Rip Off Britain - Spectacles

nedmundo

wallbash wrote: »

I have ziess varifocal but my perscription is off the standard price chart the specsavers use. So the last couple of times they have had to ring up and get a quote.
Five years ago my spectacles cost nearly £600 but last year my replace ones were just over £325.

I was told that ziess prices had gone down ... could any one ( in the profession) confirm or deny this.

Ps as I have previously posted, I am very pleased with the service I have had from SpecSavers.

I suspect that rather than Zeiss reducing their cost prices globally, SS have negotiated a better volume discount with them.

mmmsnow

I'm training to be an optometrist at the moment and I can confirm that normal, single vision lenses are very cheap (pennies) but they have to be altered to fit the frames chosen, which takes time and equipment, mounted in the frames and fitted correctly.

When you go to an optician's, like any business, you are paying for the service as well as the product. Training to become an optician takes time and commitment, there's a low paid pre-registration year after 4 years of uni and when we are finally out in the job market as fully fledged opticians, we have to complete continual training (or we get kicked out of the GOC). The GOC demands we register with them (there is a hefty price for membership - it's over £500) and we also need insurance (again, this figure is in the range £500-£1000).

The equipment required in a practice will set the optician back tens of thousands of pounds, not to mention the costs related to owning any sort of business (eg. staff, premises and stock). The optician also doesn't just correct your vision - he or she looks at the health of the eyes and is instrumental in catching sight threatening diseases at a stage where they can be successfully treated (glaucoma, for example, affects 2 in 100 people and will lead to complete blindness if it is not treated).

If you want to get annoyed about opticians then focus your attention on SpecSavers, which although one of the cheapest opticians, doesn't pay full UK taxes as it's conveniently based on Guernsey. Your small local optician is probably a high rate tax payer who employs a few people and makes quite a good living (but works hard for it).

Also, remember that there are always a selection of cheap frames and lenses for those who don't want to spend much (my last pair, I got for £37.50 from a well known high street chain) and for those who need the help, the NHS is there to lend a hand with costs. As someone mentioned before, you don't need to pay through the nose for glasses - you don't need to buy the designer frames and, unless you buy several pairs a year, your visit to the optician will probably cost a lot less than your TV license!

optometristfromoxford

I speak as an optometrist wtih 7 years experience in a variety of settings. High street opticians, independent opticians and the Hospital Eye service.

The cost of a sight test is kept low through competition between practices, and the low price set by the NHS for sight tests provided through the GOS system. (the blue form some of you will be familiar with.)

Until 1989 ALL eyetests were funded by the NHS.
After 1989 the majority of patients had to pay for their own examinations. There was a significant drop in the number of eye tests performed each year. This has still not returned to pre 1989 levels.
In 1999 NHS eye tests were reinstated for over 60's


The problem is NOT that Optometrists/opticians try to "rip off" their customers.
The problem is that from the start of the industry the cost of eyecare to the public was cross subsidised by the cost of the spectactles TO SAVE THE NHS MONEY. This was not ideal BUT it was not legal to charge more for a sight test as the price was determined by the NHS.
Most opticians wanted to provide the best eyecare to their patients and therefore invested in new (expensive) equipment. This had to be subsidised through the cost of spectacles.
When the selling of spectacles became deregulated, OF COURSE someone with no sight testing equipment, qualified staff and legal obligation to be regulated by a professional body, could provide spectacles cheaper than an opticians practice.
If optometrists can no longer subsidise the cost of eye care through spectacles, the cost eye eye care will HAVE to increase or the quaality/availibilty of eyecare will have to decrease.
NHS dentists also had years of historically underfunded dental treatment through the NHS, lets hope eye care does not become so prohibitively expensive. Losing a tooth because you cant afford to see a dentist is one thing, going blind because you can't afford to see an optician is another. In the US/canada where eye care is properly funded it will cost between 100- 150 dollars for an eye examination. ( you will then have to pay extra for a copy of your prescription, RIP OFF I hear you shout......)

optometristfromoxford

Oldbiggles wrote: »

Curses! Curses!
Don’t it make you want to swear?.
I’ve watched ‘’BBC’s ‘Rip Off Britain’’ today.
Once again Opticians have been exposed as money grubbing parasites, (or words to that effect).
The presenters of this programme; Angela Rippon, Gloria Hunniford and Jennie Bond have highlighted just how much lenses cost and the fantastic mark-up charged by spectacle providers.
It seems that 25 pence is the average cost of lenses, and that includes the more complex ones, so how on earth can Opticians justify the extortionate average charge for specs of £150 a pair? Which I've just paid a month ago.

Sick! Sick! :mad::mad::mad:

I would be interested to know what industry you work in, and if you have considered all the costs involved in your own supply chain/ business model. I would hate to think you were making a profit and paying tax, NI and peoples salaries.

Laz123

I paid £890 for my specs and because opticians are lovely people I would gladly pay twice this if I could.

nedmundo

Laz123 wrote: »

I paid £890 for my specs and because opticians are lovely people I would gladly pay twice this if I could.

Crikey - Laz, they must have seen you coming:rotfl:

hansi

You've been framed:T:T:T £890!!!!!!:eek: This has to be spam!!

nedmundo

I think 'sarcasm' is the term that applies here:beer:

Laz123

Or is it taking the !!!!...

nedmundo

That as well - Merry Christmas to all that have contributed to this discussion.