Mystery shop reveals web offenders

In the week that the General Optical Council clarified the law on the sale and supply of contact lenses, internet suppliers are continuing to sell lenses without a valid prescription.

More than a year since the regulations were changed, Optician has conducted a follow-up to its first mystery shopper exercise earlier this year which found that some companies were not operating within the law and others were issuing inaccurate or inappropriate advice (Buyer beware, April 28).

In the follow-up survey, Optician made more than 60 calls to suppliers either based in the UK or with a UK mailing address, during September and October. In each case, the mystery shopper called the order line given on the website and asked whether lenses could be supplied based on prescription details read out from the lens box.