It's a Photo Finish!

No, not the Melbourne Cup. That's still an hour or so away. The glasses race!

Yesterday my local glasses arrived. Last night at about 11:30, I thought I would check the tracking on my internet ones and see if there was any update (there hadn't been since they left the US). This is what I saw:

Delivered! What? Where was I at 1:58?
I know exactly where I was - walking down to the optometrist to collect my glasses, having given up on the postie for the day. He normally arrives before 1:00pm on Mondays, so I assumed he had already been and had nothing for me.

After my trip to the optometrist I went to the cinema, and never checked the letterbox again for the day. But I should have, because that's where my glasses were all along!

So, compare and contrast:

There are some differences. My local glasses, which are on the left, are "enhanced readers" which are supposed to be correct for using the sewing machine or computer, but with a close-up section at the bottom for threading needles, etc.  Here you see everything that came with them (a cleaning cloth). On the left, the single-vision internet version, and everything that came with them (a case, a larger and prettier cleaning cloth, a bag of extra nose pads and screws etc for repairs, a tiny 3-part screwdriver tool for making repairs, and a plastic measuring device for working out your pupil distance for future orders).

Local glasses pros:

• could use my own frames, which I've had for years and really like.
• can try on other frames.
• when the prescription was incorrect, they were returned and replaced at no cost to me.
• are guaranteed, so if I decide I would rather have only single vision, I can send them back to be changed at no cost.

Local glasses cons:

• was charged an installation fee of $30 to have the lenses put in my own frames. This strikes me as unfair, as they have to be put in some frames.
• very limited range of frames available if I had wanted to buy new ones. They had 3 frames, all in the men's section, which were large enough for my face. 
• anti-reflective coating was going to cost about $50, so I didn't get it (notice reflections in photo).
• lenses cost $190 for these multi-focus ones, or $120 for single-vision.

Total cost: $220.00

Internet glasses pros:

• far more frames to choose from in large sizes, even in "women's" designs.
• frame and single-vision lenses cost only $19.00 (US)
• anti-reflective coating cost only $4.95 (US)
• I had actually put my distance prescription on my order, but they contacted me to check it, because it didn't match what I said I wanted the glasses for.
• more goodies included!

Internet glasses cons:

• if they hadn't been correct, sending them back would not have been practical
• have to pay postage (even though it was only $9.95 US)
• had to wait for the postie
• frames are quite light-weight, so I don't know how durable they will be
• frames probably aren't re-usable, either, so contribute to the "throw-away" culture I hate.
• could be trickier to get multi-focal glasses correct, as there can't be any tweaking like the local ones have needed.

Total cost in Australian dollars: $36.24

So, the race was close enough to a dead heat. As to which pair will be my favourite - what do you think? Let's just say that so far, I'd be happy to order on-line again.