Dispensing down a wire

Glasses Direct may be catching all the headlines but there are plenty of other virtual dispensers doing much the same thing.

Rob Moss looks at what each has to offer

Ten minutes typing 'cheap glasses' and similar phrases into Google last week unearthed eight UK websites dispensing spectacles to consumers in the comfort of their own home.

Without performing a mystery shop exercise on each, it is hard to judge exactly how they operate, what prescriptions would be accepted and how much contact would be made between the online retailer and the consumer. But we have briefly reviewed each to assess how well they adhere to simple points of law, such as not being able to dispense to under-16s and people registered blind or partially sighted, and how they deal with PD. Prices began at £13.48 for complete single-vision spectacles, including postage and packing. Lenses were all standard CR39 and in most cases an AR coat was an extra £10-20.