Anybody got a preferred online outlet? I've used zenni optical before. Worked out pretty well.

Watching this tread with great interest.

Given that you can get glasses in less than an hour why would you want to order them online? How is 'instantly eyesight' not a high priority?

Because glasses are very expensive!

And so waiting a month walking around in darkness is better, driving into walls and whatnot, than fixing the problem almost immediately?

Just about everybody who wears glasses has something already available.

My local optometrists do not do the one hour thing, I live in a small town. I will wear my old glasses til the new ones arrive no matter how I get them. Better to buy online for less cost than pay hundreds locally. The glasses on my face cost me almost $400 and that was AFTER my "insurance" discount.

go to zenni optical and see how cheap you can get them.

Not if it is your first ever pair....

If that's the case, by all means, but from the optometrist, then afterward you will be looking for cheaper on the internet. Or just to have an extra pair.

not only that, but not all prescriptions can be done in one hour...even if that is an option... my dw learned that the hard way with her last pair...even though i had warned her in advance...as it was, it took almost two weeks...but that was because they screwed up the original prescription

My son just purchased a pair from coastal.com. They are offering your first pair for free until May 31 except you pay about $8 shipping. He was satisfied with his.

Even if it's your first pair. Most people generally don't wait until they are "walking around in darkness...driving into walls and whatnot" before going to the eye doctor to get glasses. It is usually a case of noticing that you can't read street signs as well as you used to or something like that that prompts you to go to the eye doctor. If you can get yourself to the eye doctor you can wait 2 weeks to get your glasses.

Like Kage, I live in a small town and when I need new glasses I wait at least a week. And as FS pointed out, only certain lenses can be obtained in an hour. The number of places with a lab right on site is limited. Most get sent out and make elsewhere and it takes days not hours.

My daughter had a great experience buying online. The glasses ended up being free, because she used a promo code (living social). After discounts, etc., she just paid $7 shipping. Her glasses are terrific, too.

She got them from Eyefly. She said that Coastal is having a promo, too. You could end up just paying s&h, if you're lucky.

She said to try these codes: firstpairfree, fbfree, rxsun (for sunglasses).

I got some from zenni, was going to go with the free ones from coastal, but they cost more. I price checked progressives and with polycarbonate lenses $60-70 should be doable including AR coating and clip on shades and shipping, of course.

GRRRRRRR. Seems my vision insurance from the Diocese does not cover ANY provider in this town. So, I will HAVE to go with mail order because I do not have hundreds of dollars to pay, my eyes have changed so much that doc said it is better for me to go without glasses than to wear what I have now.

So, any other suggestions? I am not wild about the selection at Zenni.

Yep. My progressives with all you listed - $57 - ended up at Zenni.

They arrived a few days ago, I LOVE them. Get compliments on the frames, they are way stylish! They are the best fitting pair of glasses I have ever owned.

The internet is cheaper than the eye doctor with vision insurance, that's why I don't have vision insurance.

My glasses cost $6 at the Dollar store.

I had my annual eye exam at Sears Optical this morning, and my eyesight is BETTER than it was last time. I ordered a new pair of specs through them, and with my insurance (which is basically a vision benefit that came with my dental insurance) I saved about $100 off a $300 pair of glasses, lenses included. Since my new prescription is not as strong I will have no problem waiting 7 to 10 days for the new pair to come in.

I've been going to Sears since 2009 for my eye exams, IIRC, and this is the second time I've surprised the optometrist with an improvement in my vision. He said he thought for sure I'd be in bifocals by now.