Since inception, Glasses Direct has always prioritised customers and their eye health. But don’t just take our word for it, we chatted to some of our most loyal customers, who have continued to enjoy the great value and convenience offered by Glasses Direct. Discover which brands they love the most and the experiences they have had with Glasses Direct to date.
Alisdair Luxmoore, Founder and Director of Fleewinter and Vamoos
Would you like to start by introducing yourself? Tell me more about who you are.
The interesting thing about me is that until about 22 years ago, I was on the board of one of the UK’s biggest opticians. A company called Dollond & Aitchison which merged with Boots Opticians after I left. I was director there, so I know a little bit about the glasses industry, in that sense. One of the reasons I left was I wanted to start up a business almost exactly the same as Glasses Direct before you started 20 years ago. I thought it was a really interesting opportunity so I was in some ways jealous and in some ways very pleased to see when you appeared on the scene 20 years ago.
I thought oh wow, great! They’ve made it work which is really exciting. I was very aware that you could do glasses remotely without having to visit the opticians so I was keen to try it out and so I’ve been with you ever since.
How long have you shopped with Glasses Direct?
I guess it must be between 15 to 20 years now!
What first attracted you to the website and the brand itself?
I knew you could get very good quality glasses at incredibly low prices, so it was that. I suppose it was testing out the model to start with and just seeing how it worked and I was intrigued from a business perspective rather than a customer perspective. Then I’ve stuck with it and it has been generally really good service. I don’t know if it is partly because of my knowledge of dispensing, but I have some slightly weird requests I like to put through. I have these complex prescriptions. Once I get a new prescription, I’ll get four pairs. So a distance pair for driving, then a pair for medium work like a computer or a TV and then full-on reading. You guys have always dealt with that really well.
How frequently would you say you shop with us?
Maybe once a year. I wear them full-time so I usually have to replace them each year at least.
Why do you love to shop with Glasses Direct? Is there any specific reasons?
I think the value is good. I have also found that one of the frames that you do suits me really well. They’re comfortable, the sizing is right and the pupil distance is right, so I stick to that one frame, the Finelight, Imperial.
Do you have a favourite pair of glasses? Are the Imperial ones you mentioned previously your favourite?
They are. I do have a few. I have a slightly bigger pair, very old ones actually, that I like to wear for sports because they’re a bit bigger. So, for example, if I’m cycling, these Imperial ones are too narrow.
I would like some new prescription sunglasses. Again, mainly for sports and things, so maybe some fairly lightweight ones.
John, the Swiss National Computing Centre
Would you like to start by introducing yourself? Tell me more about who you are.
Hi, I’m John. One of the reasons I use Glasses Direct is because I moved abroad. I work for the Supercomputing Centre in Switzerland.
How long have you shopped with Glasses Direct?
I looked at my account and the first time that I see a purchase is in 2009 and I don’t know if my purchases go back further than that. I moved here at the end of 2004 and I have a memory that I started using Glasses Direct around then.
What first attracted you to the website and the brand itself?
I think probably the fact that you’re cheaper than going to an optician is the driving factor but because I moved abroad, the language barrier meant that I had trouble going to an optician and explaining what I wanted. Being able to just do it online and upload my prescription, it solved a lot of problems.
How frequently would you say you shop with us?
Once every two years, I get my eyes rechecked and it depends how much they’re changing. Now that I’m getting older, I’m using varifocals and I’m finding that the near vision, it’s degrading faster than I would hope!
I would say that I use Glasses Direct at least once every year because there is three of us all shopping with you! I’ve got myself, my wife wears glasses and my daughter. So, every couple of months or weeks I get an email from you guys with a special offer and I say to everybody, anybody need new glasses? I only visit the UK once or twice a year so now what I do is, I always buy them online and have them delivered to my mum’s address and then I collect them when I visit.
I know that’ll be visiting the UK in August this year, so around about July, I’ll look at whatever special offer you’ve got on and I’ll mention it to everybody. In August, we’ll order another pair, we’ll use a voucher or whatever special offer you’ve got on.
Why do you love to shop with Glasses Direct? Is there any specific reasons?
I can give you maybe three or four reasons why. So the obvious thing that brings people in is the price. It’s a no-brainer!
