Eyeglass return

Greetings,
Recently I purchased a new pair of glasses under my vision plan at work.
I am presbyopic(2 diopters reading) with a slight 0.5 diopter correction
for distance. I explained that mostly I work on a computer & that my
current glasses were bifocal with the upper portion correcting for
computer screen distance & the lower bifocal for reading. However, when
I leave my desk I had to remove these glasses & carry cheap reading
glasses with me in case I needed to read something while away from my
desk. I was talked into progressive lens with a range of 0.5 diopter to
2.0 diopter & that these would be perfect for computer work. These were
useless for computer work because of the narrow intermediate focus
channel. However I liked them for walking around so I took the glasses
back & requested they be changed from polycarbonate to photo chromic
glass so that I could where them outside also. I had heard that glass
gets darker than Transitions plastic lenses. All they told me was that
glass would be heavier but I did not mind that. I picked up the new
glasses & as soon as I walked outside into bright sun the lenses barely
changed. I searched the internet & within 5 minutes learned that photo
chromic glass gets 50% as dark @ 80 degrees than at 40 degrees. One
would think that an optician practicing in Arizona (114 degrees today)
would have counseled me on that fact. So back to the internet I went and
found several references stating that new Transitions lenses, while
never getting as dark as regular sunglasses, would change dark in hoy
weather. Back to the optician where they first tried to tell me that
neither glass nor plastic would get very dark in heat. Regardless I
insisted on changing to plastic Transitions lenses & am waiting for them
to come in as I figure it can't be worse than glass & at least the
plastic lenses are perfectly clear indoors whereas the glass had a
slight gray tint.
My question is, do labs re manufacture lens for opticians at no charge
in instances of customer dissatisfaction or must they "eat" the expense
of the lenses that I returned?

The reason I ask is that the shop informed me that an additional charge
of $41 would be required because my plan does not cover Transitions
lenses. They figured out the cost of the latest pair of
glasses(Transitions) & subtracted what I had originally paid for the
returned lenses. However what they did not factor in was the $40 payment
they received from my insurance for the polycarbonate lenses which I no
longer am using. Insurance pays nothing for Transitions so it seems that
this $40 does not belong to the optician since I ended up with lenses
that I paid for. However, my point is, that if the optical shop "ate"
any costs for the returning of 2 other pair of lenses, I think they
should keep it.
Sorry for the long post.
Rich

"Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news5Jgg.178448$bm6.116105@fed1read04...
> Greetings,
> Recently I purchased a new pair of glasses under my vision plan at work. I
> am presbyopic(2 diopters reading) with a slight 0.5 diopter correction for
> distance. I explained that mostly I work on a computer & that my current
> glasses were bifocal with the upper portion correcting for computer screen
> distance & the lower bifocal for reading. However, when I leave my desk I
> had to remove these glasses & carry cheap reading glasses with me in case
> I needed to read something while away from my desk. I was talked into
> progressive lens with a range of 0.5 diopter to 2.0 diopter & that these
> would be perfect for computer work. These were useless for computer work
> because of the narrow intermediate focus channel. However I liked them for
> walking around so I took the glasses back & requested they be changed from
> polycarbonate to photo chromic glass so that I could where them outside
> also. I had heard that glass gets darker than Transitions plastic lenses.
> All they told me was that glass would be heavier but I did not mind that.
> I picked up the new glasses & as soon as I walked outside into bright sun
> the lenses barely changed. I searched the internet & within 5 minutes
> learned that photo chromic glass gets 50% as dark @ 80 degrees than at 40
> degrees. One would think that an optician practicing in Arizona (114
> degrees today) would have counseled me on that fact. So back to the
> internet I went and found several references stating that new Transitions
> lenses, while never getting as dark as regular sunglasses, would change
> dark in hoy weather. Back to the optician where they first tried to tell
> me that neither glass nor plastic would get very dark in heat. Regardless
> I insisted on changing to plastic Transitions lenses & am waiting for them
> to come in as I figure it can't be worse than glass & at least the plastic
> lenses are perfectly clear indoors whereas the glass had a slight gray
> tint.
> My question is, do labs re manufacture lens for opticians at no charge in
> instances of customer dissatisfaction or must they "eat" the expense of
> the lenses that I returned?
>
> The reason I ask is that the shop informed me that an additional charge of
> $41 would be required because my plan does not cover Transitions lenses.
> They figured out the cost of the latest pair of glasses(Transitions) &
> subtracted what I had originally paid for the returned lenses. However
> what they did not factor in was the $40 payment they received from my
> insurance for the polycarbonate lenses which I no longer am using.
> Insurance pays nothing for Transitions so it seems that this $40 does not
> belong to the optician since I ended up with lenses that I paid for.
> However, my point is, that if the optical shop "ate" any costs for the
> returning of 2 other pair of lenses, I think they should keep it.
> Sorry for the long post.
> Rich

Most brands of progressives come with a 30 day adaptation warranty (redo in
non-progressive if you are not satisfied), or a free remake if there is a
problem with the Rx or fitting.

