Went to the above for an eye test, new specs required etc, HOW FU**ING MUCH!! £148 to have new varifocal lenses put in my old frames or, £158 for some new (£99 range) frames & lenses! I'd rather see out of one eye FFS!
Who's cheaper??

The internet.

My wife was looking at some 'designer specs' at Boots. Looked on line and got them less than half the price that Boots and others on the high street charged. That included lenses too

got my specs for £12 from glasses direct!

Is that all? I don't think I've spent that little on lenses In the last 20 years. You should try having poor eyesight.
Specsavers is a bit like Evans really – you should really go to your LOS, I do and get fantastic service.

D&A here. I get glasses for half price cos I get my contact lenses from them. Also got offered free prescription sunnies (but upgraded to RayBans for an extra £20)

good luck with getting varifocals off the internet lens positioning should be interesting

Specsavers is a bit like Evans really – you should really go to your LOS, I do and get fantastic service.

agreed to 1000%

You only get one set of eyes, if you want to go cheap and struggle that's your look out. or not, as it were

Hmm..interesting. I'll try local first, as the hustler said it could be dodgy with alignment if I don't try before buying.

A doctor once told me you should only ever buy booze and food from places that have "saver" or "express" in the name.

Have had great service from Visionexpress, even after I went to specsaver, had an eye test and discovered I didn't like single frame they sold!
Took the perscription of to V-E, and they were great, even recommend their grand advantage scheme – covering your glasses for 18months. I 've had reason to use it twice (I use my 'normal' glasses for cycling) and they've been very helpful & not shown any signs that they want to avoid giving me free replacements.

Though these guys were mentioned on here before if you just want new lenses, and are happy to send your glasses away for fitting:
http://www.vitaoptical.co.uk

Specsavers is a bit like Evans really – you should really go to your LOS, I do and get fantastic service.

Why do people assume that just because something is local and independant that it's any good?

Why do people assume that just because something is local and independant that it's any good?
likewise, why do people assume that just because something has lots of branches nationwide and ads on tv that they'll actually give a sh1t about their customers?

Specsavers have the least tasteful range of glasses on the market. You can spot Specsavers customers a mile away. Their only decent looking specs are the in-house designer brand Osiris, but they have massive logo's so everyone know's where you got them from.

Ah, I did the eyetest thing yesterday.. for Christmas I will be getting new glasses… £230 for the damn lenses (which will teach me for having crap eyes) & thats without going varifocal & my current frames need changing too… I am feeling very poor now

I like dealing with businesses that have a personal and vested interest in making their customers happy and satisfied. As far as my optician goes I can phone them up and they know my name, they know what I need and will do whatever they can to make sure that I go away happy.
I can't see that happening at a chainstore.

Amen to that aP – but my eyes are pretty bad (as in free eye test bad) so the chains generally can't help me anyway.

Thepurist, -10.5 here, how 'bout you?

took my mother in law to specsavers. she had decided that she wanted varifocals and they were absolutely brilliant. Helped her choose suitable style frames, explained the lenses and the price was very good. Just because it is a chain doesnt mean they will be rubbish. Just like any other store, it is the individuals who work there that determine if it is good or not.

I was genuinely stunned at the price she got 2 pairs of glasses from. Fortunately for me my inner snob is safe as with my massive head, I could only find 2 frames in all the opticians in town to suit me 😯

(both designer ranges)

aP -11.5 in one eye, -10.5 in the other (with nasty astigmatism in both eyes). The world has no edges without my lenses in!

Thepurist – waves a hand vaguely in your direction!
What do you use for "the cycling"? I'm using rp exception with the stylish elderly septic tourist flip up lenses.

ap – I use my contacts for riding (and pretty much everything else), with safety specs to stop the wind & grit from playing havoc with them.

OK,something to think about "you get what you pay for"

If you acidentally damage your glases try getting specsavers to do a repair rather than replace (forking out for a ne pair)

same as above fort the online retailers

some of the other multiples will repair if they can rather than sell you another pair, however most independant opticians pride themselves on their service, and part of that is in aftercare, why replace frame and lenses at a cost to the customer when only a frame arm is damaged.

I own an opticians , and we have a branch of specsavers five doors up the street from us and tbh its actually a good thing,most people at some point will give them a try but strangely end up back with us soon after.

As for cheap I recently made some glasses for a little girle with a very high prescription, who had been tested at specsavers, she had been quoted £230 on top of her NHS vocher for a good set of glasses, we provided the same lenses in a nice kids frame within the cost of the NHS voucher……..the kid also left the shop in tears of joy as she had never had glasses she liked wearing b4nbut by chosing the right shape and size of frame the glasses acually looked very neat.

As for those that buy their specs of the internet I applaude your savings but just remember one day it may come back top bite you, you see the average cost of a sight test on the high street is about £20, the actual cost to the opticians in wages and equipment is nearer £70, and rely on selling glasses to make up the difference, so if everyone goes to the internet for their glasses dont be surprised if your sightestcost rises consideraby.

OK my rant and two peneth done, flame me all you want

Eggbox – Member

A doctor once told me you should only ever buy booze and food from places that have "saver" or "express" in the name.

Bet he buys his booze and food in Waitrose though…

Do you guys know that Specsavers are franchises? They are local independent opticians with the same sign over the door and good buying power.

I go to Specsavers (Cardiff Queen St) and they've always been great. I get reminders for eye tests, they do a good job and there's always tons of people in the shop ready to serve you and they are knowledgeable and efficient, even when it comes to helping me choose a style for my face. They are open til like 7 weekdays so you can go after work; they sell me toric night and day lenses for £25/mo posted to my door; they've always got walk-in appointments within the hour even on Saturdays and they're right in town. Can't fault them really. No reason to shop anywhere else. My frameless glasses were £140 or something with coatings and whatnot – fair price I thought.

I use my local independant opticians. The only reason is that the last two times they've been the only place selling frames that I liked. Unfortunately, those were Oakleys and I wanted thin lenses. Goodbye £320! 🙁

aP – Member

I like dealing with businesses that have a personal and vested interest in making their customers happy and satisfied.

Specsavers Stores (the majority) are operated on a Joint Venture basis with the stores Partners (normally an Opthalmic Optician and Dispensing Optician) owning 50% of the store and the group the other 50%. So each store has a vested interest in making customers happy.

My Specsavers are great…have put up with me making multiple appointments when I'm having trouble with contact lenses, (all free as they are included in the price) can get appointments at short notice, I even took back a pair of glasses that were more than 12 months old that I'd dropped a few too many times and chipped the colour off the nose bridge. I asked if they could repair them but they just replaced them off the shelf..even ordered in another pair as the ones they had weren't quite the same shade 🙂

One of my colleagues went to a local independent, paid over £400 for two pairs of boggo glasses. Nothing special, could probably have got them for £80 2for1.