The second one is the fact that when I go to an opticians, I feel somehow pressurised into buying things from them that I don’t want. I recently went to an optician here because I wanted to just change the little nose clips on my glasses and when you look at what they’ve got, it’s all named brands and inflated prices. I don’t want a named brand, I don’t care who makes the glasses I wear so I don’t want to feel pressured into buying. Your eyewear is cheaper. You have a much wider selection as well. You have hundreds of pairs and I can scroll through them and find the ones I want. Whereas you go to the optician, they’ve got a limited number and you think, well I don’t want any of them. They want you to buy from them and so they’re pressuring and pressuring you.
Funnily enough, my wife said there was another reason which was that because for example you do all these offers, like buy one get one free that kind of thing, we pretty much always buy two pairs. Once every couple of years, I go to the optician and get my prescription changed and then I buy a new pair and I usually buy a second pair as well. The fact that I’ve always got a spare pair means that, it just reduces the anxiety that if I accidently sit on them or they fall off, I know I’ve got a spare pair and don’t have to worry so much about the cost.
I probably save £100 or more every time I buy a pair. I mean, I use my eyes every day so I feel like if I buy another pair of glasses every year or so, that’s money well spent!
So basically, the convenience and the not having to go to an opticians is good. I started using Glasses Direct and since I’ve started using them, I basically haven’t ever tried anyone else. So, I don’t really have any reason to go elsewhere!
Do you have a favourite pair of glasses?
So, my favourites are these ones I’m wearing which are Finelight – Clover. I have two or three pairs of these from this year and last year in my cupboard. They are also in my little Favourites box on your website and all I do is go there and make sure you’re still selling them. If you don’t have the ones, because occasionally you change them, I then look through the website and see which ones are as close as possible to the ones I usually wear. Then I just renew my basket.
I like the ones that are invisible. So, anything that has no frame or the thinnest frame possible. When I started buying from you, you used to do very thin frame ones and then you started doing the completely frameless ones, so I switched to those. I don’t know how many years I’ve been buying these ones but it must be at least five or ten!
I ride a motorbike and I wear a helmet so I don’t like big frames so I want something that is just as small and lightweight as possible. So I have my Favourites on your website, I click, click. It’s easy!
Claire Darroch-Thompson, Auction Accounts at Lacy Scott & Knight
Would you like to start by introducing yourself? Tell me more about who you are.
I’m Claire. I work at an auction house in Bury St Edmunds. I’ve got three grown-up children and five grandchildren. I look after three of them on a Thursday. I’m married and I’ve got a dog and a garden. That keeps me busy!
How long have you shopped with Glasses Direct?
I’ve been using Glasses Direct more or less from the start actually and I’ve always found them very good. I really appreciated them being able to send frames for me to try on. Yeah, they’ve always been really good.
What first attracted you to the website and the brand itself?
I suppose, I was looking for a no-frills way of getting glasses. I was very aware that the opticians over-charged massively for what they did. Opticians can be a bit intimidating sometimes as well.
I don’t have a complicated prescription. So I thought, there just has to be a cheaper way of doing this. I can’t remember now who told me about Glasses Direct or how I heard about it, but I just looked for it online and found it then never looked back really!
How frequently would you say you shop with us?
Well, whenever my prescription changes. I don’t go for varifocals, I get distance glasses, reading, computer and sunglasses. So, it’s probably every couple of years. Unless I lose some and I have to replace them like I did very recently!
Why do you love to shop with Glasses Direct? Is there any specific reasons?
I suppose, I went with them in the first place and I’ve always felt that they’ve given me a good deal and the glasses are reasonable quality. I mean, obviously, you get what you pay for. But saying that, some of the cheaper ones have seemed really good quality and they last perfectly well. It doesn’t cost the earth if you break them and have to replace them. I couldn’t believe it when my friend said that she had spent nearly £500 having hers done. I just thought, that’s absurd! I’m just not spending that amount of money on a pair of glasses.
Do you have a favourite pair of glasses?
I like to have the rimless ones for my everyday distance glasses. I mean, I don’t wear them around the house. They’re principally for driving and for watching TV. I found that it took me a long time to get used to wearing glasses and seeing that rim around your eye. So, the rimless ones (Finelight) were good from that point of view. My computer and reading glasses are slightly different. I don’t like anything very sort of spangly but I feel sometimes I can justify having a frivolous colour. I like wearing red and so sometimes I get red ones, for example Leah from your collection.
