Row at the Opticians! 11 February 2021 at 1:05PM in Health & beauty MoneySaving 8 replies 599 views

Frank99

I had a heated row at the opticians yesterday after having my eye test, I always have my eye test and buy glasses however i was planning to do this with contact lenses just to give me an extra option and see if it was better because I'm fed up of my specs steaming up.
Before starting the contact lens test the optician asked me to sign up to a scheme to receive my contacts monthly and i kindly replied no thanks i will buy some today but i don't want to commit to regular purchases at this stage as they would be for occasional use however, She then told me to leave and told them to cancel the contact lens test and told me good luck, stay safe and goodbye.
Does anybody know if this is the case across the board, i know you have the option to take your prescription with glasses but not with contacts, i like to buy at the optician to help them as a one off for the test but being tied in to a long contract when you know you can probably get them cheaper elsewhere seems like good business for them and terrible for the consumer.
I have seen some evidence that it is possible to cancel these schemes so i wonder if i made a mistake and should of signed up and cancelled after, if everybody was unable to cancel how on earth do other sellers on Amazon ever sell any lenses with everyone tied up in contracts.
Anyone have experience of this game?.

theoretica

I did a lot of calculations -and when I had contact lenses opted to sign up for the minimal subscription.  Especially when you get them first there are quite a lot of appointments and time from the opticians - first measurement, teaching you to put them in, a couple of follow ups in the first weeks, maybe trying a different type.  They could give you a full price to pay for all these appointments, but probably know from experience that nearly everyone says it is too expensive so why even bother quoting.

There will be some people buying contact lenses online without regular checkups (definitely not for me!), and others who are on the minimum subscription and buy top ups.

Frank99

theoretica said:

I did a lot of calculations -and when I had contact lenses opted to sign up for the minimal subscription.  Especially when you get them first there are quite a lot of appointments and time from the opticians - first measurement, teaching you to put them in, a couple of follow ups in the first weeks, maybe trying a different type.  They could give you a full price to pay for all these appointments, but probably know from experience that nearly everyone says it is too expensive so why even bother quoting.

There will be some people buying contact lenses online without regular checkups (definitely not for me!), and others who are on the minimum subscription and buy top ups.

Yeah i wonder if it is just a financial liability to do contacts with all these stipulations and pitfalls, think i might stick to specs, at least i know where i stand with glasses!

Gers

Frank99 said:

I had a heated row at the opticians yesterday after having my eye test, I always have my eye test and buy glasses however i was planning to do this with contact lenses just to give me an extra option and see if it was better because I'm fed up of my specs steaming up.
Before starting the contact lens test the optician asked me to sign up to a scheme to receive my contacts monthly and i kindly replied no thanks i will buy some today but i don't want to commit to regular purchases at this stage as they would be for occasional use however, She then told me to leave and told them to cancel the contact lens test and told me good luck, stay safe and goodbye.
Does anybody know if this is the case across the board, i know you have the option to take your prescription with glasses but not with contacts, i like to buy at the optician to help them as a one off for the test but being tied in to a long contract when you know you can probably get them cheaper elsewhere seems like good business for them and terrible for the consumer.
I have seen some evidence that it is possible to cancel these schemes so i wonder if i made a mistake and should of signed up and cancelled after, if everybody was unable to cancel how on earth do other sellers on Amazon ever sell any lenses with everyone tied up in contracts.
Anyone have experience of this game?.

Try a different optican.  Policies will vary. 

With mine, many many years ago, they gave a free trial week and then the options to buy-when-you-need or do a monthly payment plan with varying levels of payment and receipt of lenses.  I have daily lenses and have paid the same monthly fee for about four years now.  For that I get a set amount of lenses (which are not enough for a month) and cheaper access to more as well as a free yearly eye test and contact lense check (.  I can also buy elsewhere and have done so from Tesco online before the franchise went to Vision Express.  

