I’m almost 39, my eyes are deteriorating and I need glasses for reading.
I’ve been to my local optician, had my eyes tested and I’ve got my prescription, but none of the frames there floated my boat.
Any recommendations of places to buy specs?
Any good/bad experiences or pitfalls I should look out for?

I found a designer pair i liked, some nice oakleys at vision express, then went online and got them elsewhere for half the price!

I have always used specsavers in Wigan. No complaints whatsoever. Always found them to be spot on.

for reading glasses you could just buy some cheap ones from a supermarket/Matalan/garden centre/bankrupt stock place – that’s what I did.

I’m short sighted and now also getting that 40+ nearsight problem, so I wear my normal prescription specs for distance and take em off for reading, or if I’m wearing my contact lenses I just put on a pair of +1.0 cheapies for reading as required

Specsavers have done the job for me. For frames over a certain amount (think it was 80) quid they include an extra too, anti-glare lenses, a spare pair of glasses etc… Wish I’d gone for the spare pair in hindsight, would have been handy for sports.

if you do a 2 for 1 place you can get posh specs and sports specs (*assuming you do sports) and it gives you a spare

oh, as well as frames consider the nose brace, if you get heavy lens (thinner lens more expensive) then you might get pissed of with them slipping down and diggin in on sweaty days (*or doing sports) – with two pairs you can compare how designs suit you

I found my Oakley frames on the interweb for chips and then went to specsavers to have them glazed in their super high index, it worked out the cheapest way by far to get them.

2 for 1’s never work out for me as I always have to pay extra for high index lenses.

No

Go somewhere with a good reputation, who’ll treat you as an individual not a number.

Been using Asda Opticians for the last few years mainly for contact lenses but bought two pairs of glasses before Christmas from them. No complaints, nice and local, friendly service, job done.

i got bad service at specspenders so would say no….found a nice local one that are as/more economical as any of the big chains and friendly/helpful/pro. ASDA ia worth a look too,

Well I go to Specsavers for my contacts but its been years since I found a pair of specs there I’ve liked. Seem to end up getting mine from Vision Express

I get my prescription done at Specsavers, cos they’re handy. But their selection of frames is dire ~ fine if you’re a librarian, but nothing for the outdoors type of guy.

Having recently been in the same situation, I found that for designer frames (Oakley/Police) with high performance Zeiss superthin, AG, SR lenses that Boots were by far the cheapest for 2 designer pairs even when compared to online prices.

1. Boots £380
2. Specsavers £582
6. Vision Express £760 (but a student discount of 30% is available)

I got an eye test from each and they were all different, perhaps dependent on how tired I was…

Specsavers in Cardiff have always been excellent, good value and good service.

They are franchises though, so if someone has had a bad experience doesn’t mean you will in your branch. As for being an ‘outdoors kind of guy’ I use contacts mostly 🙂

I don’t buy designer frames either.

Worth a visit, they’re not the best or worst generally. I still go to Boots, as I was a D&A customer for ages but tbh I wasn’t impressed with my last pair, very scratchy lenses.

Specsavers are franchises so the Optometrist is likely also the owner or has some personal financial interest.

This could mean they are more sales orientated than somewhere like Tesco who operate the Opticians as a loss leader to get you in the shop