The truth about lens prescription costs.
haha Too Funny
All the same, I bought my last couple of pairs glasses online. $90 versus $600. Easy call. But the trick is that you need exact measurements. That’s not too difficult if you have someone help you, though.
And I haven’t bought contact lenses in a store since attempting to do so at Barlow’s office years ago. I had a 2-month-old prescription in my hand, and they told me that I needed another exam. So I just ordered them online (for half what he was charging). Sure, it took a few weeks for the contacts to arrive, but meanwhile Wal-Mart was more than happy to give me free samples 
[quote=“MiG”]All the same, I bought my last couple of pairs glasses online. $90 versus $600. Easy call. But the trick is that you need exact measurements. That’s not too difficult if you have someone help you, though.
And I haven’t bought contact lenses in a store since attempting to do so at Barlow’s office years ago. I had a 2-month-old prescription in my hand, and they told me that I needed another exam. So I just ordered them online (for half what he was charging). Sure, it took a few weeks for the contacts to arrive, but meanwhile Wal-Mart was more than happy to give me free samples [/quote]
Good idea about the on-line glasses shopping! I will try that next time. I’ve spent a lot on new glasses for my family at Omni Eye.
I just dont need glasses anymore. Dr Jesus cured me.
Buying glasses online is really taking off, mostly due to the better prices that they offer over retail stores.
Over at our ClearlyContacts.ca Facebook page, we’re often giving away Free Glasses (only pay s&h) to first time customers who want to try buying online. I think the best benefit here is that if you aren’t happy with your glasses, you can return them no questions asked and we’ll even pay for the return shipping label. I agree that most people are afraid that the measurements they input won’t come up properly when they receive their glasses, but with free return shipping, its pretty much risk-free.
PS. I’m an employee of ClearlyContacts.ca, born and raised in Prince Rupert (graduated 06).
The Lord moves in mysterious ways…
I was wondering if any of the other HTMF readers has tried Clearly Contacts. I convinced someone I know to give it a try and they got a pair of single vision glasses for $30 and that included antiscratch, antiglare and anti-uv coatings. There was an issue with one of the lenses having a small chip out of it so customer service provided a return shipping label and there will be new glasses here by the end of the week. I should mention that the glasses took only three days from the order date to arrive in Prince Rupert. I’m not shilling for Clearly Contacts but I’m impressed so far by the level of service - it’s the way online ordering is supposed to work. No fuss, no mess and quick delivery. I think that brick and mortar retailers do need to pay attention when online companies are able to provide the same product in pretty much the same time frame. I’m not saying that every online retailer is good because there are many out there that aren’t but when you find one that provides goods or a service that you need or want, it’s very easy to make the choice to spend your money outside the community. The challenge is for the local retailers to be able to deliver goods and services in a manner that keeps customers spending locally rather then sending money out of town. I still am willing to pay somewhat of a premium on my goods and services to keep business in Prince Rupert but I can’t justify paying a hefty premium.
My last two pairs of glasses were from ClearlyContacts, and I’ve bought contacts from them since my first (and last) attempt to get contacts from Barlow’s office. Satisfied with both.
The trick to the glasses is the measurements – have a friend help. It makes a big difference.
competition is healthy. now that dr barlow has closed his office you can fully expect omni to increase their prices. i personally hope another optometrist or at least an optician opens an office to give omni a run…
meanwhile as a new citizen of prince rupert i will take my optical business to terrace.
re: clearly contacts - you should not purchase your contacts from anyone but a licensed optician. you cannot get proper follow up for eye health care from a website. jmho. of course as a recently retired optician of 23 years i guess it is a humble but educated opinion.
[quote=“urbane_girl”]
re: clearly contacts - you should not purchase your contacts from anyone but a licensed optician. you cannot get proper follow up for eye health care from a website.[/quote]
Yes, the doctor that gave me my initial prescription for contacts is the one that does my followup. He doesn’t have to be the one to sell me the contacts, though. Now that would be anti-competitive.
Yes it is.
[quote=“MiG”]
[quote=“urbane_girl”]
re: clearly contacts - you should not purchase your contacts from anyone but a licensed optician. you cannot get proper follow up for eye health care from a website.[/quote]
Yes, the doctor that gave me my initial prescription for contacts is the one that does my followup. He doesn’t have to be the one to sell me the contacts, though. Now that would be anti-competitive.
