Specsavers

The eye test was fine, the quality of the lenses seem fine too but the frames are, in my opinion, rubbish.
An everyday pair of spectacles fell apart in about 6 months, they did replace them but again in a little over 6 months the lenses fell out and the tortoise shell effect on the arms cracked, not a good experience.

I was reminded of my introduction to contact lenses and varifocal glasses recently after reading an article in the Daily Mail newspaper, which highlighted Britain’s first female, self-​made Billionaire — yes, we are talking billions these days, no small change — and, who so happened to be the owner of Specsavers. She’s, ‘nothing but a Dame,’ Mary Perkins and has over 900 stores across Britain under her black belt.
The newspaper article pretty well gave her life history and the fact that she took a gamble with the last of her remaining dosh, along with a loan — yes, banks gave loans in those days too — and started her company ‘with a vision’ — yes, it sure helps if you have ‘vision’ — and, gathered around her, what could probably be described as, rather shrewd (no sorry, clever) sharp-​shooters (huh sorry again, business savvy) with incredible psychological marketing aptitude people, to help guide her up the mountain to Billionaire status. And, it obviously worked. When it comes to perfect eyesight, we can be swayed and turned inside out. without necessarily knowing it.
I must say, glasses in this country until 15 odd years ago, used to be atrociously expensive. Unlike America, where you could probably buy two or three pairs for Britain’s terribly ‘un-​trendy’ one. But a person like Dame Mary wanted to give people affordability (true altruism) — take a little bit off a lot principle or at least, make it APPEAR that way (she obviously copied the American way of being competitive) — And, with a little help from China — I assume most of the frames come from Asia somewhere, mine seem to be — tackled the spectacle market ‘eye ball to eye ball’ and gave EVERYONE panoramic vision! We were hooked and we saw the light and our pocket only suffered a tad in comparison to the oppositionor were we just made to think that it did! And, the Dame’s bank balance ballooned in the process… good for her.
However, while we are getting a reduction for; waiting in a lengthy queue — as it’s cheaper by numbers — herded into ‘that dark little back room’ like one of those four legged beasts we enjoy eating so much — and hey, why only have one pair when you can have two for the price of one — again, great marketing genius, and our inane sense of GREED gobbles this deal up… getting more for your buck while paying less, so who’s to argue… and anyway, all stores are doing this now… it PAYS to.
My problem arose from their contact lens promotion which I believe to be an ongoing one — where the customer is ‘drawn in’ by the very low monthly charge of £5.00 a month never knowing that it could eventually mean you would be paying over £30.00 a month — big difference between paying £60 a year and close to £400 a year. No wonder they give you the eye sight test for free. Once you are ‘captivated’ by your contacts, there’s no going back. And, the same applies to your varifocal glasses for that matter.
When you are a varifocal user — where you have both distance and reading melded into one lens, life becomes much easier. No putting on and taking off those frames like dear Aunt Myrtle, changing glass prescriptions every few minutes just to see the minute detail — Lawyers beware — and, it’s far removed from the bifocals of yesteryear. Varifocals are actually quite seem-​less and good looking. In other words, you don’t look like a bug with grotesquely big, bulging eye-​balls. However, it is all in the grade that you choose and really, let’s face it, no-​one and I do mean NO-​ONE is going to choose substandard eyesight over the pure, clear vision of 20/​20, so the spectacle/​contact lens company is home and hosed! They treat you to a multitude of grade options. But believe me, the lesser grades give you inferior vision and the ophthalmologist and sales staff really know this to be true.
So, whether it is contact lens varifocals or regular glass varifocals, you are only in seventh heaven when you choose from their ‘elite’ range. I don’t know the exact science in how they make it so perfect — they seem to slice it down and fine tune them so you can barely feel it on top of your eye-​ball — but unless you choose from that top echelon, you will not be seeing proficiently. Whether it be a total blur, or the sides of your entire vision are missing or the contacts feel so thick it’s like there’s a giant canoe stuck in your eye socket, ‘elite’ is the only way to go and therefore, you open your wallet wide every time to pay for that perfection. Specsavers have got you — hook, line and sinker! They let you try the worst that’s out there so you’ll then be seduced by the best and therefore pant orgasmicly all the way to the till. Incredible marketing strategy and they didn’t have to say a word, your eyes did the sale for them. You were destined for overdrive the moment you walked through that front door and Specsavers knew it.
This certainly applies to the glasses as well. Funny enough, when you are choosing frames, they are so small

This is a large opticians. The staff are often unfriendly and make you wait even when they’re not busy.
They stock a range of glasses to try on both designer and more reasonably priced styles but I have found them to be inferior quality and now avoid this place!
Also, if you do use here, watch out for being stung by not taking advantage of offers, a friend of mine had their glasses re-​glazed and it ended up costing the same as two new designer pairs!