get bifocal eyeglasses from walmart ??

[fac]

finished an eye exam for DD9, she needs glasses, the optometrist recommended bifocals, I got eyeglasses for my older daughter from Walmart, however, I am not sure about bifocals, does anyone have bad experience with Walmart? or should I just order it from the optometrist's office? I assume the lenses will be made differently, hence not sure whether Walmart has any problem..

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

finished an eye exam for DD9, she needs glasses, the optometrist recommended bifocals, I got eyeglasses for my older daughter from Walmart, however, I am not sure about bifocals, does anyone have bad experience with Walmart? or should I just order it from the optometrist's office? I assume the lenses will be made differently, hence not sure whether Walmart has any problem..

Our tri's are from walmart. they are fine and dandy. fwiw, Sam's was even cheaper, and they are made by the same company.

 

[ncbyrne]

I have never had a problem with prescription bifocals from an venue. Every place has a qualified optician or they couldn't stay in business. Walmart has good prices, but I find that JCPenney and Sears often run specials that have the best prices.

 

[Mathfailure]

I have had problems with wal mart, and other cheaper places.

I have a strong px and find only the old fashioned DR's offices seem to get them correct, and most importantly, when I felt they were not correct Wal mart did NOT fix the problem but the only time I had a problem with an office, they had them completely redone. I know they were redone because I had to keep wearing the wrong ones, and only turned them in when the 2nd pair arrived. They worked.

If your daughter is needing a strong and/or complicated pair of glasses I would go elsewhere.

 

[Mathfailure]

Forgot to add, I use my glasses all day everyday, first thing on in the morning, last thing off at night. I feel the money I spend on my glasses to be the best money spent on anything I wear!

If your daughter only needs them for reading that is one thing, if it is all day please consider more than the initial amount spend. Divided up by day, how much is it per day? I see them as a bargin, and I do spend alot.

 

[rock_doctor]

... very few of these places make their own lenses, they buy online and have it shipped to their offices. I get my glasses (plus my moms and brothers) from $39 eyeglasses off the net and have never had a problem. I also have a very strong RX (i.e. very thick lenses) so i went with the transition lenses (auto darkening), these lenses have a high index of refraction. So i was able to get my strong RX in a thin plastic lens. Plus they give you the scratch resistant coating for free. The only down side is, the frames are very cheap unless you upgrade. I paid $189 for my glasses but i have the transitions lenses and titanium wire flex frames. They would have been over $300 at walmart. Give them a try. They have traditional bifocals (with the line) and the new progressive style (no line). If they work out fine then you will not feel bad when she breaks them accidentally.

http://www.39dollarglasses.com

 

[daughtersrus]

My DD also wears bifocals because she had bilateral cataract surgery when she was 2yo. Is your DD's doctor recommending lined bifocals or progressive? The thing to keep in mind is that pediatric lenses are much smaller than adults so they may not be big enough for progressive lenses. Also, it's important for them to "set" the bifocal line correctly so that it's in the proper position for your DD to see correctly.

All of that said, we have always gotten DD's glasses from an ophthalmologist's office. They are quite expensive. I think that the last ones were about $400. We no longer have coverage for glasses from the doctor's office so we too are considering getting them from somewhere less expensive.

My older two DDs have ordered from Zenni and love their glasses. They do not wear bifocals. We go back to the Ped Neuro-Ophth in 3 weeks. If she changes DD's prescription, I think that I may just try a pair from Zenni if I can find the right lens sizes.

 

[Sadie22]

I've been wearing progressive (trifocal) lenses for about 15 years. I wear mine all the time and they have to be made correctly. I have had one problem when a different lab made up a prescription and the curve was wrong so when I turned my head everything I saw seemed to move. That was the second progressive prescription I had, two years after the first. The first was great - I went from not being able to see well to having great all-around vision as well as being able to read the newspaper again. The second prescription was remade and then all was well. Both of these were plastic, not glass which would have been thicker and heavier on one side. I always get the scratch-resistant coating. We are fortunate to have insurance which covers much of the cost of frames and lenses and our optician does not charge extra for the scratch-free coating.

When I went from single vision to progressives my doctor advised not to even try bifocals as eventually they would not be made anymore and then I would have to learn to use progressives. Some people take a while to get used to them but I didn't. Daughtersrus has a great point about pediatric lenses possibly being too small to be made as progressives, but if she needs bifocals and they can be made without a line that might be better than the lined type.

It is important that you be able to go back to the doctor for fitting and adjustments if there is any problem.

 

[Padme]

I wouldn't hesitate buying glasses from Walmart. The quality of the lenses has nothing to do with price and worrying that their products are inferior just because they may cost less is unnecessary.

Just a few things you should consider when shopping for glasses-

Frames can vary greatly in quality and a higher price doesn't always mean a better product either. I worked for two different optical companies and toured a plant where frames were made. Some of the most expensive frames were the biggest pieces of crap that actually cost only pennies to make. A lot of that had to do with a designer's name or a more expensive material it was made out of.

There are different types of plastic the lenses are made out of, some of them more durable and resistant to scratches than others. Ask questions when you are shopping. Sometimes for only a little more, you can get a much better lens.

The fact that you are in New Jersey also helps. Opticians in NJ are state licensed. They have an associates degree and sit for state boards. They also have to complete continuing education classes each year.

Only a few other states have licensed opticians. In most states, pretty much anyone can walk into an optical store and get hired to sell eyeglasses and take the measurements.

In addition to having opticians that are licensed, NJ also has some of the highest specs that the finished glasses have to pass. In other states, a pair of lenses can be off axis by several more degrees than in NJ. There are many tolerance levels that are much stricter. Depending on the cylinder in your Rx, lenses that are off axis by the amount allowed in other states can make the glasses blurry. Having an optician that was properly trained and can adjust certain problems can make all the difference in how well you see.

It is true that most companies send out their lenses to be processed by a lab. Some of them handle jobs from more than one company so realistically, 2 pair of glasses can be made side by side, by the same person and with the same materials, with one of them costing the patient double just because of the store it was purchased in.

If you ever have a problem with a pair of glasses, ask your optician to check again to make sure the Rx was filled right. Sometimes labs make mistakes but other times its the original eye exam and prescription that were wrong.

Don't be shy or afraid to ask questions or mention problems if you have them. Opticians are there to make sure you are seeing as best as you can.