Discussion on eyebuydirect

[cindaec]

Online glasses ordering is not the first time for me (ordered from
Zenni twice, glasses were OK-ish, though they need seriously work on
workmanship). So I thought I should fill my new prescription online,
eyebuydirect.com this time. Placed my order on Feb1st, and then on the
8th the "order history" page said "shipped", so I was like: "Great, it
should come in a week or so!". It never came. Waited til 16th, and I
emailed them. They did reply me in 1 day and said something about it
not going through quality check (Well how did the status go from
"quality check" to "shipped"?). Ok, ok, I let it go, called them on
the 19th, and "Jill" said they are done, and will ship it on the 20th.
Well, then I waited, and waited, it never came. I called them up again
on the 25th (the only good thing about this place is that Jill is
always there, the only one, probably, to pick up the phone!), and then
she said to wait til the 27th. Anyways, today is the 27th, called Jill
again, and got my refund back quickly through Paypal (I guess another
good thing about this company). Do not know what to feel about this
company anymore considering how immediate they were about refunding my
money. I wonder if they ever filled my order in the first place... All
I know is how stupid I was waiting for a month in the first place!
Sigh, damn my high tolerance levels!

[brad54]

One thing you should know about them is they use their own in house
brand of lens. I contacted them to see what brand progressive lens
they use. They told me it was their own brand and wouldn't release who
makes them for them.

[Paul]

I just got an inexpensive pair from EBD to see what they're like:
http://www.eyebuydirect.com/mist-p-797.html

I placed the order on June 17, and got them by Priority Mail on the
30th. I didn't get any extras, just uncoated single vision CR-39
lenses, so the total was around $13. So far I'm happy with the
accuracy of the prescription and the overall quality. I'm used to
getting much rounder shapes, and I'm still not used to the appearance
of these narrow frames, which roughly the size of half-frame reading
glasses.

One odd thing I noticed is that the reflections off the front of the
lenses look very wavy, though my vision through the lenses is fine,
and I doubt that the lenses are aspheric.

[brad54]

I normally wear bifocals. After having such a difficult time with my
last pair from 39$ glasses, I thought I would give these guys a
chance. Well I ordered a pair of single vision glasses (cost less then
$20.00) to try out the service and see if I liked the frame. If all
worked out I was going to order a pair of progressives. I ordered the
glasses on June 30, 2008 and it is now July 16, 2008 and I have yet to
receive them. I emailed them last night about my order and still have
not heard back from them. I emailed them again today and still
nothing. It would just be nice to have a online eyeglass retailer that
has someone to respond to inquires about orders in a reasonable
time.
Another thing I have found out is that the progressives they sell are
an in house brand. They will not tell you who makes them. The lens are
also a narrow field of vision progressive lens (not the newest design
which offers better reading and side vision) I asked what their
progressive lens are made of. Their site says polycarbonate. The email
I got directly from them said only some of them were polycarbonate,
others were plain plastic. I will post back if and when i ever receive
my glasses

[brad54]

Well I finally got my glasses. As I mentioned before I ordered my
glasses on June 30. I checked my order status online thru my account
on July 10. On that date it said my order had been shipped. After the
2 emails I sent on July 15th/16th, I was informed that my glasses had
shipped on the 15th and I would receive them in 2-3 days. I received
my order within the next 2 days. Did they misplace my order or do they
just automatically post your order has shipped after a few days? my
order was shipped priority mail.

Now about the glasses. I have to say the quality is better then
expected. The frames are tight, the lenses were correct and had no
scratches. The only real negative is that the case is cheesy. But for
less then 20 dollars for a pair of single vision glasses I can't
really complain.

