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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think glasses are too expensive

91 replies

CrazyHippo · 30/05/2018 16:30

I had eye surgery 18months ago and will need glasses indefinitely. I will need varifocals too..

I was told to wait 12 weeks post surgery to get glasses which i did..16 weeks infact.
Standard frames and decent varifocals set me back £190.

Just a year later my vision has changed and im going to need new glasses but really cant justify 200pound again just because 1 eye has changed.

Ive shopped around but that makes little difference.

Not sure what im really asking..more of a moan than anything I think.

OP posts:
Gilead · 30/05/2018 17:00

Just got dd some lovely specs from Glasses Direct. £35 including p&p and arrived within a week. They have lots of deals.

Gilead · 30/05/2018 17:01

Lonicera I have varifocals that I've ordered online. Most companies have an option in which you can choose to do the measurements yourself and explain in detail how to do it.

Mumminmum · 30/05/2018 17:03

£190 expensive? Oh my dear summer child .... Let's hear from you again when it is £600-£800.

Thank God for lasik.

BrazzleDazzleDay · 30/05/2018 17:03

I always just buy the cheap nhs range ones, never spent more than 40. seems nuts to me to spend £££

BlueBug45 · 30/05/2018 17:03

How do you glasses to fit your head?

On a lot of the websites they tell you what measurements to take from your current frames. You then enter those into the site and they return a those that are an exact match or near match.

DGRossetti · 30/05/2018 17:04

I'm not sure that buying varifocals online is a great idea because the measurement has to be so precise.

Judging from my experience at Specsavers, the most important measurement seems to be the wallet.

Thehop · 30/05/2018 17:04

I’ve just got mine from superspecs online. Lenses frames and scratch resistant coating cane to £17.95. They also verified my prescription with NHS

Mumminmum · 30/05/2018 17:05

No, the £600-800 wasn't in Britain but it was after the state had paid 30% of the expense.

PollyPelargonium52 · 30/05/2018 17:06

I only spent c £55 a year ago on two pairs of varifocal at ASDA opticians.

I did use the child tax credit entitlement but I still thought that was cheap.

Had I known it would be so affordable I would have gone sooner I kept thinking it would be hundreds of pounds which I simply do not have whatsoever. Which was why I was on an old prescription for way too long.

FreeMantle · 30/05/2018 17:06

I went to an independent optician to find out my Vision Express prescription was way off. Annoying.
My best glasses are from an online store.

FASH84 · 30/05/2018 17:06

Some employers will contribute if you have a screen based job, mine pay for eye test and £75 towards the glasses, I know it's not everything but it helps. My prescription is not as expensive as yours last time I got two pairs bogof for £125 (£75 covered by work)

rosie1959 · 30/05/2018 17:09

I think my last pair of varifocals were about £500
My DH last pair were nearer £600

Orangecake123 · 30/05/2018 17:10

I wanted to save money so tried tesco, I paid around £120 for my first pair, because the assistant told me she recommend my lens be thinned.

I bought my current ones for £25 from specsavers.

LoniceraJaponica · 30/05/2018 17:14

I have a complicated prescription:
Extremely short sighted - need thinner lenses
Require varifocals
Astigmatism
A very small head, which massively limits my choice of frames

I would far rather an expert fitted my glasses than rely on me maybe getting it wrong, then faffing about going backwards and forwards returning glasses.
I also prefer to keep someone local in employment.

ToadOfSadness · 30/05/2018 17:14

I had surgery on one eye so was planning on getting just one lens changed in the ridiculously overpriced crappy plastic frames I ended up with, however as they have never fitted in spite of going back umpteen times I am going to look elsewhere and get new lenses in my old frames instead, the only dilemma is whether to wait until I have had surgery in the other eye or I will be doing it all over again.

I hadn't bought frames for a long time and was a bit underwhelmed by the choice and the assistant just kept bringing me frames at £200 plus, no other options offered. I will not be going back there as the service has been terrible and they can't even get my name and address right.

I also have varifocals and expensive lenses but the rip off with the nasty own brand frames was the last straw. 'Family run' indeed, means nothing, they were shit from start to finish.

I was also pressured into getting sunglasses which of course I can't use until I get a new lens so have bought some clip-ons for my glasses, although am using old ones now which came with them.

DinkyDaisy · 30/05/2018 17:16

Cost of my glasses gone up massively since entered varifocal stage.
Used Specsavers but might try Asda next time.
Now, Specsavers got me to get 'taylored' varifocals and not standard. Is there really a difference apart from cost?
I get cheapest frames I can to get buy one get one free offer- though may not bother with that next time as cost still seems to rise...

sprinklesandsauce · 30/05/2018 17:16

I’m very shortsighted but started to go long sighted too so time for varifocals. I like nice frames as I have to wear them every day, they were £115. Then I have to have ultra thin glass due to lens strength, anti scratch, anti glare and reactalites, total cost with platinum varifocals was £450!

I removed the anti glare and went down to gold vari, and it was £300. They then upgraded for £10 back to platinum vari.

But I had my last glasses for 3.5 years, and these will do 2 or more.

It is an awful lot of money but I don’t spend on shoes, clothes or makeup so my glasses are my one luxury. It’s not the frames that cost though, it’s all the stuff.

Paleblue · 30/05/2018 17:17

They are very expensive. Especially when your prescription changes every year. I got mine at an optician who gives you the option to pay monthly over 12 or 18 months. I pay over 18 months and then I can get a new pair and pay over 18 months again. It is interest free.

PollyPelargonium52 · 30/05/2018 17:18

I didn't think much of the location at ASDA as it was a v noisy environment and also the chair was rickety lol.

Still better than paying over the odds.

BoneyBackJefferson · 30/05/2018 17:19

I would far rather an expert fitted my glasses than rely on me maybe getting it wrong

Staff is opticians get very little training.

then faffing about going backwards and forwards returning glasses.

I still end up doing this even with the "expert" fitting them.

mintich · 30/05/2018 17:21

Specs add expensive but remember you wear them everyday and they are correcting your vision. It's not just an accessory, so if you think of price per wear it's not bad at all!

londonrach · 30/05/2018 17:22

I go to asda. £90 for two for designer glasses, thin lenses

mintich · 30/05/2018 17:22

Please don't get them online! Varifocals do need precise fitting and measurements

Branleuse · 30/05/2018 17:29

have you had a look at selectspecs.

They have loads of really nice frames for £6 and then with lenses added, it usually works out around £30 for me a pair

Didiplanthis · 30/05/2018 17:32

Vv shortsighted, astigmatism and migraine sufferer here too. By the time I have ultrathin coated lenses never change from 500. With cheap frames...