Ugly Spare Glasses are a thing of the past - I'll buy Zenni Anyday!
Written: Jul 22 '08 (Updated Jul 22 '08)
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A few months ago my 7 year old son started wearing glasses. First of all, he is a 7 year old boy. Second of all, he is on the Autism spectrum. I knew right off that we would need to get him spares since lost and broken glasses would be inevitable. In just a few months time we have experienced broken sunglasses at summer camp and recently - his "good" school glasses have gone missing. Thankfully, I was prepared with spares that I had ordered from Zenni Optical and I've since gone back and ordered more.
If you need prescription glasses at prices you can afford, definitely check out Zenni Optical which can be found at www.zennioptical.com. Prescription frames start at $8 - with lenses and shipping is a low $4.95 no matter how many pairs you buy. When ordering your glasses online you will need to be familiar with your glasses measurements that you need so that you select an appropriate frame and you also will need to have your prescription (including pupillary distance). As I mentioned previously, the frames start at $8 filled with prescription 1.57 thin/light lenses in them with UV protection and anti-scratch coating. They also come with a cleansing cloth and in a plastic clamshell class that is no frills, but a hard case nonetheless.
Sounds to good to be true? Nope, its not. But - chances are you'll spend a bit more than $8 at Zenni when all is said and done for your glasses. Tinting is an additional $4.95 and Anti-Reflective coating is another $4.95 - you can also upgrade to even thinner lenses, get bifocals, or choose photochromic (transitions) for $20-40 more. Still, the glasses that would cost hundreds at a local optical shop will be just a fraction of the cost. My prescription sunglasses came to $17.80, while my son's sunglasses came to $33.85 and his spare glasses came to $28.90. The main reason why his glasses cost a bit more (but were still quite cheap by comparison) is because the frames that I chose for him are titanium - bendable since plastic frames would last about 2 minutes before they were snapped in half - I know my kid.
The Zenni website isn't fancy or anything to write home about, it is broken out by the price of the frame as well as what the frame is made of. They also have one of the largest selections of childrens frames online that you can navigate on their own page so that you don't have to go digging through hundreds of pairs online (like Goggles4U) to find a pair that is sized to fit a smaller child's head. Still, when ordering from Zenni you need to be absolutely certain you are ordering a frame that is the right size. There isn't the ability to sort the frames by size so that only the correct sized frames come up. I did find that I could search by a single measurement (frame width for example) to narrow down the selection.
Once I selected the frame style that I liked, then I simply enter in all my "extras" like tinting and the anti reflective coating as well as the prescription. There is an option for you to fax in your prescription or enter it in online at checkout. All of the details of your order (including the prescription) are on your order which is emailed to you at the time of checkout.
Each time I have ordered from Zenni the glasses arrived in 10 business days - or 2 weeks from the time that I placed the order. To me, that is slow shipping but worth the wait for the low price paid out. Still, my suggestion is to have your spares on hand so that you don't have to go running out and pay a fortune at a local mall optical place where they fill your glasses in an hour.
Overall, I'm more than satisfied with my purchases from Zenni both for myself and for my son. With a child wearing glasses, I'm thankful that I can fill his glasses needs without completely going broke. Plus, his glasses are stylish and cute and not the ugly clunky utilitarian "spares" that I had to deal with when I was a child and broke mine (talk about scarring!).
Will I shop again at Zenni Optical? Yep.. Anyday!
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: MT
Location: Jersey Shore
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