**REVIEW** Experiencing Zenni Optical (Final UPDATE, Finally)

Okay. I am now a lot happier with Zenni. For one thing, customer service bent over backward to be helpful. Apparently, I checked off the wrong box somewhere when ordering the first pair. They let me return those and apply the credit to another pair. On top of that, they actually sent me the exact numbers I should have input the first time. Probably they were thinking, "This poor idiot here..."

When you get your Zenni glasses, you get a couple of little goodies - a cleaning rag and a Hello Fresh coupon - all in a cute but thin plastic mailer.  The standard glasses case is Dollar Store basic-looking but it is at least protective.You also get several special rulers for measuring your PD. 

You will need this!

(A little advice: Don't toss that mailer bag. You can use it should you have to do a return. As a matter of fact, keep everything until you're sure of your order. I'm so glad I did.)

Anyway, for my replacement glasses, I chose a much cuter frame design that I had not previously noticed. I also went with smaller lenses. Good thing because they work better with this super-short haircut I have now. The color choices were grey and gold. I went with grey because I tend to prefer silver & white gold jewelry over gold but...

They look much cuter in person

I love the nice metal &
the cute design

I'm starting to really like the gold frames
the more I look at them

...the gold ones are cute! Because these were only $15.95, I'd get the gold if I need to replace the greys.

Since the refunded pair was $19.95, I used the rest of my credit for a case...

I wanted to see how it looked in a purse

...because the standard case does the job but not with any style!

Yeah, the standard on the right is... meh

So I guess I would recommend Zenni Optical. However, do your measurements carefully. Better yet, have them done for you - either at a walk-in optical shop or by a friend. Also, check and double-check your prescription and use all the how-to videos on the website.

For around $16 (+s&h), I got a really nice and durable pair of prescription readers. I'll be mad if they get lost or broken but I won't be eighty-five dollars worth of mad like when I lost a previous pair.

Another bonus with Zenni is that, if I keep using them (and I probably will), I will earn points/rewards and so on. I still hate the initial learning curve in using the site but now I can just re-order. My script is on file and good for 2 years.

And that is my Zenni experience.

**UPDATE**

Someone from Zenni did get in touch to tell me about their return/credit-refund policy. And they told me to try wearing the glasses until I adjust to them (?). Uh, nah. I'm good, sis. 

Here's the thing: I paid 20 bucks for the glasses. They didn't work out for me. I'm not going to spend money to return them for a chance to get another pair of glasses. The glasses didn't work because of a flaw (possibly of mine) in the process. You have to be pretty careful about measuring in order to get a useable pair of glasses. If I only had mild vision problems, I'd try again but I don't want to make my vision worse by trying to save some money. 

While not ideal, I think I will stick to using OTC reading glasses on the days when I am resting my eyes from the contacts.

Not all people have my experience. Obviously. Zenni is a hit with several people I know, My niece loves ordering from them and I think she now belongs to their little "club". 

 Welp. I finally took a chance and ordered some glasses from Zenni Optical. I didn't jump in blindly though.

One of my nieces has ordered from Zenni - more than once - and has been happy with her purchases. And Walmart ticked me off the last time I went in for an eye exam.

The doc was nice enough - very nice, in fact. My problem is with the pricing of frames and glasses. For a simple pair of prescription readers, I was looking at paying at least $100 for some simple (and ugly) frames. For around $49 I could get super simple and hyper ugly frames. (Yes, there are cheaper frames but only if you want Dollar Store quality.) Then there would be a charge for the lenses. And, of course, they want to hype the add-ons. So, let's say $150 minimum for some readers.

I was already a little heated that I had to call and have them mail me a signed copy of my prescriptions. I wasn't wearing my contacts when I walked out of the store so I didn't notice that the script for the contacts or glasses was signed.

Anyway.

I have a year's worth of contacts (my script is good for 2 years) but I like having glasses to wear while taking a break from contacts. So in order to get a decent-looking pair of readers without having to take out a personal loan, I decided to give Zenni's a try.

The prices are great but the ordering process is... oh boy.

You have to know how to read your prescription. Really. I didn't even know that my pupillary distance wasn't automatically listed on my script. No. Back it up. I didn't even know there was such a thing as "pupillary distance". 

