General Chat

I need a seperate pair of glasses for reading so for yrs i kept swapping glasses and this became irritating since i teach. I tried bifocals and gave up on them. Last yr I went over to varifocals. I took to them like a duck to water. I always go to Spe* Sa**rs and have never had any problem with them.

Oh Daisy, hope you are feeling better now. I don't wear varifocals yet, but i am sure the day is fast approaching, lol Yvette xx

Am on my third or fourth pair now and no problems adjusting to them, apparently they are easier to adjust to if you have never had bifocals, which I hadn't. I have worn specs since I was 11 and am shortsighted, these varifocals work well. I almost always over the last 48 years go to my family optician who knows our family eye history, and then if I can't find any frames with him that I like, I go elsewhere and get them made up. Sorry you weren't able to get on with them. Liz

Daisy Love mine and they are my third pair but the first ones weren't sitting right and made me feel whoosy so went back after some adjustment they were fine---just percevier(spelling).

Hi I have just returned mine yesterday after trying them for 2 weeks. The cost a fortune so shop not too keen to take them back but have done. I will stick to 2 separate pairs.

Daisy, it does seem odd to have been prescribed them for reading only. I am short sighted but need glasses for reading so am the perfect candidiate for them. I keep hearing 'a life on the ocean wave' in my head, and the pages keeps slanting sideways.Weird. Pat

Maz I know but I felt so ill wearing them and I really do only need them for reading so couldn't see the point of all the hassle. Pat - well done. Glad you're getting on better with them and hope one of us has success with them! Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. It really was very useful despite my decision to bail. Daisy

Oh Daisy I nearly binned mine yesterday, they were so awful but wore them all day at work today and got on better than I expected. Will give them a few more days, before deciding what to do. Pat

oh ya big chicken lol !! Maz. XX

I have had them for about 5/6 yr. You will get used to them I really like mine. Only problems I find are reversing the car..I have to take them off, or walking down steps can be a bit distorted. Marion

Well having spent the weekend feeling spaced, hungover and sick, and patience not being my strong suit, I've bottled it already and returned them. True to their word, they're changing them to normal reading glasses and even let me choose different frames. Very relieved. Daisy

that's VERY interesting about the Cyprus procedure OC. Can I ask how much you usually paid for lenses in the UK please? I have a very complicated prescription and would love to save money on them. With flights being so cheap nowadays it is something worth considering. Maz. XX

Anne No, I will never go back to SS, not if they are the last Optician on the planet - while all this fuss was going on with my mis-made spex, I had non spex at all, had to buy a cheapy pair from Woollies. When I enquired politely as to the progress of my being-put-right spex, I was informed off-handedly that they had mislaid them and they were too busy to look for them. I found the phone number of the Owner of Specsavers (in Jersey or Guernsey, can't remember now) and I phoned him. He was nearly as upset as me about it. The following morning I was invited to choose any pair from SS with no charge, and a £200 cheque for my trouble. I chose a pair.....the lenses were wrong..... I went to Cyprus on the £200, and bought all-singing, all-dancing, varifocals for £90. They took 48 hours to make because my particular lenses had to be sent to GERMANY to be ground. The sight test was computerised - none of that 'Is that better or worse?', you just stare at a Xmas tree on a screen for 30 seconds and out pops your prescription. Going back this winter and getting two pairs this time! OC

As I said before, we go to Specsavers and think we get a great deal! Yes, a mistake was made but they put it right quickly and efficiently. Getting a free pair is a huge bonus - that's the spare pair OC that you need! Anne

sorry I gotta stick up for Specsavers! have got mine and daughter's and mum's there for a few years now and have found them polite, helpful, accurate and efficient. my only gripe is the cost of my lenses - but then that's not their fault, it's my crappy eyes! Maz. XX

I went from bifocals to varifocals several years ago, it only took me a week to adjust, and now prefer them to bifocals. My hubby had a new pair of specs from Optical Express, he knew when he tried them on in the shop that they wern't right, the assistant told him to go away and give them a week or so, but he refused and insisted on seeing the optician, the assistant tried telling him he couldn't the optician, but luckily the optician heard the row going on and saw him. And YES they had been made incorrectly and had to be returned. The same thing happened to my brother in law with the same firm. Where do they all get made? do they maybe use the same place?

Interestingly where we live, VE scores evey time. The Optician couldn't be more helpful. She spent over half an hour over and above the basic eye test making sure my varifocals were right for distance, for reading and for computer work I have not used SS but both my wife and son thought they were rubbish and never went back. Their prescriptions were wrong and the specs themselves were not up to scratch either. I suppose at the end of the day, it all depends on the local staff.

To be fair Specsavers shops are all privately owned - it's a franchise - so each one is going to be different. I go to one but there are two others in the area with bad reputations and as for Vision Express - well - never again. Gwynne

I got my two most recent pairs in Cyprus. When the Optician fitted them, he said 'Stand up. Do you feel dizzy or sick?' I did slightly - he took the spex off and adjusted the fit, pushing the lenses nearer to my eyes, if you understand what I mean. Perfect. Only problem - I am now as blind as a bat without them and live in terror of breaking them, I stupidly didnt get a spare pair. BTW - Specsavers isnt coming out of this thread awfully well, is it? OC

Hi Daisy I posted a thread about the very same thing a few months ago: 'How do you get used to.......... the dreaded varifocal glasses' I know exactly how you are feeling at the moment ! All I can say is that I spent several years putting off the evil moment, but, I spent most of the time either looking over or under my glasses. Push came to shove eventually and I gave them a go. It was horrible at first.!!! People would speak to me and I would turn to look at them and then spend the next few minutes trying to get them in focus. Also the first time I went in a big shop (M&S) I felt physically sick. Everything was swimming around in front of my eyes. Looking at a computer screen was awful. But please dont give up. It took about a month before I felt comfortable and forgot about looking through the reading part and the distance part. IT DOES become second nature and you dont realise you are doing it. Believe me if I can get used to them anyone can. Hang on in there it will get better although I know at the moment it does not feel like it will. I wouldnt be without them now. Hang on in there and good luck. Susan