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One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

onedollarglasses.org

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Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#81

Post by jjnoakes »

chillwaves wrote: post #57
jjnoakes wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My close friend tried Zenni. They sent her glasses which gave her fishbowl vision every time she rotated her head (edges warped quickly as the head turned). She contacted Zenni support and was told "We found a defect in your lenses and we'll send you corrected ones". The same thing happened with the second pair. So she contacted them and got the same "We found a defect" and they sent her a third pair. Same thing happ…

Just to chime in this is my experience right now and it degrades my quality of life. It looks fine if you are focusing in the center but anything to offset you can't see, it's blurry and it causes considerable eyestrain. I was happy to pay $70 instead of $400 for a pair of glasses, but I need to find a real optometrist and just pay up. I have terrible vision, -7 contact lens RX (ish). And astigmatism. These glasses a…

Thanks for your input. Not sure why my comment got downvoted, but it's nice to hear my friend isn't the only one with these issues.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#82

Post by GavinMcG »

telesilla wrote: post #41
Arcsech wrote: post #11

Glasses are a total racket. Purchasing your glasses online is many, many times cheaper than going to Lenscrafters or basically any other brick & mortar store in the US. I've been buying online for years and they're every bit as good as usual ones. You do need your pupillary distance, but you either measure this yourself with the help of a friend, or ask your optometrist. If they refuse or tell you how evil buying gla…

I agree that mid-lower-range shops are a racket: however, don't discount the luxury and privilege of high-end options of dedicated professionals. My glasses cost in total almost $1000. I wear them almost every waking moment, they are exceptional designer hand-made frames from France with Zeiss lenses and Japanese transition technology, and the optometrist is top-of-the-line who also does an eye cancer check each year…

By the way, "short-sighted" in American English universally means "lacking in imagination or foresight". Not that you're obliged to accommodate American English, of course, but "nearsighted" is the equivalent.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#84

Post by dingleberry »

mass produced chinese glasses beat it first

i bought a dozen negative glasses for $15 five years ago at chinatown in Jakarta, Indonesia; should be cheaper in china.

same model, same power, but can't choose color.

the retail is available so i can choose model, power, color, etc for $2 per glasses

I also bought a +4 glasses for less than $1, metal frame. positive glasses are cheaper maybe because there's less demand.

their quality depend solely on material, not price. my more stylish glasses (no-frame-around-glass, flexible handle) lasts about 3-6 months on heavy use. sturdier styles (harry-potter-styele, thicker plastic frame) lasted more than a year till my-then-baby-boy tore it forcefully from my face. my nb: i wear positive lens everyday for my eye training and choose to no longer wear negative lens; therefore, i haven't bought any lenses for about three years; however, the prices are still about the same last time i checked at jakarta's chinatown.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#85

Post by teilo »

nyolfen wrote: post #45
PascLeRasc wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warby Parker ( https://www.warbyparker.com/ ) makes some really nice "luxury" glasses, even though they still cost less than the cheapest pair you'll see in a typical store. They'll even send you 5 frames to try on at your home.

warby parker frames look trendy but they're pretty low quality cheap plastic frames, and they're dramatically overpriced compared to comparable glasses from zenni or similar

I have tried both Zenni and Warby. Warby's frames are much higher quality than Zenni. I'm on my 3rd pair of regulars, and 2nd pair of sunglasses (which are metal, by the way, and very strong), over the course of 4 years. I still have all pairs I ordered, and they are all still fine.

They are not "cheap plastic frames" by any stretch. I'd put them up against the Luxxotica frames any day. They use the high-end plastics, with metal-reinforced stems. The Zenni's I tried, on the other hand, have no reinforcement, and the plastic is definitely more brittle.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#86

Post by 1123581321 »

jobu wrote: post #42
Declanomous wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I order my glasses from Zenni, but I don't think it's for everyone. For one thing, they always locate the pupil at the exact midpoint of the lens. Unless you wear very small frames, your pupils are probably located somewhat higher in the lens when you are wearing the glasses in the most comfortable or attractive manner. This can result in double vision, chromatic anomalies, headaches, and worse. It's far more likely…

> This can result in double vision, chromatic anomalies, headaches, and worse. I can attest to this. My astigmatism is pretty severe, and the lenses are useless if any measurements are even slightly incorrect. Usually when I get new lenses I end up sending them back at least once for one defect or another. Sometimes this is the frame tech's fault, but I've also seen quality issues from the lens factory.

