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Opticians discounts

(34 Posts)
keepingquiet Fri 03-May-24 12:42:20

I just had a reminder that my eye test is due. My reading glasses have also just broken.
I only recently had some frames replaced that cost me a pretty penny from my usual small local opticians.
I understand some big chain opticians offer discounts for pensioners.
Can anyone offer opinions on which ones they use and why?
Am I just as well off going to my local one, or changing?
Please don't offer on-line services as this is not an option for me.

welbeck Sun 05-May-24 15:09:37

a neighbour had optician come to her house to do eye test.
it didn't cost her anything.
maybe it depends on circs; she is disabled.
haven't ordered any glasses yet, as the ones they showed were not the cheapest, despite us specifying this.
she may use the prescription to order online.
anybody know about the fitting to face aspect of this ?

Fidelity2 Fri 10-May-24 15:01:35

I had an optician from Specsavers who made a home visit as I am housebound.Two people came to my home. One did the eye test, the other the related paperwork.I received my new specs 5 days later.The optician bought them to me and checked that they were a comfortable fit and that I could see distances and also TV.

ExDancer Fri 10-May-24 16:20:02

I went to Specsavers for years.
I noticed some blurriness in my left eye and mentioned it to the optician who was doing the test, she said my eye was fine. But the new specs didn;t correct it, and after several more visits with no changes made I gave up.
Two years later covid struck.
Four years later I went to a small independent business who referred me to the hospital as an urgent case - I had a bleeding retinal vein or RVO.
There, I was soundly admonished for not reporting the problem earlier, as the sooner its treated the better the chance of full recovery.
I had to have an injection into my eyeball every 6 weeks (later reduced to 8 weeks and so on, until now its every 16 weeks) for life. It can be treated so that it won't get worse, but not cured. My other eye compensates and happily I can still drive.
So I pay extra for my frames, and smile.

AreWeThereYet Fri 10-May-24 18:44:28

anybody know about the fitting to face aspect of this ?

welbeck This might be a bit late now. If you go onto the online sites there are lots of instructions about how to measure for glasses. It's not difficult, MrA bought his driving glasses from an online site for about a third the price of ones he had seen locally. It's worth checking a few sites because the choice of frames varies quite a lot from site to site.

AreWeThereYet Fri 10-May-24 18:47:42

Forgot to mention - on most sites you can get some frames to try on before buying. Can't remember exactly how it works, but you sign up, select about six frames and they send them to you. You have to return them in about a week or they charge you for them. I did it but ended up not buying any.

NanaTuesday Thu 27-Jun-24 15:55:46

midgey

If you take the prescription there are several companies on line that will send you spectacles with the correct prescription. Frequently much cheaper but the fit is not guaranteed!

midgey
I think youโ€™ll find that with some additional help the fit can be perfect .
Also , you can send off an a previously used or old pair of frames to have new prescriptions fitted into .
I have done this several times over & never ever had an issue ๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿ‘“๐Ÿค“

NotSpaghetti Thu 27-Jun-24 16:17:24

I had to see a consultant about a suspected problem with one eye years ago.
His advice was always be tested by the same person. They recognise their own notes better and have a better success rate at spotting any problem changes according to him.

I took his advice and now recommend my family do too.

NotSpaghetti Thu 27-Jun-24 16:22:38

Re online glasses, one "online" company I actually phoned to check something and caught the technician as everyone else was away. She said, if you are in the area please pop in instead so we can make sure your eyes and the lenses are correctly aligned. Apparently because you aren't getting the fitting measurements done when you just send away for them, they fairly often aren't centered correctly for your eyes.

I wonder if you send an old pair off they can/will check that?