zenni Optical

[frank]

After reading this thread, I went to my eyewear shop to pick up my new progressive ($680 CAD) and asked my guy there to measure my PD. I told him I was going to get a spare pair of glasses from a cheap shop online. He already had my PD number on file but measured it again anyway (which came out the same.) I came home and created a 3-D video on zennioptical.com. It was kind of fun to do and the videos turned out quite funny. I showed 6 different pairs on my videoed face to DH, and he said none of them looked good. So I created a new 3-D video and changed the expression on my face from grumpy to smiley and DH now says all the pairs look good on me LOL.

I have just placed an order for a progressive - I skipped the usual transitional lens and went with something more basic, and the total cost including shipping to Canada was $62 USD. I wonder if Canada will charge import taxes on this... interesting to see the price difference. be sure to report back when you get your glasses from zenni and let us know how it turned out.

I will see how this will play out...

it will be interesting to see how it turns out. please report back when you get them with the results.

 

[HadEnuff]

a concern of mine is that Zenni does not do actual "glass" lenses, only plastic. I've tried plastic in the past and have had two issues with them, one being they scratch easily, and the other being a noticeable loss if clarity.
It has been quite a few years since I tried them, and have been told they are better now than they used to be.
For $110, I'll give them a try. I still will have my "glass" lenses pair if the plastic lenses don't work out for me. They will make a nice back-up pair should I lose or break the originals while traveling.

 

[ransil]

a concern of mine is that Zenni does not do actual "glass" lenses, only plastic. I've tried plastic in the past and have had two issues with them, one being they scratch easily, and the other being a noticeable loss if clarity.
It has been quite a few years since I tried them, and have been told they are better now than they used to be.
For $110, I'll give them a try. I still will have my "glass" lenses pair if the plastic lenses don't work out for me. They will make a nice back-up pair should I lose or break the originals while traveling.

i'm rough on glasses, the zenni ones have lived.


just checked my 2 year old glasses are scratch-less at this time, frames seem worn out cause I catch see up close with them on so I take em off 1000 times a day, not sure what coatings I get but frames are about $15 total is around $60 so i don't do a lot of add on's.

 

[tmm99]

I didn't know they still made eyewear using glass lenses. Aren't glass lenses extremely heavy? (I remember someone wearing milk bottle glasses maybe 25 years ago when she had to take her contacts out...) I've been wearing eyewear with plastic lenses forever. I request anti-scratch coating, and I see no scratches on them at all and I'm not particularly careful.

 

[steveark]

I've got a couple pair of them, similar quality as the $700 ones I got from my local optometrist. They fit like a glove.

 

[Shardo]

I also use Zenni for my reading glasses. Because my contact lens prescription is for monovision correction (one eye for close, the other for distance), I can't use drugstore readers since I only need a prescription for the distance eye. My optometrist's office used to carry inexpensive custom readers for this but doesn't anymore and she said that Zenni is fine for simple prescriptions.

I've got a similar situation, I just broke the lens out for the eye that didn't need it.

 

[frank]

I didn't know they still made eyewear using glass lenses. Aren't glass lenses extremely heavy? (I remember someone wearing milk bottle glasses maybe 25 years ago when she had to take her contacts out...) I've been wearing eyewear with plastic lenses forever. I request anti-scratch coating, and I see no scratches on them at all and I'm not particularly careful.

I don;t know how you do it. If I have a pair of glasses for more than a year they are so scratched that everything is hazy. the scratches are very fine and you can't see them unless you hold the glasses in the right light, but they are there. I asked at walmart optical when I bought glasses there what it was and the said the anti uv coating would scratch.

 

[HadEnuff]

I didn't know they still made eyewear using glass lenses. Aren't glass lenses extremely heavy? (I remember someone wearing milk bottle glasses maybe 25 years ago when she had to take her contacts out...) I've been wearing eyewear with plastic lenses forever. I request anti-scratch coating, and I see no scratches on them at all and I'm not particularly careful.

