Stupid Contacts! (Rant)

[Phoenix84]

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I lost my contacts right before I was slated to fly out on a business trip.

Well, turns out I need a new prescription because they can't fill my old one because it's too old.

So I go to the wal mart vision center and see the doctor. He gives me a prescription for contacts and I put in the order. Three to five days they tell me.

So I call a week later and find out my contacts haven't arrived yet. I call a few days later and no contacts. I call two weeks after I put in the order and they still haven't arrived. Then they tell me it really takes 3-6 weeks because I have a really strong prescription and need custom contacts. Never mind I have been ordering from walmart for YEARS it NEVER took anywhere close to three weeks for my contacts to arrive. So I think they're feeding me a bunch of bullshit.

So A week later my contacts finally arrive, and guess what? THEY DON'T WORK . I can't see well out of them. So now if I keep going with walmart I'll have to see the doctor again (which I can't because he's not in until Tuesday) and then order a new pair (that may or may not work) and then they'll take another three to six weeks to arrive.

So, fed up with Walmart, I decided to try somewhere else. I'm going to try lensecrafters, even though they're more expensive. Supposedly contacts don't take anymore than 10 days to arrive there. I can probably get my money back for these contacts, but I'll end up having to get two contact exams.

And I'm wasting time I don't really have being in grad school now messing around with all this and go to doctors appointments every other week.

I mean, I'm not an optometrist, maybe it's harder than it looks, but how freaking hard can it be to get the right contacts for somebody the first time. I've had this issue with previous doctors before, they take 2-3 tries to get it right. I realize I'm a special case, but it's just to terribly frustrating.

[mandyms]

One word: lasix. Best. Decision. Ever.

[Phoenix84]

Sept 7, 2012 20:21:50 GMT -5 mandyms said:

One word: lasix. Best. Decision. Ever.

Lasick won't work on me. I was born with cateracts and had my lenses removed when I was an infant. Contacts function as my lenses (or glasses, but I hate wearing my glasses).

[Phoenix84]

It's times like this I really envy people with natural 20/20 vision.

[Deleted]

Ugh. I'm sorry. Usually optometrists will give you trial contacts to tide you over until you get your new ones and confirm that the RX works for you.

I used to do contact lens fittings at an optometrists office and wore a complicated RX myself (high minus, and toric for the astigmatism). Patients with more complicated RX's used to come in a few times to get it right (minus or plus, base curve, toric rx, and type of material/lens). The contact lens exam fee usually covered all the trials and refittings, unless it was a new contact lens wearer or someone who was trying something radically different.

It's unfortunately one of those areas where you have to be a really smart shopper - wal mart may not be cheaper if you have to pay for each refit and set of trials.

On another note - have you considered lasik? I got to the point where I was wearing specialty toric lenses that ripped all the time. I was barely getting a week out of them. With spending several hundred dollars a year on glasses and contacts it became clear pretty quickly that lasik wasn't that expensive, considering my age. You are in your 20's so you could conceivably get two decades of glass/contact free life with lasik, depending on your RX. I went from a -12 with astigmatism to only night driving glasses.

[Deleted]

I was born with cateracts and had my lenses removed when I was an infant.

Ooops. I was typing my post when you posted this. Is it possible for to get Phakic IOL's or Intac's?

[mandyms]

Sorry to hear that. .but then the question is why trust a Wal-Mart optometrist with your kind of needs?

[susanb]

Ugh, Phoenix.

That would frustrate the heck out of me.

I have used lenscrafters and the service, turn around time and selection were all great.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 7, 2012 20:25:55 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

It's times like this I really envy people with natural 20/20 vision.

Once you reach 40 or so you will need reading glasses. And for many, once you reach your seventies, and if you're nearsighted, you no longer need to wear glasses all the time-except for reading of course.

I have been wearing glasses and contacts since I was six. I can now, at age 61, drive without glasses most times. Reading glasses still needed though.

[Phoenix84]

"Ooops. I was typing my post when you posted this. Is it possible for to get Phakic IOL's or Intac's?"

I assume those are the surgical implants? Those could work, but honestly I'm worried. Having a optomitrist mess up my contacts 2-3 times doesn't exactly build my confidence a surgon can get it right the first time either. The only thing worse than going back to get the right contacts perscription multiple times is getting your eye implant removed and replaced multiple times....

"Sorry to hear that. .but then the question is why trust a Wal-Mart optometrist with your kind of needs?"

*shrugs* as far as I can tell, they're the cheapest, and this is YM remember Though in this case, cheap isn't necessarily better, or maybe it is. We'll see how lensecrafters handles my case.

In the past I've tried going to an independent doctor before, and they ended up being expensive and not much better. But that was back when wal mart didn't take 3-6 weeks to fill an order. I wonder if they changed suppliers?

And actually the first walmart doctor I went to was really good. She got it right the first time. Her colluges in other states (I don't live there anymore) haven't been as good.

[Deleted]

I assume those are the surgical implants? Those could work, but honestly I'm worried. Having a optomitrist mess up my contacts 2-3 times doesn't exactly build my confidence a surgon can get it right the first time either.

It's worth talking about. I think most surgeon's offices offer free consults.

[wvugurl26]

Maybe its where I've lived but I have had very good luck with independent doctors. The one I saw as a kid caught a tear in my dad's retina. My current one fixed my then boyfriend's script. His walmart doctor had both eyes messed up and his were pretty easy.

