£5 for a pair of glasses with lenses?! Is that right?

Oh now they are expensive!

Omen are you talking about Newton Mearns optical express as I got a pair of Armani glasses for my 14yr old in may it cost me £400 from in there that is with the discount!

Wow, lucky daughter!!

You must be minted i would never spend that on a pair of glasses...

Amazes me parents pressurised into buying the latest and greatest - amazes me even more that parents are conned into buying it...

I used to to be engaged to an optician - she got me a pair of Calvin Klein glasses for £11 - In her shop they cost £335 - she told me at the time the frames were £2.50 - we the public are truly ripped off in the UK...And that was over 10 years ago...

Omg, Omen don't tell me that! It's sickening!
I was under pressure purely because she has a small face and the choice was so limited! But I have to admit she oes really suit them and gets complimented on them. That was in May I'm dreading May for her next annual check! Her prescription changes every year I'll expect another pair of glasses are due!

They do seem to change prescription every time just by a tiny amount, and often back to a prescription they've had previously. Don't forget your daughter will get a NHS voucher towards the cost Serena. What's really infuriating is I've never been allowed to keep the same frames and have new lenses put in as they say the frames will break. Another ploy to get us to spend more?

I had a new lense put into old frames a couple of years ago, Jazz, but the frames were in good condition and not all that old. I guess it might depend on the type and condition of the frames.

That price was with the Nhs voucher, Jazzj. I've been told by the opticians I could keep the frames and to replace the lens we're still looking at paying £200! It's expensive business!

My daughters frames were only a year old and I was told it would be the same price to try to replace the lenses with no guarantee of success or for a new pair! Suspect I was ripped off!

Jazz, I have to admit that I wasn't that happy with the replacement lens as it didn't look as good as the original. and the cost wasn't cheap, so you may have been advised correctly.

No its not it doesnt have to be expensive - you merely go to your opticians - get the eye test - get the prescription then go to one of the many good glasses sites and get your exact same glasses for £15-35 whats difficult about that?

Once you know the tricks i have no idea why anyone would want to get ripped off by optical express etc...

The problem is parents with no discipline - you tell your daughter what she will get not the other way around - bloody hell things have changed so much since i was a lad - in my day my mum and dad said what was what and i obeyed that was it - i had respect for my folks!

Kids want everything these days andhave no respect for the older generation! Precisely because the older generation shows them no discipline or order - I wouldnt have any respect for parents like that either so you cant blame the kids!

Single mothers cant bring up kids on their own our society has proved it - you need the man to instill discipline regardless of what anynone says - yes there might be a few who are good with the bringing up but they are in the minority....

Omg, Omen!!! I'm absolutely gob smacked with your opinions there! I did not say my daughter wanted them I said she was limited in choice with her small face!!! All the lasses in there were at that price give or take £20! My daughter is not greedy and does not ask for things as he knows I'm on my own and I work extremely hard for what I have got! I did not know you could get lasses online thats news to me! No its not difficult if you know!!
As a single working parent who is a disciplined parent I am absolutely offended by your comments!!! My daughter is a well respected that is praised in school for her good manners and volunteers in oxfam, not many 14yr olds are like that and there is no father figure in her life not by her choice may I add!!

Typing errors must have got me really angry!
lasses-glasses
he-she

I say it as I see it and I see it all the time in the Mearns especially - pampered kids - its the worst place for kids who think they are all gangsta but actually are more like peewee herman especially in Pollokshields - saw it all when i was with the police and laughable it is!

Cmon Serena be honest - What kid needs "Armani" glasses at £400 a pop cos their face is thin thats just an excuse and a pretty poor one!!!

I dont doubt you are a good mum but there are much more important things worth spending £400 nicker on than a pair of designer glasses to impress / match the other kids at school. You give kids these things all the time they will expect it all the time. Some spend the money to make up for not having a dad or other reasons but its always a bad choice as money cannot replace anything "real" in life!!!

I would like to always be in unison with everyones views but that is not honest - I would rather be hung for being outspoken and honest than hung for a liar (policitian)!

Are we going to fall out over this?
Its just my opinion!

Besides I think Jazzj response first illustrates the different spheres in which we live!

