Specsavers 2 for 1, or is it..?

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Went into Specsavers for new glasses, was baffled by the lady working there with the various prices / offers / discounts etc so asked her to write down the process.

Price for 1 pair - £89
Price for 2 pairs on their '2 for 1' offer - £189

Have to wonder if my initial confusion was a deliberate sales trick....
 
neil_g said:
i found that if you want extras (VDU anti glare etc) that the "2 for 1" didnt apply and/or work out any cheaper.
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yep, i wanted the 1.67 thin lenses which was apparently the reason they were more expensive. but the lady in the shop didn't understand my confusion that the '2 for 1' price was more than double the price of a single pair.

Also been hunting online. Is it me or are the online prices much more than a few years ago? I seem to remember seeing glasses for sale with thin lenses dirt cheap, but not anymore...
 
I recently ordered some specs online and really did get one pair free. Paid under £40 for both pairs - one for distance and one for reading, although these are only for occasional use as I wear a contact lens during the day. I would, however, use a different website next time, SelectSpecs, as their prices include the coatings and thin & light lenses in the price.
 
I go to a proper optician ;)

Every year I go for an eye test and check up and pay about £40 for an hour of the same person's time (so there's some continuity and she starts from knowing lots of stuff about me - also I know she's a good optician). Then I go and buy my contact lenses and solutions at the cheapest possible place on the internet. I'd better point out that the opticians recommend I do this - they are happy to sell me a plan with free eyetests and lenses but for me they know this works better.

Last time I wanted glasses I bought some Oakley frames off of the internet and had my optician glaze them for me. We sat for half an hour and discussed the lens options and prices. No discounts, no 2 for 1, no tricks. I paid for what I wanted - which happened to be the most expensive lenses they do.

I really can't imagine why I'd go into Specsavers. Big franchise, full of offers that IMO are deliberately there to confuse people.
 
Went to Specsavers last friday. Single pair of glasses £86 two pairs £86. The frames had to be over a certain price but no confusion or attempt at.

Well recommended.
 
JonathanRyan said:
I go to a proper optician ;)
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Me too, they're called Specsavers. ;)

I see the same guy each time. He knows me well and knows my needs. I have varifocals but I'm mostly blind in one eye so he always makes sure I'm only charged for one lens.

JonathanRyan said:
I really can't imagine why I'd go into Specsavers. Big franchise, full of offers that IMO are deliberately there to confuse people.
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Pretty simple really. You buy one pair of single vision glasses over £89 (IIRC) and you get another pair free (Cheapest is free). Where's the confusion?
 
Col said:
Went to Specsavers last friday. Single pair of glasses £86 two pairs £86. The frames had to be over a certain price but no confusion or attempt at.

Well recommended.
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I have to say, this has been my experience of Specsavers also. I only need glasses for when I use a computer, so instead of taking advantage of the 2 for 1 offer, I went for the more expensive anti glare lenses for no extra charge.

Nothing confusing about their pricing as far as I can tell :shrug:
 
fabs said:
Pretty simple really. You buy one pair of single vision glasses over £89 (IIRC) and you get another pair free (Cheapest is free). Where's the confusion?
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Confusion is perhaps the wrong word or maybe not regarding the OP.

You do realise that its really not BOGOF.

I never buy my glasses from specsavers, I can get as good a pair for £40 at my local independent so I suppose technically they do BOGOF too :)

Steve
 
I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, hence I have varifocals of a high refractive index. The quality of the lens therefore plays an important part in my decision. I went to Specsavers and paid almost £600 for my glasses with the best possible lenses and rimless frames. When I mentioned a 'free' second pair they jiggled the bill around a bit and managed to include a second pair of single vision sun glasses for another £30 or so. BOGOF? - for very basic glasses maybe but there's lots of Ts & Cs it seems otherwise.
 
My main concern with Specsavers is that the Optometrist is often the franchise holder which provides a conflict of interest

I did used to go there when my company paid for the test and made a contribution, but never found it a satisfying experience

Last varifocal prescription was too strong and when I went to another Optometrist they confirmed my thoughts, in fact said keep them for a couple of years and they may well be about right.

There might well be a slight change in the prescription although not sure that always warrants new glasses, but that's where the money is made as the sight test is basically a loss leader.

Now prefer to go where the Optometrists are employed by the company without any financial incentives apart from salary. Tesco is not a bad idea because the whole Optician set up is designed to get you in store to hopefully buy other items so in effect serves as a loss leader.
 
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jakeblu said:
Confusion is perhaps the wrong word or maybe not regarding the OP.

You do realise that its really not BOGOF.

I never buy my glasses from specsavers, I can get as good a pair for £40 at my local independent so I suppose technically they do BOGOF too :)

Steve
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How so? It's quite clear that it's for single vision lenses where you buy one pair and get another free. Definition of BOGOF for me.

drounding said:
I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, hence I have varifocals of a high refractive index. The quality of the lens therefore plays an important part in my decision. I went to Specsavers and paid almost £600 for my glasses with the best possible lenses and rimless frames. When I mentioned a 'free' second pair they jiggled the bill around a bit and managed to include a second pair of single vision sun glasses for another £30 or so. BOGOF? - for very basic glasses maybe but there's lots of Ts & Cs it seems otherwise.
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As I said above, it's quite clear that the offer is for single vision glasses. Having said that, I also get the 2nd varifocals for free. Where do the Ts & Cs come into it?
 
fabs said:
How so? It's quite clear that it's for single vision lenses where you buy one pair and get another free. Definition of BOGOF for me.
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The price has been loaded to account for the bogof as in the example I quoted earlier my local independent do the same or similar frames for £40-£50. Personally I would sooner buy one pair for say £50 than 2 for £89. There is a small saving if you need to buy two but it certainly isn't 100%

Steve
 
jakeblu said:
The price has been loaded to account for the bogof as in the example I quoted earlier my local independent do the same or similar frames for £40-£50. Personally I would sooner buy one pair for say £50 than 2 for £89. There is a small saving if you need to buy two but it certainly isn't 100%

Steve
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Does your local independent do free eye-tests?
 
Up here of course eye tests are free, I get mine done at Vision Express and buy my specs online. When I broke my work specs recently I managed to two pairs of replacements (single vision) from G4U for £22.50 delivered total, that's £11.25 a pair. The High Street/Shopping centre franchises could not hope to match that because they have to pay the rates and the wages for all those scurrying busy looking staff. I don't see why I should pay a premium just so they can have fancy glass frontage in posh shopping centres.
 
I get free tests from work but also, Specsavers and Tesco do free tests.

I take the prescription to someone in my town who used to make up glasses for many of our High Street opticians but has now set up on his own. He cannot do tests but is very competent and reasonable with prices and usually has his own two for one offer.

I have changed to contact lenses now as if I want glasses, I need the highest index = highest price lenses.

However, now I'm getting old (49) I need reading glasses too. Luckily, these are very cheap.


Steve.
 
I go to specsavers. I get 1 pair for driving which have distance lenses for both eyes and one pair for general which have a distance lens for one eye and a reading lens for the other :)
They sometimes got the driving ones wrong as my eyes are what they technically described as "Bloody Wierd" (said in an Australian accent). They have always retested with a different person and corrected them without any problem or extra charge. I now ask to see the same Optometrist (the Australian) and have no problems as he knows what my eyes are like. Even though the lenses are different in the 2 pairs they still do the 2 for 1 offer, as I am over 65 they normally check all the different offers available and suggest the cheapest.
 
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