I had Specsavers at home do my eye test while I was in my bed! Did you know that you can arrange an optician to visit your home if you are housebound?
In this post I will be talking about my personal experience with Specsavers at home, I have used them twice now as I am bedridden at worst and housebound at best.
If you are new here then welcome to my website. I am Alisha, a wife, mother and an ME sufferer?
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
I was diagnosed with ME or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis in 2012, at that time I was still able to work now I am reliant on my Husband and Daughter to care for me. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a complex illness that is represented poorly in so many ways.
The best way to describe ME is like the worst flu you have ever had then multiply that by 100. It’s a pain so much worse than I have ever experienced added to the worst exhaustion you have ever had yet no matter how much you rest or sleep that exhaustion never goes away. I am lucky enough to have a GP who understands the condition so over the years of my illness I have been able to work with him to find a level of pain relief that allows me to get on with most days, unfortunately, I do have more bad days than good.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis has affected me in so many ways to read more please visit https://alishawhittam.com/
Tired itchy eyes
Back to my eyesight, I started noticing that when I was very tired that my eyes watered a lot as well as feeling gritty all of the time which led to me rubbing them a lot. I was having problems focusing too it felt like looking through a dirty viewfinder. We do not have an actual television on the wall so I use my IPad to watch TV. The iPad is great for me as I can change the font, font size or screen colour to give my eyes a break as well as being able to bring it closer to me if I need to.
Not leaving the house and having everything literally at my fingertips I didn’t realise that I was unable to see something off in the distance or even road directions as a comparison.
Call to my GP
All I had to do was to get in touch with my local GP they made all of the arrangements for me, I just got a call from a local optician who booked me in very quickly. I must stress that the optician they sent out was one they had an arrangement with and as his clientele was a lot older than me he had a very small selection of glasses which was not right for me. Once I had the form confirming that I needed glasses I was free to go to any optician this was when I got in touch with Specsavers at home.
The Visit
When the optician arrived he went over some paperwork which included medicines and the dose you take. They will then mark out how far they need the board to be from you and put on you a lens-free pair of glasses. Next, they ask how far down on the board you can see the rows of letters and ask you to read them out, then they will test each eye independently followed by lots of different lenses always asking you which is best. You then have to have your eyes looked at very close up with your optician as well as a blast of air into your eye and that is pretty much it. The exam is finished by the optician telling you what prescription you need if any. I did not have to pay for anything, I live in The Northwest of England so this may be different to your experience.
Yes, I admit it I do prefer the “Designer” glasses that they offer which was why I choose to go to Specsavers at Home as opposed to the optician that my GP had an arrangement with. You can try on lots of different styles and colours from lots of different brands when someone from Specsavers at Home is doing your exam or a follow-up, you are also able to look on the website. The Specsavers website can scan a picture of your head so you can try on styles which the person from Specsavers may not have with them.
Payment
You are asked if you receive any benefits as some do give you money off the cost of a pair of glasses. On my first visit, my prescription for reading and distance was the same so I only needed one pair of glasses, so with all the discounts, I think I paid less than £60 for a pair of “Designer” glasses.
As I could feel that my eyesight was getting worse I contacted them via email to arrange to have someone come out and even with the pandemic I did not have to wait long at all. They have now implemented a charge for visiting you at home but the exam itself is free. Same thing again when it comes to the exam yet this time my prescription was different for the distance and the reading. The first pick was a beautiful brown tortoiseshell “Designer” pair and after the discount, this pair came to roughly £120 so knowing I needed 2 pairs of glasses I thought that I was looking at a £250 bill yet they applied the benefit discount again as well as the buy 2 pairs offer, so my second pair cost roughly £50 as of course, I went “Designer” again.
My Opinion
I have been so much better since the new glasses arrived and I can’t find fault with Specsavers at Home. I do have to mention that the first pair of glasses that I got which are maybe 4 years old now needed new nose support, this was not long before I emailed them to visit, I called my local optician for advice they just told me to get me to send them along with my Daughter. I thought I was going to be without them for a few days but no they repaired immediately for her and at no charge, me that it was excellent customer care. I recommend Specsavers at Home and they have no idea that I am writing this about them, I have no affiliation nor have payments been exchanged. I just wanted to share something honestly that may help others who may need this sort of service. If you have ever experienced Specsavers at Home I would love to hear what you think so share all of the stories good or bad in the comments below.