I’ve used Specsavers for many years and have always been very satisfied with their specs and service.
However my latest pair that I bought in June just don’t fit well. They seem too wide and keep slipping down my nose. I went back last week and they adjusted them but still not happy with them.
So I went back again today. No trouble said the assistant, just choose another frame and we’ll make you a new pair. No charge. Pick them up ten days.
Good service I thought.
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I've always been happy with Specsavers too. One hell of a lot cheaper than any independent.
But as you can get prescription glasses online for less than a tenner, someone is making a mint. I doubt it is the opticians, but some middleman is driving a very nice car.
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Mostly Boots for me.
If you can get glasses cheap then I'd guess the saving is mostly staffing costs.
Can see how that works with single focus stuff, less so with varifocals that need tailoring.
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glasses? pffft who needs them
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>> glasses? pffft who needs them
Says the man who drove into a bus!
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>>
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>> Can see how that works with single focus stuff, less so with varifocals that need
>> tailoring.
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When I needed varifocals (Before I had my cataract done) I got a pair from Glasses Direct, they were fine.
As for £100+ for frames, probably well under 50p to manufacture in China.
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You can get a pair of glasses with single vision lenses for £15 at Specsavers
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>> You can get a pair of glasses with single vision lenses for £15 at Specsavers
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If you want to look like Joe 90.
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Or perhaps you don’t have a deal of money and want to be able to see clearly.
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>> Or perhaps you don’t have a deal of money and want to be able to
>> see clearly.
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But you'll still look like Joe 90. The cheap glasses have ugly frames to encourage people to spend more, when it wouldn't cost a penny extra to make them look decent.
Last edited by: Robin O'Reliant on Tue 2 Sep 25 at 22:42
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It’s a matter of taste obviously but their cheap frames aren’t ugly to my mind. Quite remarkable value really.
www.specsavers.co.uk/offers/complete-glasses-from-gbp15
Glasses are to a large degree fashion items and like any fashion items they come with a higher price. That’s how the world works. Supply and demand .
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How timely.
Up till very recently I've been an Asda fan. Two pairs of specs, same prescription, £120 though I did pay £160 at the end of last year for high index on the non-sunglasses pair. Both varifocals.
However, not for the first time in my life, I have just received freshly ordered specs from China.
A set of sunglasses with single vision lens and a pair of the highest index specs photochromatic cost £160. My mate says a single pair of the latter was over £400 at Specsavers.
So the photochromatics were not a great fit (temple was a bit short, despite matching my existing ones and the sunglasses) so I contacted customer services. Virtually by return I have a voucher for £129 which will get me another pair and I don't need return the first.
I'm yet to choose and order the replacements but can't complain about their service. The specs took about the same time as they did from Asda (a little under 2 weeks IIRC. Asda also do the test).
Anyway the best is yet to come. If you do what they call an unboxing video onto TikTok you can get a free pair, any prescription, for each video you upload. My daughter has had 4 free pairs. She did two videos for me but I'm not sure I want that many (she got freebies on freebies). But I'll get another set of photochromatics.
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Prime high street locations, lots of staff (some with high level training), expensive equipment, training and overheads do not come cheap.
At a guess a simple eye test appointment lasting 30 minutes probably costs £50-100 - just reflect for one moment on the cost of a simple oil change or diagnostic session at your main dealer.
If they charged £100+ for an eye test they would never get anyone through the door. So they recover the total cost of your visit on the frames and lenses selected.
Contrast that with online - frames come cheap from China at £2 - premium frames (titanium etc) probably £15-25. Lenses almost certainly wholly automated using pre-cut "plastic" blocks and the prescription supplied. No shops, staff limited so cost/prices very low by comparison.
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"If you want to look like Joe 90."
I thought he was cool back in the day. :)
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No, he was never cool, back in any day. Captain Scarlet was cool, didnt see him in glasses.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 3 Sep 25 at 14:49
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If you can get a pair of Joe’s glasses for £15 that seems to be a bit of a bargain.
Joe's Glasses are a special piece of equipment Joe McClaine uses as W.I.N.'s Most Special Agent.
Though they may resemble ordinary oval lensed, black rimmed glasses, each temple has a hidden electrode on each side to keep storage of brain patterns from any chosen individual (in the same way as the BIG RAT) that Joe needs to complete his missions such as a pilot or astronaut.
Pretty cool eh?
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Joe 90 also has one of the best theme tunes. Very hummable.
As to specs, I’ve not paid under £500 a pair for years. I guess I have very short sight and without the ultra thin thing my bifocal glasses would be Coke bottles.
I’m due for another set now, but the price is going to be horrendous. Yes, I have been to different places over the years, it’s always the same price ballpark.
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At the risk of sounding like a salesman for Specsavers the do do extra thin lenses.
www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/glasses-lenses/lens-extras-and-treatments
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So do firmoo www.firmoo.co.uk . Cheaper :-)
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 4 Sep 25 at 09:09
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Not sure about on line purchase of specs. I still like to look at and try on glasses before I purchase and have someone to talk to an ask questions. Having to send stuff back if it’s not right is a pain. I don’t buy clothes online for that reason.
My original post was about the excellent service I had at Specsavers, not the price. Sometimes it’s worth paying extra for service end efficiency.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Thu 4 Sep 25 at 09:48
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I find that talking to people in shops about their wares is pretty pointless these days. They are often shop assistants rather than product specialists these days - which isn't to do down shop assistants but their product knowledge is often somewhat limited.
E.G. I took along a piece of broken plastic pipe to Screwfix thinking that the assistant would be able to tell at a glance what size it was and what it was made of. Instead they wandered off to the back of the shop for a few minutes and came back with the same blank expression and some examples of white plastic pipe, only 1 of which was remotely close to the size.
I feel that if you ask questions in a shop if they don't know the answer they sometimes just bluff, or become a politician and answer something, but not the question you asked. I suppose I try to inform myself before shopping, and I've had some duff responses in the past.
btw the Firmoo specs had slightly short arms which didn't really fit over my ears that well. They were the same size as my current spacs and as the other pair I bought, so should have been OK. So I contacted them with a view to exchanging but instead got a complete credit and told to keep them. 1.6 index photochromatic with some coating £128. And a free pair when you do a review on TikTok. So the saving is quite significant, especially for those who might struggle to find £500 to spend on specs.
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I think we were talking about the service provider by Specsavers rather than Screwfix who I accept may not be the best place to go for a new pair of glasses.
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>> I think we were talking about the service provider by Specsavers rather than Screwfix who
>> I accept may not be the best place to go for a new pair of
>> glasses.
You can get safety glasses with a reading prescription quadrant in at Screwfix.
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I'm in my local Screwfix two or three times a week. I usually check in outside on the app once I've turned the van off, walk in and breeze past the queue straight to the pick-up point where someone is waiting with my order.
I'm in my local Specsavers a couple of times a year, as 75% of our household wears glasses and/or contact lenses. I've tried online glasses sellers before with varied results, some good and some unusable. We have a healthy blend of varifocals, astigmatism and plain short-sightedness here, so we usually get the top dog to look over everything at some point in the process. Their opening hours are great for working families too, with Saturday and Sunday slots available even in our rural market town branch.
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>> You can get a pair of glasses with single vision lenses for £15 at Specsavers
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Or £1.50 at Poundland.
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I don’t think Poundland do prescription lenses
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Specsavers is effectively a franchise operation*, so experience may vary branch to branch.
* It's actually a JVP, which is technically different.
Over the years I've had my eye test done at a local opticians, largely because I got to know the, now retired, practitioner, well. I've had glasses made to the prescription at Specsavers, however.
That practice continued to my last test, (new optician) where the prescription changed a bit, but the vision just didn't seem right in the Specsavers supplied glasses.
Back to Specsavers, acknowledging that the prescription wasn't theirs, but the first thing to check was that they'd been made up correctly. They had!
Shop floor hand went off to consult with manager, who suggested a free retest - which resulted in a prescription largely unchanged from the previous, n-year old correct one.
Then, the offer to replace the lenses in two pairs to the new spec - free! (Remember, the error wasn't theirs).
Next test will be at Specsavers.
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>>Specsavers is effectively a franchise operation*, so experience may vary branch to branch.
* It's actually a JVP, which is technically different.
I always see the boss when I go to Specsavers and his advice seems good re fit and suitability.
On my my previous visit the photo they took ( for a small fee) of my eye showed a tiny problem so they made an immediate call to the eye dept of my local hospital and got me an appointment for two weeks ahead.
No action/ treatment to date but am on 6 month reviews.
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Specsavers - Robin O'Reliant
