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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 3:36pm | IP Logged
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I received my new prescription today- progressives  I let them know that I wanted to shop around, at which point I was given two pages of statistics and warnings about buying glasses online.
In real life, however, I have a lot of friends who have been happy with places like Zenni.
What have your experiences been - the good the bad and the ugly???
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Kristie in Canada
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 4:33pm | IP Logged
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single vision lenses with astigmatism.. been very happy with lenses bought online.. BUT I'm also comfortable tweaking the frames to get the vision to line up right.. I've had to do that to most of the glasses I get.. basically, your eye doc probably does the same thing when you "get fitted" so I don't think of it as a bad thing.. but if you're not ok doing it yourself.. you need to be able to either find a place that will do that for glasses that you didn't buy there or.. 
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SallyT
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 5:23pm | IP Logged
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So much depends on the deal you get through your optometrist and your vision insurance, if you have any (I don't know what kind of coverage you might have in Canada). I comparison-shopped and found that Zenni's, which friends of mine have also raved about, was not that much better a deal than what I could get with my insurance at my eye doctor's dispensary.
My bifocal prescription is strong enough that it really pushes the price up, and if I want thinner lenses, which I definitely do, that pushes it up even more. Zenni's frames are very reasonably priced, but with my frame allowance, the frame I wound up getting locally was just as cheap. A friend of mine told me that she had gotten no-line bifocals for $67, with shipping, but the cheapest I could get away with was in the $130 range. The glasses I wound up ordering locally, using our new vision coverage policy, were not appreciably more than that. But then, my eyes are AWFUL and have been forever: extreme nearsightedness and astigmatism all my life, and now I'm in bifocals, too. These are expensive eyes I have! And I do worry about things like getting my pupils in the right place on the lenses . . .
I have bought bifocals without insurance, however, and they were massively expensive, which is one reason why this recent go-round was my first visit to the eye doctor in five years -- Zenni's would have been a much, much better deal in that case, though so would Wal-Mart, where I've gotten my children's glasses and been very happy with the service.
I have also taken glasses to be adjusted at a dispensary where I didn't buy them -- I'd bought them in England, right at the end, and they weren't ready by the time we left, and my husband wound up bringing them to me when he had to go back to defend his thesis. I just went to the local optometrist, explained why I needed them to adjust them, and they were happy to do it. With the advent of businesses like Zenni, however, I wonder whether they'd still be so friendly!
So price them out and see -- it may be that you can get a better deal online, and I do know a number of people who've been really happy with their glasses.
Incidentally, I'd be curious to know about those warnings and statistics. I too asked for my scrip so that I could comparison shop, but they just gave it to me without comment.
Sally
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 5:49pm | IP Logged
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THanks for the info- I don't mind fiddling with my frames a bit (I had to do that with the present pair even though they were from a local shop).
I think they were so intense was due to the drop in their business because of online places, at least I can't think of why else.
We have coverage (for once!) but I can use it for the Zenni glasses which helps. If I was to buy them at the optometrist's office they would be 5-6 times the price, and our insurance only covers $150 every two years (which only makes a dent in the price of frames around here).
I will check out Walmart here to see if they have frames...
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Kristie in Canada
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Betsy
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 6:25pm | IP Logged
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My last pair I purchased online and then had my local shop do the lenses. She couldn't order these frames that I had tried on at a different shop 6 mos earlier. It was a win-win for me.
My biggest concern would be trying to pick a pair of frames that looked good on without ever trying them on. I often like the looks of glasses only to find that they don't look good on me. It has also happened that the pair that I end up choosing is a pair that I pasted over until I tried them on.
It would be a pretty big gamble, to me, to pick frames I had never tried on!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 8:55pm | IP Logged
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Betsy, I pay close attention to the measurments and compare them to the glasses I have.. that helps a great deal so that you are sure of the sizes of lenses and such. All you need is a ruler to use on your current glasses.
Plus you can go in anywhere and try on glasses if you're not happy with what you have. Take measurements and see if you can find something comparable.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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JennGM
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 9:50pm | IP Logged
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Frames, maybe I'd buy online, but progressive lenses never. To get the right line needs to be measured on you, and there are different types of progressive lenses if one doesn't work for you. My sunglasses had to be done over 3 times, third with a different progressive lense.
It has also been recommended to not do Costco for progressives for the same reason. Sigh. But they are so expensive!
I need to try on. It's not just size if my face (which is slready an issue, i have a narrow face, so i wear petite ir even child size frames) just am not sure what looks good on me without seeing.
Also, if you do buy online, pick glasses that have a bigger opening than the cutesy narrow ones that are in right now, so you have more room for your progressives.
I'm currently waiting for my third replacement if my new glasses that I ordered in December. Two times the frame has snapped when they were adjusting for the initial fit. I hope the third time works... But what is consoling is that I don't have to fight or do returns online.
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Jan 28 2013 at 11:32pm | IP Logged
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All good things to think about. My dh was comparing my present frames with the sizes online which helped.
Betsy, those are the things I was nervous of. But I am also so much more anxious when I am in the actual store- I swear I have some kind of shopping anxiety disorder (if that exists), especially around large non-refundable purchases. Ordering our new kitchen cupboards was like giving birth (except giving birth was so much better!!!).
