prescription eyeglasses, ordering online?

[Michelle O. in MO]

I'm considering doing this, but would like some recommendations as to what sites to shop from. My eye care doctor told me internet companies are unreliable when it comes to this stuff because most do not get the prescription correct. I sort of shrugged off that statement because I think my eye doctor wants my business, but then I got to thinking about it some more and decided I don't know what to think! :confused:

 

I can't afford to go through the doctor's office - so any suggestions? What do you all think about ordering prescription eyewear via the internet and can I get some links to reliable providers?

 

TIA!

Michelle

[emubird]

I've ordered glasses from http://www.zennioptical.com/home.php

 

They were definitely cheaper. I've ordered both single vision and progressive lenses. They've all been just fine. So far.

 

You have to know your pupillary distance. By law, you're supposed to be able to get this from where you ordered glasses last time. If that isn't possible, you can get someone else to measure it just by holding up a ruler. (We actually took a digital photo with the ruler in the picture because we were having difficulty with having our eyes move during the measuring.)

 

The only problem I've had with the glasses I've ordered is that the nosepieces are adjusted to sit too high on my face. This is easily adjusted, though. I know the optical places make a big fuss about "fitting" the glasses, but all they've ever done for me is move that nosepiece around.

 

With cheap frames, I've gotten single vision glasses for $8, progressive lenses for 36. I think shipping was 5.

[Teachin'Mine]

Costco is much less than other opticians and you can try on different frames. I don't think you need a Costco membership to buy the glasses either. :)

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

In my case, the online glasses were superior. The lenses in the locally-purchased ones developed a crack TWICE ($160 single vision kid's glasses) and it took over two weeks to get them fixed each time.

 

The lenses from my online source have been great ($26 including clipon sun-shades and shipping from ZenniOptical). I used the Rx from my eye doc and measured his DP (distance between pupils) myself and they were delivered within 2 weeks.

 

He's worn them daily for 3-4 months and they've held up well.

 

You can simply tell your eye doc to provide you with your Rx (Federal Law requires them to do so) and order a pair online.

 

-K

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

Costco is much less than other opticians and you can try on different frames. I don't think you need a Costco membership to buy the glasses either. :)

 

 

:iagree:

 

We've purchased glasses from Costco and they were of good/great quality and very reasonably priced (not as cheap as online, but close).

[Veritaserum]

I've ordered several pairs from Zenni Optical and have always had a good experience. I found them after my baby broke my brand new $300 glasses twice in one week.

[Nelko26]

I've ordered glasses from http://www.zennioptical.com/home.php

 

They were definitely cheaper. I've ordered both single vision and progressive lenses. They've all been just fine. So far.

 

You have to know your pupillary distance. By law, you're supposed to be able to get this from where you ordered glasses last time. If that isn't possible, you can get someone else to measure it just by holding up a ruler. (We actually took a digital photo with the ruler in the picture because we were having difficulty with having our eyes move during the measuring.)

 

The only problem I've had with the glasses I've ordered is that the nosepieces are adjusted to sit too high on my face. This is easily adjusted, though. I know the optical places make a big fuss about "fitting" the glasses, but all they've ever done for me is move that nosepiece around.

 

With cheap frames, I've gotten single vision glasses for $8, progressive lenses for 36. I think shipping was 5.

:iagree:

[KS_]

We've ordered from Zenni, too, and have been pleased. My son loves his glasses from them and they even double checked with me after I ordered because ds has one near sighted eye and one far sighted eye (which is unusual). Dh got glasses from them, too, and he thought maybe they got the prescription wrong, so he took them into Sam's, where he got his eyes checked, and they're fine, he just doesn't like his new prescription (he only wears glasses at night, while watching TV usually, and has just been wearing his old glasses).

 

Ds is due to get his eyes checked again in the next couple of months, and we plan to order through Zenni again.

[TravelingChris]

How in the world do you get online glasses? How do they fit? I don't think I could get this done. WHen I go to get my glasses they take a lot of measurements, not just one. Especially now when I think I may need trifocals. Maybe you can if you have a simple prescription and no astigmatism but with astigmatism, correct fit is essential since the lenses have to fit directionally in a certain way.

[Michelle O. in MO]

We don't have a Costco in our neck of the woods, so I'll head over to Zenni and check it out.

 

Thank you for the great information! I feel more comfortable about this now.

 

If anyone has used any other sites, please let me know. The more options, the better.

 

Michelle

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

How in the world do you get online glasses? How do they fit? I don't think I could get this done. WHen I go to get my glasses they take a lot of measurements, not just one. Especially now when I think I may need trifocals. Maybe you can if you have a simple prescription and no astigmatism but with astigmatism, correct fit is essential since the lenses have to fit directionally in a certain way.

