Just a note to say that I have worn their £15 prescription spectacles ever since I got them, and they have been fine. Indeed I am wearing them now. Everyone comments how nice they look. So I may not bother to get the lenses changed in my old ones, titanium or not.
I have recommended them to my parents, and my mother has placed an order herself. Let's see what happens!
After my experiences with SpecSavers of Harlow, I was interested to see what this firm could do for me, over the internet. I had my prescription.
I didn't have the "pupil distance". This is the distance from the centre of one pupil to the other, but it's best to get the optician to measure it. However LowCostSpex website shows you how to measure it.
The form was a little confusing, but thankfully there was a box in which I could clarify things. For ordinary glasses you just specify "distance glasses". I chose a frame, hit the button, and ordered some glasses. Price for frames with prescription lenses was £15, plus ca. £2 postage. Well, at that price, I can afford to throw them away if they're no good!
The following day I get a call. It's LowCostSpex, who want to make sure they understand my order. I'm astonished, but pleased.
A week later a jiffy bag drops onto the mat. Inside is a hard-case -- the normal kind -- containing a gleaming new pair of spectacles. They're easy enough to bend with my fingers, so I quickly get them to fit.
Five days later, I'm still wearing them. They seem excellent. The frames are a little flimsy, but at £15 more than adequate. If you just want a pair for a few weeks, they are excellent. They look smart. Frankly they are worth every penny.
In short I am delighted. Excellent service, excellent value.
Now all I need is an online firm to 'reglaze' (technical term) my old frames, at a good price. The Ipswich Co-op quoted me £150 to reglaze. I wonder what the lowest price I can get online is?!
You know, I don't seem to see as well as I did. Those number plates are getting harder to read. I sit in a meeting, with a spreadsheet flashed up on a big plasma screen, and I can't read what it says. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked, hey?
Opticians are funny guys. They can't do any business with me unless they do an eye-test first. You'd have thought that they would fall over themselves to offer these. But not a bit of it. I traipse around. I go into Dolland and Aitcheson in Ipswich, which stinks to high heaven of mould and damp. Luckily for me the staff tell me that they can't test me.
So here I am in Harlow, and I go into the SpecSavers there. The shop is empty. They can do a test for me, so I tell them to. It's £18, which they don't mention until I ask. They do a test. It doesn't seem too bad. Yes, I need new glasses.
But I have a very nice set of frames now. So I ask for just new lenses. Problem!!! PROBLEM!!!
They won't sell me lenses. I have to buy complete frames and lenses from them. I query this. The girl who tested my eyes leads me to some manager woman who sits there, scowling. She asks. I don't get a reply; just a tightening of the mouth and a shake of the head. Then she says "Company policy." That's all I get. She looks like she's dying to rip into me. So I leave. I don't need or want any new frames. I don't need or want a fight. I didn't need to spend £18 on an eye-test if I can't get lenses.
But have I just been diddled here? OK, I have a prescription. But if I take it elsewhere, and there's a problem, the dispenser is going to blame the prescription, right? Then where am I? Glasses cost a lot. So I pretty much have to get the eye-test at the people I buy the lenses from. That means, surely, that I am £18 down?
Couldn't they have mentioned this little policy of theirs before they did business with me? Given the attitude, I suspect that they are getting flak -- and no surprise there.
I go into Dolland and Aitcheson in Harlow and ask if they could make me up some lenses. They tell me they can, but my glasses have to go away for a week or two (why?). I ask what the cheapest pair of frames and lenses would be, to tide me over while I wait. £65 they say. That's real money for something I'll use only once.
But I did find one thing to do with the prescription. I found LowCostSpex, an online dispenser. They'll do me a pair of lenses and frames for £15, if I type in the prescription. For that much, I'm willing to take a punt. Let's see what comes back! It's a lot cheaper than £65.
Glasses have gone up massively in the last 10-15 years. Looks like profits have too.
PS: Two days later I get a call from LowCostSpex. They aren't sure that what I entered in their form is correct, and want to make sure. For £15 they are certainly working hard. I tell them that they deserve to make a fortune. Meanwhile I go around 3 opticians in Ipswich, asking about new lenses -- known as 'reglazing' in the trade. One quote for £110, another for £150; just for the lenses. My, these people aren't losing money!
