costco or walmart to get new glasses?

[holden j caufield]

? any experiences, recommendations of major places?

Thanks

 

[shortylickens]

I hate the both for many reasons. Recommend quality eye exam and then either Zenni Optical or that other place for cheap glasses.
Coastal Contacts I think it was.

 

[PottedMeat]

zenni?

a local news station did a comparison of walmart/sams/costco/lenscrafters and they found costco/sams had the best & cheapest. i don't think you need to be a member to use the costco/sams optical places.


my optometrist rents a place inside the local walmart and does exams for $35. he doesn't push any particular place to get the glasses.

 

[Ms. DICKINSON]

zenni optical

 

[BoomerD]

Costco has been my eyeglass supplier for many years.

I've never done business with zenni optical, but lots of people here rave about them...although there have been a couple of threads where they were raving about crappy service/bad glasses. Those have definitely been the minority though.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Absolutely Costco.

I've bought 6-7 pairs of glasses from them and gotten contacts for about 5 years (came from the contact websites)

I used to get glasses from vision express, lenscrafters, etc and Costco is much better, from the frame quality to the fitting. It is a bit more expensive but worth it considering how often you wear glasses.

 

[holden j caufield]

so what are stylish glasses for guys? btw I never looked good with glasses but I've seen some cool ones, like black kind of square ones I've seen on guys and girls that looked ok.

 

[pontifex]

i've been very happy with the glasses i got from costco

i ordered a pair of glasses from Zenni and the lenses are fine but the frames are cheap shit garbage. I got the $12-13 frames i think. Definitely wasn't the lowest price, somewhere in the middle.

 

[DrPizza]

I just purchased 3 pairs of glasses for myself just before Christmas from zennioptical. All three are excellent quality. I got the memory titanium frames & love them - the frames are very light weight.

"Fitting" - unless this is the first time wearing glasses, it's not too hard to fit them to yourself. Sometimes a minor adjustment on the bridge, and that's about it. Simply measure your current glasses to know the width & length, and order online. My 3 pairs, which included the sunglasses (polarized) clip-ons came to $60.

A nice new feature on their website is that you can upload a picture, mark the centers of your pupils (and you need to know the distance from pupil to pupil to order glasses anyway). Then, trying on glasses is as simple as clicking the try-on button. One thing that I noted is that when I try them on at the optometrist, I don't know what they look like, because they don't have lenses in them = I can't see myself in the mirror. The computerized "try-on" is very accurate (in my experience of the three pairs I've purchased.)

I can't see how glasses for me could be of any better quality, thus more than $25 or so a pair is throwing money away.

 

[Powermoloch]

I can't say for costco glasses, but i know they have good quality service

I got my 1st glasses from WalMart, it's alright
2nd set of glasses are from Lens crafters (and still have a 2nd spare just incase), and the service is so so.

<--- use glasses

 

[QueBert]

Coastal Contacts waaaay over Costco. I got some nice Nike frames with the lighter, scratch resistant lenses for like $60 shipped. Came with a carrying case and a cleaning cloth too.

 

[bhanson]

I wore a pair of glasses from Zenni Optical for nearly 2 years before I got another eye exam. I paid $8 for them.

The pair I'm wearing right now is from Walmart, but that's only because I have "insurance" that covers something ridiculous like $250 for frames. Oh, and you can only use your allotment on one pair in a use it or lose it fashion.

The only reason I chose to use Walmart over Costco is because I went car free 9 months ago and public transportation doesn't go there.

 

[preslove]

So, 1 vote for Zenni and 1 for Coastal. Any other online places people like? I'm getting my new glasses online for the first time soon.

 

[shortylickens]

FUUUUCKK!!

Just checked out their sites and they both fucked things up again. Why is it every time I find a website I like they change it up right away?

Anywho, there seems to be fewer options at Zenni now. I know for a fact they used to have tinted polycarb and they dont do it any more.
I need some shooting glasses for the range, but now I guess I'll just use regular safety glasses.
Fuckers.

OK, coastal does tinted polycarbonate but the glasses would cost 90 bucks instead of 20 at Zenni.
Shit, I guess regular safety glasses will have to do. For that kinda money I can have two backup sets and still save some cash.

 

[DrPizza]

I thought the tint options came up after you put everything else in. I might be mistaken though.

 

[shortylickens]

I thought the tint options came up after you put everything else in. I might be mistaken though.

It does, but on Zenni if you pick polycarb lens the box for tint disappears.

 

[alkemyst]

They both hire independents. I go to Costco for my exam and it's very through. I go to WalMart for my perscriptions.

My insurance doesn't cover Costco dispensing anymore.

However, both are about equal pricing and in selection. If I want designer frames chances are whereever I go they are going to be special order.

 

[alkemyst]

FUUUUCKK!!

Just checked out their sites and they both fucked things up again. Why is it every time I find a website I like they change it up right away?

Anywho, there seems to be fewer options at Zenni now. I know for a fact they used to have tinted polycarb and they dont do it any more.
I need some shooting glasses for the range, but now I guess I'll just use regular safety glasses.
Fuckers.

OK, coastal does tinted polycarbonate but the glasses would cost 90 bucks instead of 20 at Zenni.
Shit, I guess regular safety glasses will have to do. For that kinda money I can have two backup sets and still save some cash.

You should be able to get them tinted by any place later.

 

[Howard]

You know that guy whose alias starts with "t"? Go to the place he hates.

I seriously can't remember his name. tpsomethingorother

 

[DrPizza]

It does, but on Zenni if you pick polycarb lens the box for tint disappears.

So... don't get the polycarbonate lenses.
When I ordered mine, I opted for the non-polycarbonate lenses. I had high index lenses once, as pushed by one of the local chains (for an extra $70 for the lenses or something) and discovered that I'm greatly bothered by the chromic aberration. I considered getting a cheap $6.95 pair and add on the high index lenses to see if it's me, or if the pair from the local place were just flawed somehow.

 

[Imp]

Costco just for the service. If you have Zenni optical though, just spend less and go there.

Can't believe I paid $430 for my glasses 2 years ago... Lenses were twice as much as the frames (high-index).

 

[shortylickens]

So... don't get the polycarbonate lenses.
When I ordered mine, I opted for the non-polycarbonate lenses. I had high index lenses once, as pushed by one of the local chains (for an extra $70 for the lenses or something) and discovered that I'm greatly bothered by the chromic aberration. I considered getting a cheap $6.95 pair and add on the high index lenses to see if it's me, or if the pair from the local place were just flawed somehow.

Then they are not shooting glasses.