Varifocals seem wrongly fitted

[BurntBroccoli]

Went for an eye test last week at Boots, prescription changed from -2.25 to -1.25 and reading (which I've never needed before) to +1.50. I'm 56.
Optician recommended varifocals so I wouldn't need 2 different pairs of new glasses.
I opted for the best Zeiss ones with all the coatings to reduce glare when I'm driving at night (which has been a huge problem). Came to £484 with frames, lenses and eye test (with the optional 3d scan as I wanted to fully check my eye health).

Picked up the new glasses today, tried them on in the shop and I don't think they're right. So disappointed. If the glasses are a little bit down my nose I can see okay but the window to the side is very blurry (they said they would be a wide field of vision when they were selling them). Assistant who fitted said you need to get used to them and move your head which seems crap! I asked what if I didn't get on with them and was told I could swap for 2 pairs of normal glasses. Is this right? Can't I just get a refund?

I put them on to walk around town but still bad. I had to wear my old glasses to drive home in as I felt I would be a danger wearing the new ones!

What are your experiences please of varifocals and or Boots Opticians?

@PommelHoss

Fit as in to your face? Or remaking the prescription?

Fitting my face, ears etc. I think they did re check my prescription but it was ok.
The fine adjustments can be problematic with some styles of frames. Those were rimless titanium frames which weren't the best for varifocals I discovered.
I have a different, more rigid pair now.

Yes she said they would exchange for 2 pairs of glasses if I didn't get on with them. Have 30 days to do this. Not sure if I can just exchange for one pair (I don't need specific readers as I can get away with the cheap off the shelf ones) and then get a refund of balance.

I had new ones from Boots recently. They didn't seem right, so I went back and they adjusted them as they weren't sitting right so the "zones"
weren't in the right place.

Definitely go back, you have 30 days to try them out. It could be a simple fix.

@PommelHoss

Yes I know - it's a lot of money to pay!
This was my first time at Boots and previously at Specsavers they've spent ages getting the fit right.

The zones only seem correct when they are quite far down my nose which isn't comfortable. I can't see when they are in the correct position. I think the dispenser has marked them incorrectly.
Hopefully they will put new lenses in and I'll try again. I might get them to remove the weird blue coating and put an ordinary one on too.

I've got all singing and dancing ones from Specsavers. When I picked the up the assistant told me to not wear them all rhe time until I'd got used to them. I was really unsure when he said that to me. I've not really had any problems other than I do struggle on the stairs with them and have to take them off when I'm hoovering.

I've worn them for decades. They are brilliant.

Occasionality they have needed tweaking at the beginning. Just go back and get them adjusted. Sometimes it is as simple as adjusting the frame so they sit right - other times they have to replace the lenses. Kist go back thill they get them right.

The assistant said the opposite to me! Put them on in the morning and don't take them off.
I think I'd be a danger to myself doing that at the moment! I'm definitely not wearing them when I go up and downstairs.

Thanks yes I'm definitely going back!
Can't afford to lose £500!

My second or third pair had the lens changes in the wrong place - I couldn't see the cookbook without tilting my head back. Took them back and specsavers could see they'd got it wrong and sorted it.

I've had varifocals for years. Only once were they not right when I collected them. The prescription was wrong.

I have just had new specs from Boots. Complex prescription. Perfect.

The thing about stairs is to remember to look down - i.e. bend your head down so that you are looking through the distance part of the lens at the top, rather than the near-vision part at the bottom (which is what will happen if you just glance down with your eyes).

I have worn them for decades and definitely do not remove them every time I am using stairs!

I think not only is the fitting of the them wrong, I think the prescription is too (now I've looked into it a bit more online). The weird blue colour is because of the Zeiss drivesafe lenses apparently that I chose.

Normally I would research all this stuff before I committed to buying, but they kind of ushered me into the fitting straightaway of the varifocals.

I told optician during my eye test that I wanted them mostly for driving and a slight reading enhancement. My middle distance should be near to zero (for computer screen).
They are still definitely blurry when I've tried them again today.

Do you think because they got the prescription wrong, they would have to offer a full refund as they are not fit for purpose? I think Specsavers offer a full no quibble guarantee so may just go there if I get my money back.

Yes I'm thinking that now. The near sighted area should have a much bigger band across the top. At the moment it's about 90 degrees! Definitely unsafe for driving in any shape or form and I can't turn my head that much!

I no longer have coatings on my lenses as I found that they broke down before I'm due for new glasses. Yes they have a hard life and no I don't look after them well and it may be that coatings have improved in the last ten years My first pair of varifocals did take some getting used to, going downstairs was a nightmare but after that pair I've never needed any adjustment period.

