Location: Canada
Background: When I first started wearing glasses the optometrist would just give me a piece of paper that I could take to any shop to get my lenses made. Then they started refusing that paper and insisting I either leave my frames with them for two weeks, or that I buy new frames.
And now it seems like even asking for the script, or the measurements, is ‘against policy’.
I recently went in for an eye exam and some new glasses, and the optician said something I have never been told before.
I had asked if they could give me the prescription for my sunglass lenses since they don’t deal with the brand that I prefer, and he said that I would have to schedule another appointment at a shop that deals with that brand, because the prescription was not enough, and I would also need the measurements he took.
I asked if I could have those measurements and he said it was against policy.
Is he lying to try to get me to buy new frames from his shop? Or is there something to what he is saying?
Confession - When he walked away I took a picture of the measuring app he had used which seems to show all the measurements.
Would this be useful to another shop? I’m just trying to buy lenses without spending a fortune on yet another frame.
It all feels like a scam.
It’s good you included your location.
In the US, opticians have to provide your script whether you ask for it or not.
I didn’t find something as official for Canada with a 5-second web search, but this Ontario College FAQ indicates Canada has something similar.
Thanks! I had thought the same.
It all felt so forced and scummy. I am going to go back and demand all the information (politely)
Yeah, I’m currently in school for opticianry in Canada and both doctors and opticians are required to give you a written prescription that you can take elsewhere, and in most if not all provinces they have to put your PD on it too
Searching “optometrist complaint canada” seems to get the different licensing bodies. Reaching out to them would likely get some action.
If you haven’t been back yet, it might be worth emailing them instead, and getting a response in writing
But I think they similarly hold the PD ransom so you can’t shop around.
Or at least mine tried to do that, but I asked to see some frames behind them and snuck a peak at the notes and went elsewhere on principle.
PD is annoying, for sure. But the FTC website I linked above covers that too:
some states require you to include the patient’s pupillary distance in their prescription. If your patient wants to buy glasses online, they will need that measurement. If you take a patient’s pupillary distance measurement, we encourage you to provide it to your patient. It is likely they are entitled to a copy under Federal or State record requirements, which involves a process that may be more time consuming for you and your patient.
“Oh, you don’t share prescriptions with the patient? I thought that was an FTC regulation. Here, let me pull that up on my phone right quick to clarify. Pretty sure they even have an email contact I can reach out to if needed.”
Knowledge is half the battle. Have the info to back yourself, then hold your ground. Scummy optometrists rely on people not knowing their consumer rights.
This goes for everything. Once you’re able to show them exactly where your rights are noted they usually will do it, but they always try first.
Not sure how much sway the FTC will have in Canada.
I had this happen to me during my last annual optometrist visit, they didn’t list the PD (I am in the U.S.). Fortunately you can figure it out yourself on many of the online eyewear retailers, which is what I ended up doing for no extra charge.
I’m in Canada and I’ve had opticians do this. They are full of shit. You need your distance between pupils and prescription (and possibly cylinder measurements if you have astigmatism) to buy glasses. They are preventing you from buying from other people and are trying to convince you that you must buy from them.
Email them asking for the prescription and cc their head office if they have one. If they refuse, tell them that what they are doing is illegal in Canada. An optician MUST give a patient their prescription but it does not require the distance between pupils.
Switch shops and absolutely leave a bad review and mention what they did.
Plus, any place that sells glasses will take that pupil measurement so get your prescription and shop around. I personally like Costco, but if you are comfortable with doing your own pupil measurement you can order glasses quite cheap online.
Thanks! I have sent an email and will update if they reply. I will not hold my breath though.
Please also report them, and post some reviews online.
I’m 99.9% sure they have to give it to you and are just being scummy. You paid for the eye exam. You are entitled to the results.
Did you actually pay for an eye exam or was that a service the shop offers their customers?
I’m not in canada, so I don’t know how it works there, but I think this is a crucial difference.
I also assume you’ve been to a private Optician shop, not an official health care provider?
All eye care in Canada is private. As far as I know I’ve never heard of anyone offering eye exams for free. It’s usually $150-$200. For some people the government covers the fee, but it’s still a private practice and they get their money. Zero reason they can withhold the prescription.
All eye care in Canada is private
Your healthcare doesn’t include ophthalmologists? Like eye doctors?
Where I live opticians usually do the test for free or for a small fee (maybe 20€) with the expectation that you buy your glasses from them.
If OP paid $150-200 they have every right to be pissed off.
Germany by any chance? I‘ve two pairs of glasses and never paid a cent for testing.
Correct. In Canada your eyes and your teeth are not part of your body apparently. They are not covered by health care. (Routine stuff anyways, some surgery’s could possibly covered, not 100% sure).
Free test with purchase of glasses, and obviously not giving out prescription, is completely reasonable. Unfortunately that is not what’s happening in Canada.
It was actually 220 :/
They are 100% lying to you, I would make a complaint to your local optometrist board.
As a side note, I now get all my glasses from zenni optical. I was tired of the insane prices, my pairs cost around 30-40 bucks. Not the same quality as the name brands but they still seem to last thee same amount of time (until I break them).
