the price of glasses

kazzy

Can anyone tell me why spectacles are so blimming expensive.There mark up is at least 5X cost price.I think this it a bit excessive.
A friend of mine who works in an optician got some rimless specs at cost price(perk of th job) and paid £125.To you and me they would have been £500.Don't you think that is just a tad greedy??.
I'm all for someone making a living but I think that is too high.

researcher

whilst we were in Thailand in November we bought two pairs. Both titanium with super light lenses etc etc. the least expensive were £45 (cost here £150), and the other more expensive pair £115 - (these frames are not even available in this country but are valued at abot £400). These costs included a very thorough eye test and highly professional fitting. We'll now order them from the opticians direct, and if we need new prescriptions send them the details.

I was also shocked to find that the recent eye test I'd had here in the uk (free), when I was told I definately needed new glasses was not in fact correct! My perscription remained the same. Beware free eye tests - they want to sell you a pair of glasses, so it's not in their interest to find no change in your eyesight.

SMB_2

The high price (in-part) of glasses is that you are paying for the expertese and equipment of the Optician. Most eye test are free, therefore you need to sell a lot of glasses to pay the salary of an optician (+£40k) his training (+£30k) and equipment(+200k). Then there is all the other over heads, such as premises, rate, insurance, legal bodies. However, like all other retail, you should shop around

Cacran

Why not get advice from this website and buy your glasses online for as little as £15.

Turning_into_scrooge

Cacran

could you post the web site please for buying glasses on line, or have i missed it somewhere which is very easy for to do lol

ACID

https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk
great service

Dunkyboy_2

Try Optical4less, there is another post about this. :j

before_hollywood

well when i need them i go to the same optician i always have (worn glasses for 20 years) always been in same place and probably the best in my town.
then when i have my prescription i price up the ones i want- last time got the ones i wear all the time, and sunglasses for about £80 (prescription sunglasses- only type i can wear).
shame i lost the sunglasses though :-(

pinkvixen

[QUOTE=_I_was_also_shocked_to_find_that_the_recent_eye_test_I'd_had_here_in_the_uk_(free),_when_I_was_told_I_definately_needed_new_glasses_was_not_in_fact_correct!_My_perscription_remained_the_same._Beware_free_eye_tests_-_they_want_to_sell_you_a_pair_of_glasses,_so_it's_not_in_their_interest_to_find_no_change_in_your_eyesight.[/QUOTE]

The first part of my story, which is not recent, is very similar. I would have been about 16/17 years old when I decided to go for an eye test; I had been wearing glasses from the age of 9 but in my teens stopped wearing them due to vanity! :rolleyes:

Anyway, the optician told me that my eyesight had improved slightly and I half sniggered. He asked what was the matter and I told him that I don’t wear my specs. "Oh, but you must" was his reply.

Of course I must - so that my eyes get used to the lenses, become lazy and reliant upon the glasses, therefore requiring me to return each 2 years and get more. Nice try. (I don't disagree to wearing reading glasses by the way, we need a little help sometimes)

Sadly, now with age, I do have to wear them more often and find that the more I wear my glasses for reading (should wear them all the time of course), the more I need them. I have an astigmatism and need a 'special' prescription, each lens costs me £75, the frames are nearly always £99 for a decent-ish sale priced pair, the special 30% thinner lens (they are quite thick due to the lenses being ‘special’), vari-focals and the special anti-glare/photochromatic lens/anti-scratch coatings, all add up. Result: £350 for a pair of gigs. Oh, but wait a minute - to top it all, the 'buy one get one free' offers are a con too, you get the frame free but the lenses are extra. End result £600 for two pairs of glasses of which I can only wear one pair at once and don’t want to wear in the first place! :mad:

They say 'Thank you' sweetly as you are leaving the shop 3 hours later,donning one pair of specs on face, one pair in case and an empty case when you only went in for a check up of which are 2 yearly - right? Na ah. Because my mum had glaucoma, I should have 1 yearly appointments!! Fortunately (or not for my mum as the case may be) due to mum having had glaucoma, I get my eye test free. FREE?? I think not, I've just paid 600 quid! :eek:

I lose my vari-focals on a drinking night out cos they've fallen out of my bag (vanity has a lot to answer for). I go and buy a replacement pair exactly the same (£350) and take out an insurance cover of £12 (not bad eh?)

