Fixing glasses

[+ friendofsheila]

It's weird that if I want my glasses structurally repaired (re-welding the stems), I have to ride the train almost an hour away. The two opticians I consulted didn't do it and sent me there.

 

And the place is a punky little run-down house off a 6-lane street, just off the freeway. But they do a decent job, and my glasses have lasted through 2 repairs (paying $30 to have a working pair of glasses is better than coughing for new frames and lenses!)

 

Has anybody here had a similar experience? (It sure seems like America is no longer a "repair your possessions" economy).

[Doe Be Doe]

America has been a disposable economy for years.

[instudiocity]

http://www.zennioptical.com/

 

I haven't paid more than $40 per pair since I found my Chinese connection. I'm ordering 4-5 pairs at a time.

 

I got my measurements by calling my former optical supply and just typed them into the web page.

 

My doctor's office checks my glasses every exam and they approve the quality of the glasses.

[rvwnsd]

My prescription typically changes long before my glasses wear out, so I buy new glasses.

[craigville beach]

I try to find auto mechanics who try to fix the issue and not just remove and replace. More and more of what goes into our vehicles can't be fixed, they are designed to be replaced. In my town we don't have rubbish pickup, you need to take items to the transfer station, which is only open on Saturday mornings. For years, they have had a section called "take it or leave it". Each week I cruise the section to see if there is anything I can fix or repair and take to the local charity that helps displaced families. Very often a table, chair or lamp just needs a small little adjustment, some murphy oil soap and I can repurpose it to a family in need. I am not a "hoarder" I get rid of everything that I bring home. I am surprised what some people just throw away rather than try to fix.

[Rudynate]

It's weird that if I want my glasses structurally repaired (re-welding the stems), I have to ride the train almost an hour away. The two opticians I consulted didn't do it and sent me there.

 

And the place is a punky little run-down house off a 6-lane street, just off the freeway. But they do a decent job, and my glasses have lasted through 2 repairs (paying $30 to have a working pair of glasses is better than coughing for new frames and lenses!)

 

Has anybody here had a similar experience? (It sure seems like America is no longer a "repair your possessions" economy).

 

I always get glasses with metal frames. The worst that can happen to them is that a screw comes loose and falls out. They sell glasses repair kits at the drugstore or I take them into the optician to have the screw replaced. Of course, you can step on them or sit on them, but then you take them in and get them bent back into shape.

 

Plastic frames have a definite life span. Whenever I have a plastic frame, the exposure to skin oil and perspiration, over time, damages the finish on the plastic, so it needs to be replaced anyway.

 

I had a pair of glasses with a graphite frame once. The finish started to peel away from the graphite, making them unsightly.

[+ Gar1eth]

I always get glasses with metal frames. The worst that can happen to them is that a screw comes loose and falls out. They sell glasses repair kits at the drugstore or I take them into the optician to have the screw replaced. Of course, you can step on them or sit on them, but then you take them in and get them bent back into shape.

 

I've been known to fall asleep on my titanium frames. They haven't exactly been mangled, but they are off kilter from being bent. The last time I took them in to be re-straightened they only did an ok job. The titanium frames have 'memory,' and apparently what they are remembering is their bent state as opposed to their unbent state. So even with metal frames there can be problems. Oh and don't get me started on the nose pieces turning green.

 

Gman

[+ friendofsheila]

America has been a disposable economy for years.

And maybe not the better for it, I think.

[tedbear]

Oh and don't get me started on the nose pieces turning green.

Most opticians will replace those nosepieces for you for no charge. In fact, there's a point that some nosepieces become infected and they should be changed.

[Nvr2Thick]

When VCRs came on the market they weighed a ton and were built to last. An appliance repairman fix them when they started to jam or slow down or go off track. 5-10 years later my appliance repair guy would laugh if I brought in a broken VCR because they were so cheaply made that they couldn't be fixed. If heads or mechanical handling components got out of whack there was no way to adjust or even replace components, and parts were not available. He said that components that used to be screwed in were now riveted, or stamped and bent into place, and couldn't possibly be worked on.

 

I read an article recently where an engineer observed that the Segway was the same type of engineering and construction as a cheap home appliance. He said that 10 year old Segways would be unfixable, unrecyclable junk. One of the main points of the article was that this disposable mentality was creeping into the manufacturing of larger items. It may not seem terrible to throw out a 3 year old $120 VCR, but what about the major components of automobiles, or furnaces, or pre-constructed homes?

