Eye-Glasses...the big Fat Ripoff

[Guest gogoblender]

Everytime I hear how much my friends pay for their glasses I seethe. The idea, the audacity the...the very GALL of attempting to charge five to seven hundred dollars a PAIR of glasses is almost so crazy I sometimes laugh.

Sometimes.

Cuz yesterday I lost my glasses.

noooooooooooooooooooo

as I sit here typing my nose is up almost aginst the screen now with my head following typed text like a caterpillar.

So excuse my spelling errors and weird punctuation, for sneezing makes me lose my place and it's sometimes difficult to find where my last sentence was.

 

Enter Project Fair Glass

 

The Mission

 

To find eyeglasses at fair trade prices. Not some jumped up dollied dollar value meant more to pay for the attendant's tired make up and old perfume but instead to give me the gift of life.

A noble cause?

I think so

Crunchie here a few years ago told me that his parents were getting really good prices on eyeglasses at WalMarts.

Called em and yea...there pprices are low...but I still didn't wanna shell out a more than three hundred bucks.

What do do?

Where to go?

Ahhhhh...I had googled eyeglasses you see...and along the right of the page in that inoccuous sectoin of the page that noone ever looks at...there it was

My optical Saviour

My road to Reading!

Turns out that you can get pretty good quality glasses on the cheap...ON THE NET.

Yep

Guarantees and all

Also...this, apparently, isn't a new business as a decent number of testimonials abound.

The first one I found called Zenni Optical

had a surprising cool selection and I liked it's style.

Turns out though that Zenni is small beans. For the Big Kahunas all head down to (don't laught now)

39dollarglasses.com

 

yep...that's name

 

And...theyr'e busy ^^'

Interesting thing is that 39glasses.com is considered a kind of upscale (lol,weird?) selling all the models of latebreaking titanium avantgardeque tomfoolerys at priices a bit higher than zen et al but IMMENSELY lower than anything you can buy live.

No attendant

No store rent

No Big Prices

I'm gonna have my parents order this for me cuz they're in the states and I'll get back to you guys on how this turns out.

Ten day delivery.

And...you get a glass box

 

gogo

 

p.s. If any of you guys have ordered eyeglasses on line or had any experience with this can you please post?

Thanks!

[Ankhanu 0]

I think we paid about $260 for Kel's last eye exam and glasses (frames +lenses). Maybe Montreal is just expensive.

[Kelyndra 0]

Yup... somewhere in there. I've never bought glasses online, though. Not being able to try them on first to see how they look would be a big turn-off for me.

[Schot 407]

Psssst... gogo.

 

You know if you're really desparate you could head down the street to the local drugstore and buy a temp/backup pair of glasses for about 20 bucks.

 

And they've got all kinds of cool styley glasses too. Just check out tha pair I got! Eeh hehe.

[erialc 2]

 

Hope you get your glasses soon GoGo!...and watch out for headaches whilst peering hard at the monitor, Schot has a good idea, try a pair of those cheapo reading glasses you can buy

[Katran 0]

Oh a bad thing Gogo I am getting bad memorize of breaking my glasses and knowing that it would cost a 110euros to get a new one glass.

Personal I allways pay around 270euros for glasses. Well I did get my last ones some5 years ago and that is how much they cost.

That would be 50euros frame+220 glass. The glass is titanium so normaly it is that much expensive. Dont get me wrong I would love to by normal glass but since they would be very heavy like a ton LOL my only choise is allways titanium or the cheap plastic ones. I did buy plastic ones once and lets say they took a little trip to the floor didt break but were usely since they get so easiely scratched.

So the story is Italian titanuim for only 39$. LOL I dont know. One thing Gogo if it is not a secaret what? how do you say in english is the type of glass that you need to be wearing. I mean +- what number?

[gogoblender 3,068]

I've got a big wedding to go to this weekend, my cuz is coming to town, and my whole family and parents are flyng in.

muhahhah

Guess who's shelling out for new glasses

 

luv ya mom

 

Woot!

