We Can’t Do That Anymore
I needed to get some new glasses, so I went back to the same place I got my current pair to order the exact same glasses with a mildly stronger right lens.
The place I went was not the least expensive in town, but I went the last time because I could get them in an hour while I wandered around to the other shops.
So, I buy exactly the same frame, and while I expected an increase in price, what I didn’t expect was waiting over a week to get the glasses. I paid more than the last time and received less.
I discovered that everyone is sending glasses out and no one is doing any of the work locally in order to cut costs.
This is a tourist area. If a tourist breaks or loses their glasses, what are they supposed to do, especially, if they need them to drive?
We are spending more and getting less as corporations “cut costs” to increase their profits.
6 comments
Yeah, the same here too. When I got my new glasses a couple months ago, I had to wait almost 2 weeks. And that was a so-called *Express* optical outlet! What a joke… it used to be same day when I got my previous glasses about 3 years ago, or 3 days for special lenses (which mine are).
And if you are not one of the boringly mid-range normal types (whatever that means) that junk is mass produced for, you have to pay double or more (for anything).
In the late 80’s, I bought a lounge suite and dining suite for my Mom. Was made to order and the highest quality. Cost a mint, but I had the money then. It’s still in pretty good repair today, more than 20 years later, and there’s no reason it won’t last a century (if looked after of course), I even got a bolt of the velvet velour to re-cover the seats and cushions when needed. I couldn’t get anything today for double what I paid that would last more than a decade. *shrug*
About optometrists I’ll say what I’ve said about everyone from pharmacists to proctologists: remember, they’re not in business for your health.
My new driver’s license insists that I wear corrective lenses. I do not need them to drive, but the State of Texas has a machine that cannot count my eyeballs properly, so I have to wear them anyway. I found that over-the-counter glasses of 1.0 diopter are weak enough that they do not materially change what I see at all. So I wear them. That way I am in compliance with the stupid law…
It just occurred to me that I was wrong in the amount I paid, because this time Medicare picked a big chunk of the cost of the exam, so the glasses were much more expensive that the last time when I paid for everything.
[Note: Medicare doesn’t pay to get a prescription, but they treat the rest of the exam as a doctor’s office visit and pay 80% if you have Part B.]
Less service and much more expensive. People should buy them over the ‘Net, because that’s apparently what the local places are doing.
Bryan, I bought them over the ‘Net a few times, the problem is that a) the prescription you get is often wrong, and b) the focal distance between your pupils is important for properly cutting the glasses, and you can’t really measure that without that special machine the optometrist uses. And c) There’s no telling whether the frame will actually fit your face until you actually get it.
My last pair came from Costco. The frames were cheap. The lenses were expensive. But at least the frames were cheap. Sigh!
— Badtux the Beady-eyed Penguin
My husband was told to leave his driving glasses with the optometrist so that it could be upgraded. For a week. Why were they startled when my husband said no?
We have almost no public transportation, and people need to drive, but “professionals” don’t seem well connected to real life. This is why I miss living in a city where you have choices. They come at a price, but they exist.
BTW, one week was yesterday, and I still don’t have the glasses, nor can they tell me with any certainty when they will arrive.