Omen you have totally jumped the gun here! My daughter wears glasses and has very poor eyesight half the price if the glasses goes to thinning the lens down if she didn't get that she would be wearing milk bottles and I wouldn't let my daughter be ridiculed! Besides I have the money I am not getting into any debt don't have debt if I did I would be mother matter. I don't have any credit card debts or loans. I've worked very hard without any financial help. My daughter doesn't wear things to fit in, one time I suggested to her getting a "super dry" jacket which I like and she said no as everyone wears them. My daughter is very quite ans shy unlike her mother lol. As an ex glasses wearer myself and being a young girl it is important feature she is not the norm 14yr old she doesn't we're make up or trendy clothes she is actually different to her friends which they all say. So a pair of glasses at £400 when I way it up is acceptable to me! there's many things I probably could splash out and buy her and myself but I don't. I have a good balance.
With my friend's funeral QC Paul McBride who died 2weeks ago at the age of 47 and another clients husband Angus Innes 44 died 2wks ago both funeral in the same day just puts things in perspective.
Are we going to fall out no I hope not! Not on this end. It's really difficult on a forum to get the measure of someone how they live etc and if you did meet me you would be pleasantly surprised I am not typical Newton Mearns person!

As you know I'm on my own with my four children now, and work hard to give them what they need. They don't have the best of everything, and certainly don't have as much as some of the kids whose parents are on benefits, but what they've had I paid for. Interestingly, although my ex was very controlling of me, it was left to me to discipline the children, you don't need the man for that!

Two of my girls wear glasses full time, one chooses from the range that is covered by the NHS voucher..I find there are plenty there for her, but my older one has two pairs and like Serena's daughter has a strong prescription and sometimes I have had to pay an extra twenty or thirty quid to get frames to support the lenses properly. I can't remember the last time there wasn't a two for the price of one offer on though......

My children know better than to pester me for things- it never works! - and they do know the value of money. My son, for instance, wants to go to the cinema on Friday (a rare treat) but has offered to cut the grass for two weeks to pay for it, and that seems fair to me.

As a single parent with four children at the top of the class, including one heading for Cambridge, I think I'm doing ok.......

Thanks Jazz your absolutely right definitely don't need a man for discipline! The fact that i'm a working single parent not on any benefits and don't have any debt only my mortgage tells that I am disciplined as it is! With all that said I don't buy my daughter everything for a start she doesn't ask but I do it of my own back. My daughter has a small face and she was so limited in choice the nhs glasses that fitted were barbie frames which she is too old for! I think I have paid more than them as since I have heard independant opticians would have been cheaper I will remember that next time. I didn't know you can take your prescription and shop around glad I know that now too. Optical express didn't have 2 for 1 offer at that time. Like I said her eyesight is extremely poor and I refuse to get her contact lens as it would be another direct debit. The thinning of the lens were the dearest cost if the glasses. Anyway you live and learn!

No i never fallout...

I already mentioned before that i was aiming my arrow at the usual council house , benefits , fags and no morals single mums Jazz - we have had this discussion before!

Just have to look at the estates in London full of single mums and kids in gangs with guns - that does not apply at all to Jazz or Selena. If you are a strong mum and give good disipline it shouldnt be a problem and you shouldnt try so hard to explain!

Yes as you say Selena its just a forum we can only judge by what we read!

Yes the thin lenses are a problem but thats just an extra £30 on the websites above.

Up to you how you spend your money but I was ripped off by optical express and was stupid enough to pay a fortune for my glasses because i was told they were pentax extra thin and special and last me 6 months tops whereas my el cheapo £15 glasses i got thrown in as an optical express freebie are still being worn now and thats 7 years on. Price doesnt always guarantee quality unfortunately - it used to but not any more!

I hope I havent hurt your feelings but when you do the label thing "Armani" CK etc etc etc I hear that sort of pompous one upmanship newton mearns windbag stuff every day and it just sets me right off!
>;o)

Thanks Omen, apologies if I came across as being over-defensive :)

Serena, I have always taken my prescriptions and shopped around for glasses that suit. One of mine needs thinned lenses too but it doesn't cost much extra. Optical express is horrendously expensive from what I've seen, but specsavers have a good teenage range, and even Asda and Bootshad some good ones last time we went. Omen's right though, you can get glasses a lot cheaper online though I've not yet done it myself.

I agree with you, Omen, about the designer label thing. I've never bought anything with a 'designer label' in my life, nor would I want to. These things are over-priced and a great big con! Keep it real... :-)

I wouldn't buy something for the label either!

