What's perplexing you today?

[Spexxvet]

Here's the issue in my profession. When you buy glasses, some of what you pay for is the Optician's expertise. A good Optician will determine your needs and recommend the best products to meet those needs. S/He will take appropriate, accurate measurements, and when the glasses are made, s/he will ensure their accuracy. Then the Optician will custom fit the eywear to you, and will adjust your glasses if they ever come out of adjustment.

Historically, we have adjusted anyone's glasses, whether they purchased the glasses from us, or not. An Optician somewhere sold those glasses and at some point may adjust glasses that were purchased from me.

Now, people are buying their glasses on line, and we Opticians are being asked to give away our skills, expertise, and our time. If it's just fitting glasses to someone, it's not a big thing, but when we're asked for measurement, for which we can be liable, or to troubleshoot a problem with the glasses, then it becomes costly to us. The worst is when our paying customers have to wait while we try to figure out why an on line purchaser can't see out of their glasses.

For young people like you and Pie, it's not so much of an issue, especially if you don't have a strong prescription. But when you get into multifocals (and you will), you may want to consult with a licensed Optician.

[glatt]

Sounds like a simple policy of "we charge to fit any glasses not sold by us" is in order.

[Spexxvet]

That's a completely new paradigm, and it won't be a popular one with patients - taking something away that's always been free never is.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Here's the issue in my profession. When you buy glasses, some of what you pay for is the Optician's expertise. A good Optician will determine your needs and recommend the best products to meet those needs. S/He will take appropriate, accurate measurements, and when the glasses are made, s/he will ensure their accuracy. Then the Optician will custom fit the eywear to you, and will adjust your glasses if they ever come out of adjustment.

Historically, we have adjusted anyone's glasses, whether they purchased the glasses from us, or not. An Optician somewhere sold those glasses and at some point may adjust glasses that were purchased from me.

Now, people are buying their glasses on line, and we Opticians are being asked to give away our skills, expertise, and our time. If it's just fitting glasses to someone, it's not a big thing, but when we're asked for measurement, for which we can be liable, or to troubleshoot a problem with the glasses, then it becomes costly to us. The worst is when our paying customers have to wait while we try to figure out why an on line purchaser can't see out of their glasses.

For young people like you and Pie, it's not so much of an issue, especially if you don't have a strong prescription. But when you get into multifocals (and you will), you may want to consult with a licensed Optician.

Hey, I pay an optometrist $60 every year to give me a full eye exam. I get pics of my retinas and everything, since I'm typeIID and work with <Dr.>frikin' lazers</Evil> every day. I refuse to pay a kajillion dollars to some frame manufacturer when I know it should cost $19.95. And I work with precision optics for a living -- we don't pay hundreds of dollars for the stuff we use, and it's a lot more high-tech than my specs. I know my prescription, my IPD, all the various lengths associated with my last specs, and verify that info with my optometrist.

<shrugs> Seems fair to me.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

...All of which is to say, good opticians certainly do the things you list above. But good opticians may be rarer than you think.

Originally Posted by squirell nutkin

Spexx, the party's over. I wonder why photographers didn't do the same thing that doctors did a long time ago: create a guild that prevented others from practicing without a special license.....

Unfortunately, only 22 (I think) states are licensed, which is why I live in PA (non-licensed) and work in NJ (licensed).

Originally Posted by Pie

Hey, I pay an optometrist $60 every year to give me a full eye exam. I get pics of my retinas and everything, since I'm typeIID and work with <Dr.>frikin' lazers</Evil> every day.

It's good that you get examined every year, that's the standard of care for diabetics (you should probably see an MD, though). But "eye doctors" don't know much about glasses. They know about eyes.

Originally Posted by Pie

I refuse to pay a kajillion dollars to some frame manufacturer when I know it should cost $19.95.

Should? What's should? You're not going to get a high quality, stylish, current (not discontinued which means unlikely to be replaceable if broken), frame fitted well by a good Optician for $19.95.

Originally Posted by Pie

And I work with precision optics for a living -- we don't pay hundreds of dollars for the stuff we use, and it's a lot more high-tech than my specs.

A replacement headlight for a 2008 Buick Lucerne is $142.00 on line. That's not high tech, either. Or installed.

Originally Posted by Pie

I know my prescription, my IPD, all the various lengths associated with my last specs, and verify that info with my optometrist.

