It depends almost entirely on what you order. I’ve had sub 20 dollar pairs from them that were pretty reedy and didn’t last long. The stuff sitting in the 25-40 range though tends to be more durable. Even then their noticeably lighter and thinner than some of the pricier brands. That said when I had insurance it only covered the cheaper, unbranded frames at the optemetrist. Which weren’t much different.
Bigger issue I’ve had with Zenni has been lenses. The coatings can sometimes separate on you, though I’ve only had that happen once myself I’ve heard about it plenty. Their also magnets for smudges.
That sounds like a really frustrating and crappy experience.
I didn’t know until now that Federal law requires ODs to give you your prescription without making you buy glasses from them, but what has to be in the script is based on individual state laws.
[quote]Dr. Kerry Beebe, chairman of the American Optometric Association’s clinical care group, considers the pupillary distance a standard part of the exam.
“We need that measurement to set some of our instruments so that when we do our exams, we have the patient looking through the right part of the lens,” he said.[/quote]
Seems pretty obvious that if a glasses prescription can’t be filled without the PD then a script with out a PD on it is not a complete script - too bad the law doesn’t guarantee that nationally.
That’s good. Mine does in theory, but the Luxottica directive seems to be “We’ll see your insurance and raise you a couple hundred”.
I got tired of that over a year ago (last pair from them wasn’t very good) but didn’t know which online place to go with, so I got a pair from eyebuydirect and one from zenni. Both have been great, excellent quality and lenses spot-on. The plastic pair turned out to be slightly large (they tend to fall off with vigorous headbanging or when hanging upside down), but that’s ok, I was guessing on the measurements.
This year I’ll buy 2 more pairs and the total of 4 pairs will still be cheaper than buying 1 single pair with insurance from the local shop. That’s really important to me since I need them to see, so I need spares around in case something happens to the pair that I’m wearing. They’re not a designer luxury for me and paying $300+ for a brand logo doesn’t make sense, even if insurance covers part of it.
The problem with cheap glasses places is that you get spoiled and want a pair for every different activity. I currently have
-progressives for general use (with clip ons for sun),
-polarized sunglasses for outdoor activities,
-single vision computer glasses
-single vision television/distance glasses (not progressive so everything is clear)
And I’m thinking of getting:
-reading glasses with my slight prism and astigmatism corrections
-nonpolarized progressive sunglasses for driving so my car’s LCD doesn’t get foiled by polarization
Or I might just get a pair of transitions progressives and stop the madness.
After a few bad experiences with progressives breaking at the wrong horizontal height, I’ve become a connoisseur of the horizon line being properly drawn and measured.
Basically the procedure is that you wear the frames and look at the horizon while the optician draws lines with a sharpie indicating where the eyes fall (how high).
I’ve observed this measurement being done totally improperly with clients not advised to look at the horizon, face tilted up or down, or technician at a different eye height (usually due to failure to adjust chair heights for the test).
Because different frames sit in different places on different peoples noses, I feel that this should be done with the actual frame one is going to buy, ruling out most online outfits. Which is why I get progressives at Costco.
I do understand that most online places handle progressives by just having a standardized place for the break, and if your eyes or face is different you are out of luck.
It may just be that I’m spoiled by anti reflective coating, but I buy it even if it costs $30 and doubles the price of online glasses. I suspect that I get a higher grade of plastic when ordering the AR coating.
So, last time I went for an exam, they had me look at the little graph diagram for any voids and distortion, and though it’s never been an issue in the past, this time the far left side looked warped. So the opthamologist’s assistant dutifully noted it, and for about 15 minutes, I internally panicked that something was desperately wrong with my eyes, until the doc came in, took a lens from his collection, had me re-do the test. Ends up, my glasses introduced the mild distortion, which I had either never noticed or got used to, or whatever. I don’t know if this is a problem with cheap mail ordered progressive lenses, or if it is just a problem with my coke bottles.
In my experience its the same grade of plastic with the AR coating, having bought the same frames with the same script from the same place with and without. You can often even see the coating on there.
But its still worth it to pay for if you don’t have to keep things as cheap as possible. Its often billed as a cosmetic enhancement. “People can see your eyes better!” But it certainly isn’t. I get a bit of night blindness. Glare on your lenses makes it far worse. So driving at night without it is out and out dangerous for me in certain conditions. And it helps with eye strain when looking at screens.
