glasses direct blog

Picture by Alicia

Although it doesn’t happen in most cases, we have heard of a few incidents where an optician refused to give a patient their prescription as they suspected it might be used to buy glasses elsewhere. Following the eye test, your optician is by law is obliged to give you a written copy of your prescription, however there’s a chance they’ll get grumpy at this request because they know it means you can now go off and buy your glasses online.

Top five things to tell an uppity optician (in no particular order):

1. It’s the law. You have to give me my written prescription immediately following my eye test.
2. My work needs it - a receipt isn’t enough for them to pay for my eye test.
3. My doctor wants a copy.
4. I want to buy my glasses from Glasses Direct (our favourite).
5. I want to frame it.

Remember – you’ve paid for your prescription. It’s yours, and you have every right to it.

We strongly recommend that you ask your optician to include your pupillary distance measurement in your prescription. It’s not part of the eye test itself – and they’re not legally bound to give it to you – but it’s worth getting if you can because it’s a key detail in achieving a perfect fit. They’ll either oblige, say no, or, in some cases, agree to take the measurement for a small fee.

Picture by wtlphotos

To keep your eyes healthy, you should always ensure your prescription is up to date. When buying glasses online, you need a copy of your prescription - which must be less than two years old. Based on a recent Glasses Direct survey, we noticed that a few customers are having trouble remembering when to book an eye test to ensure their glasses prescription is up to date prior to buying online, so we put together a list of useful tips to help you remember.

Use a desktop or web based calendar - the easiest way to remember dates and important events. For those using office, Microsoft outlook is the most straightforward option, otherwise consider a 3rd party web based calendar such as Google Calendar.

Use a good old pen and paper dairy - I know, I was surprised as well to find out that some people still use it.

Send a future email - Futureme.org allows you to write an email and schedule it to be sent at a future date.

Use an RSS reminder - ReminderFeed is a free reminder service that delivers reminder messages right to your feed reader.

Free web-based to do list managers - services such as Remember the Milk supports sharing lists, email add of tasks, and SMS reminders.

Phone call alert - TelePixie provides the a reliable reminder call service. Whether you need a one-time reminder call or would like to schedule recurring calls, you are covered.

Use a Firefox extension - ReminderFox is an extension for Firefox and Thunderbird that displays and manages lists of date-based reminders and ToDo’s. The target audience is anybody that simply wants to remember important dates (anniversaries, updating a prescription, etc) without having to run an entire calendar application.

Use a facebook application - although designed for birthday reminders, applications such as Birthday Alerts could be used to receive other important reminders.

SMS reminder - services such as Oh, don’t forget… and kwiry remind anyone about an event at a specific day and time.

Sticky notes - They’re not ideal as a primary means of long time management of tasks but if you must, put stickies on the front door when I need to remember to take something with me the next time I leave.

Let us know which method you find most useful.

Although I work for glasses direct, I still buy glasses elsewhere. Sometimes for mystery shopping, sometimes just for pleasure.

Of all the glasses shops I’ve been in, the selection that made me drool the most was Bromptons in Brighton. A beautiful boutique shop with lovely friendly staff, and a selection of the most wonderfully beautiful modern glasses, and a range of vintage weird specs.

If you love really beautiful glasses, and are in the south, give this place look.

I actually drove down there this weekend to buy a new pair from their shop (after I dropped my main pair in a river a couple of weeks ago). I said I was from Glasses Direct and they didn’t throw me out, which was nice.

As an online marketing consultant I am always advising brands to see what their customers are saying about them on blogs and forums across the web.

I thought it would be interesting to see what people think about Glasses Direct.

When buying online we all want to trust the store we’re purchasing from, and what better way than to see what experiences other people have had.

A self confessed fan of Glasses Direct I published 10 reasons to buy from Glasses Direct on my own blog. But what’s everyone else saying?

Website: Digital Spy Forums

Article/Discussion: Buying glasses online… who does it?

Comments:

“My last pair of glasses were £140 from the high street… latest pair cost me £17.50 from glasses direct and are easily as good.” Superwomble

“My sister bought a pair from Glasses Direct, and is very happy with them” That Bloke

Website: Mutual Points Blog

Article/Discussion: Glasses Direct’s new ‘virtual mirror’

Comments:

“Wow, that’s pretty cool” chick

“That’s awesome. Could do with something like this for clothes sites too” Andrea

Website: Ciao

Article/Discussion: Glasses Direct reviews

Comments:

“I would give them [Glasses Direct] a go. I have not been disappointed” sce8pmh

“I’ve now had my new glasses about a week and am really happy with them” claire47

Website: Facebook

Article/Discussion: Fans of Glasses Direct

Comments:

“I just ordered My Third Pair in three months.” David

“The choice is outstanding and the prices are amazing.” Julia

Will you join these happy Glasses Direct customers?

