Location: Canada
Background: When I first started wearing glasses the optometrist would just give me a piece of paper that I could take to any shop to get my lenses made. Then they started refusing that paper and insisting I either leave my frames with them for two weeks, or that I buy new frames.
And now it seems like even asking for the script, or the measurements, is ‘against policy’.
I recently went in for an eye exam and some new glasses, and the optician said something I have never been told before.
I had asked if they could give me the prescription for my sunglass lenses since they don’t deal with the brand that I prefer, and he said that I would have to schedule another appointment at a shop that deals with that brand, because the prescription was not enough, and I would also need the measurements he took.
I asked if I could have those measurements and he said it was against policy.
Is he lying to try to get me to buy new frames from his shop? Or is there something to what he is saying?
Confession - When he walked away I took a picture of the measuring app he had used which seems to show all the measurements.
Would this be useful to another shop? I’m just trying to buy lenses without spending a fortune on yet another frame.
It all feels like a scam.
I’m in Canada and I’ve had opticians do this. They are full of shit. You need your distance between pupils and prescription (and possibly cylinder measurements if you have astigmatism) to buy glasses. They are preventing you from buying from other people and are trying to convince you that you must buy from them.
Email them asking for the prescription and cc their head office if they have one. If they refuse, tell them that what they are doing is illegal in Canada. An optician MUST give a patient their prescription but it does not require the distance between pupils.
Switch shops and absolutely leave a bad review and mention what they did.
Plus, any place that sells glasses will take that pupil measurement so get your prescription and shop around. I personally like Costco, but if you are comfortable with doing your own pupil measurement you can order glasses quite cheap online.
Thanks! I have sent an email and will update if they reply. I will not hold my breath though.
I’m 99.9% sure they have to give it to you and are just being scummy. You paid for the eye exam. You are entitled to the results.
Did you actually pay for an eye exam or was that a service the shop offers their customers?
I’m not in canada, so I don’t know how it works there, but I think this is a crucial difference.
I also assume you’ve been to a private Optician shop, not an official health care provider?
All eye care in Canada is private. As far as I know I’ve never heard of anyone offering eye exams for free. It’s usually $150-$200. For some people the government covers the fee, but it’s still a private practice and they get their money. Zero reason they can withhold the prescription.
All eye care in Canada is private
Your healthcare doesn’t include ophthalmologists? Like eye doctors?
Where I live opticians usually do the test for free or for a small fee (maybe 20€) with the expectation that you buy your glasses from them.
If OP paid $150-200 they have every right to be pissed off.
It was actually 220 :/
It’s good you included your location.
In the US, opticians have to provide your script whether you ask for it or not.
I didn’t find something as official for Canada with a 5-second web search, but this Ontario College FAQ indicates Canada has something similar.
Thanks! I had thought the same.
It all felt so forced and scummy. I am going to go back and demand all the information (politely)
Can’t speak for where you live but if the optician is being a, excuse the expression, little bitch about it then that is poor behaviour on their part. I have never heard of an optician refusing to hand out the measurements here.
On a slightly related note: Opticians often get the glasses made elsewhere and simply install them into the frames (at huge markup), you could try locating a glass supplier and have your glasses made by them directly (saves you a bunch of money, speaking from experience). Assuming they offer individual glasses of course.
Since I was able to get the measurements from the app he was using I think this is going to be my course of action. I will ask for my script from the optometrist and then take the pupil measurements from that picture and send them to someone who will make the lenses for my sunglasses.
Also Canada, my optometrist has never given me a problem asking for my prescription. However, they don’t measure the Pupil Distance (PD) which your lens fitters might require.
This measurement is the distance between your pupils in millimetres. It can be measured with a standard ruler. Mine is 69 (nice)
My optometrist explicitly does not measure the PD because the glasses shop they have adjoining doors with will do it for you. We often just measure ours at home because it’s far cheaper to shop for glasses online.
Awesome. I have the PD measurement from that picture, along with other measurements.
I assume this covers everything the lens folks will need.
Your PD is here so that’s fine. If however you require a multifocal/progressive or computer/office lens you will need heights. The heights in this picture are only applicable to the frame you are wearing. However if you’re going to another dispenser to buy frames and lenses from them they will measure you up.
For the record, in Australia your lens prescription is your property, but as was stated by someone else usually the optical dispensers will take your PD, and they often aren’t recorded on your script. Also, as a dispenser if I call your optom to request a copy of your script, they will give me the prescription but not the PD. It’s something usually taken w, at point of sale.
Source: Dispenser/Optical Mechanic for over 20 years.
Thank you kindly for the reply. This makes some sense. It is just so scummy feeling because the information is there, it is about me, but I can’t use it to shop around. I probably just had a great opto who went above and beyond back in the day and that coloured my expectations.
Yeah that sounds like bullshit. My step son was recently at an optometrist and he’s broken his glasses like 4 times since. His grandmother asked for a copy of his prescription so she can find a cheap pair elsewhere and they gave it to her with no fuss. This is in the United States.
Might be time to find a new optometrist.
Thanks! Yeah I won’t be going back there. They were so pushy about only using their brands, and denying me access to my own info.
Capitalism at it again. Or still.
https://www.wmpeyewear.com/blogs/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-eyewear-and-glasses-monopoly
If a monopoly is enforced by the government, ie so that nobody can enter the market without government approval, which is influenced by the monopoly, then it’s not a free market.
A free market is one in which economic interaction requires consent. If there’s a non-optional good that can only be obtained from one party, then consent doesn’t exist and you’ve no longer got a free market.
And hence aren’t under capitalism. The things that people hate most about capitalism are the times when it breaks down into a centrally-controlled market. ie when it stops being capitalism.
These places have been gouging for a long time. You have a right to your prescription, demand it and order from Zenni or similar and save yourself some money.
