Glasses Deals Discussion

kondormid

the glasses MSE quotes as reduced ie Ray-Ban 2129 shiny blacks for £45 (were £75), Oakley Five Squared Polishe Black Glasses £37(were £68) are in fact the original price on sunglasses-shop website.

So what do I do? I either pay the extra or return the voucher I guess.

It is disgusting that a company has used MSE to sell its vouchers and then hiked prices even though it said it would not.

I would try and get my money back from the voucher as I would not want to give this company any more of my money.

bitemebankers

kondormid wrote: »

Who says it is inadvisable

I do. Varifocal and bifocal lenses require critical alignment of the lenses within the frame, and the frame needs to be adjusted properly in order for the lenses to work well. There is no mechanism or facility for either of these requirements to be met online.

Everything I can find about people ordering online bifocals from good online retailers seems to result in people being more than happy

You've clearly not looked very hard. And before you ask, no, I'm not going to waste my time looking around for people who have had bad experiences and posted feedback online. They're out there if you look for them, and it's up to people spending their cash to go and look. I don't require bifocal/varifocal lenses so it doesn't really make any difference to me.

nedmundo

kondormid wrote: »

Who says it is inadvisable and where is the reason or examples?

Everything I can find about people ordering online bifocals from good online retailers seems to result in people being more than happy and I have seen no reason anywhere why people should not order them.

I can think of loads. One might be able to get away with 'guesstimated' measurements, but they are unlikely to produce as good a visual result as properly measured and centred lenses.

kondormid

Varifocal and bifocal lenses require critical alignment of the lenses within the frame, and the frame needs to be adjusted properly in order for the lenses to work well. There is no mechanism or facility for either of these requirements to be met online.

First lets deal with critical alignment of lenses within the frame.
If you can't get your PD measurements then you can send in an old pair of glasses. Your new pair will be "critically aligned". You can find this service online, google is your friend.

As for adjusting frames, I am sure most bifocal wearing people have adjusted their own frames many times in the past and know exactly how to do it. Again, google is your friend.

And before you ask, no, I'm not going to waste my time looking around for people who have had bad experiences and posted feedback online.

Have you tried using google?

I think I need to clarify that I really want as many high street sellers as possible. I get free glasses myself, my kids do too. Without the high street sellers this would be difficult. If you read back through my posts you will see what I am against is high prices, especially high prices that some justify by saying these prices susidise the cost of the eye test.

It does not matter to me how people try to justify it, and neither will it matter to most customers either. No one is interested in why prices are so high, they are just interested in how high they are.

Making out that it is impossible for people who wear bifocals to get a decent pair without paying high prices is not going to cut it forever and the more people learn that they may well save a lot of money and end up with a good pair of glasses will drive them to the cheaper route.

I will end up losing my high street opticians because of this, and as a result I will lose out. Trying to get the high street and local opticians to realise that their days are numbered if they do not do something about it seems to result in posts telling me I am wrong and even slightly dodgy information about the difficulty to obtain good specs online. But they do need to do something, because eventually the majority of customers will move to the cheapest route no matter what hurdles they put in place.

jojoe90

I managed to get a free eye test from Optical Express in Brighton back in February, however...

I handed over my voucher after the test and the guy on the main desk ushered me out. It was only when I got home that I realised I hadn't been issued with a new prescription. I'd been thrown off the scent because my eyesight hadn't changed in the last two years.

Anyway, I need a recently dated prescription to get lenses put into an old pair of vintage frames, so I phoned Optical Express to ask them to send it to me.

The first time, the woman put me on hold and spoke to the branch. She came back on the line and said they'd send it to me in the post. That was early February.

Ten days ago I called again. This time at first the call centre operative told me that THEY DON'T ISSUE PRESCRIPTIONS and they normally fax through details on request if you want to buy glasses from another store. This sounded bizarre to me, so I insisted on being put through to the branch. I spoke to the same chap on the front desk - he very quickly said that he'd put the prescription in the post to me. I asked if he had my details, as I hadn't confirmed the address to the other woman, and he was all 'yes, yes'. I think now he was just trying to get rid.

So the upshot is that I will be going to the branch tomorrow and staying there until I get a) my prescription and b) an apology. Shame, because the optometrist was lovely and I would definitely have paid to go there again.

Does anyone know what the legal standpoint is? They have to issue me with a prescription, right? No purchase necessary. Why on earth do they put out these deals if they don't want to honour them?

OpticalExpress_representative

jojoe90 wrote: »

I managed to get a free eye test from Optical Express in Brighton back in February, however...

I handed over my voucher after the test and the guy on the main desk ushered me out. It was only when I got home that I realised I hadn't been issued with a new prescription. I'd been thrown off the scent because my eyesight hadn't changed in the last two years.

Anyway, I need a recently dated prescription to get lenses put into an old pair of vintage frames, so I phoned Optical Express to ask them to send it to me.

The first time, the woman put me on hold and spoke to the branch. She came back on the line and said they'd send it to me in the post. That was early February.

Ten days ago I called again. This time at first the call centre operative told me that THEY DON'T ISSUE PRESCRIPTIONS and they normally fax through details on request if you want to buy glasses from another store. This sounded bizarre to me, so I insisted on being put through to the branch. I spoke to the same chap on the front desk - he very quickly said that he'd put the prescription in the post to me. I asked if he had my details, as I hadn't confirmed the address to the other woman, and he was all 'yes, yes'. I think now he was just trying to get rid.

So the upshot is that I will be going to the branch tomorrow and staying there until I get a) my prescription and b) an apology. Shame, because the optometrist was lovely and I would definitely have paid to go there again.

Does anyone know what the legal standpoint is? They have to issue me with a prescription, right? No purchase necessary. Why on earth do they put out these deals if they don't want to honour them?

Hi jojoe90,

I’m sorry to hear about the issues you have experienced with us. We expect customers to receive the highest level of care and service at all times at Optical Express and we’re disappointed that we did not meet your expectations on this occasion. Could you contact me at customerfeedback@opticalexpress.com with your details and I will investigate further for you?

Thanks,

Sandra
(OE Customer Services)

kondormid

If either of you two (Sandra or jojoe90) can let the forum know this has got sorted then we can store the email address and give it to anyone else who has a problem with an Optical Express store.

Pleased to see the fast (18 mins) response.

bitemebankers

kondormid wrote: »

First lets deal with critical alignment of lenses within the frame.
If you can't get your PD measurements then you can send in an old pair of glasses. Your new pair will be "critically aligned".

No it won't. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

especially high prices that some justify by saying these prices susidise the cost of the eye test.

The profits made on spectacles do subsidise the cost of the eye examination. If this was not the case, an eye examination would cost around £80-£120. Then you'd be complaining bitterly about that too, because the NHS certainly wouldn't cover that sort of cost.

unlocated

Hyia,

I've just found out this thread and it's great!
I've just booked the free eye test plus cashback! and now I am trying to find out where to buy glasses from.
There's plenty of websites for that but I have no time to go through all of them to find the cheapest. Do you have any idea of who works best?

Thank you!

imorph9

the numbers on the frame arms was mentioned - all my specs have them BUT the are listed thus : 19/140.
this translates to bridge size/frame size (edge to edge of specs) respectively. hope this makes things easier for some people.