High street opticians are a rip off

sorry optigirl, I can see that these problems keep you awake at night!!! You have got your wires crossed somewhere!
Cheapest lens (cr39) has the "best" abbe value as it is the highest. Your assertion that the cheapest lens is the worst performance is completely wrong (it is the other way round!!!)
glass or cr39 abbe value 58.
1.7 (plastic) abbe number 36 produces much more chromatic aberration than cr39 or glass (1.523) 1.70 (plastic)is much thinner and much more expensive.
Using the phrase "no distortion" in association with any lens is misleading, distortion is dependent on a variety of factors, lens design, size of finished lens and very importantly prescription. An amount of distortion is always present whether detectable or not. To suggest that trivex is distortion free or performs better than another material is not correct at all!

Wondering if you are thinking of distortion and abberation as similar problems when they are completely different one is caused by form of lens (distortion) the other is caused by material of lens (aberration) these are not associated. Both of these problems are affected by the size of prescription.
Sorry to pull your comment apart but I am worried that people will actually think it is correct and spend their money accordingly. Most people will realise you are not an authority on lenses when you are unable to spell lens (singular) lenses (plural) never "lense". Pray to god that you don't work in an opticians but I have the sneaking suspicion you may be employed by one of the large chains. Please tell me I am wrong!!!!

lense material cost different amounts. polycarb is cheap ,scratches easy and there is distortion around the edges. polycarb can crackle in a year or two and the lenses must be replaced because one will not be able to see thru them. plastic is more expensive , a little heavier and a little thicker.
trivex is a mid index lense that is light, thin, and no distortion and more expensive than plastic . hi index is even thinner and lighter and more expensive than mid index.
there is an abbe value to lense and the cheaper the lense, the lower the abbe value, the lower the abbe value , the more distortion and abberations in lense. I could go on on thats the tip of the iceberg

rippedoff,
you can get specs for £10. How are you ripped off? I pay £400 + for my specs they are fantastic, comfortable and well fitted. I have worn glasses since three years old and have tried cheap rubbish and they do not work for me. My opticians spends time and effort ensuring my specs are the best fit possible for my rather large prescription. I'm sure my optician does sleep well at nigth comfortable in the knowledge he has done a good job. Is this not how a market works we choose what suits us and we should rejoice the fact that we can purchase from £10 to a thousand. Its our choice I could own a £10,000 car - I don't mine cost £300 - it suits me. So my question is, whats your point?

dobino,

where did you get that from? Doctors cannot provide you with a prescription! They can providea basic eye and field of vision test to decide whether you need to see a qualified optometrist. But lets just pretend for a while you are correct, your local gp surgery will be clogged with people wishing to have their eyes tested. How will that help anything and who will pay for it? Since a doctor gets paid more than an optometrist how does it make economical sense. Have you thought this through, or did you just make it up?.

0.0 = money.
What on earth are you talking about?
Opticians paid more than £200,000. Who? Where? Did you pull this figure from thin air, make it up or did a mate tell you?
What minimal training are you talking about ? 3 years university plus one years work placement + continual compuslory yearly training throughout career.
average salary of ophthalmic opticians is 45-50,000 per annum though younger less experienced earn considerably less. Locums earn between £200 - £300 befreo tax but they are self employed.

Doctors can perform a basic eye test but they do not have the equipment to perform a thorough eye examination or carry out a diabetic test or glaucoma or pretty much any clinical test that you receive as part of your eye test. They cannot provide you with a presecription!!!

Glasses are expensive on the high street because the price of a sight test does not cover the cost. The equipment alone - snellen chart, tanometer, field screener, phoropter, refractor heads, trial lens sets etc etc add up to close to £100,000 (I've based this on fact - I know 'cos I had to buy them!) . Internet companys can sell cheap because they do not have to pay for qualified medical proffessionals to sit in a room full of thousands of pounds worth of equipment to provide people with an up to date prescription.
Sad truth is so little value is put on that prescription, those not in the optical industry believe its about two pieces of glass and some wire to hold them together. Its not. Its about providing an excellant eye exam and providing advice and good quality spectacles that suit the purpose for which they are required

optiicans earning £200,000 ++ ha, what utter tosh.

Don't use Boots Opticians - especially the one in Windsor - had two goes at making lenses for me and twice they got it wrong - I just lost faith in the end and asked for a refund?

Apparently any doctor is allowed to conduct eye-tests. High street stores will soon be history.

Very good point speccy, some people are short sighted in more ways than one!

When all the high street opticians have been forced out of business by online discounters, how will one get ones eyes tested? The online retailers are totally dependant on Specsavers, Vision Express et al, as how do you buy without prescription?

Why do glasses cost so much - simple, just plain old human greed by the owners of the companies. They just know that there will always be somebody who needs improved vision, and they can sleep at night.

street optician are putting prices very high.i have bought my kid some glasses two months back and have not receive spects.i wonder if I have been cheated or wat.people have recieved their within days.want to claim my money back and order online.is that possible.i was using a medical aid .it that possible.

Optometrists are grossly overpaid for the level of skill they represent. Minimal training for maximum profit, there's no such things as a poor optometrist.

Some of these guys are on £200,000 per year, paid more than GPs and IT specialists.