Article by LEON Bailey Green

We find the process of how prescription glasses are made fascinating and we think you may too after you read this article. The process of how prescription glasses are made is quite complex, though at Glasses Direct the prices are still lower than the price on the high street as you can see in our comparison table.

The more complex glasses prescriptions go through the following stages, although simpler prescriptions may skip some of the earlier stages:

Stage 1 – The laboratory select the lenses from a number of basic variants. These are pre-formed plastic blocks.

Stage 2 – The lenses are ‘blocked’ and semi-finished so they can be held in the generator – the machine that grinds the lens to shape.

Stage 3 – Your individual lenses are created from a template.

Stage 4 – They’re ‘generated’ – a process which grinds away much of the material of the lens, so that it is the right prescription and shape.

Stage 5 – Next they are polished so they become optically blemish-free.

Stage 6 – The lenses are then edged and marked up – which means their matched with their frame, and verified as being the right prescription.
Stage 7 – Lenses are cut to the right shape.
Stage 8 – Hand-edging removes any sharp edges and ensures a perfect fit with your glasses frame.
Stage 9 – Tints and coatings are added by dipping the lenses in dye or coating chemicals that bond to the lens surface
Stage 10 – The glasses are checked against your prescription for accuracy.

Further checking at Glasses Direct

When the glasses return from the laboratory, they go through a further set of stringent checks by our own quality assurance team who verify they’re the right frames with the correct prescription. We think this final stage is so important that we introduce you to the person who checked your glasses by including a card with your order showing the checks they completed. Once he or she is happy, your glasses are placed in their case with a cleaning cloth, plus any other items in your order, and dispatched via next day delivery. We use a courier so that we can trace the glasses right to your door.

Custom made prescription glasses from just £15!

Image from zach_manchester

In my last post I discussed some of the basic reasons that glasses are so expensive - cross subsidisation of the services offered by the glasses themselves (ie, they don’t charge the true cost for eye tests, but much more for the glasses). Also rents, expensive equipment, etc.

To try and stop people from going online to buy glasses many opticians will resist giving you your Pupillary Distance (This is, as it sounds, the distance between your pupils. I’ll write another blog post on this topic soon, and will be having a discussion with our Senior Optician about PDs which I’ll put up as a podcast).

To give you an idea of what many opticians feel about you, their customers, and the services that we and they provide, it can be worth eavesdropping on some of their conversations.

Optiboard is a forum for americans in the optical trade. There have been many threads on there about the online trade, and PD measurements.

Here is one about PD measurements: which many opticians are reluctant to give out.

“Online eyeglasses appeal to the cheapest and most moronic people out there. If I lose a few drooling idiots with no money to the online crowd, I’m not sure I even care.”

“Tell them to take their own. If they feel they do not need us, they they can do it themselves (note, I am no longer in the industry, so I can make statements like that).”

“My policy would (I haven’t been asked yet) No PD, period!”

“My policy is no PD, period.”

One member of the board tried to point out that by providing a service of measuring PDs etc, it could actually be a useful way of keeping customers returning to him, but he was in a very small minority being shouted down by the others who think that everyone who orders online is a moron, and any glasses bought online will be awful and won’t work.

We’ve had over 100,000 happy customers, and made over 200,000 pairs of glasses. If they didn’t work, we’d have been out of business a long time ago.

The industry is changing, and we’re part of that change. I wish the industry would realise that we’re not out to destroy anything, we’re just about giving a better deal. People, including myself, will still buy from the highstreet, and online. I buy books from amazon, my local book shop, and waterstones. I’ll buy glasses online, from the big chains, and from independant opticians (more of which in another post).

The difference is that I have 10 pairs of glasses, Two are from high street opticians, and are nearly double the cost of all the other 8 bought on-line put together!

Whether you bought your glasses online or from a High Street Opticians, your glasses might need a small adjustment every now and then which will help keep them in good working order for years to come.

You should adjust your glasses if:

1. At least one screw feels loose - For a great fit, all points of contact on the glasses must be tight and firmly connected to the frame. A £3 glasses maintenance kit will do the job and provide you with extra spares saving you time and money next time.

2. You feel like the earpiece is digging into your ears - We recommend that this will be done gently to ensure the glasses are not damaged. The best advice is to shift the curve of the earpiece closer to your head to make the earpiece feel tighter, or make the earpiece curve further back on the glasses by straightening out the frames. You may also want to use a hair dryer to heat the protective plastic tips to avoid cracking them.

3. You feel like the nose pads are too tight or too loose - Again, we recommend carefully adjusting the nose pads using as minimal pressure as needed as some styles of frame may require special tools for this adjustment. You should place the glasses face down on a soft surface and adjust the nose pads carefully without using excessive force and any jerky movements. If the nose pads don’t adjust you might need to take the glasses to your local optician.

