Contact Lenses Discussion Area

dawny10

Hi all

I have bought my last 3 lots of lenses over the web from the States, which are much cheaper than here.

The first two lots arrived fine, but the most recent one got stopped by customs who charged 11 quid. For two boxes of Focus dailes x90 I paid £47 so £58 in total for 3 months supply if worn every day.

I used to be on Vision Expresses 20 quid a month plan and had monthly lenses. I thought it was worth paying for the 'aftercare', in case anything went wrong. However, after having problems with one of my eyes, I went along to the store and asked if someone could have a look at it for me. They told me that they wouldn't do that and I should go to the hospital if it was bad. So much for aftercare! Turns out I had ulcers on my cornea.

So now I get my eyes tested yearly, have a contact lens appointment and then take my prescription go and buy them from the internet. I haven't had any infections since I've been on dailies and am paying less than I was for monthlies!

Lillibet_2

Don't know if anyone can help me, I've been using Acuvue weekly lenses for 15 years (I sleep in them for a week then out overnight & a fresh pair the next morning) in all that time I've only ever had one problem & I think that was my fault anyway, so I am very happy with them.
I have always used the same optician despite moving 50 miles away from them, as all other opticians I have approached don't deal with weekly lenses.
I currently pay £78 for 12 weeks supply inculding all aftercare & an annual test. I don't use any solutions. My optician recommends quartley aftercare appointments with weekly lenses but due to the distance I only ever get there every 6 months or so.
If I switch to buying my lenses on line (I think I can save around £25 a quarter ) can I see any optician for a 6 monthly check or do I need to go back to my prescribing optician? How much is a 6 monthly check likely to cost & how can I get my prescribing optician to continue giving my my lense prescritption if I am no longer buying the lenses from them?

Thanks for any help & advice.

dpalaj

Don't know if anyone can help me, I've been using Acuvue weekly lenses for 15 years (I sleep in them for a week then out overnight & a fresh pair the next morning) in all that time I've only ever had one problem & I think that was my fault anyway, so I am very happy with them.
I have always used the same optician despite moving 50 miles away from them, as all other opticians I have approached don't deal with weekly lenses.
I currently pay £78 for 12 weeks supply inculding all aftercare & an annual test. I don't use any solutions. My optician recommends quartley aftercare appointments with weekly lenses but due to the distance I only ever get there every 6 months or so.
If I switch to buying my lenses on line (I think I can save around £25 a quarter ) can I see any optician for a 6 monthly check or do I need to go back to my prescribing optician? How much is a 6 monthly check likely to cost & how can I get my prescribing optician to continue giving my my lense prescritption if I am no longer buying the lenses from them?

Thanks for any help & advice.

Hi, I was wondering the same thing.

I am with D&A and think they're ripping me off because I can get my contact lenses at more than half the price they're charging me.

If I could get a 6 monthly check up with a reputable optician who'll give professional, impartial advice without the hard sell like D&A do, then I'll get contact lenses through the post.

How much do these check up's cost?

Many thanks

pixiemuffin

If anyone has a family member / friend who goes to the states get them to take your contact lense prescription. My sister regually flies to NY, and gets my Johnson & Johnson daily Acuvue for approx $22 for 30 pairs. Each box has a very long shelf life (the last lot I recieved last until 2009) so I have now stacked up well, and cheaply!

the_skint_minx

There are more UK contact lens sites than there used to be which is great news. However, when the pound's strong it can still work out cheaper to buy from the US.

Customs charges are a bit of a random factor - sometimes you get stung, sometimes you don't - but for lenses like mine (ciba continuous wear, hideously expensive if you go through specsavers and the like) it still works out cheaper, even if you pay the charge.

However - and this works for anything you buy online from the US - if you complain to the seller, they will refund about half of the customs charge even though it's not their fault, just out of goodwill. It's tricky to get the money refunded directly, but you usually get a decent amount off your next order, so it's definitely worth it for stuff you buy regularly (like contacts) and where you're taking advantage of the exchange rate anyway.

Tracy_P_2

I'm with specsavers too. I pay the £10 odd every month to include eyecare. What has really annoyed me is that they have just told me that I need an eyetest at £15 odd. Why I ask? When I've just had a contact lense check up/eye test? My glasses presciption is different from my contact lenses one anyway? Is this another money spinner for them? Is it true that they will stop supplying my contact lenses if I refuse?

I'm still waiting 2 weeks for a replacement lense from them!!

Please tell me where everyone else gets their aftercare from !

Many thanks!
Tracy

starlite_2

hi not sure if this is mentioned above, i read through the posts but not in much detail..however.

anyone that wears contacts ,or doesnt but has astigamtism and lives in london (or doesnt but can get here regularly..in which case enter london as the region on the site and check out the information)should visit the following site
https://www.biotrax.com
i joined last year and have since gotten free lenses and solutions as well as substantial cash payments for every appointment. i know many companies overcharge, and the risk of using cheaper web based companies is that your eyes dont get the proprer care so this is a way to ensure you have rigorous medical checks and get free stuff. also good for people with asthma/ postmenopausal women at the moment as they apper to be conducting research for such people at the moment.

geejaygee

I have glasses and contact lenses, and I broke my glasses and I am coming to the end of my contacts. At the moment, I am planning to get daily acuvue disposables from https://www.coastal contacts.com (the link was through https://www.optical4less.com where I got a pair of rimless glasses, bendable glasses and clip on shades with free shipping for US$123, just less than £70).

For 6 boxes (180 lenses), with free shipping and a free pair of sunglasses (with a $19 value) they charge US$125.54, which is again just under £70, or roughly £11.50 a month. Even with import duty this seems cheap - I've read through the rest of the list, and the company seems reliable, but can anybody do better?

dawny10

geejaygee, I have used Coastal Contacts before and they were fine (though I wouldn't get too excited about the sunnies!)

I found Lensmart were slightly cheaper for my lenses (Focus Dailies) so it may be worth checking them out. I also found a discount code by searching through Google which brought the price down a bit (about a fiver).

Don't forget that if you import from the US you may get a customs charge on top - my last package which cost $80 (about £49) had £7.79 duty added on plus a £4 handling fee. Still cheaper than buying from the UK though!

anndim

Geejaygee,

I am on the point of ordering my lenses from Coastal Contracts and have looked at both the UK and US sites. The US site states free shipping if order is over $99 but this only applies to US/Canada.

As I live in France, the postage is the same from both sites - $13.95 on top of £78 for the lenses - my previous site charged £99 + P & P. The UK site states 10 - 15 days which is not fast but I have time.

Having read all the blurb and visited many sites, I cannot foresee any problems with this company.