When do you need new glasses?

[Lootman]

The cheapest frames from my opticians are £80. For a piece of metal that puts the lenses in the right place - that's hardly a major engineering requirement - is it?.

What would the open market cost of an eye test be? Quite high I should think given the sophisticated machines and staff needed to operate them. There is presumably a massive cross-subsidy from frames as reading classes and sun glasses are on sale at very cheap prices.

Eye tests are free to the Over 60s and often offered for free by the High Street chains as an incentive to get custom through the door.

I see a private opthamologist for an annual eye exam. In other words a real doctor who doesn't make most of his income from flogging frames and lenses. He then he gives me a prescription that I can fill anywhere I want.

The cost isn't cheap - about 200 quid. But it's a much superior test, with the latest equipment, including visual field tests, a retinal scan and examination of the optic nerve. I don't trust my eye heath to a high street technician.

[didds]

I contacted my optician about putting new lenses in an old frame (bought from the same opticians several years ago).

they quoted me the same price as a new set of specs.


didds

[swill453]

The cost isn't cheap - about 200 quid. But it's a much superior test, with the latest equipment, including visual field tests, a retinal scan and examination of the optic nerve.

I genuinely get all that from an optometrist at Tesco optician, including comparing scans taken last time to check for deterioration. And because I'm in Scotland it's free of course.

Scott.

[GeoffF100]

I don't trust my eye heath to a high street technician.

All opticians have to be qualified, independent or otherwise. The big chains also have the latest equipment.

[JMN2]

In 2014 I "reglazed" my old frames at Specsavers London Victoria, I wanted to keep them because they are very good in sports, running, etc, don't move when the face gets sweaty. IIRC two lenses were around £40 and new frames with lenses were around £120, total bill around £160. Oh boy they were busy, the place was packed, and I spent one hour inside and two hours outside waiting.

[Chrysalis]

An ophthalmologist is not an optician - the former are trained in eye pathology, the latter in refractive errors, and also in screening for possible medical issues (such as loss of visual field, vascular problems, glaucoma etc). More importantly, opticians test eyes day in day out which is what really matters. As a doctor myself, I know which I’d choose for my regular eye test!

[GeoffF100]

I knew a retired GP who went to Specsavers. He said they were a bit like the NHS. Lots of queuing, but he was satisfied with the service.

[bungeejumper]

I'm generally happy with my local Specsavers, which does all those tests and which seems to do pretty well with my peculiar (slightly lopsided) astigmatism. But I could imagine that the service would vary from branch to branch, depending on who the opthalmologist was?

My specs are generally a bit the worse for wear after two years, so they're ripe for replacement - all those women throwing themselves at me takes its toll, you know. And fashions do come and go, after all.

I always pay top dollar for the ultra-thin varifocal lenses on my daily glasses, but my rimless driving/distance glasses came from Glasses Direct @ £80 for two pairs. They happen to be rather nice, but frankly I couldn't give a damn what I look like when I'm driving. If other drivers want to look at me, that's their problem.

BJ

[panamagold]

Here in France the upside is that it is customary to visit an ophthalmologist. The downside is that the wait for an appointment can run into months. (Some optition chains do have in store optometrists). The cost of the checkup is around £25 and CPAM and our private insurance cover the cost.

On the past two occasions we have opted for reglaze only with a UK online optition with postage to the UK refunded. Unless a company is on the CPAM or insurance preferrred list there is no refund for the reglaze available. However. as the cost of a reglaze here in France is about 3 or 4 times more expensive than a UK online service, its a no brainer. We have been totally satisfied with both the firm and the quality of their product and service.

[Snowbadger]

Hi everyone,
as a retired optician, here's my twopence worth. 0.25 in most cases is within tolerance and unlikely to make a difference to the vast majority. Guessing the demographics of the website, bear in mind long before we say some one has a cataract their eyes are slowly going misty thus making it harder to perceive small differences. As for large and small pupils, they both cause problems in discrimination as a small pupil causes an increase in depth of focus i.e. how much the focus has to change before you can tell. Those of you with a blurr in the distance have a peak through a pinhole to see the improvement. Large pupils introduce peripheral abberations that can also reduce discrimination. Why not ask to see the difference at the end of the eye exam, I was old school so this was how I would approach the issue. You would be amazed at the different responses to both big and small changes ( including, "don't tell my husband it's a small change he won't let me have new glasses").
Vision Express is also a franchise operation although both Specslavers and V.E. have company owned branches. Ophthalmologists in my experience are pretty poor at refraction ( eye testing ) and tend to see it as a menial task. They make most bucks from cataract ops. As for Asda extra thin lenses I'm sure they are fine , most likely poor fitting causing distortion. They are certainly amazingly cheap.

Hope that helps,

SB

[Snowbadger]

Oh final point, bear in mind that the vast majority of non spec wearers have small errors in focus. You don't need perfection to get by. Personally in my early 60s I am so glad I am shortsighted and able to read without glasses.

SB

[GeoffF100]

I do not believe that the Asda extra thin lenses were what I paid for. They were not thin, and were covered in scratches after a year, which has not happened to me with any other lenses. I expect that the lenses that Asda supplied did not have a hard coat, and were the standard cheapo lenses. When I complained, Asda said that they were a few weeks out of warranty, so they could not refund. They offered to send the glasses back to the manufacturer for inspection, and said that if they were faulty they would give me a replacement pair. Unfortunately, all their glasses were letter box shaped, and I wanted round ones. (I am very short sighted.)