Contact Lens Racket!
Posted by
Aarti on
December 15th, 2009 . Filed under:
Uncategorized .
I need new contact lenses. And I need them, like, yesterday. So, I call up my eye doctor, and ask for my prescription so I can hunt around to find the best price.
First, the woman on the phone tells me that my prescription has expired. Therefore, no one will fill my prescription.
But, I say, I’m unemployed. I can’t afford an eye exam.
Well, you can’t get new lenses then.
Oh no.
Were you going to order your contacts through us?
Yes, and I was going to see if you guys would give me a sample pack because I only need one set to get me through, and…
We don’t give out samples unless you buy the whole year’s supply.
But I can’t afford the year’s supply, hence the need for a sample.
We don’t do that. You need an eye exam.
I can’t afford one.
Well.
Are you going to release my information to me though?
Fine, I’ll email it to you, good bye.
I get the prescription, and go to 1800contacts to see how much they will be… hundreds of dollars, which I expected, and I felt the pinch, but I thought, oh alright, I’ll just deal with it and get ‘em.
But I can’t get ‘em. Because my eyes are so bad that their little drop down menu doesn’t even go down as far as my prescription calls for. Oh that’s right. The woman said that I have to get them custom-made. That’s why I used to order them through the doctor’s office. PLUS, even if I could get them in my prescription, I can’t because they need a valid prescription. And mine has expired.
What does a girl have to do get a new set of contacts, when she’s unemployed and strapped?
What a racket!
Love,
Desperately Seeking Contacts So I don’t Look Like a Dork for a Huge Opportunity Coming Up Next Year
December 15th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Do you need to start a contact-a-thon? I will participate. I’ve been a lurkin’ but have really enjoyed your videos and blog. What can I/we do to help?
December 15th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
oh you are the sweetest denise! thank you! i’m not sure what can be done, but thank you for being willing to help!
December 15th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
perhaps, I could fedex them from here, send me your old prescription and I’ll take care of it..
December 16th, 2009 at 1:17 am
oh thank you nigel, that is so sweet! crish looked into it already though and it doesn’t look feasible with customs etc. it’s alright, though. i think i may have figured something out… thanks so much!!!
December 17th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Did you try Costco? They have reasonably priced eye exams and contacts too. I have bad eyes too! They don’t make contacts in my prescription so I had to get weaker ones…
December 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
i will try! i don’t have a membership, so have to hunt someone down… how bad are your eyes? mine are -3.75 in my left eye!!!
December 17th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Pfft… That’s nothing! -10 -1.25 on both eyes… actually need a -11 but they don’t make them yet! Been wearing specs since kindergarden!
December 17th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
WOAH! so you think costco would have my prescription then???
December 18th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Hey aarti,
Mine are bad, too. One eye -8 and the other -6.25. I have never had trouble getting lenses. And they are NOT custom. Sometimes, I can’t get samples, because my eye doctor doesn’t always keep a big stock up that high, but once I order they come in the mail really quickly. A lot of big box stores have eye centers. Try wal-mart, too. Or lens crafters? I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble unless you have some kind of crazy astigmatism or something…
December 18th, 2009 at 9:43 am
yes sadly, i DO have crazy astigmatism. but i’m going to go to walmart today and see if they can help me in any way. eeeks!
December 19th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I have crazy astigmatism and I’ve been going to Shopko with no problem for years. I also get 2 month disposables but I don’t order a year’s worth at a time (only 6 months). When I wear my cglasses and contacts on and off I can stretch the script to a year.
December 19th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I too am unemployed, have astigmatism and need to get a new prescription.
Today I heard about pricedoc.com on Headline News. It’s a site where you can shop around and compare prices for all kinds of healthcare procedures from local providers. I haven’t had a chance to really play around on the site but what little I have seen looks interesting.
I’ve heard that CostCo is a great place to fill your prescription but not so great for eye exams. It’s easier to go to someplace like Lenscrafters, Target Optical or Sears Optical for the eye exam and shop your scrip around for a better price.
I’ve had great experience with Lenscrafters. They’re great for people with astigmatism and they tend to have trial lens in stock. On the rare occasion when they don’t have a trail pair in stock, they go out of their way to get a trail pair from another location or from the manufacturer ASAP.
Have you looked into VSP Vision Care? I’ve been wondering if it would be a worthwhile investment.
Sorry for the rambling. Let us know how your Walmart visit turns out.