OT: Optometrists & Reflective Coating. Scam or For Real?

[XBoxBoy]

Ok you piggies. I’m looking for the straight dope on this. Every time I go to the optometrist and get new glasses I get hit with this hard sell for reflective coating, or scratch resistant coating, etc. It always seems pretty pricey to me. (Today they wanted $61 for reflective coating) Is this worth getting or is this just the optometrist cranking up the price with lots of profit in the mix? What say you?

Thanks,

XBoxBoy

[Diego Mamani]

Undercoating, extended warranty, anti-theft registry, etc… are you buying your glasses from a car dealership?

[SK in CV]

Yes. Lots of profit in the mix. If you don’t want it, don’t get it. They make a lot less money than you might imagine, particularly if you have insurance. So they offer add-ons. If what they offer doesn’t interest you, just say no. They won’t hate you for it.

[Diego Mamani]

Read this thread:

http://piggington.com/ot_optician_hard_sell_sales

Extract:
[quote=Parabolica]Two years ago, I took a prescription for glasses to LensCrafters in Mission Valley. All was going well. (…) 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.[/quote]

[Hobie]

I would like to see a side by side comparison. But I think unless you have a strong prescription where the lens is more curved, I doubt the need.

I think the anti reflective is more for other peoples benefit looking at you so they can see your eyes better. Don’t think it is as apparent from your side of the lens.

I doubt any coating will eliminate glare from direct light through the inside of the lens. Makes me think why you use a lens shade with your camera.

By the way, the anti reflective coating is very necessary in camera lenses due the multiple stacking of lenses within. Each lens surface will reflect some light back into the previous lens thus degrading the image.

[paramount]

I always get a hard sell when I’m buying glasses at an independent optometrist.

I avoid the indy’s and stick to Costco or Wal Mart if at all possible.

I’d say the anti-reflective coatings could be good (blocking certain wavelengths of light) at the right price.

[scaredyclassic]

hmm. i just bought a pair with it. i don’t know. i cant tell any difference.

i ahve so many pairs of glasses now. i used to break them all the time. now they last for a decade or more.

[svelte]

I load mine up when I buy them.

The reflective coating is most useful when minimizing the reflection from overhead lights – something I’ve always had a problem with. At my house, I don’t allow overhead lighting except in the kitchen.

If you don’t believe it truly does minimize overhead light reflection, hold up a pair with it and without it and look at the reflection. This is easiest done at the eyeglass store, where someone there will definitely have the reflective coating and all the glasses on the shelf won’t.

As for the anti-scratch stuff, that is more difficult to prove the benefit. I can tell you that I go much, much longer between severe scratches on my glasses now, but that could be because I am older and more careful. Hard to say. I can tell you that almost always the frames wear out now before I get scratches severe enough to cause me to replace.

[svelte]

I load mine up when I buy them.

The reflective coating is most useful when minimizing the reflection from overhead lights – something I’ve always had a problem with. At my house, I don’t allow overhead lighting except in the kitchen.

If you don’t believe it truly does minimize overhead light reflection, hold up a pair with it and without it and look at the reflection. This is easiest done at the eyeglass store, where someone there will definitely have the reflective coating and all the glasses on the shelf won’t. To me, the difference is worth the cost. If overhead lights don’t bother you, you may chose to skip it.

As for the anti-scratch stuff, that is more difficult to prove the benefit. I can tell you that I go much, much longer between severe scratches on my glasses now, but that could be because I am older and more careful. Hard to say. I can tell you that almost always the frames wear out now before I get scratches severe enough to cause me to replace. It was the other way around in my youth.

[XBoxBoy]

Just wanted to follow up to this thread. I ended up getting glasses without the reflective coating (despite a lot of “tsk tsk tsk you’ll be sorry” from the saleswoman) and they’ve worked out just great. I have found they are clear and never once in the month and a half I’ve had them have I noticed reflections or glare. Doubt I’ll ever get glasses with reflective coatings again.

XboxBoy

[sdduuuude]

I find the more a sales person pushes me into something, the less important it is.

They are always under the gun to sell high-profit add-ons that cost them very little and benefit me even less. This is true of mechanics, veterinarians, optometrists, car dealers, retailers, car rentals, and on and on and on.

[Anonymous]

I have done both the AR and hardness coating and for a substantial increase in price. After speaking to my cousin who works at onsite lab ( Stanton Optical) who makes the lenses he said he feels not worth the extra price. He gave me the website for eyebuydirect.com and said they are the least expensive place to buy glasses. Went on their website and they have 100’s of frames I ordered 2 pairs from them and the cost for the frames AND lenses was like 15 dollars a pair. I received them about 6 months ago and couldn’t be happier. Although I did not get the AR or hardness coating, at that price they are semi disposable so I don’t care.

[spdrun]

I wouldn’t buy glasses online — too hard to get them redone if they don’t get them right, plus they’re the kind of thing that I need to actually try on.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to add to my post I forgot the Hardness coating was FREE

[Doofrat]

I just got new lenses for my glasses and my crappy vision plan doesn’t cover much this year. I always wear contacts and only wear glasses for the half hour before bed after I take my contacts out, or first thing in the morning on weekends before putting contacts in, or on a plane, that’s it.
I opted to not get the anti reflective coating and just got my glasses back.
Let me tell you the anti reflective coating is worth every cent. Even with how little I wear the glasses, I wish I had gotten it. It’s a no brainer if you wear them daily.
I see light reflections from light sources from both the front and the back due to the curved surface. Extremely annoying. I can live with it because of how little I wear them, but if I wore these daily, I’d opt for new lenses. And no, I’m not an optometrist.

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