 

 

gogo

[erialc 2]

ooowah....cool Mom! ....psssst Don't forget the pics gogo

[Funkilicious 1]

Just wondering how health care systems work around the world but can't you claim your glasses against your fund?

 

Our system is

 

Medicare levy is 1.5% of your taxable income (which covers all public hospitals)

Medicare surcharge is 1% extra if you don't have a private fund

 

Private funding insurace can range from around $500.00 (basic) to around $4000 (premium) per year which covers private hospital and auxillary payments such as dentist, chiropractor, optical etc.

[gintukas 0]

order my new glasses last week - $300+ with 75% of for frames and 25% of for lenses - yea, those glasses aren't too cheap over there .

 

and I dont know about buying glasses online - I think you need to get exactly what you need - lots of mesurements need to be done, othervice you always will have some problems with vision

[gial 2]

Last time I bought glasses, even with vision insurance kicking in some, it was almost $800 for two pair. Almost $550 for my primary pair, with no-line bifocal (yeah us old folk really do need that) and another $220 for a pair of distance only sunglasses for driving. Identical frames just in case - haha!

 

With the presbyopic changes as well as astigmatism, I really need a good fit. And that's not just the right prescription, but also the right spacing of the lenses so my eyes are properly aligned with the lenses. Don't think you can do this properly on line unless you can replace your old pair with identical new frames etc. Even them they need proper adjustment, vis a vis the nose pads and ear pieces too.

 

It's a rip, but I'd rather see than not.

[Genenut 8]

I got eye glasses from walmart for 200 a pair (half rims and really light) and really nice ones from BJ's for 300 (rimless with custom magnetic sunglass attachement hold them in your hand and cant tell they are there lightness) The ones at BJ's have a 1 yr warrenty too. eldest had his broken by younger brother (snapped them on the nose bridge) and bj replaced those no questions asked with titanium framed ones for no charge (his original frame wasnt sold anymore) in about a week.

 

The problem with mail order is if they get the script wrong it may be very hard to get it corrected.

[Guest FrostElfTwin]

My latest glasses were 650$...single vision...titanium frame--or rather handles.

 

Can be reused on other lenses.

 

The downside of these no hinge glasses is they slip. Arrrgh!

 

===

 

We have a health care plan at work which will shave 150$ off perscription glasses every 2 years.

So... every 2 years, I get new glasses!

 

Though, I'm beginning to think that the lens surgery is the way to go...it is getting down to 500$/eye, and has been around long enough that there should be a lot of experienced people out there doing it...

[gogoblender 3,068]

My latest glasses were 650$...

 

 

 

gogo

[myles 2]

Indeed, I'm constantly surprised by how expensive eyewears are in North America.

 

And I just can't get use to the idea of a prescription glasses. We don't do that in Asia, you just have to go to a licensed vendor that's all. I mean glasses are not drugs that you can abuse, what's the sense of having a prescription of it? And y should an eye doctor gets money for writing a piece of paper?

[gogoblender 3,068]

Ya know guys, sometimes I wonder whether eyeglass makers purposely make eyeglasses so expensive just cuz they expect peeps to use insurance to buy it with.

 

 

gogo

 

p.s. don't get me going on doctor's getting paid five bucks everytime they have to write you a prescirption...or twenty five for a sick day off of work...

[Genenut 8]

Ya know guys, sometimes I wonder whether eyeglass makers purposely make eyeglasses so expensive just cuz they expect peeps to use insurance to buy it with.

 

 

gogo

 

p.s. don't get me going on doctor's getting paid five bucks everytime they have to write you a prescirption...or twenty five for a sick day off of work...

 

Hate to mention it but dr's in US get ALOT more than 5 or 25 ... *sigh* Eye exam is 60$ or more to get glasses, higher for contacts , typical medical dr visit is 70+. most copays with insurance are even higher than 5 bucks now too

[Arilaftia 0]

Oh Just to have my sons eyes checked, it was 300$+ only to find out his eyes are perfect with no issues what so ever.. (The school did the eye exams and my little one failed it 3 times.. He can be a little stinker sometimes and if he thinks the question asked of him is silly, he wont answer it!)

