Contact Lens Cost Cutting article discussion

trevor12_2

My Daughter has been buying these lenses for the past 6 months now as they are a lot cheaper than the Clarity lenses our family optician gave her.
Im going to quote here from what the Eye Doctor at the Hospital said to me " her corneal epathiliam cells are all but worn away" they have told her she cannot wear lenses for 3 months and she is now having to use steroids to reduce the swelling and another drop for the pain. They say that this is all to do with the lens not fitting correctly
Apparently Daysoft swopping her to to a different type of inferior lens to the one our optician gave her is not allowed. Its not even the same size! We will be taking this up with the governing organisation.

carpy

solarfusion wrote: »

Anybody know of a comprehensive list of what various opticians charge for contact lens check ups for those of us who buy our lenses online?
Seems that not many opticians publish the price.

All I've found so far is:
Optical Express £20
David Clulow £75 !!

tesco £10 i think or was it £15?? anyway it was as cheap as i could find.....

then ordered online

PolskiRadek

Welcome. I buy contact lenses Air Optix Aqua for the price of 60 pounds per year. I pay for 12 pairs, including postage, the online store szkla.com I think this price is really low.

Radek

stylishnclassy

Hello I used to use Specsavers monthy ones for £12 per month. Now I use contactlenses.co.uk and I buy 30 disposables for just over £7 which can last me 6 months!!! (irregular wearer) But saved alot of money through them. And they don't make my eyes sore like the Specsaver ones as I just throw them away once I done! I think I save £129.50 per year :j

I also know how to save 5% discount on top, if anyone is interested, private message me as I think I am not allowed to post the info. (New to me this posting stuff) :money:

willihe_2

solarfusion wrote: »

Anybody know of a comprehensive list of what various opticians charge for contact lens check ups for those of us who buy our lenses online?
Seems that not many opticians publish the price.

All I've found so far is:
Optical Express £20
David Clulow £75 !!

Be careful what you are comparing... I recently discovered that there can be quite a difference in the price charged, but it may not be the same service provided, and it also depends on the business model the optician is operating.

I recently paid approx £45 for a 'Contact lens check up' with a local independent. This gave me a contact lense prescription which I could take away (all are required to do this), but they also offered a 'Contact lens specification' which would have been £75 (including the check) and as far as I could tell, would be the actual recommendation on which lens and one or two follow ups with trial lenses to confirm the prescription/ choice of lense. The opticians that charge £30 - £45 for the check up and £60+ for the specification are charging fully for their time associated with the check up etc and not loading the cost of this onto the price you pay for the lenses - so their lenses remain competitively priced compared with on-line suppliers.



The larger chains often have a different business model, and will price the check-up at a loss/ not fully cover their cost, but may not spend as much time/ or may use less well qualified staff, but will then hope to lure you into their contact lens scheme or sell you glasses etc. So the service is different.

Some will offer a free specification/ trial, but then effectively recover this through the monthly charges or pay as you go prices.

I found that often the people you speak to about what is covered for the fee paid, tend to be pretty vague about what's covered. You might get away with the cheap check ups for a while, but you do also need to take care with the health of your eyes. Paying less, might not always give the level of service and care you need, particularly if you have any conditions that need monitoring.

I'd be interested to see what info others have on the check up charges.

WeeWillieWinkie

solarfusion wrote: »

Anybody know of a comprehensive list of what various opticians charge for contact lens check ups for those of us who buy our lenses online?
Seems that not many opticians publish the price.

All I've found so far is:
Optical Express £20
David Clulow £75 !!

So far I have found D&A/Boots £35 (free if you sign up to their monthly purchase scheme), Asda £15 and Cosco £12.99 (you need to be have or purchase a membership card).

C_Mababejive

Yogibear wrote: »

I have just received my Daysoft lenses from DisposableContactLenses.com
£48 for 3 months supply excellent service and I am very shortsighted -21 l and -22 r they will go out of their way to help you if you have a perticularly high prescription,most Mail Order only do - 20 :T

You sure? daysoft website says only go up to -12 ??

pmduk

Perhaps that's why the the poster is quoting more than 3 times the normal price?

C_Mababejive

Does anyone have experience of progressive/bifocal CLs such as air optix and focus dailies?

GlasweJen

I'm learning about multi focal contact lenses, definitely a question for a qualified optometrist in practice and not something that can be advised online. There are problems with adaption that can cause people to lose balance, stop them meeting driving standards and all sorts of other complications.