OT: On-line eyeglasses

[oscarsear]

Thought I'd give one of the on-line prescription eyeglass vendors a try. I went with EyeBuyDirect out of Ontario, Ca. The order and the shipment went as their website promised. Got the glasses that were supposed to be of the "finest materials" available. They were the correct size, the correct prescription and one nose rest support wire broke off during the very first cleaning (as in feather fragile). They were used for a total of about 30 seconds. Yeah, I got a return goods authorization but the process is pretty tedious. I believe I'll get my refund less the costs of the gymnastics needed to get them returned. Just an FYI.

[RT FAN]

My wife just filled her prescription at Costco, for less than half of what Lens Crafters used to charge her. Go to the store pick out your frames and they were ready to be picked up a couple of days. No having to deal with some bootleg operation. Nice selection of designer frames, she's a happy camper.

[tube fanatic]

I have a family member in the eyecare field. Interestingly, he said that the online glasses which he's seen over the years were actually quite good. But, as mentioned above, Costco and Walmart offer really excellent pricing (in comparison with private opticians especially). Virtually all eyeglass lenses are now cut on computerized edgers, so accuracy isn't an issue as long as the correct data is programmed.

[wuzzzer]

I bought my last pair from http://www.zennioptical.com. Took a little while to get the glasses but they were super cheap and are very nice!

[JJkizak]

Well you and the vendor had a "failure to communicate".

JJK

[michael hurd]

I have purchased all of my current glasses online, I ordered originally from Eyebuydirect ( cheaper for high index lenses ) and waited about 2 weeks. ( they had to come from New York to Canada through the post office. ( a bit over $ 100 shipped, with lenses and frames, one lens high index $$ )

The prescription was bang on to spec, and the frames I selected with their sizing tool work well. I noticed after using the safety glass cleaner ( made for lexan lenses ) at work on them, the coating started to craze on the lenses, yet I had specified no coatings. This was a hardcoat that was crazing.

I used Armor Etch cream to remove all of the coating from both sides of the lenses and so far so good, although they could probably use a bit of a polish with fine abrasive cream..... I removed the coating about 2 months ago, having worn the glasses every day for a year bit over a year. (Sept 2010 until this year )

I have also purchased eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses online from a company here in Canada called Clearly Contacts. Overall, I am more than satisfied, considering that one pair only cost me $ 56. The frames appear a bit less rugged than the ones from Eyebuydirect, but I am not easy on them and they haven't failed me.

For under $ 300 CDN, I got two pairs of regular glasses, and a pair of prescription sunglasses. If I didn't have a need for a high index lens on one eye, I could have gotten away for about $ 20 a pair, shipped to my house.

I couldn't buy ONE pair of glasses where I am for $ 300 if I was lucky, so online works well for me.

[merkin]

Whats next on line dental procedures

[justin_tx_16]

We have used www.zennioptical.com with great results. Super cheap, great service, saved hundreds of dollars.

[oscarsear]

I did want to finish this thread letting everyone know that this vendor did provide a 100% refund for these glasses in a relatively timely fashion. Still they relied upon some customer service that could best be described as sub-continent frontier level. Given that they made no attempt to understand or explain the nature of their product failure I have to believe that this sort of problem is more frequent than it should be. Oh well.