I know it is YM but in my experience the independent doctors have been better and their materials were better than chains. When it comes to my health I will pay more for quality. We aren't talking about sheets or a box of pasta.

[Deleted]

I go to an independant opthamologist. As I've been told several times, my eyes are healthy, I just can't see out of them. I've been wearing glasses since first grade. My contact lenses are a special order and it takes a month to get them back, so I have to plan accordingly.

If I were you Phoenix, I'd find a good doctor and stick with him/her.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Sept 8, 2012 11:10:17 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I go to an independant opthamologist. As I've been told several times, my eyes are healthy, I just can't see out of them. I've been wearing glasses since first grade. My contact lenses are a special order and it takes a month to get them back, so I have to plan accordingly.

If I were you Phoenix, I'd find a good doctor and stick with him/her.

This is what I do. I wear HGP with a high prescription that occasionally needs to be tweaked. When I have ordered new lenses, I have NEVER waited more than a few days, and my lenses must be made. I also don't go to an optometrist due to price, but service received.

[Deleted]

Mich, where do you order your lenses? I use to be able to get mine quickly until I switched to Toric lenses. I don't think my Dr. can even get them back faster, but I'll ask again since I have to go soon.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

The facility where they are ordered from is in Cincinnati. I can't remember the name though. So it helps that they are only 80 miles down the road.

I've always gone through the optometrist's office to order my lenses, even though I receive a hard copy of my prescription, I have not used it.

Right now, I'm overdue to be seen. But I am not at home and won't be until Feb or March. So don't know if I should look for someone locally or just wait. If I lose or break a lens, the choice will be taken out of my hands though.....

[Phoenix84]

I do see an ophthalmologist every year because my eye condition is chronic, but he doesn't write contact prescriptions. I have to go elsewhere for that.

[973beachbum]

Sept 8, 2012 0:44:59 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

"Ooops. I was typing my post when you posted this. Is it possible for to get Phakic IOL's or Intac's?"

I assume those are the surgical implants? Those could work, but honestly I'm worried. Having a optomitrist mess up my contacts 2-3 times doesn't exactly build my confidence a surgon can get it right the first time either. The only thing worse than going back to get the right contacts perscription multiple times is getting your eye implant removed and replaced multiple times....

"Sorry to hear that. .but then the question is why trust a Wal-Mart optometrist with your kind of needs?"

*shrugs* as far as I can tell, they're the cheapest, and this is YM remember Though in this case, cheap isn't necessarily better, or maybe it is. We'll see how lensecrafters handles my case.

In the past I've tried going to an independent doctor before, and they ended up being expensive and not much better. But that was back when wal mart didn't take 3-6 weeks to fill an order. I wonder if they changed suppliers?

And actually the first walmart doctor I went to was really good. She got it right the first time. Her colluges in other states (I don't live there anymore) haven't been as good.

Phoenix did the optomitrist really mess 2-3 times? I read your OP twice and I only see once. It also could be that the opthomologist did his job right but the place that makes the contacts messed up.

Thruthfully I have used Wal Mart for eye exams before. I did it for my son who has a very simple Rx but breaks his glasses at least once a month. One time we got them and the lens popped out. I called and complained because I was pretty pissed. I know my son is hard on glasses but they shouldn't just fall apart the day after he got them. They were very nice and I came in and they replaced the glasses and didn't charge me anything for the new ones.

As far as how fast they should come in I would ask again how long they take. Someone could have been fibbing to you. I think if you explain that you have gotten them there before and always received them in 10 days they might be less apt to fib next time.

As far as WalMart eye Dr's being cheap. They are all independant contracters just like every other place I have ever been to including lens crafters. I have never seen a eye glass place that had eye dr's that werent' ind of the place their office was in.

[Phoenix84]

"Phoenix did the optomitrist really mess 2-3 times? I read your OP twice and I only see once. It also could be that the opthomologist did his job right but the place that makes the contacts messed up."

Sorry if I'm not really clear, that's the nature of rants I guess .

This optometrist has only messed up once. But this isn't the first time I've gotten contacts from the walmart vision center. In the past (like in 2010 and in 2008) it took the doctor 2-3x to get it right. So I was extrapolating my previous experiences to this experience in 2012.

I've decided that my best option is probably to work with walmart and lensecrafters at the same time. Maybe having two orders coming in the same time will double the chances someone will eventually get it right. Then I can just take back the contacts from the other place that doesn't work.

[Cookies Galore]

Sept 7, 2012 20:17:59 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

I mean, I'm not an optometrist, maybe it's harder than it looks, but how freaking hard can it be to get the right contacts for somebody the first time. I've had this issue with previous doctors before, they take 2-3 tries to get it right. I realize I'm a special case, but it's just to terribly frustrating.

Not all eyes are treated equally, which is why eye doctors usually give you trial contacts to wear for a few days to make sure they are the right fit. My eyes aren't as bad as yours, but I have an astigmatism in one eye, and while one eye is near sighted, the other is far sighted (which means everything is blurry without glasses or I have to wink a lot, lol). So right off the bat I need two different types of contacts, but some toric lenses make my eye dry out, and it took some trial to find contacts for each eye that didn't makes my eyes dried. But again, I wore trial lenses and didn't spend a dime until I found the right fit.

I really question the logic of repeatedly going to Walmart with your vision issues. If they've messed up multiple times why wouldn't you go to an independent optometrist or find an opthamologist who does prescribe contacts? I think by continuing to go to Walmart you're getting what you pay for, and that's crap.