 

My father fixed our toaster several times before the major event when we bought a new one. I wonder how many American men own a real set of tools or a soldering iron? And now we throw out a toaster when we change the color of our kitchen towels. As the OP noted, eyeglass repair is not a required skill for opticians anymore -- in the age of Lenscrafters and Walmart Vision. And imagine trying to figure out appliance repair in the age of LED TVs and Keurigs. I had also read that Samsung is deliberately trying to make smart phone screens less replaceable so that people will be forced to replace and upgrade phones when the screens break, and to subscribe to perpetual upgrade contracts.

[rvwnsd]

I try to find auto mechanics who try to fix the issue and not just remove and replace. More and more of what goes into our vehicles can't be fixed, they are designed to be replaced. ...

 

I also lament the days of being able to get things repaired instead of replacing them. However, the "remove and replace" route does yield a supply of parts that can be rebuilt and reused. Essentially, rather than the repair shop taking the time to repair a part they replace it and then send it off to be rebuilt and reused. Of course, 100% of parts do not get rebuilt, but a pretty good chunk of them do.

[rvwnsd]

http://www.zennioptical.com/

 

I haven't paid more than $40 per pair since I found my Chinese connection. I'm ordering 4-5 pairs at a time.

 

I got my measurements by calling my former optical supply and just typed them into the web page.

 

My doctor's office checks my glasses every exam and they approve the quality of the glasses.

Thank you for the tip on Zenni Optical. I just received a pair of glasses and love them enough to order a second pair.

[sincitymix]

When VCRs came on the market they weighed a ton and were built to last. An appliance repairman fix them when they started to jam or slow down or go off track. 5-10 years later my appliance repair guy would laugh if I brought in a broken VCR because they were so cheaply made that they couldn't be fixed. If heads or mechanical handling components got out of whack there was no way to adjust or even replace components, and parts were not available. He said that components that used to be screwed in were now riveted, or stamped and bent into place, and couldn't possibly be worked on.

 

I read an article recently where an engineer observed that the Segway was the same type of engineering and construction as a cheap home appliance. He said that 10 year old Segways would be unfixable, unrecyclable junk. One of the main points of the article was that this disposable mentality was creeping into the manufacturing of larger items. It may not seem terrible to throw out a 3 year old $120 VCR, but what about the major components of automobiles, or furnaces, or pre-constructed homes?

 

My father fixed our toaster several times before the major event when we bought a new one. I wonder how many American men own a real set of tools or a soldering iron? And now we throw out a toaster when we change the color of our kitchen towels. As the OP noted, eyeglass repair is not a required skill for opticians anymore -- in the age of Lenscrafters and Walmart Vision. And imagine trying to figure out appliance repair in the age of LED TVs and Keurigs. I had also read that Samsung is deliberately trying to make smart phone screens less replaceable so that people will be forced to replace and upgrade phones when the screens break, and to subscribe to perpetual upgrade contracts.

 

I remember a toaster my parents had.. was this avocado green color.. perfect toast all the time and that thing went through hell. finally it broke down.. new toaster.. piece of crap junk that broke a few months after buying..

a microwave that probably gave everyone in the neighborhood cancer.. but that thing kept on ticking no matter what... finally broke.. new microwave.. didn't even last a year.. and didn't heat things up as fast or as well.. sigh.. sometimes the best stuff is the old stuff.

 

I remember speaking to this lady that had called one of those companies who makes toasters.. to say how impressed that her toaster was working after all these decades..she said they offered to buy it from her for an outrageous sum of money.. when she asked why, they said to find out what they did wrong with it to make it last this long...

 

she said it was a true story.. but does seem like the newer stuff is built to be thrown away.. look printer is cheaper to buy then the ink cartridges.. why buy ink? just throw out the printer and buy a new one.

[+ friendofsheila]

I remember a toaster my parents had.. was this avocado green color.. perfect toast all the time and that thing went through hell. finally it broke down.. new toaster.. piece of crap junk that broke a few months after buying..

 

Those new plastic toasters: I'd believe it if they went belly-up after less than a year.

 

My old metal, self-lowering one still works.

 

My old Amana Radarange from the early 90's is still working.

[+ friendofsheila]

The old TV a friend gave me when he "went flat screen" just conked out.

 

I found another (manufacture date: 1992) at the curb. I will be taking the above one to the recyclers later this year. (Unfortunately the new one has no remote, so it says "Channel Setup" at the top of the screen, darn-it.)

[instudiocity]

Thank you for the tip on Zenni Optical. I just received a pair of glasses and love them enough to order a second pair.

I'm up to 8 pairs and my name's not ELTON!