Yes, glass is heavier, but my last pair which are less than 2 years old, are glass. I was told by my optometrist and optician that I was fortunate in that my correction is small enough that I can tolerate the extra weight. They both agreed that if I needed a bigger correction, I might balk at the extra weight. My wife's are plastic, and she put my glass on her face and said she could not tolerate that much weight.
I am looking forward to trying the Zenni pair to see how I like them. I haven't ordered them yet because I am just about to head south for the winter, so I am waiting until I am settled in my new address.

 

[stephenson]

I am not certain where they are made, but if this is an all Chinese play, then one should consider whether this is a good thing.

 

[target2019]

I don;t know how you do it. If I have a pair of glasses for more than a year they are so scratched that everything is hazy. the scratches are very fine and you can't see them unless you hold the glasses in the right light, but they are there. I asked at walmart optical when I bought glasses there what it was and the said the anti uv coating would scratch.

Cleaning material and fluid is significant. I tried last pair without coating, and they were much easier to scratch. Need to use a cleaning cloth that is newer, and a recommended solution.

I watched an eye dr. in Frankfurt clean his glasses. He used a small amount of dish soap, rinsed with cold water, and dried with a cotton handkercheif. Thinking of going back to that method for the next pair.

Just broke my right earpiece, and heading to zenni with new prescription...

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

I watched an eye dr. in Frankfurt clean his glasses. He used a small amount of dish soap, rinsed with cold water, and dried with a cotton handkercheif.

Dish soap and fingertips, rinse good, give them a heavy flick, air dry. Beautifully clean. Someone taught me how to wash my glasses on lunch break one day.

 

[HadEnuff]

Dish soap and fingertips, rinse good, give them a heavy flick, air dry. Beautifully clean. Someone taught me how to wash my glasses on lunch break one day.

Sometimes my glasses get dirty when there is no dish soap, or water, handy. If I go with the plastic, I'm going to need to remember to keep a pice of microfiber cloth around. That and some spit should work, I'd think.

 

[CRLLS]

Here is one way I do it. Wash my hands before I touch the lenses. I tend to have a lot of dirt and grinding bits on my fingers from working in the yard/garage. Rinse any loose dust off the lenses. Then with either dish soap or by running the tip of my fingers across bar soap, lightly wash the lenses, rinse, and dry on a cotton (flour sack) towel. Nothing but light pressure on each step.

 

[tmm99]

I don't clean my lenses often. I only clean them when they're really dirty with smudges and they affect my vision. I just took a look at the lenses on my 2-year-old glasses, and I do see small scratches! I don't even bother putting my glasses in a case when I go play volleyball; often times, I just throw them in one of my sports bag pockets without wrapping them or anything and that may be why, but it's not like I noticed any difference when I wear the glass. It's more like dust inside camera lenses; it doesn't affect your photo or it's not even noticable when you're taking photos. Maybe it's just me; dunno.

 

[Kroeran]

After learning about this online eyewear world on this thread I ended up impulse buying some vintage style Armear frames off of Amazon for $12. Now I have to get an eye exam then lenses.

Canadian clueless about getting an exam in Florida, but I can send in a claim on my Canadian supp insurance. Is this a Costco thing?

Once I have my numbers, Costco or Wal-Mart for lenses?

 

[frank]

purchased glasses and frames at sams club yesterday. delivery 10 days, cost 200.15, I will let you know when I get them whether it was a good deal or not. and in a previous post I said that sams did not measure the pd distance. I think the woman who fitted the glasses just didn[t want to tell me the pd, because the first thing she measured was the pd and when asked what it was she said 32.5 in on side and 32 on the other. just didn[t want to give me the info to buy online.

 

[HadEnuff]

I don't know if this is exactly what you ran into on the site, but what I ran into is an error message that said they couldn't use my PD for that frame, when I entered the PD as a "right" and a "left" PD, but when I entered it as a single PD (combining the individual numbers) it worked fine.

INW, if I entered Left PD=30, right PD= 31, I got the error, but if I entered PD=61, it was accepted.

