Contact Lenses and Laser Eye Surgery Discussion Area

rooster

I know Optimax offer discounts for NHS staff but does anyone know if Optical express do

joner_2

Dear money savers,
I am seeking your advice with getting a prescription so that I can buy my lenses cheaper online.
Currently I am a D&A customer and wish to start wearing contact lenses. I have just paid £35 for my yearly check-up for glasses, there was no change in my prescription and at the end of the session I was was given my written prescription.
I was booked a 'free' contact lense test and was told I could have a 'free' two week lense trial. At the end of my test I was told that I would have to sign up to £19.99 a month postal lense service... I replied I was not informed I was obliged to sign up and I would not like to commit at this stage. I was then told by the optician that if I didn't sign up I would have to remove the trial lenses from my eyes! So I signed up... and came back two weeks later for a check up, which was fine. At the end of the session I requested my prescription and was told I could not have it until a third check up after 3 months... Even after disputing my right to have this information the manager still refused me stating that it is a legal requirement by the 'governing body of opticians'!!!

Is this fair??? Is this the case at all opticians as claimed by D&A??? All I require is my prescription so I can save money online... I don't even mind paying for the eye tests as I believe there is still money to be saved.
As it is, it looks like I can try my luck complaining to head office or simply bite the bullet and wait 3 months.

Please let me know your thoughts or any success stories with D&A.

With kind regards

gtheanimal

Sounds like they're talking a load of rubbish to me - but I guess there's not much you can do if they are refusing to give it over. Having said that if you're new to contacts then it is sensible to have regular check ups early on - you don't want to be messing with your eyes.

Here's my experience with D&A - I signed for their contact lenses by post a couple of months ago so I could get my glasses half price. I did this knowing that the £20/month is way over the top but they didn't specify how long you had to sign up for - so I simply cancelled once I'd bagged my cheap glasses.

The interesting thing is that when I rung up to cancel they started to offer me all sorts of money off - it ended up with them offering it half price for 6 months. I said no - because it's still too expensive - but it kind of shows how desperate they are to keep people because it's such a good money spinner.

So if you have to wait your three months then it's well worth giving them a call to see if you can't wangle it a bit cheaper - and then drop them once they've handed over the prescription.

Hope this is helpful!

joner_2

Thank you very much for your reply. It's very interesting you can get further saving when you threaten to cancel... and also there is the prospect of bagging 1/2 price glasses! I think I might just have to hold out for 3 months before getting my prescription.
Best wishes

pennypuppy

A friend who used to work at Morefields eye hospital as a consultant (now doing research)has warned me not to get eye/laser treatment to correct the vision. She said that this flap never heals and no one yet knows the long term implications of it.It put me off completely since I know its independant, unbiased advice. Also I will not go to places like specsavers for eye exams because they are just registered opticians. I only would go to an opthalmic optician who is trained in far greater depth to detect health problems through your eyes.
One saved my mums life when she had a 'sore eye' by sending her straight to A&E and phoning ahead so that they knew she had temporal arteriosis. They gave her a massive dose of steroids immediately, had they not she would have had a stroke within the hour. The gp had merely given her chloromycetin a few hours before! Thank goodness she went to an Opthalmic opticians.

Ironia

aldo1 wrote:

Hi members,


Well, I went for and eye test last week to check my prescription/eye health and order a new pair of rigid lenses (3 years since last check/lense change). The optician carried out the usual sight and lense checks and I ordered a new set of rigid lenses. They charged me £130 but when I got home I noticed that the receipt had £100 for the lenses and £30 for lense check. I sure that eye tests are free in Scotland since April 2006 and feel as though I could have just got an eye test (for free) and just ordered the new lenses without this extra expense. What do tou guys think ? Also, is there anywhere online that sell rigid lenses ?

Thanks,

Alan

Hello
There are promotional free eye tests around, although everyone now insists on a separate contact lens check - £25 -£35 in London - precisely because they know people will go away and order online. As online suppliers require a
prescription not more than 12 months old, one can stretch it to two years by re-ordering a years' supply before the prescription runs out. While eye tests are important, an experienced contact lens user does not need thie expensive lens test every year, but it is the product of legislation to protect the consumer - read opticians lobbying successfully. The problem is that no distinction is made between a new user who may need a lot of time to get the correct lenses, and someone like me, who really needs only the technical eye and vision check, with occasional try of a new brand.
As far as the lens prescription goes: 2020 in London W1 have never made a problem with supplying a copy of the prescription, but I suggest asking for it before you leave the shop, and then scanning or photocopying. Don't buy lenses from sites that say they will ring your optician: I object to this in principle, and I notice, courtesy of GetLenses, that it is no longer permitted in Ireland.

Ingo_Bingo

Hi there

I noticed a question on the previous thread about Sauflon 55 Lenses online, these are not available online, it is Sauflons policy to only sell to opticians & not allow them to sell over the net.

They use the "proffessional" angle i guess its to keep prices inflated.

I would therefore recommend you ask for other lenses if you intend to buy online, or indeed save money as i know Opticians recommend Sauflon as they have no online competition.

Ingo

hulltrucker

Ive just been to Specsavers in Hessle (East Yorkshire) for my contact lenses - I tried dailys free for a week, but decided that monthlies were a better option cost wise. Even though I already had trialled the daillies they were quite happy to supply me with a free pair of minthlies and solutions to try. I was pleasantly surprised that monthly lenses, solutions, aftercare, free spare lenses and a host of discounts off glasses (which I probably wouldn't use) works out at £96 per year (£8 per month) which is cheaper than the Lenseplanet prices here (£105 per year plus aftercare which specsavers quoted me £36 per year for) Its not often that the high street beats the net on price, but it seems in this case Specsavers are doing so. Not only that the staff in the shop and the optician herself were very helpful and didn't get snotty with me when I discussed the possibility of buying lenses and solutions from the net and aftercare from them - its not often I am impressed with a shops customer service these days but have to say "Well done Specsavers!"

janb5

Can I recommend https://www.daysoft.co.uk
They supply dailies and they are about £13.98 a month(for both eyes) or 38.98 for 3 months.

I`ve been using them for a year now and am really pleased. You have to give them your current prescription and your optician`s name + address. They also have offers occasionally with even further discounts. The after sales service is good too with an easily accessible phone line and NOT an 0870 number.

Well worth a visit. I go to a local optician for an annual check.HTH

janb5

P.S. They arrive within 2 days and have never been faulty and no I dont get commission from them tho` I should cos I have recommended to so many people I know!