Here are some other observations: The frame sizes seem to be limited
at EBD. The temples are shorter then what are normally used. I looked
at all their men's frames and none had temples as long as the 39$
Glasses aviator frames that I usually wear. The lens size are smaller
too, largest being 52mm. I ordered the Lead frame with single vision
and UV coating. They show the Lead frame as being unisex. These
glasses are small. They work and I will wear them (driving), but they
are not any bigger then my wife's glasses.She is a small person.
Another thing I did notice is that they do not have a true aviator
frame. Clive is the closest. I will probably try a pair of
progressives from them, cost will be about 65$. If I do I wlll report
back on that experience.

[gen]

BUYER BEWARE! I ordered 3 pairs of glasses and 2 of them were so
poorly manufactured and put together as to be unusable. One pair was
so lopsided it leaned across my nose at a 45 degree angle - the sides
being glued on crooked. In another pair, each eye was completely out
of sync with the other due to poorly manufactured lenses. The "good"
pair looks nice, fits reasonably well, and the prescription is pretty
close, though not perfect. I got an awful headache the 1st full day I
sat at a computer using them but I seem to have adjusted. Even this
pair is not up to the quality I am used to but is passable. Shipping
time was decent - shipped in 9 days, arrived in 11. My 2nd huge gripe
is their return policy. If you're like me and have a giant to-do list,
you can't always get to your returns immediately. I am used to 30 day
returns - 15 days at a minimum. I was shocked when I visited there
website 10 days after receiving the order to discover that they only
offer a 7 day return window. Totally unacceptable! After 7 days you
can receive a 70% refund or a replacement if you pay a 50% restocking
fee. You would have to pay for shipping as well. I'm not sinking any
more money into this disaster so I will take the hit and toss their
crap in the garbage where it belongs. Save yourself the headache
(literally) - fork over a little extra doe and get a quality pair in a
brick-and-mortar store.

[Chuck Knight]

Even if the glasses don't match *your* prescription, they may be of use to someone.  Instead of throwing them out, donate them to charity.  In my area, the Lion's Club collects eyeglasses for the needy, as does the local library association.

     -- Chuck Knight

[raindrift]

Note that the FAQ on EBD's website lists their lens material as "CR39
Polycarbonate". CR39 and polycarbonate are not the same thing. For
an explanation of the different common lens materials, go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_lens#Lens_materials

It appears EyeBuyDirect uses CR39 for all their lenses. It's a fine
material, and has the best optical quality, but don't order from them
if you require the impact resistance of polycarbonate (ie. for kids'
glasses or safety eyewear). The exception to this may be their
"sport" glasses -- I have no idea what the outer shield on those is
made of. It looks like the inside lenses will still be CR39, though.

[jaynet]

I ordered my glasses ( rimless, single vision, all coatings) on Dec
27th. I had them in my hand on Jan 5th. I emailed on the 10th to say I
needed a smaller size ( these were supposed to be small frames but are
huge in the bridge and won't stay on my face) and to please email me
the address the glasses should be returned to. I have heard nothing so
emailed again on the 13th, still nothing, and this is the 15th. I just
phoned, the machine did not pick up for more than just a few rings and
I was instructed to leave a message and someone will cal me back.
Somehow I doubt this, as the customer service up front BEFORE they had
money and an order seemed fine, but now they have my money and I am
not getting what I want timely. I knew the return policy seemed too
good to be true- they seem non responsive. I will update if I ever get
a refund. 39dollar glasses, here I come- I have been happy there in
the past but thought I would try a new style in small size that is
not available on 39-

[Jen VanEngelenhoven]