Mine is 61, wife's is 59. I did the trick where I punched two small holes in a piece of paper at 61, and my wife could see just fine through them, and I did two at 59, and I could see just fine though those.
Any experts out there who could expound on just how critically accurate one needs to be with those numbers. I'm sure my glasses move around on my nose at least a mm or two.

purchased glasses and frames at sams club yesterday. delivery 10 days, cost 200.15, I will let you know when I get them whether it was a good deal or not. and in a previous post I said that sams did not measure the pd distance. I think the woman who fitted the glasses just didn[t want to tell me the pd, because the first thing she measured was the pd and when asked what it was she said 32.5 in on side and 32 on the other. just didn[t want to give me the info to buy online.

Following up on my post I quote above, I did some searching and found one site that said that for eyeglasses, the degree of precision for pupillary distance was + or - 3mm. I'm pretty confident I could measure that accurately with the tools provided online by the Zenni site, and others.

 

[ReadySetGo]

My husband is very happy with the glasses he got from Zenni. He did buy an online ruler and had me measure his pupillary distance. I think the ruler cost less than two dollars, and you hold it over your nose and measure to the center of your eye. The first pair of glasses he got from Zenni were too small, but they exchanged them with no problem. He is very happy with them. Good luck!

 

[Golden sunsets]

I have been Getting mine there for about 5 years, cost is about $60 i buy cheap, my insurance reinburses me about $10 (vsp).
Eye doctors with insurance were costing me minimum $150 out of pocket before i switched.
I did my PD the first time using the online instructions and was off a little compared to the PD from my eye doc.

For those who have VSP insurance, as I do, VSP now has an online eyewear option called "Eyeconic". The site is similar to Zenni and others. The advertised prices are expensive, until you link to your VSP coverage. Once you've done this the prices change and one can purchase 1 pair of pretty much any of their glasses per year at zero cost, including digital progressives, transitions, anti reflective and anti scratch. They take returns at no cost and cover one visit to an in network optition if the glasses need to be fitted.

My annual visit to my optometrist is this week. Normally vSP covers the frames at no cost but the progressive lenses are around $100. I intend to obtain my prescription and order through eyeconic. Eyeconic will also obtain your prescription from your doc if you don't have it.

 

[GTFan]

I am not certain where they are made, but if this is an all Chinese play, then one should consider whether this is a good thing.

Are you suggesting you never shop at Wal-Mart?

RE: the above poster saying yearly eye exams are free - there is no law such as ACA that provides this for adults. Children, yes, and zenni is a great choice for them due to hard use, losing glasses etc.

My wife recently bought a couple of pairs from zenni and loves them, she gets a lot of compliments when wearing her rainbow frame with transition lenses. I've bought a couple pairs over the years and have no complaints.

 

[eddiegorniakjr]

I think you are looking at something different then pupillary distance.

is that pupillary distance tool they have pretty accurate? my last pair was about 450. and zenni is saying 145. so I am looking for reviews. the price is pretty amazing for high index 1.74, titanium frames and progressive lenses. I checked at costco for a price and they were around 260 plus tax and they weren't very certain of their product when I started to question them about lenses and frame guarantees.

The pupillary distance is the distance between your two pupils.
Walmart has you look into a device held by an associate and it gives your reading. Mine is 30 and 29 or 59 total. I don't know what it is but they are metric numbers. Two numbers are supposed to be more accurate when they put your perscriptions on the lenses. But I don't think it makes much of a difference for mine. I think pupillary numbers is mostly in the upper 50s or lower 60s for most adults.

 

[tmm99]

My PD is 57 (28.5 and 28.5) Skinny face, I guess.

 

[target2019]

This is my go-to source article about PD (Pupillary Distance).
the Optician: Measuring Your Own Pupillary Distance

I used the marker method mentioned near the end of the article.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

This is my go-to source article about PD (Pupillary Distance).
the Optician: Measuring Your Own Pupillary Distance

I used the marker method mentioned near the end of the article.

Oh, cool! I'd love to try this and see how close the PD I get is to what the optometrist's office gave me. What kind of marker do you use, and do you use rubbing alcohol to get the marker off? I'm a little worried about ruining my glasses, even the pharmacy readers.

 

[target2019]

I used a Sharpie. It came off with alcohol.