New glasses worse than old - advice welcomed

RedLass

Hi ladies and gents

I'm looking for some advice or even just a little moral support regarding the new glasses my partner bought recently. Please forgive my layman speak here - I don't wear glasses myself and am definitely no eye expert!

6 weeks or so back my partner went in for an eye test and purchased a pair of new general glasses and a pair of reading glasses for approx £270.

Even though he was told his prescription hasn't changed by much, his old glasses are very tired and he does need to replace them. They advised him that he is only just on the edge of requiring reading glasses, and that they were optional really, for computer work etc. They also said that varifocals were an option, but because he is only just starting to need reading glasses, it would be a bit overkill and he prefers not to go with them just yet.

When the new glasses arrived he took them away and wore them for a few days. They were not giving him as good sight as he was already having with his old glasses. Near to mid range sight which was OK to see before was now fuzzier and more blurred. After about 5 days he returned to the store and explained that his new glasses were worse than his old. The people he saw told him that they had strengthened the lenses for long distance and that might be why the nearer-mid stuff was now not so good.

End result of that appointment was that they took the new glasses back, adjusted the order/prescription to be more like his old glasses, without the long distance strengthening, and told him there would be a new pair on its way.

Today he picked up that second new pair and took them away to try out and he says that they are as bad, if not worse than the first pair. His old glasses are still giving him better sight, and the new ones just aren't any good. He drives for a living, so really needs them to be as spot on as they can be!

It's getting him down a bit because of the expense, and the time wasted. I feel as though when you go to the optician, you put your trust in them to know what you need, and provide you with glasses that will do the job. In this case it feels like we have spent a lot of money for nothing.

We're not sure what to do next. Is he entitled to go back again and say he is still not satisfied? If so, should he persevere and try a third pair, if they can come up with something that seems plausible? Or should we be asking for the money back because two attempts have proven unfit for purpose, and go to a different optician?

floss2

You need to take them back & speak to the dispensing optician rather than the assistants, as they should be able to test them & check that the actual prescription & centering etc has been made up correctly.

rosie383

How old is he? I have found now, since hitting my forties, that my normal glasses prescription has hardly changed, but my eyes have, so I can see distance easily with glasses, but anything close up is impossible with specs, so I have to do the 'schoolteacher' look, and peer over the top or underneath for anything close up. If he is over 40, that may be the problem, rather than the specs.

jenniewb

Are you able to get him to get a free prescription from another brand of optition? Many have offers and will be able to give a prescription on paper. You can then take this to the old optition and see if they have a different result- it could be something really simple such as numbers being taken down wrong- not that this should happen but maybe could explain things a bit?

Other then that maybe see if you can get a different branch of the same optition brand (if it is a brand) so a sort of second opinion. Or ideally your money back and move on to another brand totally.

Just wondering if you were able to say what the brand of the optition was?

RedLass

Thank you for your replies.

He is 44 now and bought his last pair 4-5 years ago. Perhaps this is just a degradation that is harder to fix... he has said since that even with his old glasses, he has noticed days where his vision seems worse than others. Makes us wonder if he went in for an eye test on a "good" day and has since had some "bad" days. All feels so hit and miss :think:

Doing the "schoolteacher" thing made me chuckle. He can't see a thing with no glasses so unfortuneately don't think this one will work for him!

He took the second pair back to Specsavers and saw the same guy who has been dealing with him previously, so at least there is continuity there. They've opted to try varifocals afterall (at additional costs, and different frames because the lenses won't fit those we have picked). Fingers crossed really... the optician said not to worry and they will find something that works, one way or another. That's reassuring at least, and I'm pleased he hasn't been fobbed off.

Reminds me I am lucky not to need to worry about this myself yet.

rosie383

Might be worth going to Tesco for a free eye test just to see what prescription they come up with and you won't lose anything. Their glasses are a lot cheaper than Specsavers too, and their customer care is great.