A new way to buy Contact Lenses (or at least new to me)

I wear soft contact lenses, and because I have a very high/odd prescription, there are only a few makers that can do my lenses. I'm also a Kaiser Permanente plan member and have used their optical services for 30 years. It came time to order a new round of lenses, and I always cringe a little as they are $ 139 per set at Kaiser and then come in a 4-pack. so the total was $ 556 for each order. And Kaiser is slooooooooooooooowwwww in getting them to me (they have to be custom made from the maker) with an average wait time of one month. I call to order last month and am told there has been a price increase and now they are $ 189 a set, for a total of $ 756 for the 4-pack. COME ON !! I gripe at the poor lady that does the contact lenses (just a little, I know its not her fault) and she says over the phone in a whisper "You might want to ask us to fax you your prescription and then go check prices at www.visiondirect.com, but you didn't hear that from me..."

So I do just that. And the visiondirect.com website is VERY easy to use and its VERY easy to type in your prescription and they charged me $ 66 per set of lenses for the exact same product, 1/3 the price. I was pretty stunned by that, and gladly ordered. They arrived in 2 weeks instead of four, same packing as from Kaiser and the same brand (no generic or substitutions). While I don't mind any company making a profit (hey, its what I do, too) to be three times higher than buying on-line is tough. Best of all, visiondirect.com can set you up for automatic re-orders billed to your credit card, so your new supply arrives a few weeks before you need them automatically.

So there ya go - just passing it along to help forum members save a little money on their contact lenses. I'm definitely sold on using that service at twice the speed to re-supply and 1/3 the price, whats not to like?

I wish I could order from them, but they don't carry the lens brand I use.

Wow, at those prices I'm surprised you haven't looked into lasik or PRK. I used to wear glasses/contacts and make the decision to get PRK before I deployed. The first week sucked, but I've never looked back. I even forget that I used to wear glasses (and I've worn them since kindergarten or 1st grade). It cost me a little more than $3000 but has been worth every penny! I'm sure it's already payed for itself since I no longer need to buy prescription glasses, sun glasses, and contacts. FYI in case you consider it: lasik while it sounds a bit scary is pain free, my brother did it and was doing his normal routine the next day. I did PRK for job reasons and was house bound with all the windows covered and lights off for about 5 days. I had extreme light sensitivity, and to those I've talked to my experience is pretty normal for PRK.

Actually I have, however my myopia is so severe that I'm not a good candidate. But what really sealed the deal against doing it for me was a conversation I had with my Cancer surgeon at Johns Hopkins whom I became friends with. He wears glasses and I asked him why he never has had LASIK? He said to me, " Without my eyes I can't perform surgery, and here at Hopkins we see all the mistakes that are done on people's eyes from these procedures, and it's ugly. No elective eye surgery for me."

I'm with your doctor from Johns Hopkins. I can see fine now with glasses. Without my vision, I don't work, drive, read, etc. Why risk it?