Contact lenses

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi

I wear contact lenses all the time and pay £16 a month for monthly disposables with a local optician. I would like to change to daily disposables but wonder if there is a cheaper way of doing it. Any recommendations?

I wear my lenses for 10/12 hours every day and maybe should persevere with wearing my glasses a bit more.

How does it work if you buy lenses on the internet? What do you do about check ups? How do you choose what lenses to buy?

asajj

I switched to dailies last year - you need an appointment first I believe as I was told it would be a new prescription. Once you have it, I suppose you can order online by using that prescription.

I don't know online cost because it is one of those things I spend money on, I had problems with my eyes before (contacts related) and don't want to have them again.

ibizafan_2

I use Vision Direct online and have always had a fantastic service from them. Easy to order giving your prescription. I also buy all my solutions from them. They send a reminder as well for future orders. Just have your usual optician appointments in case your prescription changes of course.

kirtondm

Dailies will always be more expensive than monthlies if you wear everyday

You pay more for the convienence

If you are wearing p/time dailies might be cheaper if wear 2/3 x a week

Dailies just buy when you need them

silvercar

I subscribe to Boots contact lens by post scheme, it includes check ups etc. Pay monthly and contact lens arrive in the post.

You also get 10% off any Boots own make products.

kate5555

I have a direct debit now but I used to buy my monthly lenses on the internet. I would go to boots optician to get my eyes tested every 2 years or so (my vision hasn't changed much the last few years) and buy the initial minimum order of lenses from them (not setting up a direct debit). I then had the details to re-order the same lenses on the internet. It worked out about £10-12 a pair buying online compared with about £25 from an optician. I would continue to buy the same lenses for the next year or 2 until I felt it was time for a checkup and then I would repeat the process.

I used the same process to buy daily disposable lenses online except that I had a 5 day free trial of lenses from Specsavers with all the details on them.

Obviously you need to arrange your own checkups and depending how often you go / how much a check-up costs might negate the savings you make from buying online.

Lavendyr

I buy from Vision Direct or Feel Good Lenses, depending on who is cheaper at the time! Both very easy, no prescription needed as long as you know your prescription. I moved from monthlies at £13 a month to dailies at £20 a month for a while, based on looking for dailies that met my needs (I knew I have relatively dry eyes and need lenses that let through lots of oxygen). I've now gone back to dailies. On most sites you can enter your prescription lens type and they will tell you what they actually are behind the optician brand. I now get monthlies, which are better quality than the ones I was getting through the optician, for less. Definitely worthwhile.

Oh and Feel Good Contacts have Quidco cashback too

FBaby

I use Vision Direct online and have always had a fantastic service from them.

Same here. I used to order via Asda and got their contact care for free as a result, but the only dailies I tolerate now are the most expensive ones and Asda are not as competitive as Vision Direct. I was a bit nervous ordering online especially considering the costs (the more you buy the cheaper it is), but have been very impressed with the service. Order one evening, they were there the following day at no extra costs.

thebigstillmeister

I've been ordering mine online for years from DaySoft,

They were a smaller company when I first started using them, seem to be alot bigger now and sell is other countries, worth checking out there website and has info on the guy who invented them,

Have recommended them to many friends who really like them. There is also a brand comparison, so you can match your current brand with their one.

Can't recommend them highly enough, much more comfortable than the focus dailies I used to use years ago and it so much cheaper. About £11-12 a month inc delivery, no direct debit etc, whenever I start getting low i just buy another couple of boxes. They get delivered in a couple of days,

What annoyed me with high street ones (although was years ago now) was they were so much more expensive, they were not as comfortable and also If i get something in my eye or I am going out in the evening on the weekend I always put in a fresh pair,

When buying monthly I'd end up running out and then being told I am not due any for another week etc and then i'd have to buy another full box from them for £25+,

When I need an eye test I just pop in to Boots etc,

......I did have one Optician a few years ago tell me that she is not allowed/refused to give me my prescription if I didn't get the lenses from her as I mentioned I got them online,..she started with the old, they won't be made properly, bad for your eyes etc, won't let enough air through

Around the same time I got an e-mail from DaySoft asking if anyone had been refused a prescription as they were getting alot of reports.

In Feb DaySoft sent out an email confirming the Regulations for opticians:

1) A Glasses Prescription must be given to you following a Sight Test which must document your eye-examination findings, state the Power required for each eye and is needed before you can have a Contact Lens Fitting should you request one.
2) A Contact Lens Specification must be given to you at the completion of Contact Lens Fitting, Re-fitting and After-care examination without even having to ask.
3) There is no obligation to buy contact lenses and you are free to shop-around including making internet purchases.


.....looks like the HS Opticians were getting upset with being undercut,

kirtondm

I am not sure why daysoft would require a pecription as they will remotely refit you with their own lens anyway.

Their is a reason they ship out of the channel Islands.

Worth bearing in mind daysoft lenses let a lot less oxygen though than silicon hydrogel materials

thebigstillmeister

kirtondm wrote: »

I am not sure why daysoft would require a pecription as they will remotely refit you with their own lens anyway.

Their is a reason they ship out of the channel Islands.

Worth bearing in mind daysoft lenses let a lot less oxygen though than silicon hydrogel materials

I don't provide them with a copy of my prescription, however the prescription for glasses is not the same as contact lenses due to them being on your eye, so my glasses prescription would not be the same as the power for the lenses,.. so I had no idea what I should be ordering,

The optician gave me a paper copy of my glasses prescription, but refused to hand over the copy of the contact lense one which she finally reluctantly told me which I had to scribble down on my phone as she wouldn't even write down,

Also, the eye only requires 20 DK units of oxygen to remain healthy, daysoft are 26 which are higher than some of the other main brands,.. as long as they are comfy and my eyes are healthy as they are I don't want to pay extra for something which is not required.

I assume they ship out of the Channel Islands as before 2013 they benefited from the Low Value Consignment Relief (LCVR) which helped them to keep the cost low,