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Opticians - getting your spectacles really cheap.


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I broke my reading glasses recently - stood on them whilst looking for my everyday pair! Cost of replacement in France (and in England for that matter) didn't fill me with enthusiasm. I came across this internet site which makes them up from prescription starting at £15 including the lenses!! Shipping to France was only £2.50. You can find their site at www.spexmaniac.co.uk.
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[quote]Yes, but are they any good? Or is it a question of "you get what you pay for". We got glasses from a famous French opticians (who I won't name, but who started off the pay one pair, get a second pai...[/quote]

The cost of both Lenses and glasses charged by the high street chains is a racket to print money. The only advantage is that you can try on various glasses to find the one that suits you. I do not know the company mentioned but there are number of other websites in the UK offering similar terms and prices. 

Christine you ask if they are any good, well this company offers "No risk money back guarantee" so I do not think you can go wrong and as well  saving loads of money.

Baz

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No problems with mine. I have particulary bad reading eyesight which normally means very thick lenses. The first ones I got from Boots (cost around £150) and after six months the lenses fell out - so much for getting what you pay for.

Boots also originally offered me thin lenses (at an extra £80) - spexmaniac do them for £40. At the prices they charge I don't mind if the things fall apart after 6 months - I'm still in pocket!
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[quote]Checked out the website. They only seem to do single vision lenses and advise you to go to a regular optician if you have any out of the ordinary issues. Maybe ok for reading/driving glasses but tha...[/quote]

I have just had a reply from them about this. They now do varifocals (individual quotes depending on prescription). If the price is right I will be giving them a try, as my last pair of specs in the UK cost £200.

Tony

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Varifocals HAVE to be fitted to the individual as each person's eyes sit differently. I have to have bespoke frames as well as I have a very small face, no bridge on my nose - normal specs just fall off.

Using a prescription over two years old could lead to blindness as there are other tests which are far more important that being able to read what is on the board.

My comments arise from many years working as a technician at the Western Eye Hospital and it is a sad fact that once you get your specs wrong or miss a diagnosis for eye disease, it is very hard to put the damage right.

I will continue to get my eyes checked professionally every two years and get my bespoke spectacles made by the same company - not many do bespoke fittings - they are comfortable and I know the risk of various eye diseases are lessened.

By the way, if any of the sites mentioned want to send me more unpleasant mails due to my views that eye tests are important and that spectacles should be made to fit the individual, don't bother, I am too thick skinned to care.

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Same subject came up on another site. I made similar points and got the resulting results - there are quite a few companies out there, and new ones appear every day.

Anyone who has ever been fitted for varifocals knows that the position of the change in lens is carefully computed by the assistant before the specs are made buy placing a lens over the eye and physically marking the positions - this varies with lens size, even frame etc, not possible to do that virtually.

I wear lens sizes that would not be possible to be made into varifocals for someone with a 'normal size head' (so you can never say I am literally big headed, just the opposite). If an average pair of varifocals were made for me the lens differences would be in the wrong place.

If you know what size spectacles you need (width for fitting the face) and just need reading specs, I see no problem, buy them from any chemist, if like me you need your specs to be correct so you can drive/work, getting it wrong could be a real problem.  I am not saying anyone should not do it, I am just saying that I personally don't understand how a fitting that needs a person there to make specific decisions can be done over the net. Sending your current specs may work - but then again it is each persons decision. I have made mine.

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I've bought glasses from spex4less for the last couple of years (can't afford £200+ for a pair unfortunately) and, although they haven't been varifocals, I've been really pleased with them, they fit very well (they take the measurements from the prescription) and the service has been excellent. (I even won a pair of prescription sunglasses (something I've never had before) in their draw which has made driving so much easier in the Charente sunshine!)

I wouldn't have thought anyone in their right mind would use an old prescription, what is the point, and I know that at spex4less the prescription has to be less than two years old. In fact, I'm having an eyetest next week so that I've a new prescription to use.

I wonder why you are so vociferous on this subject, Di? Many people use these online opticians and are very happy with the results. I understand that you HAVE to see an optician personally, so why berate a service you cannot and will never use but suits many others?
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Thanks for this useful post - I have ordered a pair of specs from spexmaniacs to see how they perform and will let you know when I have tried them. At these prices you cannot go far wrong, although I do appreciate Iceni's views (excuse the pun). My specs are pretty bog standard - not varifocals or anything fancy - so hopefully the ones I have ordered will suffice.

If so I will order more since I am always damaging them - my own fault for leaving them lying around.

Andy

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I am a tad rusty on these things as I left the optical world about 20 years ago, but, depending on the power of the lens, the position and angle of the lenses in front of your eye can seriously affect how well you get on with your glasses. We used to find that even when the lenses were positioned within the British Standards tolerances, some people could have trouble with the positioning.

I suppose I'm saying that "you pays your money and you takes your chances". With low power lenses the postal service is probably fine, but the higher power / more complex your prescription, the greater the chance of trouble.

