Where to get glasses and contact lenses?

My DH and I are blind as bats. He wears glasses and I wear a combination of glasses and contacts.

Are there places to get glasses made and have a vision test? We have no problem paying for this out of pocket. I'm just looking for a reputable place in case our glasses are damaged or we need a new prescription.

Also, would it be better to stock up on American contact lenses or get a UK prescription?

I just had my eyes checked @ ASDA & had my contact lens evaluation as well and it cost me a total of £15 for the two exams. My contacts are monthly wear and I got 6 pair for £27. I've had a look around at getting a new pair of glasses and I've found some nice reasonable ones at Specsavers for £45. So it's not really that expensive for eye appointments and such.

There is also Vision Express and Specsavers that come to mind as well. I think even the larger Boots have opticians as well.

There are several reputable opticians in the UK, but the 4 main ones (who share 70% of the market) are:

- Specsavers: http://www.specsavers.co.uk/
- Boots Opticians: http://www.bootsopticians.com/default.aspx
- Dolland and Aitchison: http://www.danda.co.uk/
- Vision Express: http://www.visionexpress.com/

Eye tests in England are generally a standard charge of about £20 or so, although costs may differ slightly between retailers. However, quite often you can get offers or vouchers for free tests (eye tests are free for all residents of Scotland on the NHS, but in England, only certain people are entitled to free eye tests and everyone else in England pays about £20 per test). You can usually get a contact lens consultation as well for no extra charge and occasionally opticians will offer free contact lens trials.

I recently got new glasses at Specsavers - I paid £197 for an eye test, frames, thinned lenses with reactions (the reactions were free), plus anti-glare and anti-scratch coatings. I have attempted to get contact lenses in the past but apparently my eyes are too dry to cope with them .

I used to wear contacts and was on a subscription plan with Specsavers.  I think i paid something like £15 per month and had an ongoing supply of lenses  as well as my solution sent to my house.  I also basically had all of my exams free with the subscription.  It worked quite nicely and I never ran out of solution.  The price with them varies depending on what lenses you get.

I also had a bunch of vouchers as part of this programme that gave me something like 50% off frames and what not. About half way through the year I was stupid and wore my lenses on a flight back to the States and ended up scratching my eyes to bits and can no longer wear contacts.  I had several visits to the eye doc and these were all free and I was able to use my vouchers to get nicer glasses cheaper (I *think* I paid something like £150 for fancy frames, super thin lenses and anti-scratch coating) and I was then allowed to cancel my subscription with no problems.

Over all, I'd recommend Specsavers.

Thank you, all! The price ranges given are significantly cheaper than getting them here in the US. (Given the deductible and cost of frames with lenses). We are going to wait and get everything in the UK! Thanks for your great advice.

Thank you, all! The price ranges given are significantly cheaper than getting them here in the US. (Given the deductible and cost of frames with lenses).

Yeah, I've never paid much for my glasses in the UK - I didn't start paying for my tests or glasses until I was at university because if you're under the age of 16, or are 16, 17 or 18 and still in full-time education, then you can get your eye tests and glasses free on the NHS. You can pay for different frames though if you don't like the selection available on the NHS (which is usually pretty limited). Other people who are entitled to free tests on the NHS are listed here: http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/895.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=157

The glasses I just bought in May were my most expensive pair ever because I paid extra for the super thin lenses... the last frames I got (2007) cost me £103 for the test, the frames and the lenses (with free reactions and all the coatings). The time before (2003), I paid £85 for frames and basic lenses, plus I got a free eye test and a free pair of prescription sunglasses as well.

Last year I asked about contacts again as well, but the optician said that because my eyes were so dry, I would only be able to wear them for a maximum of 5 hours at a time... but it would still cost me £15 per month for them. They offered me a free 30-day trial, but it didn't seem worth paying out if I couldn't wear them much, so I decided not to bother.

Boots have a good 2 for 1 on glasses deal too.   

I've had numerous bad experiences getting a correct contact lens prescription (I have astigmatism but nothing major) in London at otherwise good opticians, so I don't mess about anymore and I go straight to 20/20 on Tottenham Court Road, who are EXCELLENT and who actually saved my life (they spotted that the bleeding in my eyes was a symptom of something else, which led to my diagnosis and BMT).

But their glasses and lenses prices are insane. For glasses I love Glasses Direct (the pair I wear cost me £25 total), and for contact lenses I love Postoptics. When I went to buy more contact lenses a few months ago, Postoptics were less than half the cost of the same lenses at 20/20!

But contact lens solution is ridiculously expensive here in the UK, so I always get friends to bring a bunch back from the states for me. On my last load, two big bottles of Renu in the states cost the same amount as one small bottle here.

I've had numerous bad experiences getting a correct contact lens prescription (I have astigmatism but nothing major) in London at otherwise good opticians, so I don't mess about anymore and I go straight to 20/20 on Tottenham Court Road, who are EXCELLENT and who actually saved my life (they spotted that the bleeding in my eyes was a symptom of something else, which led to my diagnosis and BMT).

I went to 20/20 on squirrellypoo's recommendation and they were great.  I wear rigid gas permeable lenses and my eyes are tough to fit -- and they were excellent.  I bought my contact lenses directly from them and they weren't more expensive than my particular ones would have been in the US, but their glasses prices are definitely stratospheric.  The bummer is that they have great inventory, but the prices...yikes. 

I found buying glasses cheaper in the US.  My last pair of glasses here cost the bomb! 

But - they are a very high correction prescription & therefore super-duper compressed lenses (to make the lenses thin & lightweight), also state-of-the-art varifocals, with coatings etc, and designer frames (my bad).  Definite sticker shock!  (and I know they would have been a lot cheaper in the US - I'd have paid fewer dollars for them than I paid in pounds (units) meaning a lot cheaper)

I think it depends on what you need though - something basic or more involved, IYKWIM?

My contacts - as/when I choose to wear them, are around £25-28 monthly which includes the lenses (monthly wear) & solution for the month.  However, they are a newer silica-gel based toric lens - not plastic (special kind of solution too for the silica material) - that allows complete oxygen access to the eye (plus being for astigmatism).  I don't wear them every day though, so I get two months out of a pair (or more until they start bugging me).  Not sure I'll continue with them because I don't wear them enough to justify the cost, plus I have to have reading glasses with them anyway. 

Something I found here (uk) with my daughter, who is blind as a bat without her glasses, is there aren't any places near us that have a lab to create the glasses on site. This makes it difficult if she doesn't have a spare pair of glasses and there is a problem with them - or if she gets a new prescription and wants to keep the old frames. It takes about a week before the glasses are ready.

We used Zenni Optical in the states and never found anything comparible quality and price wise here in the UK...



I have a question though....

where do people order contacts online UK?

We've done www.contactlenses.co.uk  and  www.lensbase.co.uk   Very quick service.
A box of six lenses is about 20gbp.  I'm in the states right now and the same box was $34 at Walmart.
I get store brand solution at Asda or Sainsbury's and it's not too costly.