my tests for years, despite having a complex prescription which entitles me to free tests! I only found this out when I went somewhere else.

msmicawber

I haven't gone back to Specsavers since I had a bit of a struggle to get them to release my prescription. They seemed to think that having given me a free eye test, as I had an NHS exemption card at the time, they didn't have to hand the prescription over. Hard to know whether it was poor staff training or a genuine attempt to pressure me into buying their over-priced specs, but it was embarrassing and annoying and has left me wary of them.

callow

I recently brought some glasses in Specsavers with the full NHS voucher. Mine was for £35 as I don't have a complicated prescription. I just had the voucher taken off the whole cost of the glasses. I paid £65 in total for 1 pair of glasses, 1 pair of sunglasses. I also paid for an anti scratch coating on the glasses.

They do a range of cheap glasses (Star Price glasses) and I think for some of these you could have free glasses. However I thought that the frames were old fashioned. Perhaps your friend chose frames from this range, rather than the £75 you chose.

You should have been able to get the 2 for 1 frames, but it does depend on the offers that they had at the time you went.

nomoneytoday

Say the voucher is worth about £30
If you buy glasses for £30 these will be free. If you want shinier models then you have to pay the difference.

BOGOF offers generally require you to buy a pair first

Lady_Greenfingers

Interested you bought yours online, Shelly. I need new specs. but as my last lot cost me £400, I don't want to go to the same High St. chain. Thought of buying online but how do you know if they'll suit you ( I always spend hours trying them on!) and what happens if they need adjusting.
Would be interested to know.

shelly

Lady_Greenfingers wrote: »

Interested you bought yours online, Shelly. I need new specs. but as my last lot cost me £400, I don't want to go to the same High St. chain. Thought of buying online but how do you know if they'll suit you ( I always spend hours trying them on!) and what happens if they need adjusting.
Would be interested to know.

Hi. The pair I have now are IIRC my 2nd pair I have bought online and my hubby is on his 3rd pair.
Most online spec sites have some software that you can upload a pic of your face and they will put the specs on your pic to see if you think they will suit you. Or you have another option of getting a pair of frames with no lenses in sent to you for roughly £5. (you have to send them back though or you get charged full price for them)
Also what I tend to do if I see a style I like but have never tried before I pop into say Boots or Specsavers to try that style of frame on. I have done this last week and now know that the style I like looks ok so I will buy a second pair this week.
As for adjusting.....this can either be easy or not. The pair I am wearing now really pinched my nose and gave me awful headaches to start with but hubby and I have tweaked the nose pads a little and now (touchwood ) they are fine. The pair I had before needed the arms adjusting, I took them to Boots and sweet talked my way into getting them done for free.
There maybe a small charge for adjustments sometimes but if you are used to spending £400 then a few ££ is still a massive saving for you.


I must add this last bit......I will freely admit that my last pair didn't last as long as I expected before they snapped in half. To be fair though I am quite rough with my specs. They get thrown about, dropped and I tend to fall asleep in them.
My hubby though is perfectly happy with the ones he has bought.
I also look at it from the POV that if I spend £100 on high street specs and they last maybe 2 years then I can get 5 pairs online in that time.....they almost become disposable

Also I just remembered if you have some frames you really like and don't want to relegate to the back of a drawer you can get them "reglazed" This is where you send your frame off and they replace just the lenses.
Last time I asked Specsavers wanted £45 to do that but online I'm sure its less than £25.
My way of thinking was no thanks, I'll just buy a whole new set!


I hope I have answered all your queries. If I haven't feel free to ask away again.