Yes it is.[/quote]
“competition is healthy”
pssshaw such heresy that is.
Here in the Rain Forest, that’s not something we concern ourselves with
Really wherever do you get your ideas from 
I agree that one needs to keep a relationship going with an Optometrist. I don’t wear contacts because my eyes don’t like them and/or the solutions. Can the poster with the 23 years experience in eye care expand a bit more on the contact lens issue? Why is it important to have Optometrist interaction at a greater level with contacts than with eye glasses? Especially if a person has been wearing contacts for awhile. I know I go to an Optometrist to get my vison checked every two years and to have my eyes checked for diseases etc.
I don’t think it should matter where you get your glasses or contacts as long as you are getting your eyes tested regularly from an Optician. I ordered my daughter contacts from Clearly/Contacts and they are the exact same kind that she got from Coastal. She probably would have got them from Omni but they wanted to test her eyes again and she had just had them tested at Coastal in August.
You mean Optometrist.
I agree about where you get your glasses or contacts. I buy my contacts thru Clearly Contacts.ca and I am considering buying glasses but I am hesitant because I worry about the fit.
this article is a really good case in point against online contact lens ordering and unfortunately not a unique story. it is not the fault of clearly contacts or other sites that people abuse the ordering but they have no way to regulate the orders, no way to ensure the rx is correct or even up to date (which is every year for under 19 and every two years for adults to 65), and no way to know if that customer has ever actually been accurately fit or ever fit at all with the contact they are ordering. someone could watch that commercial for air optix day & nights and think ‘oh yeah i can sleep in my lenses!!’ except those lenses are not for everyone. i personally wear the air optix aqua but cannot wear the day & nights because i reacted to the material, same company but different product…
my most recent experience was in august when a patient was visiting her dad and needed lenses. he decided to order them online and decided he was going to order the least expensive ones because they are all the same anyway. 
THEN he brings her to see me with puffy, puss filled eyes. what does he expect me to do? so i send her to her optometrist who marks her rx with NO CONTACTS FOR ONE YEAR which means since she is only 16 she will have to see him again before he will remove that restriction. think her dad is still stoked about the $6 he saved on those cheaper lenses? the optometrists dont’ put that restriction on a prescription unless there are serious concerns so any contact lens fitter will deny her when they get that rx - but she can go ahead and order from clearly contacts anytime because they will never even see her prescription. she could permanently damage her eyes if she doesn’t follow the advice of her doc and who will be held responsible? if she was seeing a contact lens fitter and they filled it and her eyes were damaged she could file a complaint with our college. nobody regulates online ordering sites though. you might think because YOU are reasonable that everyone is but you know that saying ‘common sense is so rare you’d think its a superpower’?..
there is a reason that contact lens fitters have to go to school and write exams to license and then have mandatory continuing education credits to re-license YEARLY. contact lenses are a medical device. and again - it is just my opinion but i do have experiences that qualify it.
They could regulate prescriptions and protect themselves by having the purchaser scan/mail in a copy of their prescription rather than keying the information in. It would however possibly cost them some sales but at the same time provide a level of protection for the seller and purchaser. Case in point - my eyeglass prescription was two months over the date on it. However I only get my eyes checked every two years and when they present me with my prescription it is always only valid for a year. I’m not sure if that is the law that prescriptions are only valid for a year or a money grab. If the government feels that prescriptions are only valid for a year then medical plans should be providing coverage for once a year eye checks.
Has anyone tried zennioptical.com/ for glasses? I’m surprised at how cheap they are even compared to Clearly Contacts and even with the international shipping charge.
Even with it being dirt cheap. I still want to try my glasses on before I buy them. And I also want to be able to have someone fit them properly for me. Why not support your local businesses, even if it’s going to terrace to shop at walmart. Your eye sight is so important, why would anyone want to mess around with that?
optiboard.com/forums/showthr … y?p=413133
CBC Marketplace tonight is looking into the optical industry and discussing the dispensing of eyewear prescriptions by Clearly Contacts.