 

My son has severe astigmatism on his left eye and the glasses from Zenni were perfect.

 

The Cyl and Axis information on your Rx is what indicates placement of correction.

http://www.zennioptical.com/information_message.php?location=./customer/information/your_prescription.tpl

Edited April 21, 2010 by NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too

[MaMa2005]

I've ordered glasses from http://www.zennioptical.com/home.php

 

They were definitely cheaper. I've ordered both single vision and progressive lenses. They've all been just fine. So far.

 

You have to know your pupillary distance. By law, you're supposed to be able to get this from where you ordered glasses last time. If that isn't possible, you can get someone else to measure it just by holding up a ruler. (We actually took a digital photo with the ruler in the picture because we were having difficulty with having our eyes move during the measuring.)

 

The only problem I've had with the glasses I've ordered is that the nosepieces are adjusted to sit too high on my face. This is easily adjusted, though. I know the optical places make a big fuss about "fitting" the glasses, but all they've ever done for me is move that nosepiece around.

 

With cheap frames, I've gotten single vision glasses for $8, progressive lenses for 36. I think shipping was 5.

 

:iagree:

[OnTheBrink]

We've also had excellent experiences with zennioptical.

[Pink Fairy]

Another Zenni fan here! My dh got the coolest glasses, really beautiful, and they got the prescription just right. My parents were so impressed that they both ordered glasses from Zenni, and were also very happy. I'm going to order glasses for dd and I next month. :001_smile: We measured dh's pupil distance ourselves, which was fairly easy, but for dd and I we just asked for the number from the last time we got glasses. They gave it to us, no problem.

[MaMa2005]

How in the world do you get online glasses? How do they fit? I don't think I could get this done. WHen I go to get my glasses they take a lot of measurements, not just one. Especially now when I think I may need trifocals. Maybe you can if you have a simple prescription and no astigmatism but with astigmatism, correct fit is essential since the lenses have to fit directionally in a certain way.

 

I have severe astigmatism and bifocals. Never a problem from Zenni.

 

When DH ordered both my glasses and his, he completely messed up the order form - we each got a pair of glasses with one lens from each prescription. He contacted Zenni, told them it was his mistake and they re-did the glasses for $5. Good customer service which is hard to find these days.

[susie in tx]

I had a bad experience with Zenni Optical. They have the glasses made overseas and in December 2008, they had a backlog. The glasses I had ordered were also broken during shipment. They did not tell me about this. They were re-ordered and still were taking weeks to come in. I called and did not receive satisfactory customer service. I still had to pay for the glasses and I never did receive them.

 

I don't plan to order from them again. I don't know if this was a one time deal or not, but they were not helpful from a customer service point of view.

[stripe]

I have never ordered online, but there have been plenty of exposes about optical shops in the US that have problems filling prescriptions correctly, so it's not as if they have a clean slate.

[emubird]

My husband has really bad astigmatism and his glasses from zennioptical are just fine.

 

We originally went to an online source because all the eyeglass places near us are just awful. The local places mess things up, won't admit it, and then get abusive. They certainly aren't worth the price they charge. The online experience was a lot nicer.

 

When I picked out frames online, I measured my old frames and got new ones that were sort of in the ball park. That way I thought they'd be more likely to fit my head.

 

My "bifocal" progressives are just fine, fitwise. I don't know how trifocals would be, but I'm beginning to suspect that a lot of the measurements they do at the local stores are more smoke and mirrors than anything useful. (A lot of what they're doing is measuring the PD.)

 

When I first got progressive lenses (at a local store), I couldn't adjust to them. Since the local store wouldn't do anything about it, I had to drive some distance to get another store in the chain to look them over. They made adjustments, but it was just a matter of moving the nosepiece.

 

The problem really was that the midrange area is just too darn small for me and the reading area isn't quite the right correction for me. However, I've been told by my eye doctor that that's just how it's going to be. They can't make it any better because of how bad my eyes are. I had to get separate glasses for the computer. I read with no glasses at all. (And my close up vision is too good. When I try to read the computer by leaning in real close with no glasses, all I see is pixels. They don't resolve into anything useful.)

[SquirrellyMama]

I've used 39dollarglasses.com. I've only ordered one pair but have had a great experience so far.

 

Kelly

[Peela]

Dh has also ordered frm Zenni and been very happy about what he received. He got thousands of $ worth of glasses for $400- 4 pairs, all with different features- no glare, sunglasses, titanium lenses etc. He is stoked with them.

 

I am gearing up for an eye check and know I need glasses now- although I am using the $2 magnification ones presently. I will be just getting the prescription and orderng from Zenni.