Pupillary distance (PD) measures the distance between the centers of your pupils. (from Zenni)

I was at another doc to get my eyes checked for problems with the sarcoidosis. I got one of the ladies up front to do the PD measurement for me. That was the easy part.

Back on Zenni, I had to figure out and/or choose:

• whether I had single or dual PD numbers.
• width and or length of the frame, bridge, lens, and temple arm.
• what type of material I wanted. There were just too many choices,
• what shape - oval, aviator, blah, blah, blah.

I just took measurements from my old glasses and tapped out on getting into the details. I decided to just browse through the available square-shaped frames - sorted from lowest to highest price. Trust me, that whittles down the list of choices to fool with.

Finally, I found this pair -

Plain and simple but not too ugly. I think I'm getting some sexy librarian vibes. Or maybe just sexy old lady vibes. Whatever. The only people who will see me wearing these are my neighbors (who can't see too well anyway) and anyone at Walmart on the days when I go there without my contacts. Oh and...

...there's that price I just didn't expect. 

With shipping & handling, I paid less than 25 bucks for a (hopefully) decent pair of readers.

So what about bifocals?

If I decide to go back for bifocals - and I am thinking about it - the price came up to just under $80. But that was high-index progressive lenses with anti-reflective coating.

That's not bad considering I'm getting frames and lenses. And I am sure that there are codes to be found online somewhere to shave a few pennies off the total price. 

What's the bottom line of the ordering process?

It can be tedious. The worse thing is that once you have something in your cart, it's very tricky to make adjustments. I started out with the $80 pair before I remembered that I am seeing 3 doctors and a dentist in the next few weeks. The out-of-pocket costs can nickel and dime a sister in the poorhouse. So I decided to change up and just get readers for now. Well, that was insanely difficult to do. I had to totally back out of the cart and start all over again.

I do like that I can store more than one version of my script. I now have one for bifocals and another for the readers. Now when I go back to order the bifocals, I can pull that up and place the order.

The waiting game

• June 6th -  I ordered the glasses. I was talking to a nurse at a doc appointment and she raved about the cute Zenni glasses she was wearing. She told me about the rewards program they have and now I am just too excited.
• June 9th - I got an email informing me that the glasses are "being manufactured". There is a link to check the status but the link takes me to a Rewards tracking page. The Order Status (when I locate it) is shown to be "Manufactured/En Route to Distribution Center". That is a little confusing. Are they saying that the glasses have been made and are now about to be shipped to me?  I do some googling and learn from a Zenni Tweet that it means that "the glasses have completed production and are on the way to our shipping center". Okay. I'm getting excited. Or anxious?
• June 10th - I am starting to doubt my choice of frame. I went with something similar to the sunglasses that look good on me. However, reading glasses aren't darkly tinted. Maybe I will just look like a super-nerd and not the sexy-nerd type? Oh boy. I am starting to overthink this...

The Plane! The Plane. They're here!

It is June 16th and the glasses have arrived. So. What do I think? First off, they are cute as heck and everything I wanted. The completely match the online photos.

Lenses so clear they're invisible! 

The packaging was cheap (but so is the price, right?) but the glasses were well-protected in a hard casing. Also, there were a lot of those rulers for the next time I have to measure the PD...

They even look cute on me (and mine is the only opinion that matters!).

I miss being able to smile!

I love everything about these glasses. 

Except...

I can't see with them. I can see better - but not great - at a distance. I cannot see well enough for reading. These were meant to be my reading specs when I am resting from wearing contacts. 

The glasses are just the tiniest bit off in every way. I think the prescription is just a little bit off. Off enough that everything looks obscured by a heatwave. It's very frustrating.

Summary

I have written Zenni just to let them know what issues I am having. I told them that I won't be applying for a refund. As I understand it, I can get a 50% credit back to my payment method or a 100% store credit. I paid 20 bucks for the glasses, folks. I'm not sure I care that much at this point. I might ask for a store credit and go for the same glasses with some input from someone at Zenni.

So, there you go. If the prescription had worked, I would be ready to spend at least $100 at Zenni. The frame quality on this pair is lovely and I can't say enough how much I like the frames. But the prescription didn't work. I can find a really good pair of non-prescription reading glasses for $20 that won't give me a headache.

Keep in mind that my niece and someone in one of my doctor's office raves about their Zenni glasses. Maybe I just need to try again another time?

Peace

--Free