As I said, you're young enough that it probably is not critical, but when you need multifocals, you may feel differently. There are something like 170 different progressive addition lens models, and plenty of lined bifocal types. Additionally, just because the sizes and lengths of your last glasses suited you doesn't mean that your new ones will. You were wearing an 18 bridge? Is that a saddle, keyhole, modified saddle, fixed, adjustable, or unifit bridge? How will the difference effect how the glasses fit you? An Optician would should better know.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Additionally, just because the sizes and lengths of your last glasses suited you doesn't mean that your new ones will. You were wearing an 18 bridge? Is that a saddle, keyhole, modified saddle, fixed, adjustable, or unifit bridge? How will the difference effect how the glasses fit you? An Optician would should better know.

Heed this advice. Online buying is great if you know all your important info and the style of glasses are the same. Oh and hope you know what that really means.

Spexx - Don't most optometrists know all this as well? I thought an ophthalmologist was more for serious medical issues. I thought most places had an optometrist in them, well the more reputable ones anyway.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

Heed this advice. Online buying is great if you know all your important info and the style of glasses are the same. Oh and hope you know what that really means.

Right - buy a commodity on line. A roll of scott toilet paper is the same at the store or on line. IMHO, glasses are not a commodity. :shrug:

Originally Posted by classicman

Spexx - Don't most optometrists know all this as well? I thought an ophthalmologist was more for serious medical issues. I thought most places had an optometrist in them, well the more reputable ones anyway.

Ophthalmologist - mainly health of eye, performs surgery, some don't even do refractions, can't be bothered with eyewear.

Optometrist - mainly vision (refractions), can manage eye disease, may fit eyewear, but their (approximately) 2 hours of classroom eyeglass learning does not prepare them well for in-depth eyeglass dispensing. They're more interested in fitting contact lenses.

Optician - Almost entirely eyewear, some states allow Opticians to refract.

Whenever a patient comes in with problems with their glasses, regardless of where they got the glasses, I always analyze the glasses first, and give the doctors my opinion of the problem.

[squirell nutkin]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Here's the issue in my profession. When you buy glasses, some of what you pay for is the Optician's expertise. A good Optician will determine your needs and recommend the best products to meet those needs. S/He will take appropriate, accurate measurements, and when the glasses are made, s/he will ensure their accuracy. Then the Optician will custom fit the eywear to you, and will adjust your glasses if they ever come out of adjustment.

Historically, we have adjusted anyone's glasses, whether they purchased the glasses from us, or not. An Optician somewhere sold those glasses and at some point may adjust glasses that were purchased from me.

Now, people are buying their glasses on line, and we Opticians are being asked to give away our skills, expertise, and our time. If it's just fitting glasses to someone, it's not a big thing, but when we're asked for measurement, for which we can be liable, or to troubleshoot a problem with the glasses, then it becomes costly to us. The worst is when our paying customers have to wait while we try to figure out why an on line purchaser can't see out of their glasses.

For young people like you and Pie, it's not so much of an issue, especially if you don't have a strong prescription. But when you get into multifocals (and you will), you may want to consult with a licensed Optician.

Spexx, the party's over. I wonder why photographers didn't do the same thing that doctors did a long time ago: create a guild that prevented others from practicing without a special license. Do you know how many times I hear from people who ought to be using a professional photographer that their nephew or son or whoever is going to take the pictures for them for free? Just because you can buy a hammer, that doesn't make you a carpenter. Same goes for just about every profession and trade. Being in a consumer society we pay the price by having our expertise discounted in order for someone to be able to sell out from under us. Our national values respect consumerism more than expertise.

There was a local paper near here that was always going on an on about "shopping locally" and supporting local businesses. But what does that mean? From my point of view it means:
Don't buy a camera, if you need photos, go to your local photographer and let him make a living (not a killing)
Don't buy a computer for desktop publishing, go to a graphic designer and hire them to make your poster.
Don't run to home depot and buy and arsenal of tools, hire your local carpenter to fix your screen door.
don't buy pepperidge farm cookies or budweiser beer or produce from across the continent. Why don't you have a local bakery or brewery? because they were edged out by economy of scale.

So I say the party's over, because it is just a matter of time before your business is a self serve procedure. Pharmaceutical companies are already marketing directly to consumers.