[Katran 0]

I like to think of my self as sort of an expert on this topic since I have been wearing glasses since I was 8.

So when you say glasses cost a lot what do you mean.

The frame or the glass.

The way I see it frame is your own choise you chose how much to spend on it. You can get some cheap ones for 50$ and if they are by a good maker they will serve you long and hard. You always have the choise to spend a lot of money on them and spend even over 500 to 2000$ just on frame.

The glass. Well here is when things start to get a bit more interesting. Some people like my self dont have that big of a choise with the glass. Since my normal glass should be rater thick since the compicated mix of + and - I have to allways go for a very expenceive glass.

Why? Simple the normal glass is way to heavy and it will make face damage over time[the heavy glasses I mean]

So does that mean that I am traped to get very expencie glass. So am I traped and foreced to get the expencive glass not really.

Glass or Plastic?

Does are the to main choises. Plastic is a LOT cheaper somewhere around 50 bucks a glass even for some of the most hardest glass to make. So in end you can get what 50 a frame+ 50 a glass that makes somewhere around 150 for the set and that is not bad at all. The bad side is that if you are very very active the plastic can get scratced very easy but if you are cearfull you wont have this problem and this is something that happens with young kids and teenagers mostly.

On the other side there is glass this is where things get very expencive. In my case the normal glass should have a thickness of around 4 mil. meters at the end wich makes the glass in the center a lot thicker. The state of the art Italian Titanium glass with an overall thickness of 2 mil.meters costs around 200$. So in the end I will end up with the math of a good solid frame of 100$+200$ a total of 500$.

The second one is my choise. Why? I am very active and cant chose the plastic ones plus I alway chose the high end stuff since I need my glasses a lot so for me that is money well spend and since they will last me for many years they get my thumbs up.

 

Why do they cost so much? Come one we are talking about high end stuff here it is not easy to make glasses like that. If you read the above you must get that it is a very hard process to make an already very complicated normal glass with mix of + amd - in something that is 3 times or more thiner and lighter.

 

The eye doctors get my full support as well. I say this because they are in a very hard field of work. It is not all sit the person before the Computer and use the results to give him his glasses. It is a very hard process of getting the final result for the person to get him to the normal vision line.

 

That how I feel on this.

[myles 2]

I have nothing against eye doctor, just not on the glasses prescription. 20 years ago yes you need to go see a doctor to know what glasses you need.

 

But with technology you only need a machine. In fact the machine is more accurate than the traditional method that you no longer see those gigantic metal frame that the doctor put and switch lenses on. The prescription is a rip off, as a 5 yrs old child can operate such a machine.

 

In HK and most Asia countries, you check your degree in the licensed vendor, for free. Are they off? Not at all. I have my annual check up on my eyes and my glasses were never found to be unsuitable, off, whatever. All it takes is a licensed optician, more for quality control than actual technical difficulties.

 

As for the cost, I have some friends in the line of manufacture, they say that nowadays eyewears are molded much like any other containers, programed by computer. There are added quality control, inspection, etc., but the point is that the cost of glasses, at least the frame, cannot be all that different from kitchenwares or gardening tools.

 

The money doesn't end up in the pocket of eye doctor, nor optician, they all flow to the big corporations, marketing firms alike. That's what bugged me the most.

[Katran 0]

Ah here is where we will disegree.

Here we have the computers but after the computer records we always go with the big glasses for a good old fashion check up.

And I will tell you that every single doctor has said the same thing that there is a level of error that the computer will make. And last but not list what you your self chose as a best vison after you look at the number board no PC can check. How do I know this because every time the doctor after the com. check starts me off with the angle of view that the compu. said I need but in the end I always end up with a view that is better then that that the comupter said.

