Glasses Buying Cost Cutting Plan Article Discussion Area

Steve_xx

JC_Derby wrote: »

I went and had my free eye test at tesco a couple of weeks back. Got most of my perscription written on a card for me, however the optician refused to give me my pd and said we dont give it out, went back to the same store today and said to a different member of staff, that id had my eye test and would like my PD, she asked a different optician who was on and he said we only give it out to members of the armed forces.
Needless to say i wont be spending any money on frames or lenses there. How do i stand can they withold the PD of my eyes??

The supply of your PD is not a part of the standard eye test. Your optician may or may not supply it at their discretion, or they may levy a charge to supply it.

nedmundo

Further to the above - the centration of the lenses (which can sometimes differ from the PD) is the legal responsibility of whoever dispenses the spectacles. By Tesco's issueing the PD, it could be argued that they would be taking responsibility of a dispensing completely out of their control.

Azmataz

Steve_xx wrote: »

The supply of your PD is not a part of the standard eye test. Your optician may or may not supply it at their discretion, or they may levy a charge to supply it.

My husband and I both booked eye test appointments at the same place, one week apart from each other. During his appointment, OH explained that he would be ordering specs elsewhere and asked the optician for his PD. She wrote it down for him. However, when I went in the following week for my test, the same optician wouldn't give me my PD, saying that is always only divulged when ordering specs from the shop.
Guess I didn't flutter my eyelashes at the optician as much as hubby did!

JC_Derby

So the PD isnt part of the prescription?

buglawton

see #964 above

JC_Derby

doesnt answer the question i asked.
Is it part of the information required to prescribe glasses?

Steve_xx

JC_Derby wrote: »

doesnt answer the question i asked.
Is it part of the information required to prescribe glasses?

The PD is a necessary part of the information required to prescribe spectacles.

nedmundo

Steve_xx wrote: »

The PD is a necessary part of the information required to dispense spectacles.

Sorry Steve - I had to correct that.

bitemebankers

Steve_xx wrote: »

The PD is a necessary part of the information required to prescribe spectacles.

Not true. The PD is necessary to dispense spectacles, not to prescribe them.

Prescribing - that is the issuing of a prescription - can only be done by an optometrist (aka Ophthalmic Optician) whereas dispensing spectacles is usually done by a dispensing opticians or a dispensing assistant (under the supervision of an optician). The dispensing optician measures the PD when the spectacles are dispensed.

This is the reason why, when people have an eye test and take their prescription away, the store generally won't have the patient's PD measurement on file.

Steve_xx

bitemebankers wrote: »

Not true. The PD is necessary to dispense spectacles, not to prescribe them.

Prescribing - that is the issuing of a prescription - can only be done by an optometrist (aka Ophthalmic Optician) whereas dispensing spectacles is usually done by a dispensing opticians or a dispensing assistant (under the supervision of an optician). The dispensing optician measures the PD when the spectacles are dispensed.

This is the reason why, when people have an eye test and take their prescription away, the store generally won't have the patient's PD measurement on file.

The point is that the PD measurement is needed for a dispensing.