I know that I have been on CC too long when someone asks me a question and I tell them, I have to see what my people at CC think about this and what are their recommendations.
Well my post a friends, I am looking for your advice;
What has been your experience ordering eyeglasses on line from places like Warby Parker, glasses usa, etc.
Who in your opinion provided you with great customer service and most importantly accuracy in fulfilling your prescription and a variety of frames/add ons at an affordable price
I have two pairs of glasses from Zenni. My regular glasses cost about $95. My sunglasses were $88 because they were having a sale. I have progressive lenses, got the coating, etc.
I got one pair of $450 glasses at my optician, and asked them to note the PD…pupillary distance…which they did. You need that to get glasses online. They give a way to measure it yourself, but I figured the optician would do a perfect job.
I was concerned that my Zenni glasses would need adjusting when I received them. I took them out of the box and they fit perfectly.
Zenni all the way. Everyone in the family buys glasses at Zenni. No way we’re ever going back to brick and mortar optical shops with their huge mark-ups.
I think it depends on how bad your prescription is. My H who has fairly good eye sight loved his Zenni glasses. I have terrible vision, a very bad astigmatism, and a corneal shape issue and the Zenni’s were just OK for me despite being the right prescription and PD. I used them as a back up only because they gave me a headache.
Following. I was thinking about using a 1 yo prescription and buy online too but hubby suggested to go to Costco instead.
My sister has been proving me glasses via her Ophthalmology offices in CA. But she just sold both offices and retired. Now I find myself not knowing what to do.
Did you check out your local Costco @sybbie719 ? Ours has a lot of selections and I can always trust Costco price. I have an appointment with them in a week.
We got each S two pairs of glasses from EyeBuyDirect. They both wear daily contacts, but they desperately needed backup glasses. Younger S had no idea where his were and they were from middle school. Older Ss weren’t much better.
Each got a both pair for a total of $70-80 including shipping. They have normal prescriptions, though older S is a -4.0. our eye doctor’s prescriptions are hard to read so I used the online chat and they helped me decipher it. Our doctor won’t do the PD measurements, so I did that myself. The EyeBuyDirect website tells you how and has a ruler you can print out. If I can do it, anyone can.
It was great for what we needed. I’d hestiate if I needed bifocals or something odd.
I’ve had great success with Warby Parker. I have single vision and progressives, and both are great (I use the single just for driving, going to the movies. Progressives at work). I don’t have a crazy complicated script, but I do have astigmatism. I’ve loved all the glasses I’ve gotten and the try before you buy service has been easy.
I also buy my glasses at Costco, this way when they need a physical adjustment, there’s someone I can turn to, quickly. I’m skittish about buying lenses online. The frames I’d buy online in a heartbeat.
I ordered from Warby Parker and I am pleased with the progressive lenses I got. Also loved that I could order 5 frames and try them on at home. No problems and much cheaper than the doctors office.
There was a great thread on CC before that had tips on ordering glasses online. It explained the numbers on the inside of the arms of your glasses to help with fit. Ironically, I tried to follow the suggestions and my recent zenni glasses don’t look very good (prescriptions are fine; frames don’t fit my face as well as I thought they would). You might want to try to find that thread and then I’ll hope you are better able to follow the suggestions that I did! I have ordered from zenni as well as coastal for years and have had great success.
What I’m disappointed by is that I loved my glasses from zenni two orders ago and they retired the frames. I called and asked if they could reuse my frames and just replace the lenses and, unfortunately, they would not.
Besides the prescription, you also need the distance between your eyes. For multifocal lenses (lined or progressive), you also need the vertical measurement from the bottom of the lens to your eye (this is frame specific) so that they know where the reading portion starts.
I had good experiences with Zenni with both my D’s single vision glasses and my sunglasses, which have some tolerance for being accurate.
My everyday glasses - strong prescription progressives - have had to go back to my local specialty shop at least once every time over the past 10 years. Either a production problem or a re-exam to change the prescription. Given that track record, and how sensitive I am to accuracy, I’ve stayed with my local shop.
(My optometrist once told me that engineers were his most challenging customers. That was after I asked him about the Abbe number of various lens material options and the impact on chromatic aberrations).
I"m another very happy Warby Parker customer…my progressives were hundreds less than at the optician. That said, I’m lucky enough to have a store in my city. I don’t think online would work for me. I have a very small head/face and close set eyes and always have lots of trouble finding frames anywhere that don’t look too big, so I need to go in person. Their customer service is great, both in store and on the phone (my son’s pair got scratched by a puppy, we used the lens replacement but they just gave him a whole new pair, free…then later he had a scratch, again a free replacement via mail, very fast…and this was all within the first year!!!
I also wonder what those who order online do for adjustments?
The people at costco are very nice and I think would do adjustments if they are minor. The lady there knows us and doesn’t ask if these glasses are from Costco. I recently broke off the screw in my glasses and she was going to help fix them but couldn’t so sent me to a small shop and they did it for free. I know these glasses are from BJ’s, but I have some from Costco too.
Just a note - my regular optometrist will always do adjustments on my glasses no matter where purchased. So that shouldn’t be a barrier to purchasing online. You just take the glasses with you to whoever wrote the prescription.
I just buy all my glasses from Costco. Their prices are low enough and service is great at the place 5 minutes from our house. I feel it’s only fair to buy it from the place I will want service from. They’ve replaced my glasses at no charge when they broke or I had a problem with the glasses—no questions asked and no hassles.
Sadly, I must admit not all Costco’s are created equal. I love the store nearest to our home but really dislike the higher volume store in downtown Honolulu. The service at the two places are night and day.
The people I know whose glasses really don’t seem to fit them (way too big) all got their glasses online. I think there might be something useful about getting advice at a shop.
we’ve done Parker Warby and had great success. (BlueWife and Blue D are kinda picky, but never me. lol)
However, we are within a short drive of one of PW’s retail stores, so we’ve had their optician on-site measure. Glasses arrived in the mail within a week. A friend also uses PW and she broke her glasses – stepped on them – and when she told PW, they said, ‘no problem, still within the warranty period’ and they replaced them at no charge.