I have quite a high prescription, -11 ish. Normally go to Specsavers but they can’t quite get my glasses right. I’m sure they will eventually but I’m thinking, is there somewhere better I could be going. I don’t mind paying for it as I can’t see a thing without my glasses / contact lenses.

I’m in Wigan but work in Manchester, any recommendations?

Out of all the high-street opticians, I only tried Boots (for work prescription glasses), and cannot say anything bad about them, but I normally ‘trust’ the local opticians more…
If Rawtenstall or Haslingdon are not too far, David Gould has been exceptionally good!

Over the years IO have tried Specsavers, Vision Express and boots. Only Boots have made perfect glasses every time and consequently that’s where I go.

Note if you sign up for the Boots Contact Lens scheme you get 50% off your entire prescription. Makes what would be costly varifocals relatively cheap.

I have a fairly funky prescription so tend to only go with smaller opticians on the basis that I might get a more personal treatment/service. However the last two practices have both provided glasses with significant errors in the lenses. My view is that the error is not really a problem, it’s what they do to put it right. In both cases I’m happy that they went above and beyond what was expected, but I can’t be certain that wouldn’t have happened in Specsavers for example, so don’t write them off straight away

I’m of a similar prescription. I have only used the 1.9 refractive index glass for decades – usually Ziess. Specsavers don’t supply that, and it’s really necessary for keeping the edge width down to something vaguely acceptable. It’s bloomin’ expensive, mind! I tend to buy one pair of lenses and 2 frames when I get new ones now as my eyes have been pretty stable for many years, so I can swap them over when the frames get tired.

Try some local indies until you find one you’re comfortable with.

(And contacts for the win! Although they only come in half dioptre steps at our end, so it can be difficult to get them just right.)

In my, admittedly relatively small experience, Specsavers are total cowboys who will tell you anything to flog some glasses. Boots were considerably better to deal with.

I have -11 prescription, I also use Zeiss 1.9 progressive lenses. But at least I get free eye tests.
My opticians are a small independent, they don’t always get things right but as has been said above the key is how they deal with things that need to be addressed.

My only experience of Specsavers was on my mild prescription. It they too got the prescription wrong at first.

A year later I was back to headaches – a local opticians said that the Specsavers glasses were not quite right compared to prescription. They also upsold/persuaded me in to occupational lenses with a screen coating – sooo much better for what I do.

http://www.erskineeyecare.co.uk/

My only experience of Specsavers was on my mild prescription. It they too got the prescription wrong at first.

A year later I was back to headaches – a local opticians said that the Specsavers glasses were not quite right compared to prescription. They also upsold/persuaded me in to occupational lenses with a screen coating – sooo much better for what I do.

Just had this at Vision Express, wanted glasses for screen work, got reading glasses, which didn’t work (too narrow focus area), but VE just changed them for Varifocal Office lenses free of charge. Interesting they’ve cocked up a few times with my prescriptions, but always been flawless putting it right. eg they broke my 6 year old Oakley frames reglazing them for distance vision, and just came right back with pick any frames in our shop (any price), so I traded 6 year old frames for a brand new Oakley replacement for free. Excellent service.

It all comes down to personal experiences and the staff at the local store. On the whole, Specsavers have been pretty reasonable with me. Been flexible if I think I’ve got the wrong thing. For example, tried varifocals for glasses last time. Just didn’t work. They were happy to review what wasn’t working and try something different. In this case occupational glasses for working from home and regular lenses for the other pair. Refunded the difference between them. Having said that, the original chap that dealt with me was a bit pushy whereas the lass that dealt with me the second time was properly professional and customer focused. Wifey tried one of the local, independent opticians and they were, frankly, awful. Wong prescription and awkward to deal with. Not especially focused on sorting the problem out sympathetically. Consequently, she’s never been back to them and I had no interest in trying them.

It really comes down to the member of staff you deal with. Most Opticians will only have one or two Dispensing Opticians, the rest being dispensing assistants. At -11.00 the tiniest thing can make a difference, so the vertical position, the distance from the eye to the lens, the curvature of the frame, all sorts.
Wherever you go ask if you can have an apt with a DO to dispense the specs.
We see -11.00 and higher fairly regularly, most are fine, but everyone is different.
Make sure your optician has a no quibble guarantee in case you don’t get on with them.

Thanks everyone, I’ll see how my glasses are when they come back again. If Specsavers get them right, maybe I should stick with them. I’d love to go for laser but I’m 34 this year and my prescription is still changing 🙁

Went to boots for the first time, they charge extra for the full health check so £50 for an eye test.
Guess it’s back to vision express next time…

I only have a weak prescription and generally get eye tests done at Vision Express. Have had a couple of pairs of glasses through them which were OK, and have bought prescription Oakleys (normal and sunglasses) online. My prescription changed recently and I happened to be walking through Covent Garden so went in to the Oakley store there to check my options for reglazing sunnies with the new prescription. I wasn’t expecting much but was completely blown away by the service I received upstairs, the lady (Janet) that served me was by far the best optician I’ve been to (and obvs was a good saleswoman). I came out of there considerably poorer having ordered a new set of prescription riding glasses and a second set of lenses.

Don’t know if they can do your level of prescription but if you have an Oakley store near you with an optics department I’d recommend based on my experience.

Probably the wrong side of Manchester for you but I’ve used Ladybrook Eyewear in Bramhall for many years. Great service from Sarah the proprietor. I’m a high prescription varifocal user. Oh and the guy she uses for glazing does a great job too.

but if you have an Oakley store near you with an optics department I’d recommend based on my experience.

A quick googles suggests they only have the Covent garden store left now…..