Online spectacle supplier Glassesdirect.co.uk has launched a varifocal fitting service in conjunction with around 50 opticians across Britain.
The Wiltshire-based company’s Opticians-On-Call service uses the services of an ‘evenly spread’ network of practitioners to visit patients in their own home to fit the spectacles. An eye test will not be provided.
Speaking to Optician, James Murray Wells (pictured), the site’s founder, described the move as ‘the most exciting thing he’s done since launching Glasses Direct’.
When a customer places a varifocal order on its site, Glasses Direct will call them, within three days, to arrange a suitable time for a 15-minute home visit, to take the fitting measurements needed.
If the customer, having received their new spectacles, then requires aftercare, a second home-visit will be provided free of charge.
Varifocal glasses will start at £135. ‘We regularly speak to customers who have just paid £300-400 on the high street for their varifocal glasses, so we aim to halve your glasses bill,’ said the company.
A special varifocal guarantee sees the usual return period extended from two to four weeks, and if the customer is still not satisfied, Glasses Direct will exchange them for either a pair of bifocals, or a pair of distance glasses and a pair of reading glasses.
‘The idea is we can provide the full service in the customer’s home – they don’t even have to move,’ said Murray Wells.
‘They don’t even have to go back to their optician to get their BVD or their pupillary distance. We don’t have to worry about opticians being difficult about it. We can give them the complete service that they deserve.’
He added it would be interesting to see whether people actually do it, ‘because it’s convoluting the process of buying a pair of glasses’.
‘Now we have practitioners, we could potentially offer our clients anything – sight tests? I don’t know what the future will hold for Glasses Direct, but we now have an army of opticians supporting and helping us. Our service could develop into so many more areas.’
The service is not currently available in Northern Ireland.
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