The following anecdote is the same sort of situation that happens every time I get new glasses, so it could describe any one of those incidents. However, for the sake of easier memory, I attempt to describe for you the most recent time this happened.
I had gone through the eye exam, which I described in an earlier post, and now it was time to get new glasses as my prescription had been modified slightly. So like any smart person, I shopped around for my best option.
My first stop was Walmart, since they brag about having low prices on everything, I figured that I should at least check out what they might have to offer me.
I walk up to the eye guy at Walmart. He looks at my prescription and gasps, I should let you know my prescription is not at all average. The eye guy then informs me that they would have to send it to their lab in Tokyo, Japan to get the lenses made and it would take at least 6 weeks for everything to get done.
I was not surprised that they couldn’t do the lenses in house. I’ve had to outsource to specialty labs for lens crafting every single time , because that’s how I roll. However, I know that the other times, I was able to get it done much closer to home.
I thanked him for his time and effort and headed on my way to my next stop.
I walked into Vogue Optical, where everyone’s second pair is free except mine. The guy looks at my prescription and explains to me that he would also have to outsource my prescription to a lab, though Vogue’s lab is in the same country. They gave me an estimated price and an estimated time of 4 weeks. I thanked them for their efforts and head out.
I wanted to see if I could do better than that.
Two days later I walk into Hakim Optical.
I show them my prescription, they do not look shocked upon seeing it, however they do inform me that they will have to outsource, which I obviously knew already, but they didn’t know I knew so they reminded me anyway. They had the most efficient lab of any of them and I had my new glasses in 2 weeks for the cheapest price I was ever going to get.
It pays to look around and not jump at the first place you see.