The United Kingdom is presently lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to benefiting from the huge savings that buying your contact lenses online offers. The United States and parts of Scandinavia have been obtaining professional advice from their opticians and then after receiving their optical prescriptions, have purchased their prescribed brands online at a discounted rate for many years.
Your opticians primary duty is to look after the health and well being of your eyes, give you specialist medical information and if required, prescribe you treatment options. You are not obliged to purchase anything from your optician.
So why does the United Kingdom insist on buying from their optician when there are massive savings to be made online?
Strangely, British people feel obliged to buy from their opticians. Some opticians make customers feel like they have no option but to purchase from them, or they are too polite to say they are going elsewhere, which can be slightly awkward when the branch you have used is nice to you or provides a good service. However, your lenses and solutions, like everything costs money and if you can save over 70% off the cost then you are crazy not to look elsewhere.
I have read many stories where UK customers have been told that they can’t have a copy of their prescription until they have had a contract by direct debit for three months.
The Opticians Act 1989 which sets out the laws that opticians in the United Kingdom MUST comply with, clearly states in section 26 – Duties to be performed on sight testing that:
(section b) immediately following the test to give the person whose sight he has tested a written statement and;
Section 26 (4) A person shall not be required as a condition of having his sight tested (a) to undertake to purchase from a specified person any optical appliance the testing of his sight may show he requires to wear or use.
So basically, this means that your optician has to, by law, hand you your prescription as soon as you have had your eyes tested and they are not allowed to force you to purchase your contact lenses from anyone. You are free to choose who you buy from. So if you have trouble with your optician and they won’t give you your prescription, then you know which clause to quote to them and remind them that they are in fact breaking the law as stated in the Opticians Act 1989.
Opticians are now getting used to people doing this and most are happy to hand over your prescription without hesitation.
How you benefit from discounts by buying online.
Online optical companies do not have the overheads, such as shop premises, utility bills and huge staff costs. That is why you can save lots of money by purchasing online. These online companies generally buy in bulk and then pass the savings on to you along with some amazing coupon offers that give you further discounts and free shipping. You get the exact same brand that are prescribed to you by your optician from the online company that you choose.
Some companies may wish to see your prescription and others will just take your word for it and get you to confirm that you do have a current prescription, which you should have for the sake of your eye health. Under no circumstance should you just purchase contact lenses without consulting an eye practitioner. With help locating the most reputable online contact lens companies online see below.
It is very easy to order online, simply fill in the exact details off your prescription that your optician has given you, pay the amount and then your lenses, along with any lens solutions or accessories you may have also ordered will be delivered to your door. Easy.
Now that the economy is tough we all need to save money where we can especially on items that we can not do without.
The Contact Lens Directory is a contact lens price comparison site for both UK and USA consumers. We are committed to finding all the contact lens savings we can and have compared the lens prices from over 20 reputable contact lens companies along with all the available discounts and coupons for extra savings to help you find the cheapest contact lenses.