I'm with you there, girls.

I recently saved a shedload of money by buying the glasses I liked. They looked just like the other ones I liked which wer 'designer' but were about £100 cheaper.

Absolutely, as long as you've got some you like the label shouldn't matter! My ex brother in law was a complete label bore, everything had to be designer, and he pointed it all out just in case I missed it..and insisted on telling me the cost of it all..yawn yawn, not interested!

Oh, yawn, indeed, Jazz!

What a blasted family that was feline, am well out of it!!

Yep! Sounds like it, kiddo...

So glad we cleared that up.
I have to say I think I've been clearly ripped off by opitcal express as they said to thin the lens is from £30 but my daughters lens to be extra thin was £214! Since then I have heard other places wouldn't have charged that much! I just wouldn't recommend optical express now!!!

Happens to us all at some time, serena, we all realise we've been ripped off somewhere along the line!

Thanks Fruity! It's just so bloody frustrating! :-(

Is that the first time she's had her lenses thinned then Serena? One of mine has thicker lenses and they do need to be supported by the right frame, which I suppose might look a bit bulky on a tiny frame

Yes Jazzj it was her first time to get them thinned. I nearly died when the assistant sowed me different thickness and there was 6 different thinness widths and I decided to go for the ultra thin as her sight is very bad. Thick lens would be coming out on top of the frames and old look like milk bottles so I thought just to go for the proper thin ones. I certainly paid the price and more!!!

I'm the canniest person i know and i got ripped off by optical express as well so you cant blame yerself - when they give you the schpiel and the initial costs they just add bits and bits like stupidly i also took the insurance and what it didnt say was that the optical express insurance only covered 80% of the cost of replacement or repair.

I have learned a lesson though - every time I applyu for an insurance quote - never choose right away always get the documents sent with a written quote in the post then give it a good scrutin especially the smallprint!!!

Just go on the premise that everything is a ripoff these days...
Rental , insurance , petrol you name it , we know it but do we heed it!
lol

Glad we got that cleared up.
I was in fact also a bit grumpy this weekend so apologies if i offended anyone!

Aww Omen your fine it's good to have a good debate sometimes! Lol!
I've never taken the insurance out on the glasses I just put the fear of god into my daughter she had to treasure them like gold!!! Lol! In all fairness she has been good not a scratch on them next check is in May I will take the prescription and certainly shop around so thanks Omen for the tips in amongst the comments lol ;-)
Jesus Omen I couldn't fall out with you mate you know where I stay!!! Lol!!!

I'm sure you haven't offended anyone, Omen, you're just honest, and honesty always gets you into trouble! Well, it always seems to get me into trouble! :-)

Not offended in the slightest Omen :)

Confession time!! I have just bought my first ever designer item today!!

Had an eye test and contact lens test today at Specsavers and because I pay for my contact lenses on a direct debit, I was told I qualified for half price designer specs. I wasn't going to bother even considering those, but then I noticed that the cheapest Specsavers range was exactly the same price as the lower end of the price range of the designer specs would be at half price! So...I am having a rather groovy pair of designer specs! LOL!

As long as they look good and do the job Fruits :) Amazing they same price. have to say though that I probably wouldn't know a designer pair of glasses if I saw one unless I read the label, and even then I don't think I'd recognise half of the brands!!

Oh, I think you would recognise the names, Jazz, I did, and I'm so not into designer anything! So if I could, you would too. I would never have bought them if they hadn't been the same price (with the special offer) as the cheapest Specsavers own brand ones...ie the cheapest frames in the entire place.

Some of the designer ones have really obvious designer logos on the specs themselves, so I chose a pair that had such a tiny logo that no one will ever notice! I'd be embarrassed otherwise...so not me!

Well done, Fruity! Hope you enjoy wearing them! :-)

Oh well I might just try specsavers in May when I have to take my daughter for her annual eye test. I certnly won't be visiting optical express! Not been to specsavers in years too.

Thanks, Serena, first time I've ever been to Specsavers after a bad experience with them at a completely different branch years ago, but the customer service was exceptionally good, and I was rather impressed with them. I've been going for years to a private optician business, but the chap retired about 2 weeks ago, and a new company has taken over his business and more than doubled the prices...hence me trying Specsavers!

The specs are only back up for my contacts anyway!

