Contact Lense Conjob!!!

theoretica

Spender£ said:

tidus said:

"free" contact lens trials are designed to encourage people to have a go with lenses, and then purchase if they are happy. Generally they have terms and conditions to protect the Optican from doing a load of work then you disappear and buy them somewhere else. Vision Express are not "fining" you £35, that's what they charge for contact lens fitting. It's just done free if you sign up with them.
I'm struggling to understand your outrage here!

But they told me i would be paying a £25 initial contact lenses fee plus an new eye test fee with them for around £20 and if i then wanted to go elsewhere for contact lenses that would be £35 so around £75 plus any extra tricks they failed to mention, with this being the case it would become a liability compared to what i pay for specs.
In an ideal world i would go in pay for the contact lenses test, purchase a pack of disposable contacts from them and walk out with my prescription, I don't have any sympathy for the way it is done here, if they are concerned about me purchasing contacts elsewhere then lower your price, To stay put and be fleeced like is a violation of section 47 of the MSE scriptures!

They have said you can do exactly that - but the tests and fittings come to £80.  Many people don't like that, so they assume everyone will go for the lowest subscription offer.  And yes, I paid considerably more for contact lenses for sports use than I did for glasses.

Undervalued

Spender£ said:

tidus said:

"free" contact lens trials are designed to encourage people to have a go with lenses, and then purchase if they are happy. Generally they have terms and conditions to protect the Optican from doing a load of work then you disappear and buy them somewhere else. Vision Express are not "fining" you £35, that's what they charge for contact lens fitting. It's just done free if you sign up with them.
I'm struggling to understand your outrage here!

But they told me i would be paying a £25 initial contact lenses fee plus an new eye test fee with them for around £20 and if i then wanted to go elsewhere for contact lenses that would be £35 so around £75 plus any extra tricks they failed to mention, with this being the case it would become a liability compared to what i pay for specs.
In an ideal world i would go in pay for the contact lenses test, purchase a pack of disposable contacts from them and walk out with my prescription, I don't have any sympathy for the way it is done here, if they are concerned about me purchasing contacts elsewhere then lower your price, To stay put and be fleeced like is a violation of section 47 of the MSE scriptures!

I am all for making sensible savings where possible but I think you need to take a breath, avoid the emotive "conjob" headlines and look calmly for your best all round option.

Contact lens use is very different to wearing glasses and can, under some circumstances, pose a significant risk to the health of you eyes. So, even with one day disposables you need to be taught how to use them safely then have your eyes monitored regularly. Somewhere along the line all that has to be paid for so all that really counts is the "bottom line" not how it is made up or how it is headlined.

Yes, I am critical of the business model many opticians adopt and I am far from convinced why they need expensive high street retail premises rather than, say, the locations where you would typically find a dentist or GP surgery. However I have great respect for the medical aspects of their job which goes far beyond a simple "eye test".

Don't cut corners with this.

pittcity

I have always bought my lenses online from the cheapest source and coughed up the £35 for the check up.
On doing the maths I was still quids in doing it this way rather than paying the optician monthly with a so called "free" test included.

That said, I bought my last batch of lenses from lenstore and they have offered me a free eye test. 

jamesobrien

I have to say I am totally UNimpressed by Vision Express. Here is how it went . I go in and have contatc lense test ,eye test etc. I then go away and they say test contacts will be in. I go in wearing my existing contacts ,but must have inadvertently put in 2 pairs of contacts .  Anyway the guy at Vision Express ask to put the test contacts in for me, so I said no thank you I will do.  I took out existing contacts which I wore to Store,but didnt realise I had left 1 pair in there because I must have had 2 pairs in (I think one overnight and forgot take out)  , LOL, or maybe I didnt take existing ones out.  Anyway I put test ones in and couldnt see a F'ing thing lol. He tested my eyes again and could not puzzle out etc. So he then said the Eye test had revealed an early Cataract (they had NOT told me anything said eyes were fine )  and maybe that was why etc.  I have worn contacts for 10 years +   and NEVER any problems.  He said was lucky not to get infection and should get glasses in case I do get infection and need them rather than contacts. Anazing, I now have something like infection in 1 eye. NEVER EVER had one before.   Long and short, I do NOT trust them AT ALL.