Specsavers - bad quality, where do you buy your prescription glasses

[Fere]

We have Specsavers on our High Street and have used them for a few years now. I am fine with their eye examinations. My problem is that the current set of mine and my son't prescription lenses is terrible. In under a year there are so many mini scratches on the surface of each, mine got a hairline crack out of nowhere. My son's frames broke under a year but I can't say it was 1005 due to their quality.

Where do you buy your prescription lenses/glasses from? I pay well over £200 for mine, with 2 week waiting because they have to be ordered to my prescription (bad astigmatism) and I just want to have something what is going to last at least at least a year without those terrible wear marks. I am pretty sure ones I had before the current pair weren't as scratched as the current ones.

Is there anything I can ask to make sure that if I go to an independent Optician I get a better quality item.

@PhoneLock Blue paper towel! I am horrified!! omg..

I’m very happy with Vision Express.

Tried may high street opticians as well as local ones, used Asda for a few years now, no problems at great prices, only downside at times I have waited for new stock to come in as I cannot find my shape (but then that happens everywhere else as well)

the routine of cleaning my glasses hasn't changed in the last few years so it can't be that @PhoneLock

no point asking them to replace my current lenses, I feel I need new prescription and was looking for ideas from others

Glasses direct. Quick, reliable and fair price. You can try frames before you order, too.

Specsavers! I only wear my glasses when out of the house and I don't look after them like I should (I use my sleeve to wipe the lenses for example and take them off with one hand rather than two) but I've hady current pair 4 years now. I bought some from a non-chain opticians the other year and the service was dreadful. I had to swap the first pair because I felt so rushed into choosing the frames that I didn't notice I'd picked out The Simpsons ones! The replacement pair just don't suit me either. In Specsavers I've always felt valued, never rushed and the frames people are really helpful and truthful about what does/doesn't suit me.

@PhoneLock Blue paper towel! I am horrified!! omg..

Yes, I know! He's learned his lesson. £200 for replacement lenses (from reglazemyglasses.com)

He now has boxes of Zeiss lens wipes on repeat order from Amazon. No more blue towel!

@katseyes7 - I'm an optometrist and my own son has a similar prescription and BTH it is really difficult to get it right. Specasavers appointments are really rushed and you need someone to spend a bit of time with you getting it right. Once they have a prescription, get them to put it into a frame and then try out the prescription in reception for 15 minutes or so (take a book with you), then if it isn't right they can adjust it. Often the phoropter heads don't give you a realistic idea of how your vision is going to be in glasses.

@Fere - are you sure that the coating hasn't come off? Occasionally you get a dodgy batch of lenses where the lenses haven't been cleaned sufficiently before the coating was applied.

underneaththeash That's very helpful, thank you so much. That sounds exactly what's happening. l'm still on the fence as to where to go next, but l will give it some thought. Thanks again.

Another vote for Glasses Direct. I get an eye test at any high street opticians and then buy online.

underneaththeash May l ask for a professional opinion on what l was told - basically that it "wasn't possible" to improve the vision in my 'blurred' eye, and that they could "reduce the focus" (l may not be using the correct term here) in the 'good' lens to "make the difference less obvious" ls that something that would normally be done, have l possibly misunderstood, or is it wrong?
l understand if you're not able to comment in a professional capacity. l'd just like to know if l'm stuck with blurred vision in one eye when reading or if it can actually be corrected. Thank you.

I’m sorry that’s really difficult to say. It depends on why it’s blurred. Sounds like you need a second opinion though.

Another vote for glasses direct, get my eyes tested at a specsavers type place then bum online. Just paid £60 for 2 pairs with thinned lenses, if I don't like them I can send them back for a full refund.

Obvs not bum online, order online.. Stupid phone..

I just got two pairs for £14 from Glasses Direct by using a 'double up' from them & Martin Lewis.

I've always found plastic lenses last longer than glass ones if that might help.

