DogMom, on the “what if the glasses don’t work” issue:
There’s a very simple way that any optician or eye doctor can find out what the prescription is for an existing lens. If your lenses “don’t work,” take the lenses you bought to the doctor and ask that they be checked against the prescription. If you think your doctor is unethical enough to lie and tell you the prescription is NOT o.k. when it is, why would you go there? Besides, why should the doctor care?
Another reason why glasses sometimes “don’t work” can be that the frames are not adjusted properly. Again, if you find the prescription is correct, and you go back to your (presumably ethical) optician, they should be able to check that, too.
On the lost lenses issue, maybe someone in the medical field can provide some facts here. I know that if I need a drug prescription refill, I can call my medical doctor and if she thinks the stuff is o.k. to renew without my coming in for a special visit, she will authorize it. I am guessing that if I had a more than one year old pair of glasses, and I lost or broke them, that if I called my eye doctor, explained the situation and scheduled an appointment, that he would write a replacement lens prescription. I am too nearsighted to walk, let alone drive, without glasses.
The other thing we do is to always keep the previous pair of glasses. They would not be optimal but would get me through the day until I could do whatever I had to to replace a broken pair.
I suspect that you’re wrong; if you hadn’t had an eye exam in the last year, they would prefer to give you a full eye exam and issue a new prescription. But of course this depends on your doctor, and how much of a fuss you kick up about it.
Regarding your glasses not working: Most optical shops, including both places my husband the optician has worked, have a money-back gaurantee. If you are not satisfied with your glasses for any reason (you can’t see as well as you like, your glasses are not comfortable, you just decided after wearing them for a week that you aren’t happy with your frame style) they will simply refund your money, and you’re free to get a different pair of glasses with them, or take your money elsewhere.
If you complain that you cannot see, they can measure the lenses to make sure that they match your prescription, and to make sure that lenses were cut properly. If they screwed up, they will of course remake your glasses at no charge. If they think they’ve made the glasses right (according to your prescription), they will offer you an appointment with their in-house optometrist to double-check that your prescription is right. I think you have to pay for the appointment, but at least you can take care of it then-and-there instead of having to run back to your doctor’s office. Even if turns out that your doctor goofed up, they will still remake your glasses without any extra charge.
This will vary from shop to shop, of course, so ask your optician or salesperson for details.