Just my 2Cents about all the people wanting refunds or returns on
glasses they bought online. I think you are giving these online
retailers and the process of buying online a bad rep when you are not
educating yourself about ordering glasses online. You need to be aware
of what to look at, what measurements matter and what doesn't matter.
This forum is an AMAZING resource for learning about all those things.
I think that if you buy a pair of glasses online that don't look
exactly the way you thought they would or are too big or too small,
that's your own problem, you didn't take the time to look at the
measurements and figure out what fits you. I don't think people should
expect the online company to give them a refund because they didn't
educate themselves. I do think its important for the retailers to
warranty their work, so if the frames are messed up or the
prescription is off, you should get a replacement or refund in a
timely manner. I just don't think retailers should be eating costs for
those who made a poor decision. I have spent literally hours
determining what range of measurements would fit my head and face
which then allows me to make better decisions about buying online. I
am grateful for this forum that told me what to look for and think
about when ordering online. In essence, you have to become the optical
assistant in the optical shop who gives people recommendations and
knowledge about glasses. If you follow the info given here in this
forum you should have a good experience buying online.
Here is my experience. My first order I added AR coating to all 4
glasses because of a recommendation here. When I got my glasses, I
couldn't stand to have the glasses on they made me so dizzy. I
wondered if there might be a prescription problem. Under
recommendation I ordered 1 pair without AR. They were fine. So I ate
the cost of the 4 other glasses because it was my decision to add the
AR coating but it didn't work for me. Not the retailers fault, they
shouldn't have to take a return from me. I have since ordered 4 more
pairs of glasses and have been nothing but happy. I tell people all
the time about it and am happy to teach others about what I've
learned. All my glasses were ordered from Zenni by the way and I
really like them. Good turn around and TONS of frames to choose from.
JEN

[EdT]

Ordered: 12 Dec. 2008
Shipped: 30 Dec. 2008
Received: 7 Jan. 2009

My first ever order with EBD was a pair of $136 +$8.95 shipping
progressive photo chromatic glasses for my dad. Although pricing seem
low when compared to local brick and mortar stores I later found out
that other online retailers were a bit cheaper. EBD does not include
any of the coatings with their lens options, they penny pitch to get
you on the coating options !

Took a little longer to arrive than expected, but that could have been
due to the Christmas and New Years holiday schedules. Glasses were
shipped from Santa Rosa, CA to Montreal, Canada.

Email inquire about the status of my order was answered within 24
hours, telephone inquiry was always busy and asked to leave message.

Paid $8 for regular USPS shipping, but was sent Priorty Mail
(XPressPost) $17 at EyeBuyDirect's expense

Overall great quality pair of glasses good enough as a primary pair.

Definitely recommend EyeBuyDirect.com as an online prescription
glasses shop. :D

[Don]

After months of shopping, virtual mirrors, anguish, etc. I *finally*
convinced my wife to order glasses online. Because of their
reputation here, we decided to give EyeBuyDirect a try. We are lucky
enough to have an optometrist who provided all of the information she
needed to order (but who just didn't have glasses she liked in our
price range). She even tried to step out of her comfort range and
order a pair of rimless glasses.

EyeBuyDirect got the glasses here quicker than they promised, and they
were wonderful. Great quality, fit, prescription, etc. were all
perfect -- EXCEPT -- my wife has a rather narrow PD and the nose
bridge on rimless glasses is wider than normal frames so that it can
be attached to the lenses. As a result, the bridge interfered with
her view more than she could accept. We had to return the glasses.

They say that you can tell more about a company when something goes
wrong than when everything goes right. That's true about
EyeBuyDirect. One of the main reasons we chose to buy from them was
their return policy. They took the glasses back, and they made the
return process rather easy. All-in-all, we were satisfied enough with
our non-purchase that we plan to buy from them again in the future.

We only have two VERY small quibbles that we want to mention. Neither
is enough to put us off, but we thought some people who read this
might want to know. First is that their "No Questions Asked" policy
is not 100% accurate. When I called for the return authorization,
they did ask me ONE question. No biggie. Second is their "do not
refund shipping cost" policy. I don't have a problem with the policy
itself -- I think it's only fair to pay for shipping -- but when we
ordered there was no shipping cost (shipping was free for orders over
$99). They still subtracted their standard (and reasonable) $4.95
shipping cost from the refund. Again, this wasn't enough to put us
off, but the wording of their return policy wasn't 100% clear.

Overall, we are satisfied. Except for having to go through the
shopping process all over again.

[EyeBuyDirect.com]

Don,

Thank you for your review of EyeBuyDirect.com, and I am happy your
overall experience was pleasing. I look forward to having you visit us
again someday soon.

With regards to your two grievances, I would like to thank you for
bringing these issues to our attention and you are most welcome to
email me directly to follow up on how these issues are dealt with.

All the best,

EyeBuyDirect.com

[Paul]

In case someone from Eyebuydirect.com is still reading this thread, I
have a question. I got a pair from you, and the prescription was fine.
One thing was unusual, and I hope you can explain it. The reflections
off the fronts of the lenses are very wavy. My prescription wasn't
terribly unusual: -6.50 in both eyes, no other correction, and no
coatings on the CR39 lenses. The reflections have no effect on my
ability to use the glasses; it's just an appearance issue.

I've gotten a lot of glasses over the years, and I've never seen
anything like this kind of reflection before.

[EyeBuyDirect.com]

Paul,

Idealy, for me to give you an answer, I would need to know what frame
you bought and what coatings you added. However, based on the
information you gave me I suspect one or more of the three issue below
cause the mentioned 'waviness':

1. The shape, or “contour”, of the frames ordered – if the frames have
a “curved” shape, this may be a probable cause.
2. The lenses that we use are “spherical” (curved) and not
“aspherical” (flat) and may be another probable cause of the
“waviness” issue – but this “waviness” does not affect vision, just
the other person looking at the glasses
3. There was no Anti-Reflective added to the lenses – the “waviness”
may be due to the reflection caused by light bouncing off the lenses,
with AR, this may be reduced (but not totally eliminated).

So any of the above, or a combination of them, could cause your
problem. For more assistance, please do not hesitate contacting our
customer center:

Toll free phone number : 1-866-439-6628
Email: ser...@eyebuydirect.com
Business hours:9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (EST)

Looking forward to seeing you again at EyeBuyDirect.com!

[Paul]

These are the frames I got ("Mist"):
http://www.eyebuydirect.com/mist-p-797.html

I don't think the frames are curved.

In the past, I've usually gotten glasses without coatings, or only
with scratch coating. The reflections seen by someone looking at them
have been consistent - one coming from the outside surface, and
another one from the inside surface.

Maybe it's just that the Eyebuydirect lenses are very rectangular, and
I've usually gotten rounder frames in the past?

[Claire]

I am on the fence - I ordered three pairs - a progressive, a single
vision and a pair of sunglasses. The progressive lenses shattered
when I tried to adjust the earpiece - unfortunately it was past the 7
day return period. I added some old lenses to the frame and I am
still using the frame. I am wary of ordering from them again,
however, as the lenses were thick (and I have a weak prescription) and
seemed brittle (although I expect I put too much stress on them when
adjusting the earpiece).

[Paul]

I don't see how adjusting the earpiece should put any stress on the
lens. Over the years, I've made all sorts of adjustments to my frames,
usually on parts closer to the lenses, and I've never had a lens break.

[Firewalker]

Maybe they were rimless glasses?
If they used CR-39 lenses, they could shatter rather easily.
For rimless, you need to use polycarbonate (ABBE value sucks) or
Trivex (MUCH better lens) to keep the lens from breaking at connection
points.

-=# Firewalker #=-

[TujuMaster]

I've purchased rimless glasses from EyeBuyDirect with a 1.5 index
rating CR-39 lenses and have had no cracking or shattering and I'm
pretty rough on them.

[John Szlachta]

Seiko 1.67 mr-8 lenses make great drill mount glasses as well.


iPhone

On Jun 3, 2009, at 6:46 AM, Firewalker <master.f...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[eastercat]

My titanium sunglasses came just a week after I ordered it. Their
selection of titanium frames is disappointing, especially with regards
to the larger widths (140). However, the frame I have seems to be
solidly constructed.
Assuming I can find more frames, I'll buy from them again.