Glass only seems to last a year or two for me before there are too many wee scratches. Plastic lenses have lasted 5. Even stood on one and cracked it once and the crack didn't get any worse so I continued wearing it for another year afterwords xD

Specsavers is appalling. They have never once been able to make me a pair of varifocals I can see out of. The last pair was so blurry I couldn't see my way out of the shop = I would get used to this apparently.
No I wouldn't I made them take them back. They can't do complex prescriptions and are happy to send you away blind to drive home.
I get them from other opticians now and they make me fantastic - if expensive glasses.

I've always found plastic lenses last longer than glass ones if that might help.

That is odd because one of the advantages of glass over plastic is its far superior scratch resistance due to it's hardness.

"Glass spectacle lenses – i.e. lenses made from natural glass according to their professional classification – used to be the norm. They still have their place in optometry today thanks to their exceptional scratch resistance. "

Source: www.zeiss.co.uk/vision-care/better-vision/understanding-vision/plastic-or-glass-lenses-.html

I just want to add that also hair sprays and other sprays can affect the coating on a pair if glasses lenses and remove it slowly. I was only informed in the last couple of years. Suddenly made sense. Usually suspect to scratches is putting them face down and not on the arms to.
I personally like boots especially as you get points to and I enjoy the aftercare.

I agree with the scratches. I’ve had a few pairs from Specsavers, but their year got two new pairs. One I wore daily, the other just for odd occasions. The daily pair after 3 months developed some scratches, I took them into the store and they had a look. They basically told me that I had been cleaning them wrongly. I had only been cleaning them with the cloth they provided. They said the coating only covered “small surface scratches” which is in the terms and conditions not “deep” scratches which these were. Firstly I was never shown any terms and conditions in store before purchase but I tried to go do the “not fit for purpose” route, but they just continuously fobbed me off. 2nd pair developed a scratch smack bang in the middle of the lens after 10 wears maybe. Absolute dogshite. I’d kept them in cases, protected and cleaned only as suggested. Will never use them again. Now stuck with two pair of glasses that are now so scratched I can barely see out of them for the next year or so until I can afford more.

Now stuck with two pair of glasses that are now so scratched I can barely see out of them for the next year or so until I can afford more.

Have you considered getting just the lenses replaced? It's usually a lot cheaper than replacing the whole lot.

I've been going to Boots since I started wearing glasses years ago. They aren't the cheapest although that's partly as I only ever like designer frames but it's offset a bit by the fact you get boots points on them.
I started off in a massive city centre branch with loads of choice but you never knew which optician you would get then we moved and only have a small branch where we know all the opticians but they have less choice. 2 years ago we found out DS1 needed glasses and they have been absolutely fab with him. Can't fault them - never scratched or broken a pair of glasses except some sunglasses I once chucked in a bag without thinking but even then they were still wearable. I do take them in periodically for them to tighten them because I tend to put them on my head which loosens the fit over time - they do this for free, without appointment. Great quality, prescription is always spot on. Mine is relatively mild mainly an astigmatism but DSs is quite strong.

DSs have taken more of a beating but even when he broken them playing rugby with his brother they were fab about getting him sorted without fuss - temporary fix whilst they sorted some new ones. Optician was absolutely great with him at the test talking him through everything and answering all his (millions of) questions.

David Clulow.

I have severe astigmatism as well as short sight so the lenses alone are around £400.
Price has been comparable (allowing for inflation) at every high street optician I've used over the last couple of decades.

Last pair I got took 3 days from eye test to collection.

SquashedFlyBiscuit

I think each one is a franchise.

Our one is good and there's as great optician who is so much better one than the two independent ones I've been to.

They also replaced a £300 pair of glasses after a couple of months as I wasn't finding them comfortable,I found them a bit heavy.

I have been wondering who else I can try. DS has v strong prescription, and I never feel like they've got it correct.
I now need varifocals, and I had mine tested, and got a prescription which I've lost! but I didn't feel that the prescription was quite right for me. Yes- their appointments are too rushed.