It would be much easier to just buy off the shelf readers for the
computer. Save the progressives for driving so you can see the
speedometer and the road clearly. I have computer glasses I use for the
computer and around the house. Never had to mess with bifocals nor
progressives

Mark A wrote:
> "Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news5Jgg.178448$bm6.116105@fed1read04...
>> Greetings,
>> Recently I purchased a new pair of glasses under my vision plan at work. I
>> am presbyopic(2 diopters reading) with a slight 0.5 diopter correction for
>> distance. I explained that mostly I work on a computer & that my current
>> glasses were bifocal with the upper portion correcting for computer screen
>> distance & the lower bifocal for reading. However, when I leave my desk I
>> had to remove these glasses & carry cheap reading glasses with me in case
>> I needed to read something while away from my desk. I was talked into
>> progressive lens with a range of 0.5 diopter to 2.0 diopter & that these
>> would be perfect for computer work. These were useless for computer work
>> because of the narrow intermediate focus channel. However I liked them for
>> walking around so I took the glasses back & requested they be changed from
>> polycarbonate to photo chromic glass so that I could where them outside
>> also. I had heard that glass gets darker than Transitions plastic lenses.
>> All they told me was that glass would be heavier but I did not mind that.
>> I picked up the new glasses & as soon as I walked outside into bright sun
>> the lenses barely changed. I searched the internet & within 5 minutes
>> learned that photo chromic glass gets 50% as dark @ 80 degrees than at 40
>> degrees. One would think that an optician practicing in Arizona (114
>> degrees today) would have counseled me on that fact. So back to the
>> internet I went and found several references stating that new Transitions
>> lenses, while never getting as dark as regular sunglasses, would change
>> dark in hoy weather. Back to the optician where they first tried to tell
>> me that neither glass nor plastic would get very dark in heat. Regardless
>> I insisted on changing to plastic Transitions lenses & am waiting for them
>> to come in as I figure it can't be worse than glass & at least the plastic
>> lenses are perfectly clear indoors whereas the glass had a slight gray
>> tint.
>> My question is, do labs re manufacture lens for opticians at no charge in
>> instances of customer dissatisfaction or must they "eat" the expense of
>> the lenses that I returned?
>>
>> The reason I ask is that the shop informed me that an additional charge of
>> $41 would be required because my plan does not cover Transitions lenses.
>> They figured out the cost of the latest pair of glasses(Transitions) &
>> subtracted what I had originally paid for the returned lenses. However
>> what they did not factor in was the $40 payment they received from my
>> insurance for the polycarbonate lenses which I no longer am using.
>> Insurance pays nothing for Transitions so it seems that this $40 does not
>> belong to the optician since I ended up with lenses that I paid for.
>> However, my point is, that if the optical shop "ate" any costs for the
>> returning of 2 other pair of lenses, I think they should keep it.
>> Sorry for the long post.
>> Rich
>
> Most brands of progressives come with a 30 day adaptation warranty (redo in
> non-progressive if you are not satisfied), or a free remake if there is a
> problem with the Rx or fitting.
>
>
Yes, to me as the retail client they are not charging me for lenses I
returned & I kept the progressives & only made them Transition
sunglasses. My question is if the lab that the optician sends the
prescription to charges the optician for every lens they grind or does
the lab replace lenses free for the optician when changing lens to
satisfy a client (for instance, in my case; progressive carbonate to
photo chromic glass progressive to plastic Transitions progressive. Did
the lab take back the lenses from the optician & change them only the
difference between the older cheaper order & the new Transitions order?)

Thanks for replying.
Rich

"Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:yhKgg.178449$bm6.118872@fed1read04...
> Yes, to me as the retail client they are not charging me for lenses I
> returned & I kept the progressives & only made them Transition sunglasses.
> My question is if the lab that the optician sends the prescription to
> charges the optician for every lens they grind or does the lab replace
> lenses free for the optician when changing lens to satisfy a client (for
> instance, in my case; progressive carbonate to photo chromic glass
> progressive to plastic Transitions progressive. Did the lab take back the
> lenses from the optician & change them only the difference between the
> older cheaper order & the new Transitions order?)
>
> Thanks for replying.
> Rich

The lab/manufacturer will normally allow a free remake of a progressive
lens, including using a different material, if the customer is not satisfied
with he first pair. So if you chose a more expensive material for the
remake, then you should only pay the difference (and the retailer is only
charged the difference).

This is how it generally works, and there may be exceptions depending on the
lab or lens manufacturer,or other circumstances.

