In the past, I’ve just gone wherever my insurance dictated I go. Now I have no optical insurance, and I’m just going to pay in cash.
I have no idea where the best place to get glasses are. A reputable national chain? Which one?
Are they going to provide basically the same service, more cheaply, at somewhere like walmart optical?
Or am I best off finding an optometrist’s practice or other local eyecare place? If so, how do I go about figuring out which one is best?
Get thee to a library and search Consumer Reports. There is a huge variability in quality among chains. Huge. Some don’t even come close in matching the prescription.
WalMart type places are generally bad. Note that these are independent places and 2 WalMarts in the same city might not have even the same chain in them.
The really big national chains are okay but overpriced.
Based on CR reviews, we have been going to For Eyes and have been happy.
Hm. It never occured to me that some places wouldn’t get the Rx right. My eye doctor wanted $500 to get me new glasses, and had a crappy seletion of frames. I rarely take my contacts out, and pretty much only wear glasses at home right before bed. I went to pearl vision (I think, it was in the mall) and got a cute pair for $180, if I remember correctly. I have really bad eyes (-9 and -8.5), but these were much thinner than my previous pair. I like them, for glasses.
I have always had poor eyesight. Myopia and astigmatism, now compounded by presbyopia. I’m wearing variable focus lenses now. I’ve always gotten the best service and quality by going to a local optician with the prescription from the opthamologist. That way if something’s wrong you take the lenses back to the doctor and he can check if they are correct and has no stake in the outcome.
I have not been as satisfied with service and quality from the big chains. My husband gets his lenses at Sears or some such place and pays less. But he usually needs 2 or 3 trips to get them right.
Not knowing where you are located, my advice to you is to ask everyone you know where they got their glasses, and how their experience was.
I spent 7 years at a Pearle Vision. Excellent training there. I spent 2 years at a Walmart Vision Center (which was owned by Walmart). It is the quality of the employees at this particular vision center that made it a good one to patronize. I personally did some of the final inspecting of the glasses, and the work was done well. Although I did hear a number of complaints about some of the other Walmart Vision Centers in the surrounding area. There are a few other “retail” type places around my area, and I am hearing complaints about them on an almost daily basis.
I currently work in a private practice. It’s true that we don’t have the enormous frame selection that the retailers do. We also can’t get the job done as quickly (sorry, one edger, one lab guy, 150 pairs a week sometimes). But, at least where I work, we are all “veterans”, with anywhere from 7-25 years in the business. Three of the four of us are ABO certified (not a requirement to do my job in PA). Your state may require a license. Mine doesn’t.
I can honestly tell you that some of my family comes to me where I work now, but some still go to the retailers, and then bring me their glasses to recheck the prescription, etc. So far, so good. I haven’t had a family member go wonky over bad glasses yet 
If someone tries to sell you something you know you don’t want, or tries to sell you a frame that you are simply NOT comfortable wearing, walk away. I’d rather have one of my patients walk out and buy a pair they love at Eyeland than buy something from me out of loyalty, and never be truly happy with the glasses.
Good luck to you! Let me know if I can help.
Same here, around -7 and -8, but they must have new more dense materials because the outer edge of the glasses is much thinner than years ago. I only wear mine occasionally around the house so I haven’t updated them. Doesn’t matter how they look since cross my fingers I won’t have to go out in public in them!
I’ve been in glasses since age 13 and am very acutely aware of how glasses hold up over time. I usually shop at the places where glasses cost me 300 - 400 a pair for the better quality frames & lenses. On a whim I tried Walmart about a year ago and was very pleased with the price and quality. Price was less than half of what other places charge for the same comparable brand name for frames & lenses (Seiko-Zeiss etc) eye-wear. Very professional staff and good selection.
In the Super-Walmart I used (Fruitland MD) there didn’t seem to be any specific independent or franchise branding of the eye-ware center (maybe I missed it) - It was just the “Walmart” eye-ware center.
I got a rather nice pair of bifocals from Lenscrafters a few years ago. They did the eye exam, and it was as competent as any I’ve had. The glasses have certainly worked well, although I’m overdue to have my eyes checked again. When I do, I’ll probably do it at Lenscrafters again.
If you’re interested in saving money, do keep an eye out for coupons in the Sunday newspaper. Lenscrafters also gives a discount to AAA members, but you have to ask them for it.