I expect the service at Specsavers varies from branch to branch, but the one here is lovely, and they were very helpful. The optician I saw was very thorough and really nice. We only have a choice of 3 opticians here in our little town.

i HEAR GOOD THINGS ABOUT SPECSAVERS!

Should have gone to specsavers!
So true!

Contacts are a pain in the bum all that cleaning poking the eye etc canny be bothered with wasting an extra 10 minutes in the morning.

I am up 5 minutes to get my suit on and out the door!
My bed time is optimised!
>;o)

I couldn't do contacts Omen, that whole thing of putting something in your eye goes against the grain with me, just too squeamish!

Thats not so bad jazz its the time it takes to clean em package em and everything has to be spotless to avoid infecting your eye with some nasty disease so washing your hands in disinfectant soap is a must before you do anything with a contact lens near the eye otherwise you could end up with Kerataconus or some other particularly life-ending eye complaint.

Things opticians dont tell ya.

Wouldn't mind the cleaning Omen, but squeezing the eye to get the lens out..even the idea of it..really tuns my stomach!!! Wimp..who said I'm a wimp??

I don't do any 'squeezing' whatsoever to get my contacts out! It takes me 2 seconds to take them out and 1 second to pop them in. The cleaning is a doddle, that takes about 15 seconds. And another 2 seconds to pop them in their container.

Mind you, I've seen grown men faint when they've watched me do it! ;-)

It can take me 10 minutes to remember where I left my specs!!

But Omen is right about having clean hands first, I just wash mine with antibacterial liquid soap before putting the lenses in or taking them out. I've been wearing contacts for about 15 years and never had any problems whatsoever.

I watched a friend at uni pop them out, lick them and put them back in Fruits..whole thing scared me for life as far as contacts are concerned, never ever ever!!!

Lol! Don't knock it till you've tried it, as they say, Jazz. I couldn't believe how easy it is to pop them in and take them out. But, it's one of those things...some have no problem, some faint!!

Anyway, I wouldn't want to wear specs under my crash helmet...although people do, and seem to manage ok, but I would just hate that. I have enough trouble trying to get a crash helmet on with masses of very long very thick hair!

i can understand the specs and crash helmet problem Fruits! Fortunately i don't need glasses full time yet..i have got them for reading but to be honest I rarely use them. Confess I am very squeamish in some respects, and I faint easily..can't even change my ear rings standing up..............

Lol re the earrings, Jazz! I don't need specs or contacts full time either, can read perfectly well without them, but I do need them for distance...so need them for driving, biking etc.

The only things that make me faint are heights and people cracking their knuckles! Oh, and needles...I have a terrible needle phobia! Had that even as a child! When I was in my teens, my mother used to say 'Well, I'll never have to worry about you injecting drugs!'

Thats funny fruiters but what about smoking a crack-pipe!
>;o)
lol

Oh I'm the same with needles Fruits, have to lie down at the docs for injections! And the worst thing about having my first baby was the needle stabbed in my thigh afterwards! Never had that for the others, refused point blank, and remember midwife trying to insist at the birth of my next child and I threatened to sue her if she came near me with a so-and-so needle!!!

Is that all?? Think the last ones I got for my daughter were about £120!!

Snoops you are a comic genius, you always leave me smiling :-)

Love it, Snoopy!!! Lol!!! :-)

At the local optical factory, an employee fell into the lens grinder .. he made a spectacle of himself ...................

At the same factory, an employee was fired for tampering with the lens grinder .... What happened to the lens grinder I asked? 'Oh, she was fired too' was the reply! ......................

A Czech goes to the optician who shows him a card with the letters

C Z W X N Q S T A C Z

"Can you read this?" the optician asks.

"Read it?" the Czech replies, "I even know the guy." ..............

And finally never make love to an optometrist .... they keep asking ... 'Which is better, this .. or this? ...............

Ok .. just one more ....

A guy walks into an opticians with a cardboard box. The lady on reception asks if she can help him ............ to which the guy opens the box and reveals a 14" turd. 'Oh dear' she says, ... 'shouldn't you be seeing a doctor?'
'I know' he said .... 'but it makes my eyes water!' .....

FINI!

Sign in the window of my local opticians ......

EYES EXAMINED WHILE YOU WAIT ......

I told a friend last week that I was seeing spots before my eyes .... 'have you seen a doctor' she asked ..... 'No' I said, .... 'just the spots' ........................