You have not mentioned the computer needs again in all of the posts. I
am very hapy with my "CRT" lenses. Comapnies are making specific
progressives for computer use. Over the years, may favorite two lenses
have been the AO Technica and the Shamir Office lenses. Both lenses
have your mid-range power lined up in front of your pupil and the
reading is a the bottom. They also have the added feature that if you
need to look at distance, you can drop your chin down and look across
the room. If you are going to opt now to keep your new progreessives,
your CRT distance lenses will probably be about half the add power
(~1.00 to 1.25D) for the longer distance. Your optometrist should
measure that specific distance for you.

--Dr. Tom
Rich wrote:
> Greetings,
> Recently I purchased a new pair of glasses under my vision plan at work.
> I am presbyopic(2 diopters reading) with a slight 0.5 diopter correction
> for distance. I explained that mostly I work on a computer & that my
> current glasses were bifocal with the upper portion correcting for
> computer screen distance & the lower bifocal for reading. However, when
> I leave my desk I had to remove these glasses & carry cheap reading
> glasses with me in case I needed to read something while away from my
> desk. I was talked into progressive lens with a range of 0.5 diopter to
> 2.0 diopter & that these would be perfect for computer work. These were
> useless for computer work because of the narrow intermediate focus
> channel. However I liked them for walking around so I took the glasses
> back & requested they be changed from polycarbonate to photo chromic
> glass so that I could where them outside also. I had heard that glass
> gets darker than Transitions plastic lenses. All they told me was that
> glass would be heavier but I did not mind that. I picked up the new
> glasses & as soon as I walked outside into bright sun the lenses barely
> changed. I searched the internet & within 5 minutes learned that photo
> chromic glass gets 50% as dark @ 80 degrees than at 40 degrees. One
> would think that an optician practicing in Arizona (114 degrees today)
> would have counseled me on that fact. So back to the internet I went and
> found several references stating that new Transitions lenses, while
> never getting as dark as regular sunglasses, would change dark in hoy
> weather. Back to the optician where they first tried to tell me that
> neither glass nor plastic would get very dark in heat. Regardless I
> insisted on changing to plastic Transitions lenses & am waiting for them
> to come in as I figure it can't be worse than glass & at least the
> plastic lenses are perfectly clear indoors whereas the glass had a
> slight gray tint.
> My question is, do labs re manufacture lens for opticians at no charge
> in instances of customer dissatisfaction or must they "eat" the expense
> of the lenses that I returned?
>
> The reason I ask is that the shop informed me that an additional charge
> of $41 would be required because my plan does not cover Transitions
> lenses. They figured out the cost of the latest pair of
> glasses(Transitions) & subtracted what I had originally paid for the
> returned lenses. However what they did not factor in was the $40 payment
> they received from my insurance for the polycarbonate lenses which I no
> longer am using. Insurance pays nothing for Transitions so it seems that
> this $40 does not belong to the optician since I ended up with lenses
> that I paid for. However, my point is, that if the optical shop "ate"
> any costs for the returning of 2 other pair of lenses, I think they
> should keep it.
> Sorry for the long post.
> Rich

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> You have not mentioned the computer needs again in all of the posts. I
> am very hapy with my "CRT" lenses. Comapnies are making specific
> progressives for computer use. Over the years, may favorite two lenses
> have been the AO Technica and the Shamir Office lenses. Both lenses
> have your mid-range power lined up in front of your pupil and the
> reading is a the bottom. They also have the added feature that if you
> need to look at distance, you can drop your chin down and look across
> the room. If you are going to opt now to keep your new progreessives,
> your CRT distance lenses will probably be about half the add power
> (~1.00 to 1.25D) for the longer distance. Your optometrist should
> measure that specific distance for you.
>
> --Dr. Tom
<snip>

This sounds exactly what I need. How do they avoid the "channeling"
effect of the mid-range focus area usually found with progressives? Or
are they bi-focals? That is what I found to be useless about
progressives for computer use.

Thanks,

Rich

Mark A wrote:
> "Rich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:yhKgg.178449$bm6.118872@fed1read04...
>> Yes, to me as the retail client they are not charging me for lenses I
>> returned & I kept the progressives & only made them Transition sunglasses.
>> My question is if the lab that the optician sends the prescription to
>> charges the optician for every lens they grind or does the lab replace
>> lenses free for the optician when changing lens to satisfy a client (for
>> instance, in my case; progressive carbonate to photo chromic glass
>> progressive to plastic Transitions progressive. Did the lab take back the
>> lenses from the optician & change them only the difference between the
>> older cheaper order & the new Transitions order?)
>>
>> Thanks for replying.
>> Rich
>
> The lab/manufacturer will normally allow a free remake of a progressive
> lens, including using a different material, if the customer is not satisfied
> with he first pair. So if you chose a more expensive material for the
> remake, then you should only pay the difference (and the retailer is only
> charged the difference).
>
> This is how it generally works, and there may be exceptions depending on the
> lab or lens manufacturer,or other circumstances.
>
>
I am just trying to figure out if the original insurance payment of $40
(I co-payed $60) for progressive lenses was taken into effect. I was
quoted an additional $125 for Transitions lenses. If that is a ballpark
figure for non-progressive Transitions ( i.e. progressive transitions
cost about $190) then the optical shop factored in the original
insurance payment for progressive lenses & are not trying to pocket the
difference.
If the shop incurred additional lab charges for these changes then it
wouldn't bother me.

