Opticians, unhappy with frames and lens, what are my rights options?

antigonk

I'm hoping someone can advise regarding my rights here;

I ordered and paid for 2 pairs of glasses from from the Glasses Factory last week for £250 (included £20 fee for eye test). One pair was ready for collection yesterday, as soon as I saw them I told the guy I wasn't happy, the lenses which were supposedly extra thin and light looked much too big in the frame (over twice the thickness of the rims). I acknowledged with the assistant that I knew the lenses would appear slightly thicker as a result of the frame size but explained that the information I had received from him and his colleague on 2 separate visits was misleading because they had not indicated the extent to which the lenses would appear oversized.
The guy said he would send the lenses back to the lab to see if they could be thinned any further.

My questions are; if the glasses come back and I am still not satisfied with their appearance how can I check that they are the lenses (extra thin) that I paid for, and am I entitled to a refund or can I request another set of spectacles to replace the ones I've ordered.
I didn't try on the specs or take them from the shop.

Martin.

baza52

So there is nothing wrong with the glasses you just think they look too thick.
What is your prescription?
Surely you must have known the lenses would be a certain size unless these are your first ever pair of glasses.

I have frameless ones and paid a fortune for ultra thin lenses but they are nowhere near as thin as i would have liked.
Still, a lot better than the beer bottle bottoms i used to wear as a kid.

Jules22

It depends on your prescription, frame choice and the correct index.

Assistants can only advise but it also comes down to what the customer wants to pay for high index.
Thin and lite will only be 30% thinner.

Frame choice and size will also depend on the outcome.

I see problems like this all the time and in most cases its the customer who wont pay the extra or their frame choices are wrong which cause all the hassle, even though they have been given the correct advise.

C_Mababejive

What is the prescription i.e -5.00 etc etc..? Are the frames fully rimmed and are they metal or plastic?

antigonk

I have a strong prescription +5.5 and have been wearing glasses for many years. I invested in the thinnest and lightest lenses on offer 1.74 high index as I always do (the second pair of glasses were free and come with ordinary lens). I am aware of what frames suit which lenses and how smaller frames mean the lens can be narrowed more at the edges. My point is that I went for a slightly larger frame on the recommendation and advice of the assistant and sought reassurance on two visits before ordering, the advice I was given does not in any way reflect the product that was made for me. The assistant told me that the appearance would be 'slightly thicker' than my current glasses, this represents a huge understatement and is therefore very misleading, so big was the difference that I questioned whether these were actually the lenses I had ordered.
Martin.

cardinalbiggles

The thinned lenses are still quite thick round the edges remember, there is only so much you can do without defying the laws of physics!

Tygermoth

Have you checked the Stores policy?

Some have a no quibble g'tee, as such you can return for how the look or feel.

Presently I am at odds with Tescos as the glasses they made for me feel terrible when I wear them. They have double vision around the edges and things seem to be out of focus. I have been back for a retest 3 times and they still are not right. (In all fairness to the staff they have been helpful and pleasant)

After being told to firmly it was me not the glasses and to persevere with the current pair I gained nothing but headaches for weeks (I have had very little change in my prescription) I have now given up and handed the matter over to head office.

I expect them to fight especially as I paid just shy of £300 for them but i will not be paying for these frankly unwearable glasses.

Ty

Tygermoth

Do I and the OP have the same rights under the SOGA?

As it’s a bespoke/custom item the Sales Assistant at Tesco seemed to infer i had no rights of return?

ThumbRemote

You have full rights under the SOGA. It makes no difference if it's a bespoke item. (Bespoke items do affect the distance selling regulations, but thats not an issue here).

For the OP, you need to ask what the refractive index of the lenses is. I don't know how they can demonstrate this.

See http://www.onlineglassesdirect.co.uk/hi-index-lenses for more details on the different values available.

C_Mababejive

I am surprised that at +5...shouldnt that be -5.00 by the way?? you are unhappy as i have just had a pair of -9.00 for me made up using metal frames,fairly low profile and trendy and using 1.74 lenses and they are perfect with no excessive overhand at the edges..

123louisa

Tbh it depends on what the frame is like, I would always recommended people with higher -rx's(prescription) to get smaller frames, and higher +rx's to get slightly larger. Its all down to the residual edge thickness.

The lenses are cut from the middle of the lens blanks and therefore the high rx are naturally thinner. Think of images of convex and concave lenses.

To the Poster who had rimless, but you cant glaze into rimless with a high prescription as the lens becomes too thin, and when you are trying to drill through to place the screws the lens cracks. I cant remember what the highest rx was that I dispensed but High rx's should not go into rimless!!