4. Looking at the mirror, the glasses are not straight - Most likely that one side is bent up or down proportionate to the other side which could be tricky to get right at first. Again, place the glasses face down on a soft surface and gently bend while firmly grasping at the hinge, holding the front of the frame.

General tips and warnings:

1. Never grab the lens when adjusting the glasses as the lens might get damaged in the process.
2. Make sure you work on a clean soft surface and the glasses are securely placed down.
3. Be sure to make only small adjustments at a time as drastic adjustments may break or damage your glasses (depending on the quality).
4. If in doubt, call our experts for advice on 08456 88 20 20.

We hope you find those tips useful.

Picture by ellessu

With so many frames at discount prices to choose from, the job of finding the right glasses that complement your face shape and taste isn’t easy. Fortunately, Glasses Direct offers a guide to choosing the right glasses which reflects our experience with helping customers over the years. Together with this guide, there are a few great places on the web offering useful advice on how to choose your glasses when buying online.

Text resources:

Optical local how to choose eyewear - covers different face shape and general advice.
Alain Mikli’s tips for choosing frames - from The Daily Telegraph covering mostly frame and face shapes.
Daily Mail how to choose glasses that suit you - written by by Charlotte Harding this article covers topics such as which glasses suit which circumstances.
Wikihow guide to choosing eye glasses - offers a selection of tips and further information on the process of ordering glasses.
Wikihow how to look great with glasses - glasses fashion advice.

Video resources:

Videojug how to choose glasses positioning - eye positioning advice (2.37min).
Videojug how to choose glasses nose shapes - nose shapes positioning advice (2.02min).
Gok Wan on finding glasses for your face shape - he recommends certain frame shapes based on your facial features. ‘Glasses are a representation of your personality and who you are’ according to Gok and therefore should be chosen according to your face shape. We recommend (3.07min).
Vlogbrothers advise on how to buy glasses cheap - Hank asks the community to help him pick a frame (3.46min).
Expertvillage how to choose men’s eyeglasses - learn how to match face shape with men’s eyeglasses with expert tips on how to pick out men’s eyeglasses frames and lenses (1min).

If you know of any further online sources, please leave a comment.

The guvnor was doing his stuff on Sky-TV last night covering recent stories bubbling up on the internet.

Watch him here: Why Video Games Can Help Surgeons

“Sky’s Martin Stanford speaks to Jamie Murray-Wells from glassesdirect.co.uk about the stories moving up across the internet, including why video games can make surgeons faster and more accurate”

Picture by puja

I recently came across a few articles and tips on how to look younger, 10 years younger in fact. While most tips suggest either expensive procedures such as plastic surgery or getting your teeth lightened, some offer simple tips such as giving up sweet treats the likes of sugar and chocolate (easier said than done) and keeping your hair short.

There is another way to make yourself look 10 years younger which many fashion stylists don’t address at all, simply get a trendy pair of prescription glasses which complement your face shape.

Here are a few tips to help you look 10 years younger without breaking the bank:

1. Try a colourful pair of glasses - the days of getting only black or silver frames are a thing of the past. A new range of colourful frames is making its way to the hearts and minds of UK consumers. With prices starting at just £20, colourful frames are an excellent way to a more youthful appearance.

2. Match your glasses to your outfit - glasses are so important (see David’s rant for further reference), because you wear them every day and they sit on your FACE there’s absolutely no hiding an unflattering pair… enough said. Luckily when you buy your glasses online, you can afford a few pairs for the price of one pair from a High Street Optician so you could match a smart designer-look pair with your work outfit when going to work and a stylish retro fashion pair with your jeans when going out on a Saturday night.

3. Change your glasses often - not only will changing your glasses often make you look younger by reinventing yourself, it will also help boost your confidence by giving you that NEW feeling we all love when wearing something new.

4. Be different, try a unique style - looking younger is a lot to do with how others perceive you. With over 33 million of us in the UK wearing glasses on a daily basis, wearing a unique pair of glasses can make a difference and leave a great impression. For example, our Bahamas glasses which feature a tapered cut-out butterfly detailing on the arms and sides instantly draw the eye, while contrasting colours add extra uplifting impact or award winning Clic Vision glasses which feature super slick young design. Any of those we promise will make you stand out from the crowd.

5. Matching your glasses to your hair, eyes and skin - If your natural colouring (hair, skin and eyes) is dark, you’ll easily be able to carry dark, bold glasses. Black or dark brown frames in plastic or heavier metal will complement your features without dominating your face. Make the most of the fact.

If you have any additional tips, let us know below. Get further help choosing your glasses.