Thanks,
Rich

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed) ps.com...

> ... I am very hapy with my "CRT" lenses. Comapnies are making specific
> progressives for computer use. Over the years, may favorite two lenses
> have been the AO Technica and the Shamir Office lenses. Both lenses
> have your mid-range power lined up in front of your pupil and the
> reading is a the bottom. They also have the added feature that if you
> need to look at distance, you can drop your chin down and look across
> the room.

That seems very intriguing. But here I'd like to mention that, even with
IOLs (equivalent to total presbyopia), I can see everything on my desk,
including what I write, what I read, and my CRT screen (happens to be 15 in.
diagonal), with single-vision reading glasses. My wife needs a bigger screen,
necessarily at a greater distance, and therefore was told she needed special
CRT eyeglasses, which she got but does not use. She uses an old pair of
bifocals involving holding the chin quit up, but probably good exercise for
certain neck muscles. I said I could get her some Zennis for her particular
computer distance, but she does not wish to have anything cheap.

Today, by dumb luck or possibly surgical skill, I can look over my lenses
and see everything else in the room (as I am nakedly ~ 1D myopic). But
up till surgery, I was quite myopic. Even then, after trying various things,
I found that I was most comfortable for desk (and computer) work with
single-vision reading glasses. True, however, that I needed to change
eyeglasses to check out the girls on the other side of the office.

> If you are going to opt now to keep your new progreessives,
> your CRT distance lenses will probably be about half the add power
> (~1.00 to 1.25D) for the longer distance. Your optometrist should
> measure that specific distance for you.

You should be able to figure it out if you can do simple arithmetic.

If you are not flat-out presbyopic, you have some accommodative range.
That, and depth-of-field, give some appreciable range of sharp vision.
Maybe you would need an optometrist to guess the single-vision "add"
for the most appropriate range (say 1 ft. to 3 ft.), but 1/d where d is the
distance in meters between your eyes and the CRT (or whatever) screen
would be a good place to start. Could cost $19 to find out if you have
made the right choice.

I cannot imagine any good reason for eyeglasses with separate (or seamless)
panes for reading and computer-screen viewing, unless, like the eye-care
junkies around here, you have an obsessive need for the dearest.

--
Dicky

Dr Judy wrote:
> Rich wrote:
>>> I am just trying to figure out if the original insurance payment of $40
>> (I co-payed $60) for progressive lenses was taken into effect. I was
>> quoted an additional $125 for Transitions lenses. If that is a ballpark
>> figure for non-progressive Transitions ( i.e. progressive transitions
>> cost about $190) then the optical shop factored in the original
>> insurance payment for progressive lenses & are not trying to pocket the
>> difference.
>> If the shop incurred additional lab charges for these changes then it
>> wouldn't bother me.
>
>
> $190 sounds about right, however it depends on where you live and how
> they price. Why not just ask the optician instead of second guessing
> them?
>
> Dr Judy
>

Actually I will ask them when I pick them up in a day or two & pay the
difference. The one young gentleman there that I mostly dealt with was
very polite & forthcoming with the pricing under my vision plan. I just
wanted to be informed before analyzing the breakdown of charges.
It's just that I have lost confidence in their professional knowledge.
The optometrist there said progressives would be great for computer
work...I found that to be totally false within 30 seconds of sitting in
front of my computer. When I returned the first pair & requested
photochromic glass lenses so I could use the glasses for general,
non-computer use, the optician never advised me that in Arizona this old
technology would barely change color in the 100+ degree heat. When I
returned the photochromic glass lenses to switch to Transitions plastic,
I was told by another optician there that Transitions would perform no
better than the glass lenses. Since the glass lenses were virtually
useless, I opted for Transitions anyway since they couldn't perform any
worse in the heat. Furthermore, everything I read on the internet about
Transitions' latest generation of lenses is that they are virtually
clear indoors(the glass ones remained slightly gray), turn almost
sunglass dark outside & were much less heat sensitive than silver halide
glass & earlier generations of Transitions lenses.

This leads me to two questions: Is this true? Do the latest available
Transitions lenses perform as described above? And do different optical
shops sell cheaper, earlier technology Transitions lenses or are only
the latest generation manufactured? I am dealing with Sears optical.
Thanks for any responses.

Rich