Rip Off Britain - Spectacles

clever_username

To quote Jimmy Carr: "If I owned an opticians I'd have the sign in a blurry font." :cool:

timbo58

https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk
I always get mine from there and wouldn't dream of going elsewhere.
Glasses from £19!
It was set up by a young guy who did a thesis on markups in the optical retail market at University and realised what a huge markup the high street shops had (effectively a price fixing cartel) he eventually got a supplier to let him buy from them and set the company up.
They are local to me too, and first rate customer service, you can even get frames sent with plain lenses to try on!
(no, I don't work for them!)

CrazyNerd

online glasses providers don't have the cost of providing eyecare, thats the difference

cyberbob

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:

Maybe if you kept your text the normal size you wouldn't need Glasses to read it. That's my Money saving Tip.

Oldbiggles

Here I am trying to be serious and all you comedians have already got into the Christmas Spirit.
Thank God for the British sense of humour.
Talking of blurry vision, I’m on my second large scotch so this screen is getting out of focus. Must be something to do with these new specs, cos’ I never had this trouble before!!!.
Anyway I’m off to find out what’s happening to the Man U/Arsenal match.
:xmastree::xmassign:



And in case I don’t get a chance later:easter:

timbo58

CrazyNerd wrote: »

online glasses providers don't have the cost of providing eyecare, thats the difference

That IS true though, accepted.
I usually pay for my prescriptions though I must admit, so I see nothing wrong in going elsewhere for the glasses themselves, the first time I bought them from Boots and they were £180!
Not funny when the prescription has changed twice since then.

Mankysteve

There a business there duty is to make a profit for there shareholder not to give you cheap things. Thats ther job. If you don't want to pay high prices shop around.

CrazyNerd

the profit in my practice is very very slim and is certainly not going to make anyone rich, do you know how much optometrists cost (not paid enough as far as I'm concerned), insurance,equiptment, maintenance,training. You do realise they are healthcare professionals, its much much more than determining a person's prescription.

DCFC79

Well im sure the OP wasnt forced to buy the lenses for £150

nedmundo

As an Optician, the 1st thing you will think when you see this is that I have my own agenda. I can catagorically state that that the average lens cost is not 25p. It might have been for a large corporation such as Vision Express in the 90s when Dean Butler owned it, but believe me, it is much higher than this, even for just basic lenses.

Having said that, it has been discussed many times before on this forum that a significant proportion of the price goes to subsidise the eye exam, which the NHS only pays a 3rd of operating cost, plus staff, equipment and other overheads.

Online is cheaper because it uses cheaper products, bought with bulk discount and low overheads/high volume. High street is more expensive because the opposite is true.

Not the most balanced bit of reporting I have seen from the BBC.