So, I've got the insurance cover then an arm breaks off the specs, JUST after 12 months of course. Call in to the shop and ask for a claim form only to be told that they were only insured for 12 months. So I ask why I wasn't informed that the insurance was due to expire and would I like to renew it. "We don't do that yet, but will be doing in the future" I am told. I ask to buy a replacement arm for them, only to be told that they don't make that 'model' anymore! :mad: :mad:

But wait a minute, urm I haven't finished yet.... I start to walk out of the shop while being told that my appointment for an eye test is overdue as its been more than 2 years since my last and it stops me in my tracks. Just a minute..... I'm supposed to have ONE yearly appointment aren't I? Checking my records, I'm told "Oh, yes you are, sorry about that! Would you like to book one now?" :mad: :mad: :mad:

My turn to smile sweetly (through gritted teethe) as I reply "No thanks, I'll go somewhere else"

I did go somewhere else, my vari-focals were broken and binned, my 'distance' glasses, which I only wear whilst driving are ok. I head off to the shop, buy a pair of +1.5 (the increase for my reading glasses/the vari-focal bit) and I wear them on top of my distance specs. Yeeesss, I get laughed at but what the heck they cost me a whole 99p! My theory is that if I didn’t wear any specs or wore contact lenses and I used the +1.5’s, no one would bat an eyelid so there, ner ner.

BTW - which optician you ask? Vision Express - you got it, the one where you can get glsses within an hour - NOT

kazzy

Hi PV Even b4 I read the whole of your message I just knew you were talking about Vision express.
My husband has just had the most stressful time with them.They are soooooo bloody incompetant.
He ordered a pair of rimless glasses-varifocal at the cost of £405(incl insurance).These we were told took a longer (2 weeks).we accepted this and waited.3 weeks later he goes in to get his specs.I notice straight away that they haven't been deglazed around the edges and he said the varifocal was wrong.We went to another local optician first to confirm what we thought was wrong and she said are these meant to be polycarbonate lenses and we said yes.Well she said i'm sure they are not.
Well we go back to VE where to be fair the manager is a nice chap.He said they should never have gone out without being deglazed and that 'no' they weren't polycarbonate.He promises a replacement pair of lenses(also to correct the varifocal).
In the meantime if we just hang on he will deglaze glasses.This looked like it had been done by a child and caused the glasses to be wobbly where the nose piece attaches to the lense.
So hubby wears his old glasses til the new ones arrive.They now have Polycarbonate lenses which thay attach to the original frame.This doesn't work as they are still wobbly(using the original frame).Anyway we take these specs away with the promise of a whole new pair of glasses and frames aswell.4 weeks later and several phone calls we arrive for new specs.One look at them and despair-where they have been deglazed some idiot has used acetate around the edge which melts th poly carb!!!!!.
At this stage the manager offers another pair and gives us a full refund(without being asked) and orders another pair.
We go back,yes 4 weeks later and specs are there but not been deglazed. He convinces my husband to leave them as they are as it is so difficult to deglaze polycarb!!!!(why do so many people i know seem to have deglazed polycarb lenses which look fine but V E can't do this.)The manager says oh this is why we try and stay away from polycarb!!!!!! They are a bloody opticians for gawd sake aaaarrrrggghhhhhh.
Anyway hubby takes his unwobbly undeglazed glasses away.They have been ok for 6 weeks til yesterday!! Oh yes they had started to wobble!!!!.
He took them into VE and the manager repairs them and announces they now have a proper machine to do this????????????????????????????????????I ask you.
We are not at all happy with the glasses as we wanted them deglazed but are just leaving well alone.We ended up with 2 pairs of specs and a refund but this does not detract from the fact that VE are advertising that they provide something and they clearly cannot.I would NEVER EVER buy another pair of glasses from them again.
Thanks for reading my sermon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AMEN