Watch the Price Mount Up! (Specsavers Opticians)

Member Name: aljones

Product:	Specsavers Opticians
Date:	16/06/01 (968 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value for teh basic, Friendly, Efficient

Disadvantages: Price can mount up before you know it

Specsavers Opticians are one of the best known of the high-street opticians. While their service is probably on a par with most other high-street opticians, their name can be misleading as the prices are certainly in my view no cheaper than anywhere else. They do offer a wide selection of frames and lenses, and do from time to time offer some good deals, such as 'get a pair of prescription sunglasses free'.

I went in for any eye test, after receiving a voucher to have it done for just £7, as opposed to the usual £12. At the time I was 20 (about a year ago), and had never had an eye test, so though at the price it wouldn't do any harm to get things checked out. No problems were found, and my vision was virtually 20-20.

I did decide to have a pair of glasses though. Though my eyes didn't require any focussing lenses, I do spend long periods of time in front of computers, and wanted a pair of glasses that would protect my eyes from the radiation from the computer monitor. Most people would normally solve this by using a screen filter. However, I use several different computer each day, and for long periods, so a filter was out of the question as I could not carry it with me from computer to computer.

So, with the assistance of one of the women, I chose a pair of black framed glasses, the thin metal type. They were in the £45 range, which seemed reasonable. The £30 range were not that appealing to me, and anything above the £45 range didn't look much better, if any. This is when the price started to mount up. The final cost was £94, including the eye test. So that’s £87 for the glasses, £42 more than the price on the glasses themselves. Where did the extra come from?

Well, to get the extra coating and upgraded lenses required for the filtration meant paying for 'Ultra clear' lenses to eliminate the reflection of light, and paying for the lenses to then be tinted to reduce the radiation. In the end, I
wished I hadn't bothered.

However, to their credit, I must say that they provided a very efficient and professional service. They were courteous and pleasant, and were very helpful in answering my queries. And, while had I known the price I would have looked for an alternative solution, the glassed do work very well, and have reduced the strain that I was feeling on my eyes considerably.

All in all, the Specsavers service can't be faulted. OK, the price got to be quite expensive, but probably no more than it would have elsewhere.

Summary: