I went to the ophthalmologist and had a thorough eye exam - I have worn contacts for ages, went to the optician with the prescription from the ophthalmologist, he fitted me for contacts and recommended Day & Night (or the other way around) and for whatever reason I said, sure, I'll take them.

Anyway, I hate them. And I have 12 pair of them.

So I went back to the optician and wanted something else, perhaps what I used to wear.

He said it would require a whole new fitting and another $50 fitting fee.

Are contact lenses so different that if you don't like one brand/style (?) you have to keep having fittings to find a pair you like?

No with the prescription you can even order them online or mail order

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So just ask them for your complete prescription info and tell them that you can most likely buy them online cheaper anyway.

If your optician's being a jerk about it, then I suggest going to 1800contacts (like Fr_chuck) said, and just getting it from them. It's cheaper, and it'll use the same prescription to confirm from the optician anyway.

First of all, this should have been a two-appointment process. The first to fit the contacts and then you wear them for a week, and the second appointment to see how those lenses worked for you after that "trial period". This was not a thorough exam. Honestly, it sounds like a very very half-assed exam. Sorry for the language. Demand a refund, and go to a different doctor.

Fr_Chuck, I like you so no reddie, but that's not true. You MUST be fitted for a different lens if you are switching brands. Different brands fit differently and they have different parameters. There is a base curve, and a diameter. These vary, of course, from brand to brand. So, yes unfortunately to switch brands you will need to be fitted again, but I would demand to be refitted for free since the first one had no trial period. You should have had the fitting by the original eye doctor, not the Optician.

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Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

First of all, this should have been a two-appointment process. The first to fit the contacts and then you wear them for a week, and the second appointment to see how those lenses worked for you after that "trial period". This was not a thorough exam. Honestly, it sounds like a very very half-assed exam. Sorry for the language. Demand a refund, and go to a different doctor.

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Is there some payment or referral fee or something to an optician so he/she would favor one brand or style of lenses over another? Honestly, this guy pushed these Day and Night things beyond belief. I was stupid enough to agree but still, he really, really pushed these lenses.

I did look at the prescription the optician gave me (I have no idea why he rewrote the Opthamologist's prescription) and it does say Night and Day so I would guess it's only for these lenses.

I'll get a new prescription directly from the Ophthalmologist, get the lenses I like and then argue with the optician for a refund.

These Day and Night (or whatever they're called) lenses are OK, I just find them awkward to handle and I swear they get scratched by looking at them in their little carboard boxes. :D Imagine what happens when I handle them - ?

The company he worked for might have had some sort of contract with that company, those are not the best lenses. If you are sleeping in them (which is what those lenses are for), O2 Optix or Acuvue Oasys are the best. More breathable. I wear the Acuvue Oasys when I'm not wearing my colors.

Do you mean Optometrist? Because Optician's cannot prescribe anything as they are not doctors?

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Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

The company he worked for might have had some sort of contract with that company, those are not the best lenses. If you are sleeping in them (which is what those lenses are for), O2 Optix or Acuvue Oasys are the best. More breathable. I wear the Acuvue Oasys when I'm not wearing my colors.

Do you mean Optometrist? Because Optician's cannot prescribe anything as they are not doctors?

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Hmm - I am holding a prescription pad with a prescription on it from the optician's office. He must have a Physician on staff but why did they re-write my prescription? This is specifically for those Day/Night things and the original prescription was just the refraction. This one has diameters or something on it.

No, I don't sleep in them. I have no idea why he pushed them - or why I agreed.

So, why is it that your original doctor didn't fir you for the contacts, and just did the refraction? That's odd. Like I said, if the second place wrote it specifiically for those lenses then you need to be refitted and have a trial process for something that you will like to wear. If you are not sleeping in lenses then its very obvious this person is selling these lenses because they have a contract with the company or he gets a higher commission for selling them. That is ridiculous. I would urge you to go somewhere where the physician will do the whole exam, and do a trial period until you find the lenses that are best for you.

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Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

So, why is it that your original doctor didn't fir you for the contacts, and just did the refraction? That's odd. Like I said, if the second place wrote it specifiically for those lenses then you need to be refitted and have a trial process for something that you will like to wear. If you are not sleeping in lenses then its very obvious this person is selling these lenses because they have a contract with the company or he gets a higher commission for selling them. That is ridiculous. I would urge you to go somewhere where the physician will do the whole exam, and do a trial period until you find the lenses that are best for you.

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OK - I took this whole question up with the optician. His story is - he works with an in-house Ophthalmologist (I never saw the Dr, but anyway - ) and the Doctor re-wrote my prescription and added the contact lens "measurements" so I would have everything on one prescription. Sounds strange to me but, anyway -

I told him I have a friend and she said I should have had a trial period instead of paying a lot of money for lenses I could sleep in and don't like - he AGREED with me, took back the unused lenses, refunded my money, fitted me for my old standbys (which I ordered) - and that's the end of that.

Thanks -

Great, I'm glad. I don't understand how the "ophthalmologist" fitted you for contacts without you ever seeing him. That's impossible. But greatly explains why they didn't work for you. But now you are well-equipped with what to look for next time.