As for lenses falling out, that can happen with most suppliers, no matter how much you have spent, so if you feel the lens move when you clean it, then get it tightened / send it back. My only plea is that if you got your specs from a cheap place, please do not "take advantage" of the high street opticians by expecting them to tighten your screws, adjust the fit etc. You haven't paid for that service!

 

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I suppose it depends on  how they feel - John lost a screw in a pair of specs and when getting out the spare pair found that he had already used both screws - just frames and spare lenses. He took both pairs to a local optician in St Céré and they were both repaired free of charge - guess where he will get his new varifocals from?

I 'think' it is French law that you should always carry a spare pair of specs in the car when you drive - I now realise that the frames have to contain the lenses .

I had a problem with a pair of specs in Vision Express in the UK - they forgot a fancy colour coating I thought I would try, they gave me the pair without the coating and then made a new pair with the coating - both pairs had frames and lenses.

Yes I have had dire service - but I suppose it balances out. The worst was from a specialist optician who said it would take him 10 days to replace my broken specs even though I could not work or drive without them - that was when I discovered Vision Express - I have a £25 insurance with them that covers my current pair for repair/replacement at their store in Toulouse if I break or damage them anytime within 2 years - it is Europe wide cover but Toulouse is the nearest store - cheaper than paying for a replacement.

As has been said, you get what you pay for, I might wear very very cheap clothes, but ripping my trousers might put some of their dinner, but would not put me at risk of permanent damage. I also mentioned that I used to be a technician at the Western Eye Hospital in London so this is not just me being 'me'.

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I wear glasses, no fancy bits, just straight forward, but safety glasses as I do a fair amount of wood work. Turning, cutting and carving wood means that you have to look after your eyes. You only get one pair and they have to last you for life! The glasses I bought over from the U.K. were eventually in a bad state so I had to replace them. The new ones were quite expensive, more than I would have expected to pay in the U.K. Now here is the question  --  is it possible to claim anything back from CPAM???

John.

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Received my new specs from Spexmaniacs today and they are excellent. They said 28 days for delivery but they arrived in just 8. Brilliant service. I will definitely order more.

Glad to hear of some of the free help some of you have experienced in France - another good reason to spend more time there.

 

Andy

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[quote]I agree with John re the need for greater care the more complex the lenses etc but as for taking advantage of opticians, chance would be a fine thing! When I lost a screw in my specs and the lense dr...[/quote]

Well we used to do screws and adjustments for free, but that was in the days when the only people who could deal in glasses were registered opticians. I guess things have changed in some places, but I had to get a new nose pad last year and "my old firm" (no I was only an employee) fitted a pair for free. I don't think I dropped it into the conversation that I used to work there.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Thought I would leave it a few weeks from my original post to ensure that the spectacles I received from spexmaniac stood the test of time. One month later they are simply great - better than the original pair I bought in the UK - light frames, well put together, comfortable, and with the thin lenses much less eye strain than before - I still haven't broken or distorted them after a month of use - something of a record for me. I'll be having my eye test again in the UK next year but there's only one place I'll be going for my replacement pair!
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  • 4 months later...
  • 6 months later...

My varifocals cost me £350 in the uk. I chose the best lenses they could offer, as I think that being able to see well is quite important.

Someone then recommended a cheap place where you could buy 'straight from the factory' at half the price.

I did, they produced lenses to the same prescription but the "comfort" of the lenses is so bad that I cannot wear them. £150 down the drain.

Beware buying cheap varifocals, each model of lens is so different.

Don't know about simple lenses.

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I'm interested in this thread as my OH recently did a similar thing, stood on his glasses whilst looking for them.  They're a bit bent and have a small scratch on them but he can still use them - he has to, he's blind as a bat without them.  We were thinking of renewing our glasses fairly soon anyway but thought about going to Vision Express when next in the UK for a few days.  We also thought about some of these online companies but sometimes you choose what you think is a really nice frame and when you try them on you look ridiculous in them, so how do you manage to get this right over the internet?

Also, how do you go about getting a proper eye test done in France?  My mum had her eyes tested in a local opticians but they didn't do the colour blindness tests, or the glaucoma test, just got her to read off the old-fashioned letter board and nothing else.  Then they charged her an arm and a leg for the glasses.

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When I took my youngest to the Optician he only did a very basic test. When I went to the desk to pay I noticed there was a price list on the wall behind. I couldn't read the full details as I am as blind as a bat even with glasses. But some of the rates I noticed were a vaste difference in price and can only assume that if you want the full monty that you get as standard in the UK you will be paying top prices.

I have an appointment for my other daughter in a few weeks and will make sure I ask for a full exam.

I have often wondered about buying over the internet, as you say , you see a frame in the shop try it on and whip it off quicky again as the shape doesn't suit even though it is not too different from the one you currently wear.

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