Don't be put off by one experience.  Other organisations may be more flexible and supportive.

PS - you are legally entitled to receive your contact lense prescription too.

Undervalued

Gers said:

Frank99 said:

I had a heated row at the opticians yesterday after having my eye test, I always have my eye test and buy glasses however i was planning to do this with contact lenses just to give me an extra option and see if it was better because I'm fed up of my specs steaming up.
Before starting the contact lens test the optician asked me to sign up to a scheme to receive my contacts monthly and i kindly replied no thanks i will buy some today but i don't want to commit to regular purchases at this stage as they would be for occasional use however, She then told me to leave and told them to cancel the contact lens test and told me good luck, stay safe and goodbye.
Does anybody know if this is the case across the board, i know you have the option to take your prescription with glasses but not with contacts, i like to buy at the optician to help them as a one off for the test but being tied in to a long contract when you know you can probably get them cheaper elsewhere seems like good business for them and terrible for the consumer.
I have seen some evidence that it is possible to cancel these schemes so i wonder if i made a mistake and should of signed up and cancelled after, if everybody was unable to cancel how on earth do other sellers on Amazon ever sell any lenses with everyone tied up in contracts.
Anyone have experience of this game?.

Try a different optican.  Policies will vary. 

With mine, many many years ago, they gave a free trial week and then the options to buy-when-you-need or do a monthly payment plan with varying levels of payment and receipt of lenses.  I have daily lenses and have paid the same monthly fee for about four years now.  For that I get a set amount of lenses (which are not enough for a month) and cheaper access to more as well as a free yearly eye test and contact lense check (.  I can also buy elsewhere and have done so from Tesco online before the franchise went to Vision Express.  

Don't be put off by one experience.  Other organisations may be more flexible and supportive.

PS - you are legally entitled to receive your contact lense prescription too.

Are you absolutely sure about that? 

Assuming you are correct, what information are they legally obliged to include in the prescription? As we know, with glasses the patient's PD is not part of the prescription and many opticians won't disclose it. With contact lenses there are quite a number of of measurements to do with the physical fit as opposed to the optical properties of the lenses. If they are not obliged to include that information it makes the prescription almost worthless.

suejb2

https://www.lenstore.co.uk/how-to-order

This may be helpful 

kirtondm

doesn't seem like a very professional way to act to be honest. I wonder if it was a free c/lens fitting appointment? if so their would be a massive incentive to claw back the cost.
I normally charge a one of fitting fee to cover all appointments up to the point we have established the prescription. This is then refundable  if you choose to join our eyeplan scheme. Most join but more than happy if people want to get lenses elsewhere we make little margin on contact lenses. I have some people join a lower scheme which just covers them for appointments and then they sort the lenses out themselves.
For infromation at the end of a fitting a prescription legally has to be supplied enabling the lenses to be replicated so must include all the paramenters such as base curve etc. Some opticians try and get round this by claiming the fitting is not complete until you have ordered at least 6/12 of lenses. Personally I don't think that would stand up in court as if you have a prescription you are happy to order 6 monthes of lenses from it is to all intents and purposes complete.

es5595

Until very recently I used specsavers and I was very happy with them. Looking at their website, they offer a free trial. 

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/offers/try-contact-lenses-free

I echo what pp have said, the first few months you have a lot of checkups to make sure they’re fine and you’re settled in well with them. For your first year (depending on how the trial goes!) you’re probably well worth having a subscription at the lowest level, as that includes all your check ups, which otherwise quickly add up!

I’ve worn contacts for the last 20ish years, so I’m quite happy with them and I now buy direct from lenstore as they’re significantly cheaper and I can just have a checkup. 

I now have extended wear contacts that I just change every week, and it cannot tell you how amazing it is to see from when I wake up until I go to sleep, and no steamed up glasses either!

kirtondm

Were you fitted with them as extended wear? Not done much these days as risk of infection at least 10x greater. as all the vogue 15 years ago.