Free Eye Tests - Should You Trust Them

Freddie_Goodwin

I've often wondered about the accuracy of optician's prescriptions. I'm now retired and have some spare time so when MSE offered free eye tests at Boots, SpecSavers and VisionExpress I decided to book all three and compare the results. It is worth mentioning that the Boots and SpecSavers tests were the same morning; the VisionExpress test was the following week, also in the morning.

The first thing to say is that the three results were all different and the biggest differences were between the first two tests.

Right Sphere -4.00 -4.25 -4.00 so not a big difference
Right Cylinder -2.50 -2.25 -2.50 ditto
Left Sphere -3.00 -3.25 -3.00 ditto
Left Cylinder -3.50 -3.00 -2.75 a bigger range
Right Axis 5 15 6 very different
Left Axis 175 5 4 ditto
Reading addition was the same across all three prescriptions +2.00

I'm not qualified to draw any conclusions from these results but would say this - if you have an eye test and the prescription is significantly different to your previous prescription it's definitely worth getting a 2nd opinion.

I was hoping the third result would validate one of the others but it didn't work out that way. Rather than cherry pick from different prescriptions / create some sort of average I decided to go with the prescription closest to my previous prescription, as all three opticians had said my sight had changed but not by much.

theoretica

Actually the axis readings aren't that big a range - they are all within 10 degrees.



The results are based on your answers to 'is this clearer, or that' and if you are like me there are often choices where there isn't much in it!

crazyracky

I was a bit weary of my first eye test which was free with Specsavers, and walked out to avoid the hard sale of "you should really get glasses, but you don't need them".

I then returned to Boots a year later and paid for the test, and the results were extremely similar, so maybe they can be trusted after all!

unforeseen

Don't forget that at every change the optometrist makes in the eye test they always ask the customer whether it is better or worse. So differences are down to your decisions.

Lorian

As unforeseen says, this is a series of subjective tests trying to hone in on an objective result. You are the one giving the results, the optometrist is just interpreting them.

None of those prescriptions is very different, even in the Axis results.

Gers

'Scottish residents aged between 16 and 60 can have an NHS-funded eye examination every two years, if required. In the Isle of Man, eye tests are free to anyone on the IOM NHS'.

I doubt free eye tests are substantially different than those that are paid for. What would be the point?

Undervalued

The results can vary by the amounts you list from day to day or even from morning to afternoon depending on all sorts of factors including your state of health and even how much coffee you have drunk!

Also, although everything is double checked as far as possible, the accuracy of your answers contributes. So to does the amount of compromise the optometrist decides to allow. Your prescription is for short sight. A perfect correction for looking at a windmill on the horizon will make seeing your feet clearly something of a challenge! Exactly where to compromise will depend partly on judgement and partly on your daily activities, assuming you make the optician aware of them!

rach_k

When I go to Specsavers, the prescription is produced before payment (which is when I hand over whatever voucher I've found for a free test), so I'm not sure how the test being free could possibly affect the trustworthiness of it. If they ask before the test whether I need to pay for eye tests, I answer yes because I am not entitled to free tests on the NHS. The voucher I have is payment.

amandacat

I find Specsavers fine and I always use free test vouchers but they do seem quite rushed, like when asking me which Lens is best if I’m thinking about it for a second or need them to do it again they quickly rush through flipping the lenses etc. I did have a test at an independent recently which was £45 (thought it’d be about £20 when I booked and stupidly didn’t think to ask) but I was with the optician a lot longer and was given more time to judge my vision plus when I said I used computers all day they were able to recommend an alteration to my prescription for mid range use. When I asked Specsavers it was kind of disregarded. I don’t necessarily think free eye tests are bad and it’s the same test you get if you pay at Specsavers but I feel these chains act a bit more like a quick fit conveyer belt. An independent optician will likely want to keep a customer base and do a better job although appreciate that’s probably a big generalisation.

roddydogs

You can get a free eye test any way if you just say the magic words. " people in my family have a history of glaucoma" no check will be done!

Spoonie_Turtle

crazyracky wrote: »

I was a bit weary of my first eye test which was free with Specsavers, and walked out to avoid the hard sale of "you should really get glasses, but you don't need them".

I then returned to Boots a year later and paid for the test, and the results were extremely similar, so maybe they can be trusted after all!

My last test with Specsavers (free with their voucher) my prescription was unchanged. The optician said to me 'of course you can have new glasses if you want but you don't need them' and that was that. They changed my nose pads for free, too