Online eyeglasses - recommendations and question

[Vida Winter]

Has anyone used an online eyewear provider that worked with your insurance company? For instance you would pay the online provider, they would provide their tax id and diagnosis/procedure codes to your insurance so you could get reimbursed for X amount that you have allocated. The marked up prices at my local optometrist are making me explore options.

 

Thanks

[PeterPan]

You realize you can get glasses online with lots of upgrades through Zenni for $35? Or go to Walmart and get perfectly fine glasses that work with your insurance and will be more affordable. Glass frames have *sizes* so you need to try on enough that you know the numbers you're looking for. After that it's just aesthetics. And yes, I filled my dd's glasses *1* time at the expensive optometrist, and that was the end of that! Just way too expensive with a growing kid. We've done Walmart and Zenni since then.

[IrishMum]

You realize you can get glasses online with lots of upgrades through Zenni for $35?

 

We do this now too. Great quality, and cheap!

[dtsmamtj]

We use Zenni also.

[Slartibartfast]

My last glasses from Zenni were $14. I used my insurance for contacts from my Dr.

[Kathy in Richmond]

My daughter lost her eyeglasses while traveling last fall, so I got her prescription from her eyedoctor here at home, and she shopped online at Zenni. For less than $50, she got two very cute pairs made up and shipped/delivered overseas within a week! We're very satisfied customers.

[athena1277]

:bigear: I also just got hit with major sticker shock at the optometrist. I mainly was there for new contacts and was hoping to also update my glasses. I don't wear them much, so they are from about 6 years ago. The glasses alone were going to cost $300 for the cheapest pair! :svengo: I'm looking into Zenni, but I'm concerned about the fit. Some pairs I try on are too tight on my head behind my ears. What do you do if you order online and need them adjusted?

[Vida Winter]

Two years ago, glasses through the optometrist cost over $600 - and the frames are not designer. A portion of that was offset with insurance, I need progressive lenses that are ultra-thin, otherwise they look like coke-bottle bottoms. Even with Zenni it would cost close to $200 but I would waste my insurance since they won't work with them. I was hoping to find an online optical shop that would be able to use my insurance benefit, but maybe my best bet would be Wal-Mart or Costco even though it's a long drive.

[PeterPan]

I don't buy *my* glasses through Zenni, and I don't think you can guarantee the quality you'll get. They do have grades of lenses, but honestly I think you're just guessing to hope they'll get made right on a very difficult scrip like that. And if it's not right you have no recourse. I called the first time we ordered, talked with a guy on their 1-800 number, ordered the type of lens he said (for dd), and it CHIPPED. I was HORRIFIED, because that means she had shards flying around her face! Next time we ordered a level up. That's the pair she's wearing now, and it's fine, nothing stellar. When I compare the coatings they apply (water, dirt, etc.) to the coatings I my ($$, US-done glasses), the coatings don't work as well either.

 

So to me I would do complex or expensive things in the US. That way you have a recourse. An optometrist came on our SN board and said her experience CHECKING these glasses (because any optometrist can measure and tell what the lenses are) were off 50% of the time. Or maybe that was a study? Drag her post up I guess. I figured with the glasses running $35, I was out nothing if they were in that % that aren't made properly. If I were out $200, I'd be spitting nails.

 

I think that was a study/survey of a lot of brands. I DON'T think there's a problem, in general, with Zenni. I DO think there's an issue with quality. The coatings aren't as good and the lens quality may be inferior. It's been adequate for my dd, who needs minimal correction and who has gotten through 2 pairs of glasses a year for a while because of growth. I can't afford to keep her in glasses at $300 a pop, and very little at Walmart fits her anymore. Zenni works for that. I may buy myself a pair from Zenni, just to tide me over while I get the lenses changed on my current glasses, but again I'm just run the mill stuff (astigmatism, far-sighted, boring). For complex, I would try walmart or something local so you can have recourse till they get it right. Walmart actually doesn't use as good a lens material as the more expensive places either. It's not like they're all the same. I have had NO problems with my rimless glasses, and Walmart basically guaranteed me they would have problems if they filled it. So it's not just attractiveness of the frames. The actual lens quality differs, and in some cases that really matters.

[PeterPan]

Melissa, you can take your Zenni glasses to your local optometrist or Walmart or wherever to get them adjusted. To determine sizes, look on the legs (not the right name) or nosebridge of the glasses. In one of those locations you should find the size numbers. For me the nose is the most important thing for comfort, frame width 2nd. So my glasses are a 52-19-135. If you don't know your preferred size, you go try on a bunch and notice the patterns. I don't know WHY places don't explain sizing, as it sure helps. Anyways, that 19 is my nose. Yes, I have a big head, lol. The 52 is the width of the lenses from side to side, and the 135 is the length of the legs. All this is on the Zenni site. They also include the height of the lenses, so you can use them to compare to your current lenses. Anyways, if I keep the nose at 19, I can fudge a bit up or down on the lens width and be comfortable *for me*. Zenni doesn't let you search by specific numbers like that, unfortunately, so it just takes a bit of looking and clicking to figure it out. They include all that info. Leg length isn't terribly important because, as you say, they can bend and make that work.

 

Anyways, you don't have to guess or measure your glasses. It's printed right on them somewhere typically. So at long as they fit comfortably, you can order from those numbers and be great.

[Vida Winter]

OhElizabeth, I think you've convinced me to try Costco. Thanks for your input on Zenni and Walmart.