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Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton
What is your take on clearlycontacts.ca?
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Online contact lens sales certainly are fact of life now and Optometrists need to embrace the fact that it is out there and not going away.
The way to think of Online glasses/contacts is like an Outlet mall. You get discontinued or overstock glasses and the lenses are generally inferior to those you can get in a store. As for contact lenses, Online sales have lead to a decrease in contact prices across the board, and that is good for the consumer. In office contact lenses are often within $20 of online for a year supply now, however Optometry offices can offer "warranty" on the contact lenses. That is, if you rip a lens or drop one down the sink the office will provide you with a free replacement. Also, if you are on your last pair and want an extra set to hold you over before you exam, we will happily provide that for you. It is also convenient to get your contacts at the same time as your eye exam.
As for clearlycontacts.ca themselves they are trying to undermine eye care in Canada by lobbying governments to make it unecessary to have updated prescriptions every two years. In fact, in BC the health Minister and the CEO of clearly contacts are friends and it is not longer required for people in BC to have regular check ups. The CNIB, CMA, Ophthalmologoists, and the various colleges of Physicians and surgeons across the country have come out opposed to this. As of right now the Canadian Optometric Association is compiling a large list of patients who have been diagnosed with various eye conditions that would have been caught with routine exam. The hope is that we can get this overturned as it is a dangerous precident.