About seven years ago after I was ushered towards £500 specs (certainly not Savers) I took my prescription to Asda and I can't fault them. I do a lot of close work and I've been struggling to thread a needle, I've now got occupational varifocals, lots of close and middle distance vision (embroidery and computer) with just a bit of long distance. No good for driving (I use my standard varis there) but excellent for what I spend most of my time doing. At £45 I have a downstairs pair and a computer pair, I might go back for a handbag pair. If you tell them what you want the lenses for then they should come up with a make that has the transitions in the right place to fit your needs.

If they are right when halfway down your nose then you know what "right" should look like - go back and tell them that they are fine in position A but not when worn correctly. Let them fix their problem, clearly there is a problem if they only work for you in the wrong position.

Just tried them on my computer with large monitor and I can't see a bloody thing even directly in front. If I tip my head back, I can slightly see things a bit clearer but I can't do that all day! I already have neck issues.

They are definitely going back! The whole point was to only have one pair and that was how they were sold to me.

Think I'm just going to get single distance glasses, perhaps Zeiss Clearvision if anyone has any experience of those lenses and cost?
I don't think I'd need to fork out for over 1.6 index as my prescription is low.

I got mine about 18 months ago, from wearing single vision distance glasses before that.

The option told me it could take a while to get used to them, and to be careful on stairs to begin with (and to move my head according to where I wanted to see).

I found it so hard initially. My brain just didn't want to cooperate. It took 3-4 weeks to fully adjust, but I got there.

Your brain does have to do some work when you first get varifocals - it's worth persevering. Switching between reading and distance glasses is a mammoth PITA.

Just be aware that if you do go to Specsavers, they don't do Zeiss lenses.
They claim theirs are as good but they're not, at least not if you're used to Zeiss. One of their opticians told me it was because of the cost and not many people wanted them, so they don't need to bother selling them.

I would still persevere with correctly prescribed and fitted varifocals. As pp says, you need to allow your brain time to adjust. Once it has, you shouldn't have any problems.

I think the adjustment areas have been set completely wrong within the frames.
The distance area is not the full width of the glasses when it should be with these expensive Zeiss lenses. If I push them down my nose, then the distance area I can see expands considerably even when I move my eyes side to side.

The middle distance area is not correct for viewing my computer screen even when I tip my head back until my eyes comes into focus. I asked for middle distance to be set to zero as I don't wear glasses for screen use at the moment though often write notes when on Teams etc. so could use a very slight long sight adjustment for that.
I think I actually only need +1.0 forking sight too (just found my old cheap readers that I used to wear with my contacts and they are +1. and my near vision is actually perfect in those.

So I don't think it's the fact they are varifocals per se. It's the wrong prescription with pupil distance set at completely the wrong place.

Exactly the same thing happened to me. I went back to the opticians (Asda) and the dispenser said it was due to the bow at the front of my new frame. I was definitely not convinced by this but he went and heated up and bent the frame a bit and I could suddenly see perfectly! No more having to have them further down my nose. Make an appointment to go back and see if they can adjust them.

I have Specsavers verifocals (tailored lenses). They have been excellent. Initially, they rubbed my ears and slipped down my nose. I took them back for adjustment and the optical manager said I should never have been sold the particular frames because they didn't fit my nose. They ordered a new pair and let me keep the old pair until the new pair were in.

In that case, get them adjusted. But I wouldn't give up on varifocals on the basis of a badly fitting/adjusted pair.

Okay went into the optician to explain and they said I need another eye test to check which is fair enough. Mentioned swapping to the single vision Zeiss lens and they said to see what optician says.
Also noticed that the current Zeiss drivesafe are so smeary even after cleaning. Dispenser said it was because of the coating . They'll make LED glare a nightmare I'm sure!

I have also found that one of my eyes has suddenly got a lot better in the last two years for distance. I also now don't need intermediate correction, and only a very slight correction for reading. Is it possible for this to happen, or did the opticians get it wrong 2 years ago?! That was at boots too.

It's not really fair to say "Boots are useless" or "Specsavers are better than Boots" because its all down how good the individual optometrist is, and then how well the optician measures the fit of the frames and the optical centres relative to each eye, and then how well the manufacturer actually makes the glasses. All of which explains why varifocals seem to be problematic more often than not (and also why getting varifocals online can be very dodgy). A good optician will always check and tweak glasses, in my experience its never been that they've been made to the wrong prescription, but that they have just been poorly made.

I've got a problem currently which I have never had with single vision glasses or contact lenses, where if I read with varifocals for any length of time, then look at a distance I get a double image in one eye for ten minutes or so. The optician (Boots as it happens) talked to me at length about "prism" in varifocals as an explanation of the problem but weren't able to offer a solution, so I'm actually in the same boat, wondering of I can get my near £500 back and flounder around with two pairs. Ho Hum. The optician also told me how she could see that cataracts were developing (I knew anyway, a long way to go), but part of me was thinking, yes, maybe lens replacement would solve all these problems.