My New Cheap Glasses
Monday, September 15, 2008

I know I usually review baby products, but I just had to write my two cents on my new glasses.

I went to the eye doctor for the first time in like 4 years a few weeks ago. My lens prescription hadn't changed much, so the the optometrist left it up to me to decide whether or not I wanted to get a new pair of glasses. She knows that we don't have vision insurance so she said it probably wouldn't hurt to keep wearing the ones I have now since they are not too scratched up and are still in decent shape, but getting new lenses would definitely "crisp things up a bit". I tried on a few pairs of frames while at her office, but didn't end up getting any. I was going to think about it.

Then, DH told me about a site called Zenni Optical that sells super cheap prescription glasses. He had just ordered a pair of sunglasses from their site and I thought it would be worth a shot to go ahead and order some glasses for myself. I ordered 2 pairs of glasses and 1 pair of sunglasses all for about $50!!!! Then, I started reading all kinds of negative reviews about the company's poor customer service, people never receiving their orders, etc. I got nervous and wondered if we had just squandered our money away on some cheapo pieces of crap that would either never make it to our house or would have the wrong prescription or something. You know, 'cause it's really smart to google reviews on a company or product AFTER you've already ordered from them.

Well, we were pleasantly surprised. DH got his sunglasses about 2 weeks after he had ordered them. They seemed to be decent quality, the correct prescription, and came with a hard case and a cleaning cloth. I think they cost him about $25 total! (Turns out, they looked completely stupid on him, but that wasn't the company's fault. He was going for the big chunky retro aviator look, but instead got the I-play-Dungeons-and-Dragons-and-I'm-scared-of-girls look) Even though they were the same exact width as his current frames, the lens part just wasn't as big and aviator-y as what he was expecting. Meh.

Mine took about 3 weeks to come in and while they do feel a little cheap and chintzy, they look decent. I mean c'mon, what can one expect for $50 for 3 pairs of prescription glasses!? All in all, I am happy with my purchase, except....

The piece of paper that the optometrist gave me w/ my prescription on it did not include my pupil distance. Instead of being smart and calling our optometrist to find out our pupil distances, DH and I measured our OWN pupil distances. Stupid. So, the pupil distance number I gave Zenni was 4 mm off for 2 of the glasses. BUT the sunglasses ended up having my correct pupil distance because when I was ordering them, a little box kept popping up saying that the pupil distance I entered was too small for the style of frames I had chosen. The lowest pupil distance it would accept was 4 mm larger than the pupil distance I had measured for myself. DH convinced me that it would be okay and wouldn't screw up my vision too much. He had read somewhere that if you have a relatively low prescription (which, I do) the pupil distance can probably be a couple millimeters off with little consequence. I was reluctant, but I did it anyway. How ironic that the sunglasses actually ended up being the only pair that has my correct pupil distance. And they make me look a little like Katie Holmes....or the girl on the cover of Sonic Youth's Goo, take your pick.

I'm wearing the other 2 pairs of glasses around the house today (which are admittedly a little bit Sally Jesse and The Church Lady, respectively) trying to decide if the pupil distance being off by 4 mm is screwing things up. They do feel a little weird to me. Crap! Oh, and I forgot to mention that Zenni did notice that the pupil distance I gave them for the sunglasses was different than the other glasses so they contacted me to make sure that wasn't a typo. Seemed like decent customer service to me.

So, my verdict on Zenni Optical is that they ship when they say they're going to ship and their glasses are super affordable. However, don't expect the same kind of quality you would get from designer frames from your local Optometrist's office. The metal frames DH got do seem to be of higher quality than my plastic frames. I'm actually anxious to see how these frames hold up because they seem like they could break pretty easily. I guess time (and a couple of grabby toddler hands) will tell! Also, make sure to get your pupil distance number from your optometrist instead of trying to measure it yourself like a dang fool.

Labels: product reviews