Glasses Buying Cost Cutting Plan Article Discussion Area

apusskidu

RajaStyle wrote: »

Isn't it about time the the pupil distance formed part of your prescription, I asked my optician to tell me what it was and they refused even though the sight test was £30 which I think is shocking.

If the opticians want to be transparent why refuse a personal question about the expertise you have paid for.

Maybe Martin can take this up if he is reading.

The person who performs the sight test and writes your prescription is an Optometrist. They determine any refractive errors and provide a prescription to correct them.

You then choose whether to correct the error with contacts or glasses and take your prescription over to the Dispensing Optician who will help you make your choice. If you choose to have glasses, then the D.O. will take the pupillary distance measurement which is relevant only to the making and fitting of glasses.

Your D.O. could, of course, easily tell you the measurement as they take it, but they don't have to because, technically, that measurement is not part of the sight test you paid the Optometrist for. And they don't want to, because they spend too much time as it is, with people walking in off the street asking for them to do stuff for free, like taking measurements and making adjustments for online shoppers.

Your PD doesn't change much, if at all, once you are an adult though. So once you have had a measurement taken as part of a completed purchase from a D.O. then you can request a copy of the information by making Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act. They can charge an admin fee of £10 but they can't easily refuse you access to any data stored in a file with your name on it. And if they do go as far as to charge £10 then they can expect to kiss goodbye to your future custom, so....

...really, at some point, I expect a major chain will cave in and simply start charging a tenner or so to take the measurement for you, and be done with it. They might as well have a tenner per client, than spend all day hiding their rulers whenever someone asks for it to be done "as a favour".

laserfun

DO NOT LISTEN TO MARTIN'S ADVICE ON THIS SUBJECT.
I purchased photochromic glasses at Select specs. They will not allow me to read in direct sunlight nor let me see correct colours indoors. They will not refund my money.The matter is now in the Credit Card Company's hands. This is months and months after the purchase.

Steve_xx

laserfun wrote: »

DO NOT LISTEN TO MARTIN'S ADVICE ON THIS SUBJECT.
I purchased photochromic glasses at Select specs. They will not allow me to read in direct sunlight nor let me see correct colours indoors. They will not refund my money.The matter is now in the Credit Card Company's hands. This is months and months after the purchase.

Your experience serves to emphasise the value of the fitting service that is but always absent from online providers.

Patr100

Steve_xx wrote: »

Your experience serves to emphasise the value of the fitting service that is but (sic) always absent from online providers.

No, It serves to emphasise that there are some sellers who give poor service and do not know their obligations under the law.

Steve_xx

Patr100 wrote: »

No, It serves to emphasise that there are some sellers who give poor service and do not know their obligations under the law.

I disagree in part. Online providers do not provide the fitting service and therefore it would be difficult to hold such a provider to account in a matter relating to the fitting of the spectacles.

rabialiones

i have been to two different opticians,
one said my pd was 60
other said it was 64
both high street opticians
understandably this is a significant difference.
was looking to buy online , but dont know which pd measurement to give.
any advice please

cazpumpkin

I never have much money and struggle to budget for dentists, haircuts, opticians etc. But I have always been really happy with Specsavers I take full advantage of the free eye test, I know it's only free if you need new glasses If your prescription has changed But I always wait until I'm pretty certain my glasses need changing anyway

I need both ordinary glasses and reading glasses, So I pay £25 Each pair That is the price that they start from And they are perfectly good enough Lots to choose from at £25 ,

I get both pairs for £50 That seems very reasonable to me Of course I don't have anti scratch, Sunglasses , that kind of thing But I am very happy with them

.Before I going to have The eye test I always sit in front of a machine that check the health of my eyes I've never had to pay for that part I can't do that online So to me it's worth it To visit a fully qualified optician And have the glasses and lenses and everything fine tuned It gives me peace of mind There is no way I would want to cut corners Just to save a few quid, it's just not worth itI, Might be able to buy them cheaper online But in my opinion it's a false economy And it's risking potentially risking your eyesight If Problems Medical problems got overlooked I know in the past An optician has picked up Problems with my eyes I haven't noticed myself,

I can live with a cheap haircut or cheap clothes I would never cut corners on my eyes and eye health, Especially as I am now middle aged And over the years Opticians will be well placed to spot Anything that may occur such as Glaucoma For example

Oddjob

rabialiones wrote: »

i have been to two different opticians,
one said my pd was 60
other said it was 64
both high street opticians
understandably this is a significant difference.
was looking to buy online , but dont know which pd measurement to give.
any advice please

I had my eyes tested yesterday. I did purchase a pair of glasses but they refused to give me the pd,
I would be interested to know how else you can find out.
I even mentioned that under the Data Protection Act I didn't think they could refuse to tell me what information they hold on me but still they said it wasn't something they give out as there is no provision for it on the prescription. I have read on one of the on-line retailers sites that you can send them an old pair and they can get the measurement off them, so it is not something you can measure yourself and does it make that much difference if you let them take an average?

Steve_xx

Oddjob wrote: »

I had my eyes tested yesterday. I did purchase a pair of glasses but they refused to give me the pd,
I would be interested to know how else you can find out.
I even mentioned that under the Data Protection Act I didn't think they could refuse to tell me what information they hold on me but still they said it wasn't something they give out as there is no provision for it on the prescription. I have read on one of the on-line retailers sites that you can send them an old pair and they can get the measurement off them, so it is not something you can measure yourself and does it make that much difference if you let them take an average?

They don't have to provide you with the PD measurement as it does not form a part of the standard eye test. But many will let you have it if you ask. However, if they do choose to provide it they may make a charge to do so.

Does it make much difference if you take an average measurement, you ask? Well would it make any difference if you were -1.00 in your left eye and the optician prescribed spectacles that were -3.00 in the left eye?

These measurements are precise for a reason. The first being so that you can see properly through the prescribed spectacles and the second being that the spectacles fit you properly. Of course, when you choose to buy your spectacles online there is no fitting service provided or included within the price you pay. Therefore they may not fit you properly and the result of that may be that you cannot see through them properly.

There is little benefit to the consumer who takes a laissez-faire attitude towards the fitting of their spectacles.

Horizon81

Measure your own PD with a metal ruler, or get a friend to.

Optical assistants or whatever they're called are no more skilled at measuring your pupillary distance than anyone else. It's the distance between the centre of each of your pupils.

I used to think how can one buy online when you need the specialist service of an opticians, but once you've got your prescription from the optician, you're just passed over to sales people who are as much experts on glasses as car salesmen are on cars! Stevexx's comments on here make me laugh.

At the end of the day, there are 2 key issues that determine how good your glasses are:

1. The skills and experience of the optician who provides the prescription in the first place.
2. The guy who fits the lens into the frame.