My husband had a 13 month old pair of expensive eyeglasses that developed scratches on the lenses. He’s very good about how he cleans them, using the proper cloth, etc. These were very nice glasses with the best of the best for scratch resistance, etc. But they still scratched and it bothered him. They were also a month out of warranty so there was no replacement option other than full price. Full price for these was $481.61 plus tax. I wasn’t excited about the prospect of buying the same lenses only to have them scratch and replace yearly for $500. So I started looking elsewhere.
I remembered the recommendation from other Samaritan members for eyeglasses online. Further research and reviews showed many people were quite happy with a company called zenni optical. I couldn’t imagine getting glasses this way, but it was worth a shot.
We picked up his eye prescription and loaded his face picture into the zenni website. We couldn’t get the exact brand of frame, but using the numbers on the temple and a ruler we knew what size his current frames were and just looked for something similar to start. The website lets you “try on” the glasses with the picture to get an idea of appearance. We didn’t have his PD, which is the pupillary distance, as the eye doctor couldn’t find it in their records. The zenni website tells you how to measure it yourself, so we did. Several times, just to be sure. 🙂
We picked a frame with good reviews, plugged in his prescription and PD numbers, and saw that the total was about $123. I then found a 10% off coupon online and the resulting cost was $116 for the frames and his rather complicated progressive lenses COMBINED. $116 vs almost $500. The frames alone were about $25. His other frames were $145 (for him the lenses are the expensive part). There’s no comparison from a cost standpoint, so what about the glasses themselves? Can they be any good?
We took a chance and ordered them. We chose the free shipping option, and they took 10 days to arrive (you can pay for faster shipping). I was nervous it was a waste of money. They arrive and he put them on. It was amazing. They were clear, great quality, lightweight, flexible (that’s what we ordered) and didn’t need any adjusting. The PD measurement was a concern since we did it ourselves, but we must have got it spot on because his vision was perfect. He never got a headache, and they look great on him. I was ecstatic that the experiment worked and he has clear vision again for a fraction of the cost! A 75% savings is great! Even if they don’t last and I have to buy them yearly (although reviews indicate they should do well), it would still cost less than replacing his $500 pair even every 3 years!
I wear glasses also and ran the same experiment for myself. I haven’t ordered a pair yet as mine are fine, but my prescription is a tad less severe so my cost is $36 (all in!) for the frames and lenses I chose. $36 for a pair of glasses! The ones I’m wearing were over $300. That’s almost a 90% savings!
All in all, I highly recommend giving zennioptical.com a try if you need new glasses are are tired of paying for expensive ones other places. I almost can’t believe how well it worked, but we have first hand experience about how great they are. 5 stars from us and a great option for Samaritan members!