[Funkilicious 1]

Myles, does the computer check for eye diseases as an Opthamologist would:) That is exactly the reason why I prefer to pay a higher fee for a specialist in the field. Glasses are secondary.

[gial 2]

there was just an article today in the local paper about buying eyeglasses online:

Glasses Online

 

Basically, those that must pay the most (bifocal/heavy correction, astigmatism, etc.) are recommended to NOT buy this way as their needs are exceptionally precise. The focal center should always be aligned with the center of the eye for proper vision. In these cases, it is more important this alignment is done correctly; this includes optical separation horizontally (frame size affects this), as well as appropriate grinding of the lens vertically.

 

Anyone who has worn glasses as long as I have -- 47 years -- knows how bad it is to get them wrong. It's happened to me twice. Saving money would be nice, but for me and others in my situation, online is not a viable option.

Edited August 8, 2007 by gial

[myles 2]

All those nasty things are the reason to have my annual checkup, for things that are not glasses related.

 

I just don't see y you guys/gals allowed the corporations to earn money from you that are not justified. The honorable doctors are not the people that earning your money, the companies do.

 

Doctors themselves have to sign agreement etc with these companies and insure themselves for possible sues over the products. That's rotten!

 

I will be content and fork out the money if they indeed go to my good doctor. But they don't! Can't you just see thru that. You are paranoid to be so precise over the tiniest error machines make, human errors top that everyday. I don't see your doctor advertise that! And trust me I love my doctors, have been for 20 years.

 

Btw, You don't need the precise degree for your glasses, in fact most doctor prescribe a less than precise degree on purpose. To balance out the differences between two eyes, for more comfort, and so on.

 

I'm 25, and have worn glasses for 22 years. I have enough experiences to say that prescribing glasses can be done by an optician as well as any eye doctor. For everything else, you have your master card eye doctor. I have experienced both systems, and it is an unshakable perception to me that the system in the US is simply a way to get more money from you, not for better quality etc. The quality is not better, in many cases worse. I can't speak for other countries of course.

 

For one, less choices to choose from. I'm shocked to see Lenscrafter in the US carries half the choices I can get in a HK branch. That's not rotten? Lenscrafter is started and based in the US.

 

And the cost? The same exact frame, with the same exact lenses, cost more than twice. And I'm not counting taxes (no sale tax in HK). You call that better quality? I call that rip off. Because obviously they are of the same quality.

 

Ok, I broke my contacts (from a HK lenscrafter) at the airport years ago when I went to the states, and when I walked into lenscrafter in US for the first time, I was denied any possible replacement. I don't have a US prescription, that's y. I was forced to go blind for the first few weeks in the US. That's rotten. I had so many forms to fill, and I have literally been kissing papers for those weeks.

 

Glasses is a necessity, and its not abusable like drugs. Y can't a person, with a perfectly suitable broken glasses, buy a same exact replacement for it? Y do I need an eye doctor's yes to do so?

 

Of course, I'm a big advocate of annual check up, I do it diligently myself. My distaste has little to do with doctor, just how the profits go to the WRONG people. Wake up, the prescription is not for your benefit at all!

 

All your arguments are valid, but a licensed optician can do all that, without any extra cost to the customer. As for Katran, you can still walk in a vendor with a doctor's prescription and get glasses in HK. That's freedom of choice! And the prescription money goes to YOUR trusted doctor.

 

Y can't you guys see thru the political smoke screen?

[Katran 0]

As for Katran, you can still walk in a vendor with a doctor's prescription and get glasses in HK. That's freedom of choice! And the prescription money goes to YOUR trusted doctor.

 

How else can you get them?

Here that is the only way that you can get them. You go to the doctor he does the check writes the prescription and then you go to the best place that offers what you want for what ever reason price style company and you get your glasses from them. I never said anything about not having a freedom of choice. There are many and I mean many places to get the glasses. Once they are done I go back to my doctor so she could make the check on the glasses to double check the work they did on them. So my doctor and the place I get the glasses have nothing in common.