Eyeglasses online...What is your experience?

[Kycha]

DH is very hard on his eyeglasses. He broke a pair today after then slipped down his nose and he pushed them back up from the bridge. So, what online companies have you used? How was the experience? Any problems? Any tips you can give me? Give me all the good, the bad and the ugly. Thanks in advance!

 

[Mama to Three]

We've ordered from ZenniOptical.com several times and its been worth it. My dh got a pair to use as a spare. I think we spent $20 on them and he actually prefers those to the $$$ ones we got him. We ordered a pair of photochromatic lens the other night. I'm anxious to see how they turn out.

I've ordered two pairs for my son. He is 4.5 so I hate spending big bucks on his glasses. He is better about taking care of them now, but for a while we were blowing through those things. His are fine too. The lens weren't quite as long as what I was expecting them to be, but if you take the time to pay attention to the measurements that probably won't happen to you.

Anyway, with the prices, it doesn't hurt to give it a try.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

I bought myself glasses from EyeBuyDirect.com and I've bought my kids glasses from ZenniOptical.com.

My DD goes through glasses so often I wish someone would make disposable glasses for kids. Zenni has saved me tons of money since her prescription is strong and expensive. At the eye dr her glasses run about $300/pair, at Zenni I get them for $30. She still goes for her eye exams and we order one pair at the doctor's office but then she gets back up pairs from Zenni.

We have not had any bad experiences yet. Knock on wood.

 

[Sam's_Mom]

I ordered 2 pairs from Zenni and waited and waited for delivery. I called at 3 weeks and was told to give it some time, called at 5 weeks and was told they were most likely lost in transport. They remade the order and shipped them to me ---but I ordered May 12th and received the glasses July 6th.

The quality was fine but don't order from them if you need your glasses quickly. Their web site does warn you that it could take a long time.

 

[sameyeyam]

My 11yo son is extremely hard on glasses and we placed an order with Zenni Optical a few months ago for 4 pairs of glasses.

The glasses are awesome, the low price is unbelievable and so far he hasn't broke a single pair (which amazes me!). I will never again buy my glasses from the optical shops. You can get glasses for as low as $8 per pair, plus $4.95 shipping for your entire order, no matter how many you order. Most of the glasses run in the $12-$25 range.

The only downside...they are made in China and it takes about 4 weeks to get them. I have read some stories of them getting hung up in customs and it can take a couple of months to get them. So if you are in a hurry it's probably not the best route.

I found them due to a recommendation from The Clark Howard Show. He ordered several pair and had them tested by his eye doctor. They passed his eye doctor's quality test and were the exact prescription prescribed.

You do have to do a measurement of the distance between your pupils. But it is extremely easy to do and they explain that on their website. The rest of the information you get from your prescription. If you don't have it, call your eye doctor and get a copy.

Although there are different sizes, there really are 3 sizes, women, men and children's. They may vary by a few mm, but nothing really drastic. If you look at your current glasses they contain numbers. Those refer to the bridge width, length from front of glasses to end of sides that go behind your ears and something else I can't remember! So that will give you an approximate idea of what size you need.

We did have one pair of the ones that we ordered that my son lost the nose pad and screw off of. We took it to Walmart and they put new ones on and charged us $2.50. His fit fine, so no fitting needed. But you can pretty much take them to Walmart or any other optical shop and they will bend and fit them for you if needed.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I bought a pair of Rx sunglasses for DS13 from Zenni. They are fine. They were $18, shipping included! It did take several weeks for them to arrive, though.

The frames are not super quality, so I did warn him to be gentle with them, but he doesn't wear sunglasses very often.

 

[okeydokey]

Is Zenni just for kids?

 

[Pigeon]

No, Zenni has mostly adult glasses, but many frames for kids, too.

I ordered Rx sunglasses and love them. They were under $20 and would have been $200 for the cheapest ones I could get at the place where I normally get the annual pair covered by my insurance. If I didn't have such great insurance, I'd get all my glasses from Zenni.

I'm just about to order Rx sunglasses for my dd and dh from Zenni.