San Diego Housing Market News and Analysis

Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, over? I generally pay under $200 cash for eye exam and (distance) glasses. I generally use either Cohen's or the independent optician near my home.

This is in NYC, which is generally more expensive than CA.

MDs don't need to upsell because they don't need to tell you the cost in advance. They just bill you.

I think more Minute Clinic type operations would lower the cost of care. And Costco is fine for glasses and contacts. I got Lasik a long time ago so I no longer use them. Even with Lasik, you need to shop carefully.

Or rather: with Lasik, you need to shop EXTRA carefully. Since if they stuff the job up, it's sort of hard to undo.

I've also noticed optometrists using hard sale tactics to get you to consider LASIK with a certain surgeon. Some juicy commissions there, plus the business model entails splitting some of the follow up visits between the two merchants, er, docs.

$500 for exam and lenses appears obscenely high unless you have some special, rare Rx. If your lenses are low prescription readers, you don't need all that undercoating, extended warranty, anti-theft registry, (just kidding...) UV protection, extra thin lenses, etc., etc. All the $#!7 they try to sell you are obvious profit padding.

Time to shop for a new optometrist...

In America it sucks to have health conditions that require out of pocket expenses.

Yes - heaven forbid one has to pay for their own shortcomings.

I've noticed that as well - hard sales - following the eye exam @ local optometrists.

I just go to Costco or Wal Mart these days.

I stopped going to my optometrist because I got tired of all these games. Even though he takes VSP (which granted is not very good insurance), it was far, far cheaper and I got a better exam to boot at Costco.

I had an old pair of frames re-lensed for $30 from this place, and was so happy with the work I bought a pair of cheap-ass backup glasses for $18: http://www.goggles4u.com/

Two years ago, I took a prescription for glasses to LensCrafters in Mission Valley. All was going well. I had selected expensive frames, and the salesman was going through all of the options regarding lenses. As it happened, this same person had sold glasses to my wife some months earlier, and I found it very difficult to get him to accept that she did not want polarized lenses.

I was ready for him, though, and when it came to the question of polarized or not, I told him that I did not even want to discuss the option. He would not let it rest, asking again and again why I didn't want it, and even tried to take me to a poster showing a driver about to run down a child because he was wearing non-polarized lenses.

Growing angry, I told him that I didn't like the upsell, and stormed out. They must get one heck of a commission on polarized lenses to throw away what would have been a sale of almost $1,000 (two pairs of glasses).

I ordered glasses from Zenni ( http://www.zennioptical.com/ ) for less than $90. Titanium wire rims, they were fairly easy to adjust. Quality of lenses was decent, and at least as good as LensCrafters.

I wore them for a year, then ordered glasses from Shuron ( http://www.shuron.com/ ) because I liked the style. More expensive at about $400, but very good quality frames and lenses. Although they Shurons have not required adjustment, I expect that I'll go to Costco for that when required.

Proper response to the above:

"Sweet, I've always wanted to solve the population problem, one whiney kid at a time. Now get me the unpolarized lenses. *snap* *snap* CHOP-CHOP, attaboy!"

I buy my readers off the shelf for $15. I have a pretty simple prescription, so the readers you see on display at Rite-Aid work fine for me.

Sucks not being able to make someone else pay for it.

I actually have great insurance so I could make up all kinds of maladies and pass the cost onto other people. But I wouldn't want to screw my own health just to use my health benefits.

But I do feel sorry for people who really need medical services but can't get it.

Now the people who lack teeth and can't afford to pay for care.... Well, they are just pitiful.
http://www.google.com/search?q=redneck+w...

BTW, thanks for turning a simple question about the cost of an Optician into a political thread. I wonder if it's time for another conversation about banning you.

I apologize to all the other Piggs for taking the bait to begin with.

We did research on whether we needed vision coverage and if you dig deeper, you'll realize that there is really no vision insurance. All you're doing is pre-paying for vision benefits that you may or may not use. If a company pays, great...but if you're out of pocket on your own, you're better off just saving the cash or just go to Costco or negotiate directly with the Optician. It's like dental coverage (which we do have though).

My wife used to pay like 400+ for her eye stuff and with insurance it was like 200+. I finally got her to use Costco and told her she can spend the difference on whatever she wanted and at least this way, I don't feel like we're wasting money.

WHAT??!@? $135 for a lens fitting exam for lens she's been using for 10 years and you prescribed last time?

If you had a serious eye condition, a real eye doctor under your health plan would be doing the major stuff.

What I find amazing is how all these dentists and eye guys are still in business. People getting laid off certainly aren't renewing themselves and seeing how much they make for a teeth cleaning, it sorta sucks.

I must be misinterpreting that.

Poor eyesight is a shortcoming? Cancer is a shortcoming?

I'm gonna take a little different position on this. Dentists and optometrists aren't operating under the same business model. Both are highly trained. But dentists make tons of money even when you don't need special services, just once or twice a year cleanings.

Optometrists don't have that cash flow. Many don't get paid much for exams. They don't have medicare or medicaid paying anything signfiicant. The only place they make any money is optical dispensing. I'm not suggesting anyone should pay more than they need to, but they are entitled to make a living.

In all areas of medicine this is happening. I would be sure to ask for the credentials of the person you are talking to if they are recommending a procedure, treatment or medical device. Do a little research and try to understand what it is that is being recommended. Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of practices like those described above and you need to be an educated consumer. Often, when insurance is paying we fail to ask questions regarding the quality of care we are receiving. Regardless of the source of payment it is a good idea to ask questions and be sure you are receiving the best possible treatment from a qualified individual.

Went to Lens Crafters around 14 years ago. My frames were fine, but I cracked a lens and just wanted to replace both lenses with my new prescription. I was told they couldn't do that; I would have to buy new frames.

I walked out, went down the street to another store and they did exactly what i wanted.

Whenever I start getting a sales routine, I grab my wallet with both hands and leave. "Sales routines" generally mean that you're going to either buy something you don't need, or pay too much for something you do need.

Attention sales-people: Your rap doesn't work on me. Too bad for you. Find another sucker.

Welcome to my world when I walked into a dentist office.

The said part is just about anyone or everyone is trying to upsell you in this economy...

The latest for me. Is my neighbor that is going through shortsell is sending her kid to my house today , because he got a new job as a salesman and wants to sell me something. You have to fvcking kidding me.... I don't have time for this....

Yup, everyone is trying to upsell. Went to sporting goods store in Murrieta to buy new cleats for my son. Salesperson in the shoe department tried to push a whole bunch of stuff on us, including items not even related to shoes (like the nifty new and super-expensive Under Armour shirts, shorts, compression suits, girdles, socks, etc) and then the cashier launched into this long spiel about the benefits of joining their rewards program. Previously, they'd quickly ask at checkout if you were interested and, if not, ring you up. Now, they're pushing this hard and don't seem to want to take "no" for an answer.

We just wanted to buy some shoes...