Lenses / Eye test

kriss_boy

My wife pays £36 per month to specsavers for her lenses and two eye/contact lense tests per year in branch.

A year ago I worked out she could buy the lenses from Amazon, and arrange tests with asda or indeed specsavers ad hoc. I suggested this would be half the annual price but she got a bit, er emotional about it all because her eye sight is bad and she likes the comfort of being associated with the specsavers brand etc.

Do any of you have a simple money saving system. Eg, lenses from Amazon and check ups from a reputable optometrist.

What is the typical cost of the contact lense test these days? Specsavers state £20-28 for an eye test, but my wife says this isn't a 'contact Lense test'.

Zoology_Dragon

I get my lenses from contact lenses for you (or something like that, I forget the exact name). Very cheap and I just get a check-up (eye test and contact lens check-up) every few years. I don't wear my lenses very often though and a pack of 30 pairs will last me at least a year.

happy35

which lenses is your wife wearing, I wear monthly lenses from Specsavers and only pay £15 per month, this includes check ups
If you need to change to a cheaper lens package it would be worth discussing it with Specsavers, there may be alternatives to the current package that would be cheaper

purpleshoes_2

I get my lenses from vision direct. Used to be with specsavers but only get my glasses from them now, felt that I was paying too much for lenses, could get the exact same lenses online without the specsavers branding.

C_Mababejive

The critical bit of info is ;

What is your partners prescription and what lens does she use now?

As an example,,i use daily disposable spherical lenses.

I have an annual eye check up with an excellent independent optometrist who i have used for some time and trust. I pay him a higher price for my check up in lieu of the fact that i dont buy lenses from him.

I generally wear daysoft daily disposables.

Now i do have a degree of astigmatism in both eyes and many optometrists would say that i need to use toric lenses.

Howver i have never used torics and feel my vision is very acceptable with spherical lenses.

The other issue is that daysoft lenses are not Silicon hydrogel lenses but the compound used in their manufacture is long proven and used technology and they do have sufficient Oxygen permeability for good eye health.

Many optom chains will sell you the latest Si hydrogels championing their extended wearability and high oxygen permeability. However they will not mention the other side of the coin in which si hydrogels can cause other more complex eye health issues.

In the end, the healthiest mode of lens wear IMHO is daily disposable, and having the odd day off from wearing lenses and switching to specs.

So yes, daysoft for me,, a great product that ive used for more than a decade with no issues.

I am a big fan of independent optoms and im happy to pay them extra.

purpleshoes_2

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/Cheap-Contact-Lenses/

There is a list of lenses so your wife should be able to find the equivalent if she chooses to buy them online and she can still get an eye test/contact lens check up with specsavers if that's what she chooses.

purpleshoes_2

I also have poor eyesight, but switching from specsavers lenses to the equivalent I buy online has been absolutely fine and has saved me a considerable sum of money.

FBaby

I used to be with Specsavers until I realised that I was paying twice what I could get elsewhere for the exact same quality. I have been with Asda for years now and they are great. Lovely staff, and they will accept prescriptions from everywhere unlike SS. I was asking the staff at Asda as to how they could afford to sale contacts/glasses as such a reduce price, and they said that what we pay towards with Specsavers is mainly their advertising campaign.

They are in no way more qualified to deliver glasses/contacts and carry out eye tests than other not so branded places.

Nicki

The main issue with buying online is the eye test to be honest. If you will commit to having your eyes checked regularly for eye health and your prescription checked separately when needed there shouldn't be an issue. But because the online suppliers don't force you to get a regular contact lens check before dispensing, some users save money by bot organising this which puts them at much higher risk of complications which can lead to irreversible sight loss.

tidus

kriss_boy wrote: »

My wife pays £36 per month to specsavers for her lenses and two eye/contact lense tests per year in branch.

A year ago I worked out she could buy the lenses from Amazon, and arrange tests with asda or indeed specsavers ad hoc. I suggested this would be half the annual price but she got a bit, er emotional about it all because her eye sight is bad and she likes the comfort of being associated with the specsavers brand etc.

Do any of you have a simple money saving system. Eg, lenses from Amazon and check ups from a reputable optometrist.

What is the typical cost of the contact lense test these days? Specsavers state £20-28 for an eye test, but my wife says this isn't a 'contact Lense test'.

You need to consider a couple of things. The monthly cost is quite high, which probably means she's wearing a pretty complex lens type. The monthly plan will probably include other things -contact lens aftercares, sight tests, additional solutions if needed, free replacement lenses for loss or damages, discounts off specs and sunglasses..... Find out what she's paying for.

Then factor in a few quid a month which she is clearly prepared to pay for reassurance of having somewhere to go in event of problems. Maybe she likes the staff. Maybe they have helped her in the past. Maybe she wants to support the high street.

Maybe she feels she's getting value for money.

GlasweJen

£36 per month looks like it's a daily toric or multifocal?

If your wife wants to stick to Specsavers but wants to cut down on price she can try a monthly lens that gets cleaned at night instead. This would cut her down to about £20 or £23 a month (depending on wether or not she gets solution in package).

I'm an optometrist, I've worked with Optical Express, Specsavers and Asda opticians. I can assure you that Asda opticians make a loss and are subsidised by the main store, this appears to be their way of building up a client base before they launch opticians in more areas. When I first started working for Asda their prices were higher than their current "every customer pays one price" policy and we struggled to get sales as people weren't convinced we were real opticians!

In terms of contact lenses Asda don't do a lens scheme, some stores will waive the £20 aftercare fee if you're a regular but that's sporadic. They don't get lenses from all of the manufacturers so if you want something like a high toric monthly they can only offer one and expect you to pay 3 months upfront for the lens as they can't get free trials of XRs to pass onto customers.

The lens packages from Specsavers are actually quite good, they cover unlimited aftercare so if your wife gets an infection or decides to try a few new lenses there is nothing to pay. There's also a fairly hefty discount on glasses and free replacement lenses.

The optical express scheme is similar to the Specsavers one but the same lens is much higher priced.