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Kristie in Canada
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Jan 31 2013 at 7:42am | IP Logged
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I buy my glasses online and I have been very happy with them. Glasses.com has free shipping both ways so you can order several pair and send the ones you don't want back. They also have a feature where you can upload a picture of yourself and "try on" glasses. You have to enter a few measurements (distance of your pupils, that kind of thing) but it's hugely helpful.
We have no eye coverage for my and dh, just the kids so being able to get glassed for $30 was great.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Jan 31 2013 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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Here's another note: I was playing around with Zenni's today, because I'm thinking of splurging for a backup pair, my now-former glasses being out of sync enough with my current prescription that I really couldn't now wear them (and see out of them) if anything happened to these new ones (which I don't love anyway, but *sigh*). They actually have no lenses for my prescription. I input the info from my scrip very carefully, and each time I got a "no standard lenses" message. So I guess I'm off their chart!
I think I"ll go price things at Wal-Mart, just to see. If they're too expensive, I'll go without a backup pair, but the ones I'm wearing now were only about $130, which is less than half what my old glasses cost. We may still have some vision insurance through our main health plan (our new vision ins. is separate), so if I can come in under $200, and/or it counts toward our deductible, that would still be a deal for me.
Anyway, I don't know what your prescription is like, but it does seem that you can be too blind for Zenni!
I know, I find buying you're-stuck-with-it things completely traumatic, which is one reason I put off going to the eye doctor for five years! I really liked my old glasses (also bifocals) and hate change! I put off the day of new glasses for as long as I could, till the eye strain really was affecting my sense of well-being.
And I'm wishing I'd taken my oldest daughter glasses-shopping with me -- she has a great eye and would have said, "Don't get those, Mama. Get these," and been right. I don't hate the glasses I did get (after trying to discern how they looked with my nose to the mirror and my eyes dilated), but I'm not over the moon about them, either. Which honestly is why I'd like a second pair, though I'm not going to spend a whole lot of money on my vanity. And I probably ought to go to Confession over the thought processes I've already had about them and the time I've spent looking in the mirror.
I would definitely take a trustworthy older child or friend to glasses-shop, though actually the lady who's helped my kids in the Wal-Mart dispensary has been *wonderful* every time, rather to my surprise, since I have this philosophical dislike of Wal-Mart. We started going to them because for a time they were the only local option on our then-insurance, and we've been amazingly happy with the glasses and the service.
Anyway, just some thoughts and empathy, because I SO understand the fraughtness of this! I hate getting new glasses even more than I hate getting my hair cut, and that's saying something!
So if you've got updates, I'd love to hear.
Sally
PS: I experimented with doing just a single-vision distance lens, and I could get that to work, but they won't do me a bifocal. And even with the single-vision lens in the absolute cheapest formulation, sacrificing things like thinness, (ie. making do with coke-bottle-bottom lenses), I still came in at over a hundred dollars. No $30 glasses for me anywhere, even if I don't do a bifocal. And in the end, I'd really want not to have to shift back and forth between a single-vision and a bifocal. So, there we are. **Siiiiiiiiggggghhhhhh**
PPS: Oh, well, I was wrong -- they *will* do a progressive lens. Just not a lined bifocal. Maybe I will go for this . . . right now I'm looking at $105.00, which isn't bad . . .
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Jan 31 2013 at 8:37am | IP Logged
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I think I am just going to go for it online- I uploaded my face to Zenni and dh is going to help me measure and with the choice. I have it down to $90 with shipping to Canada for progressives. It would cost almost $400 at the shop here so I am going to risk it as our insurance doesn't cover half that!
One thing I know- I am going to avoid the fancy metal on the arms- my present ones are plastic, which I like, but the arms have this pretty metal stuff that gets stuck in my long hair everytime!! My dh sanded the edges down, scuffed the paint, and then repainted them (but a slightly different colour!). It will be nice to have new ones...
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Kristie in Canada
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SallyT
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Oh, wow, that is a huge difference. I really would go for it in that case.
The one thing I'm concerned with getting right is my pupillary distance. It's not written on my prescription, though I did watch the tech who did the initial exam stuff write it on my records, and I'm pretty sure it was 54. I'm considering going in to Wal-Mart, where I know the very nice lady, and telling her I'm comparison shopping (true), and that I can get glasses from Zenni for $103. I dunno if they'll match it, but it's worth trying. At the very least, I think I could probably persuade her to do my pupillary distance. We could measure it at home, but that part just makes me nervous. I do NOT want to get it wrong. (otherwise I could just call the optometrist's office . . . somehow I feel weirder about doing that than I do going in and chatting with Wal-Mart lady, but I'm not sure that's entirely rational of me).
Anyway, I'll hold your hand if you'll hold mine!
Yours in glasses anxiety,
Sally
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Jan 31 2013 at 12:11pm | IP Logged
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By the way Sally, I loved your glasses post!!
I asked my optometrist for my pupillary distance, so I know that is right (although he grudgingly gave it to me!). 
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Kristie in Canada
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mooreboyz
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I've used eyebuydirect.com for my son's glasses and have been very happy with them. The prices are great, shipping is quick, and the glasses are just fine. Granted these are ordinary glasses..I don't know how bifocals, etc would be; but, they're cheap enough to try out.
My husband and I are going to order ours there the next time we get a new Rx.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Ordering Glasses Online- Good?