I think you’re probably legally entitled to your own health data. Not a lawyer.
Also Canada, my optometrist has never given me a problem asking for my prescription. However, they don’t measure the Pupil Distance (PD) which your lens fitters might require.
This measurement is the distance between your pupils in millimetres. It can be measured with a standard ruler. Mine is 69 (nice)
My optometrist explicitly does not measure the PD because the glasses shop they have adjoining doors with will do it for you. We often just measure ours at home because it’s far cheaper to shop for glasses online.
Awesome. I have the PD measurement from that picture, along with other measurements.
I assume this covers everything the lens folks will need.
Your PD is here so that’s fine. If however you require a multifocal/progressive or computer/office lens you will need heights. The heights in this picture are only applicable to the frame you are wearing. However if you’re going to another dispenser to buy frames and lenses from them they will measure you up.
For the record, in Australia your lens prescription is your property, but as was stated by someone else usually the optical dispensers will take your PD, and they often aren’t recorded on your script. Also, as a dispenser if I call your optom to request a copy of your script, they will give me the prescription but not the PD. It’s something usually taken w, at point of sale.
Source: Dispenser/Optical Mechanic for over 20 years.
Thank you kindly for the reply. This makes some sense. It is just so scummy feeling because the information is there, it is about me, but I can’t use it to shop around. I probably just had a great opto who went above and beyond back in the day and that coloured my expectations.
Yeah, we deal with some practices that don’t easily share prescriptions. There’s always bad eggs! If a customer asked for their PD I’d give it to them, but conversely if a customer came to me wanting lenses and told me their PD I’d measure it anyways. It’s really only important for you to know if you’re ordering lenses online.
As far as I know, at least in BC, your Rx is your property and your right to have and take elsewhere.
It wasn’t always this way iirc. A lot of shops before 20 years ago or so would act like in your example.
What a scummy way to act. I paid 220 dollars for the exam, I think I should ‘own’ the output. Especially since it is literally my personal health data.
I’ll poke around to see if I have any recourse.
Good call. I imagine it’s different provincially, but that shit is yours and you paid for it. A physicians office has no right to force you to their pharmacy nor should an optometrist have rights to your post-script sales.
Shit was like that in BC. But when Costco, Clearly Contacts, and similar came along it started to become absurd. I mean, I get why, but it also showed the chasm in costs and selection.
FYI
In BC I pay about $190 for a comprehensive exam minus about $45 paid by the provincial health plan, so it comes to about $145.
Other exams might be more and that didn’t include a prescription.
A few years ago a partial exam with a contacts prescription was $45 (75 - 30) and included them emailing me my prescription, tailored to the contacts I liked to buy from a third party.
I would think, you went and paid for his services as an optometrist to diagnose your problem and give you a prescription. Buying your glasses is a seperate service.
FYI this would be illegal to decline giving a patient their prescription in the US. I would be surprised if there was no similar consumer protections in Canada.
These places have been gouging for a long time. You have a right to your prescription, demand it and order from Zenni or similar and save yourself some money.
Generally speaking optometrists measure the core measurements of how your vision is and make the prescription.
However, to make glasses as well as the prescription they need the interpupillary distance (IPD); how far apart the pupils in the centre of the eyes are.
The IPD rarely changes much / at all in adults (so saving for certain conditions, once you know it you could keep using that value), and measuring it is not that hard if you have another person to do it (read how to do it properly on the Internet).
I don’t know the law in Canada around what they have to disclose. I believe Canada has privacy legislation that says that people have access to private information about them held by companies in at least some cases, so that might be something to look into, and then request all the information they hold on you if you ever need the information again.
Capitalism at it again. Or still.
https://www.wmpeyewear.com/blogs/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-eyewear-and-glasses-monopoly
Yeah that sounds like bullshit. My step son was recently at an optometrist and he’s broken his glasses like 4 times since. His grandmother asked for a copy of his prescription so she can find a cheap pair elsewhere and they gave it to her with no fuss. This is in the United States.
Might be time to find a new optometrist.
Thanks! Yeah I won’t be going back there. They were so pushy about only using their brands, and denying me access to my own info.
If the shop includes the eye exam as part of the glasses’ cost then they don’t like giving the prescription out for free, but usually they would just charge for the exam (~$75 where I am).
I was billed for the eye exam separately from the glasses. $220 CAD.
That’s very very expensive in the first place.
Then you paid for a service (eye exam) and you are allowed the results for that exam. I agree with Grimy, that is very expensive for an eye exam. I would demand the prescription and then never return to that optometrist.
It might be their policy not to give you the prescription so you feel pressured to shop at their store, I’ve been to some shops that do that.
i don’t think its a scam, its a petty tactic to get you to shop at their store.
and yea, If you took the picture of the measurements at your preferred prescription, the other shop should be able to read the prescription off of that.
although eye exams are so simple these days and often free why not have another shop do it?
just switch shops altogether, there’s no point in getting your eye exam at that shop if they’re assholes.
I just realized this might not be the right community. Please feel free to remove the post if it doesn’t fit the ‘thought-provoking’ tag.
