MoneySavingExpert.com/Cheapest way to buy Contact lenses article discussion area

Patr100

I'm currently using Sauflon 55 UV made by Sauflon Inc from my local optician Can anyone suggest an alternative brand as mentioned much earlier they are not listed in the usual manufacturers.

-EDIT - I just did a little research - seems it is branded as BioVision 55.

Now I know what to look for.

-

bear1

This is the first time i have done this so please bear with me, i had to let everyone know about a free sample of horlicks and they are also doing a sleep challenge or your money back like kelloggs, just go to the horlicks website, https://www.horlicks.co.uk. :T :T

CC_DO

Thought I would intervene...

Let me introduce myself, my name is Chris, and I am an Optician, I have been in the industry for about twelve years.

Contact lenses are the biggest subject of debate in the industry at the moment.

It troubles me now to be in a position that I can go to my local ASDA supermarket and buy a three months supply of Focus Dailies contact lenses cheaper than I can buy them in practise from the manufacturers CIBA VISION.

This is of course because of the extreme buying power that these large companies have. Mr Fred Optician cannot afford to buy ten thousand pairs of Contact lenses in order to gain his 15% or whatever reduction in price.

The de-regulation of contact lens supply, allowing supermarkets to sell lenses is having the following effect...

Opticians are being forced to lower their lens prices. This means that we Opticians will be making no profit on the lenses themselves, of course it is impossible for us to survive in this competitive climate whilst making no money, we have expensive equipment to finance, qualified staff to pay, and premisis to run.

The sale of contact lenses is only permissable if the customer holds a current contact lens prescription, issued by a qualified Contact Lens Optician or Optometrist.

To allow us to survive, this means that we will have to shift the costings, loading the cost of the contact lens appointments, and the supply of prescriptions whilst lowering the cost of contact lenses.

Ultimately, the costings will even themselves out.

asm212

Hi
I'm getting lasik surgery and have some Acuvue 2 disposable contacts I want to sell CHEAP!

I have the following prescription lens's

-4.25
-4.50
send me a message if your interested.

ny5081@hotmail.com

accipitus

There would appear to be a scam operated by D & A over their contact lens prescription service.

My little escapade started in Dec last after reading Martin's articles.

I duly went to D & A, had my free eye test (free anyway if you are a member of the AA), was given a prescription for spectacles, no problem.

When it came to the matter of contact lenses, a noticeable hush appeared to descend around the shop.

I had made it plain from the outset that I also required a contact lens prescripion since I had worn lenses for a number of years and wished to continue the practise.

The optician supplied me with a pair of 2-week disposables (I had previously used 4 weekly) and said come back in a fortnight and we will see how they are.

Ten days later I returned (Christmas etc), everything was assessed as being problem free, I was given another pair of 2-weekly lenses which would enable sufficient time for D & A's postal prescription service to spring into action and supply me with lenses at double the cost I could obtain them elsewhere.

I was also required to fill in the direct debit for the monthly service as a condition of having their 'free' lenses, something which I did not want to do, but as the assistant said, I could always cancel it (I did without delay). I asked for my contact lens prescription and was told that it was at the bottom of the DD.

Lo and behold, it was, or so I foolishly thought.

Clutching my hard earned trophy I headed home to my internet search.

Tesco's prices were good so I placed an order there.

Email reply that my optician had said that I had ordered the wrong lenses. Checked this out, figures OK but I had asked for a different brand of Acuvue to that supplied free by D & A.

No problem, re-ordered correct brand and spec, email comes back, I do not have a current lens prescription.

Aha thought I, it's sat here in front of me and says "Lens Prescripition".

Armed with this knowledge, I phoned the shop. After perplexing the assistant (politely I add), I was handed over to the assistant manager.

I did not have a current prescription as it turned out because I needed to go back for a 3 month assessment, something everyone had omitted to tell me.

Quickly I retorted that how could I do this when I had only been given lenses for 4 weeks.

Well, if you used our service you would have had your lenses. Couldn't fault his logic there, he's one smart cookie.

I then aimed for the killer blow.

"So in effect, you cannot actually supply me with a contact lens prescription unless I use your overpriced service."

"Well you can use it for three months, then cancel"

I am now getting dizzy from going around in even smaller circles and had decided that I was just wasting my time. I therefore politely terminated the utterly futile exchange and decided to make all other MSE members aware of the situation.

The moral of this story is you may get your free spectacle prescription from these people, but you will never prise a lens one out of their grasp unless you subscribe to their overpriced service.

Incidentally, in case this is not a universal feature of D & A, the branch in question was the Above Bar, Southampton one.

Pete C

PS The cost of a specific lens prescripition test would be £30 with an additional £90 to pay at my 3 month assessment!

robskillz

It was time for me to order my next 6 months worth of Daily Disposables last week so as usual I shopped around on the internet on all the usual UK sites, and also tried the Dutch price comparison http://www.elcheapo.nl/ again.

Well the Dutch sellers turned out cheapest again! in the UK GetLenses was pretty much the cheapest (with Rpoints too) at around £112, but were utterly upstaged by http://www.lensexpress.nl/ in Holland who charged just £91 (in Euros) for the same thing! Ordered them Monday afternoon, and they arrived the following Monday via Royal Mail.

Very pleased with the service, and their site is fairly easy to use even though it is in Dutch and I don't spek a word of it! A bit of copy and paste into Altavista's Babelfish translator was all that was needed. They replied to my email in English last time I was shopping round, so you may be able to order by phone if the website is too daunting.

I recommend at least looking what's in the rest of Europe now and then, in the name of money-saving!

HTH, Rob

robskillz

Interestingly, the EU distributor for my Ciba Vision Focus Dailies (AKA Vision Daily lenses) is based in Holland, which could explain the lower prices for these in Holland compared to the UK.
Rob

Creativeshopper

I have already posted this elsewhere, but think I have finally found the right place!!

I am on a Boots Vision Plan for my monthly disposables. I've considered buying on line - but I like the aftercare, and I have quite expensive lenses due to my very dry eyes, and the savings are minimal.

Anyway - I am about to use £28.60 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers to buy 1 year of HSA level 1 Family Cover (worth £114.40). This will mean I can claim back up to 50% (up to a limit of £70) of my premiums to Boots this year - and if needed for myself, husband & 2 young children - a range of other cashbacks for dental care etc. I think it's a bargain, and I hope it is of some help to others too.

The link is:

http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=199

ogspeed

My son went to Boots for an eye test specifically for contact lenses, They refuse to release his prescription untill he has bought lenses from them and used them for a month, is this legal, is this a practice carried out by all opticians ? I thought they had to give the prescription to you. Iv spoke to Boots optician and they say they have to be sure the prescription works for each patient before they release it.

Creativeshopper

I don't know about the legalities, but my own experience was that it took several weeks before I found the right contact lenses for me. I had a trial run with 3 other soft weekly/monthly disposables before settling with the current one. The others didn't suit my eyes. The prescription itself was only tweaked once, the rest of the time was spent trying to find the right make of lens for me. Now I am an established wearer, I would consider buying from the internet ( that said, I'm not going to at the moment), but I wouldn't have done that to begin with - the after care really is important during the first few months. Well, it was for me!