Anecdotal, but I have severe astigmatism and Zenni has worked well for me.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#87

Post by Insanity »

chillwaves wrote: post #57
jjnoakes wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My close friend tried Zenni. They sent her glasses which gave her fishbowl vision every time she rotated her head (edges warped quickly as the head turned). She contacted Zenni support and was told "We found a defect in your lenses and we'll send you corrected ones". The same thing happened with the second pair. So she contacted them and got the same "We found a defect" and they sent her a third pair. Same thing happ…

Just to chime in this is my experience right now and it degrades my quality of life. It looks fine if you are focusing in the center but anything to offset you can't see, it's blurry and it causes considerable eyestrain. I was happy to pay $70 instead of $400 for a pair of glasses, but I need to find a real optometrist and just pay up. I have terrible vision, -7 contact lens RX (ish). And astigmatism. These glasses a…

Yeah and -7 this is probably something worth spending a bit more money on. I am at -8.5 and starting at -8 the government actually pays back more money and covered the complete cost of my glasses and my lenses up to a certain point as well. (a total cost of about 400 euro).

I really dislike wearing glasses and much prefer my lenses, yet when I come home I often just wear them anyway. Personally, it is something I did never mind spending some more money on as it is something I need to function properly (lenses or glasses)

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#88

Post by swirlee »

criddell wrote: post #19
Johnny555 wrote: post #8

My glasses cost $39 from one of the many online cheap glasses makers. So now I have more money to donate to the $1 glasses campaign :) Last time I got glasses, I tried a test, I bought the $300 glasses from my eye doctor ("only" $200 after insurance), and I bought a pair of $39 glasses online. I found no difference between the two other than price (and the ones I bought online arrived by mail the day before the expen…

Last time I got a new prescription I asked them to include the PD number and they refused. They would only give that to me if I bought glasses through them. I couldn't even pay them for just the measurement (I suggested $10-$20). It's easy enough to measure myself, so that's what I did. My glasses were $45 and he said his costs were more than twice that. Where's all that money going?

If you're in the U.S. and this happens you can and should file a HIPAA complaint. Vision care providers are bound by HIPAA just like other medical providers and with few exceptions they are required to give you a copy of your protected health information (PHI) upon request, which includes your PD. The provider may require you to make the request in writing and may charge you a reasonable fee for e.g. the time it takes a worker to send you the information, and may take up to 30 days to fulfill the request. HHS.gov has a great factsheet and FAQ here: http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/...

Edit: It turns out this varies—maybe. Here's a funny thread on an opticians' forum on the topic: http://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php/11990-Hipaa-q... They don't come up with much, but they sure don't like online retailers.

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Optometry requires optometrists (not opticians) to enter PD on prescriptions at a patient's request, in which case it would be covered by HIPAA: http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/licensee/dpl-boards/op/regulations...

The New Jersey State Board of Optometrists, on the other hand, takes the opposite position: http://njpublicsafety.com/ca/faq/optfaqsII.htm#4b

In comments to the FTC the National Association of Optometrists and Opticians said it "agrees that patients and eyeglass consumers have the right to a copy of medical records, which will include the pupillary distance if that measurement has been taken by either the prescriber or the dispenser" (emphasis theirs) but takes no position on whether or not the measurement should be required. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_comments/2... (pp.12)

So... that settles nothing.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#89

Post by criddell »

swirlee wrote: post #88
criddell wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I got a new prescription I asked them to include the PD number and they refused. They would only give that to me if I bought glasses through them. I couldn't even pay them for just the measurement (I suggested $10-$20). It's easy enough to measure myself, so that's what I did. My glasses were $45 and he said his costs were more than twice that. Where's all that money going?

If you're in the U.S. and this happens you can and should file a HIPAA complaint. Vision care providers are bound by HIPAA just like other medical providers and with few exceptions they are required to give you a copy of your protected health information (PHI) upon request, which includes your PD. The provider may require you to make the request in writing and may charge you a reasonable fee for e.g. the time it take…

They didn't have my PD because they don't measure it until you are ordering glasses.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#90

Post by kazinator »

Arcsech wrote: post #11

Glasses are a total racket. Purchasing your glasses online is many, many times cheaper than going to Lenscrafters or basically any other brick & mortar store in the US. I've been buying online for years and they're every bit as good as usual ones. You do need your pupillary distance, but you either measure this yourself with the help of a friend, or ask your optometrist. If they refuse or tell you how evil buying gla…

I get mine in Japan, e.g. from Jins.

That's brick-and-mortar: personal service, ready in 30 minutes. Around 8000 yen, frames and lenses. (Not the thinnest lens, no special coating, but very good.)

> You do need your pupillary distance, but you either measure this yourself with the help of a friend

I have a fool-proof way to do this yourself.

Use a mirror and a ruler. Place the ruler on the mirror and stare with your left eye into that same eye's mirror image, such that the ruler's 0 tick is centered on the pupil. Then, open your right eye and close the left. Stare into your right eye across the ruler and note the millimeters. Flip back to the left eye to make sure you haven't moved from zero.

This is dead accurate. Staring into your own eye in the mirror means you have a perpendicular line from either eye to the ruler.

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