Buying Contact Lenses and Spectacles

[eitherorlando]

Next shopping question.

Does anybody have experience of buying contact lenses and spectacles, either in Walmart or any other outlet in the Orlando area, please?

How do the prices, availability and speed of manufacture fare, and are the eye tests reliable?

Regards,
Frank

[Maureen Edwards]

I was advised to have your eye test done here in the UK and then take the prescription over with you. The designer frames can be up to around 60% cheaper than here, so I have been told. Not sure about contacts.

I intend to take advantage on my next trip. I have only really seen Wal-Mart, but I am sure there must be lots more?? I think there is a shop at Belz, but not sure of the name, anyone know?

[blott]

Yes, we've got glasses with a UK prescription in Wal-Mart (good service, they arrive within a week) and they are much cheaper than in the UK. If you have any problems with them when you come home, Asda will fix them for you if you tell them you bought them in Wal-Mart.

You can also get them in places like J C Penney (http://www.jcpenney.com

You can even buy them online from http://www.eyeglass.com/ with shipping to the UK if you know your prescription!

Oh, I almost forgot... one tip is not to look for photochomic sunglasses (non-prescription) as they cost a fortune in Florida (like $150 upwards!) and you can buy them for about £20 in Boots in the UK.

[fiona]

I got some glasses in Wal-mart in January having taken my prescription with me. They took 10 days to get my prescription in the UK and only a weekend in Florida!

Prices were in dollars what they are in pounds at home.

However, pair from UK are much better - don't slip or anything!

[MTP]

I think that like many things you will find prices in the US simillar Dollar to Pound as the UK. My only comments would be that the styles in the US tend to be slightly behind European (the UK is also behind Mainland European styles as well, but not as fas behind as US), but in saying that they have been catching up quickly. For cheap specs you are probably best looking at Cyprus, where they are supposedly very cheap. You may find that in some areas the eye examinations are not as cheap as the UK, so taking your prescription with you would be an advantage. This may vary from State to State as legislation varies.

My only comment about contact lenses is to remember that you are putting something into your eye that shouldn't be there, and there are obvious risks (worst case scenario could be sight threatening). This is one of the reason that the sale of non-prescription fashion lenses is quite scary, and is only possible in the UK due to a loophole in the legal jargon. One of the other problems you can run into is if something does go wrong where does the blame lie? In the UK direct and internet sales of contact lenses can look cheap, until you figure in the professional fees required. The contact lenses are not allowed to be supplied without a prescription and if you have managed to get them online without one and something does go wrong then, unfortunately, you could find yourself with not much recourse. I would be very wary, therefore, of buying a foreign body to put into your eye without knowing that you had support and aftercare if it goes wrong. In our practice we tend to find that our patient's are loyal and we don't loose many to competitors and direct sales, mainly because we can show that price-wise we are more than competitive and we provide a high level of care.

One other point to consider is, worst case scenario, if you did buy contact lenses abroad and something went wrong when you got home, would you be happy to pay for private medical treatment to put it right? At least if you buy them in the UK, even from internet/mail order companies, tax is paid into the UK system. This could get into a whole other discussion about the boundaries of private and state medical care, but your sight is a precious gift, that we, all to often, take for granted.

As I have stated before I am an optometrist, so I admit to being wholly biased. It does annoy me, though, when people come in to ourselves for repairs/adjustments for spectacles purchased elsewhere. Then again, I do feel that the UK's attitude to glasses is a little bizarre!

[chrisj]

Cyprus is a lot cheaper for glasses, also dentists as well

[eitherorlando]

OK. Thanks again for your help.
All points noted.
Frank

[chrisj]

ive just got a fax from my mate in cyprus who we are staying with in October, their
optician can do me glasses for £50 which here cost £250, also have booked a dentist
for some work and its in the turkish side and its £4 check up and £10 a crown etc
so thats where im going to get my teeth done

[mikewj]

I seem to have a number of mother-in-law stories from last November's trip.....unfortunately they are all true !

This one relates to her having forgotten to pack her glasses, meaning that she could barely see.

We decided to go to our local Walmart (on 192 by Medieval Times) to buy her a new pair.

The optician was very helpful, giving us his home e-mail address so that we could phone home and get her prescription scanned and e-mailed to him. The glasses themselves took 24hrs to produce and the fitting took no time at all.

I cant remember the exact price, but they were a lot cheaper than back home in the UK and she now uses them as her standard set as they are more comfortable and look better than her original pair.