Zenni optical endorsement

[johnridley]

I just got my first pair of glasses from Zenni Optical. Yes, this is the $8 prescription glasses place. I'm pleased. The prescription appears to be perfect. The frames are as sturdy as any I've ever had, and look nice. They delivered them in a week even though they said 3 weeks due to my "strong" prescription.

This is a pair of sunglasses. Since I started driving I was really missing having sunglasses so I figured it was a great way to try them out.

The final bill was actually $32. I bought slightly more expensive glasses at $12.95, then paid $5 for the 80% grey tint, $5 for an antireflective coating, and there was a $9 surcharge for a strong prescription.

Still, damn. I don't see any way in which these are inferior to the glasses I've been paying $600 for up to now. I know this will not be viable for a few people. J for instance is to the point where she needs multiple-grind RGP contacts plus glasses to get really proper vision and she's on who-knows-how-many office visits in the last few months trying to get her vision right. But I think most people could do just fine here, especially for backup glasses or sunglasses. When I get glasses, it's "walk in the door, put them on, blink, 'yeah, they're fine', walk out and don't come back in for 2 or 3 years."

Luckily my prescription hasn't changed significantly in 5 years (0.25 diopter in one eye, negligible, and all my glasses are now the new prescription). In the future I'm afraid I'll be going to the optometrist and telling them "go ahead and bill me for the checkup and prescription as if you're not going to be selling me glasses, because you won't be." That's only fair. I don't know if that makes a difference. I'm paying $50 for basically about 20 minutes of their time/equipment/rent. Seems like that should be enough, but even if they charged me $200, I'd still save significant cash by doing things this way.

They do have the equivalent of Flexon frames. Of course, no name brand but it says "memory titanium alloy" or something like that. They're outrageously priced at about $25.

Comments

[mbcrui.livejournal.com]

thanks for the pointer. The years we buy glasses we can claim our medical costs on our taxes, we pay so much (me, Andy and Mike all wear glasses)...

[min8ive.livejournal.com]

Glad it worked out!

We just finished shoveling, and I was telling my husband how handy it is to have spare glasses so when I come in from outside, I can just put a warm pair on, and skip the fogging up stage.

I was thinking of getting some sunglasses as well, and there are still a couple of the $8 frames I'd like to try for fun. :-)

Yeah, $25 for frames--Lenscrafters doesn't have any for less than $25. And if I remember right, they actually don't have any for less than $100.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

I made a note of them when min8ive mentioned them. I need to get to the eye doctor again, but I've been putting it off since he finally pushed me over the edge last time and I haven't figured out where to go. Someplace that will hand me the 'script without a huge arguement.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

For people who already have glasses, what I did was to call them up and tell them I needed the prescription to order safety glasses. Many people do that through work, so they don't ask questions, they just fax you the prescription. You have to have gotten PD (inter-pupil distance) measurements too which they won't have done until you were ordering glasses. However, I just experimentally measured it myself with just a metric ruler held up to my eyes and two fingernails, and got within 1mm of the doctor's measurement, and Zenni says anywhere within 2.5 mm is fine.

I don't know what they'd say if you just went in and said you need a prescription but will be getting safety glasses through work and wearing them. It's not implausible; my dad wore nothing but safety glasses his whole life.

OTOH, I intend to walk in and tell them what's going on, and if they don't want to deal with it, I'll just keep walking.