contact lens discussion thread (merged)

Odette

Just a query, hope this is allowed.

I have used contact lenses on and off for 7 years. I need a new sight test which is fine, but im wondering do I have to go through all that contact lens appointment gubbins if Im just gonna take the persription and buy the contact lenes online? Or is a vaild sight test enough to allow me to buy contacts?

Thanks in advance.

nedmundo

I'm afraid that legally, you will also need a contact lens assessment and to be issued with a valid specification in order to get lenses online.

Hope that helps.

Odette

I thought so, thank you!

conran

I think i found the cheapest contact lens site EVER!! they replace most contact lenses from £24.99 a year, thats £2.08 per month. Ive ordered and these lenses are far more comfortable then what i normally use. Ive tried focus, daysoft & cooper vision in the past. They offer a money back guarantee if your not happy. SwitchLens. com let me knw what you think.

nedmundo

This looks decidedly dodgy - they give no specific details about the lenses they supply, don't give any evidence to back up their claims and the fact they are operating offshore means that they know full well what they are doing is contrary to the rules regarding contact lens supply in this country.

Oh - and they can't spell very well!

conran

well what i received in the post cost me a lot less then what i normally pay, £25 for a year compared to £80 normally! from specsavers, contactlenses.co.uk and daysoft. + there a lot more comfortable :j

Also come to think of it ive ordered lenses from sites in the past based offshore contactlenses.co.uk (Contactlenses Ltd, Company # 025095. Registered Address: PO Box 679, 306 Victoria House, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles)
& Daysoft (Prescription Logistics Limited, Heron House, L'Avenue de la Commune, St. Peter, Jersey, JE3 7BY, Channel Islands) so nothing new there.

nedmundo

Comfort is not a good indication of contact lens suitablility Conran. There could easily be other changes to your corneas induced by wearing the wrong lenses, which would have long term implications and potentially shorten your contact lens wearing career, without you being aware.

The rules regarding contact lens supply in this country exist purely for patients safety and for no other reason.

If you want to ignore that - then that's your choice. Personally a £55 per annum difference wouldn't justify risking my ocular health to me. If you add in the cost of aftercare checks (which the Specsavers price would include) the difference becomes even less significant.

Pssst

Nedmundo-i am guessing you are in the industry?

Why cant Optometrists be more honest and open about this?

What they need to do is provide an eye test/fitting package for those wishing to purchase elsewhere and also offer their existing packages for those happy to buy via the Optometrist on DD .

I have no issue with an Optometrist charging a little extra for the fitting bit as i appreciate that the statutory eye test fee doesnt cover their full time.

Fairs fair.

At present, they are trying to hold contact lens wearers to ransom. How many, for example, offer Daysofts? Few I'll wager becuase there simple is no profit margin for them. They prefer to supply ripoff Acuvues.

nedmundo

You guess correctly Pssst - the issue I have isn't about folks getting their lenses on the internet. They have every right to do that and I already charge for my professional time, so it doesn't bother me where the patients get their lenses.

The issue I have is 'substitution' where suppliers will supply a lens that is significantly different to the one that is prescribed, with potentially damaging consequences, which I then get the pleasure of dealing with. These sites claim to be 'upgrading' to a superior product without any evidence to support their claims or releasing any technical data. The website above claims to replace latest generation high oxygen permeable lenses, & daily disposable lenses with what I would imagine is an old school conventional monthly replacement lens, which is the most unhealthy type of lens wear relatively speaking. As they are offshore, they can't be held liable for any consequences. This is totally misleading to the public.

For the record Pssst, the profit margin in supplying Daysoft would be significantly greater than that for Acuvue (I'm not a fan of Avuvue either). If a product was superior as claimed and more profitable, one would have thought that it would have become the number one choice for all daily disposable fits. If Opticians choose not to fit Daysoft - it must be for other reasons.

Pssst

nedmundo wrote: »

You guess correctly Pssst - the issue I have isn't about folks getting their lenses on the internet. They have every right to do that and I already charge for my professional time, so it doesn't bother me where the patients get their lenses.

The issue I have is 'substitution' where suppliers will supply a lens that is significantly different to the one that is prescribed, with potentially damaging consequences, which I then get the pleasure of dealing with. These sites claim to be 'upgrading' to a superior product without any evidence to support their claims or releasing any technical data. The website above claims to replace latest generation high oxygen permeable lenses, & daily disposable lenses with what I would imagine is an old school conventional monthly replacement lens, which is the most unhealthy type of lens wear relatively speaking. As they are offshore, they can't be held liable for any consequences. This is totally misleading to the public.

For the record Pssst, the profit margin in supplying Daysoft would be significantly greater than that for Acuvue (I'm not a fan of Avuvue either). If a product was superior as claimed and more profitable, one would have thought that it would have become the number one choice for all daily disposable fits. If Opticians choose not to fit Daysoft - it must be for other reasons.

Hi Nedmundo...and thanks for your contributions to this thread.

As i have said, fairs fair and i appreciate that Optometrists are professional people who have every right to charge a fair rate for their ministrations.

Unfortunately, they are constrained somewhat by the fixed fee for eye tests etc.

I am quite happy to pay the fixed fee for eye tests and professional fees for the extra necessities such as checking fit etc etc,retinal camera shots etc.

What i find wrong is that some Optometrists seek to block free choice as to where customers source lenses.

My last Optometrist for example..i have had to let go becuase of her somewhat abrasive approach despite the fact that i paid her for a statutory eye test,i paid some extra for professional fees and also bought a pack of Acuvues (JJ) which she had "fitted" me with. Still there was this pressure or forced assumption that i would be signing up for a monthly supply contract.

Now would you be able to divulge whether Optometrists get piad extra for securing Direct Debit supply arrangements with suppliers? No worries if you cant ned.

The price of lenses,especially leaders such as Acuvues,seems to be fixed and not fully open to market forces. Indeed J & J and Baush & Lomb have been the subject of litigation in the US for charging more for monthlies than dailies when they were found to be practically the same product.

For the record, I have needed correction for about 35 years (optical that is..!) and i am around -8.00 myopic. I started off with glasses of course which developed into jam jar bottoms with the iniquitous cost of frames and high index lenses. I then switched to RGPs under the guidance of a superb practitioner,old school,since retired and then switched to dailies (via a practitioner) initially on J&J acuvues,found too expensive in the long term.

Some how or other, a few years back i discovered Daysoft. I'll admit i was dubious at first. How could they produce lenses at such reasonable cost? I ordered a months supply initially (with trial pack),tried them out, and have not looked back. They have minimal packaging (good for environment),they are optically as good as Acuve (IMHO) or as near such that i cannot percieve any difference and the service and value cannot be faulted.

Perhaps daysoft needs to cultivate relationships with practitioners who are more willing to fit their products and with whom the customer can enter into an equitable relationship instead of all this cloak and dagger stuff whuch sometimes occurs?

I do appreciate your point about substitution for unknown products. Its very valid and i wouldnt do it.