1. What is the most common mistake made when ordering?
The MOST common mistake made when ordering is not choosing minus or plus powers correctly. If you are not sure PLEASE DO NOT GUESS; please call. As a general guideline minus powers are for people who are nearsighted that is cannot see at distance well and plus powers are for people who are farsighted that is cannot see well close. Another common problem is ordering two different Base Curves (BC). Almost everyone has the same BC for both eyes, some don't but 99% do, again if you are unsure please call. On your written prescription Power is sometimes called Sphere (Sph), Base Curve can be written as BC, Diameter can be written as Dia or Diam (almost all lenses come in only one diameter). Toric prescriptions have two additional parameters; Cylinder (Cyl) and Axis (Ax). (X)
2. Return Policy
For thirty (30) days following the date of purchase you may return any unopened full boxes of contact lenses for any reason as long as the following conditions are met and with the exception of custom or color contact lenses which are not returnable unless defective. Due to health and safety reasons we cannot accept returns of opened boxes of contact lenses, that is the box that contains the individual contact lenses as supplied by the manufacturer, even if none of the individual contact lenses have been opened or boxes of contact lenses that are not in resalable condition or that have been marked, damaged or written on. All purchases of custom contacts, that is a contact lens that is noted as custom on our website, are final unless they are defective.
Orders returned complete are subject to a 15% restocking charge, partial returns the higher of either a 15% restocking charge or a proportionate reversal of the per box discount if the order was originally given a discount for purchasing additional boxes. This restocking charge does not apply if you are returning contact lenses and reorder prior to your return or orders returned under our *90 Day Prescription Return Policy with the exception of 30 or 90 pack contact lenses due to their shipping weight. Returns of 30 and 90 pack contact lenses will incur a 15% restocking fee regardless of reorder. Please Note: We can not accept returns of boxes of contacts solely to change the quantity.
*90 Day Prescription Return Policy: We allow returns of, as above, all unopened and resalable full boxes of contact lenses due to prescription change for ninety (90) days from the date of purchase with the exception of custom or color contact lenses which are not returnable unless defective. We require a faxed or emailed copy of the new prescription please. Prior to returning contacts due to prescription change you must first purchase at least the same dollar amount of boxes in your new prescription as you wish to return. Returns will be refunded once received at the price originally paid, no restocking fee will be deducted.
A return merchandise authorization (RMA) number is required before returning any product. All returns sent without an RMA number or not in compliance with our return instructions will be refused. We are not responsible for returns we do not receive or returns that are damaged in shipping or are in any other way not received in resalable condition and for this reason we suggest insuring all returns. Shipping charges are non-refundable.
Please note: Orders placed then cancelled after we process the card charge for the transaction for a reason other than a prescription verification issue may incur a $5.00 or 2.5% transaction charge whichever is higher to cover credit card transaction fees.
3. Is my Eye Doctor required to give me a copy of my contact lens prescription?
ALL Eye Doctors Everywhere in the entire U.S. are now REQUIRED by federal law to give you a copy of your contact lens prescription without any additional charge and without your even asking! Ask the doctor BEFORE making an appointment for your contact lens fitting if they will provide you with trial lenses for your fitting, which they get free, and provide you with a copy of your prescription so you may purchase your new contact lenses from whomever you wish. Ask specifically for Acuvue, Alcon, Bausch & Lomb or Coopervision lenses as these are the most widely available. Keep in mind you're the customer and the doctor is there to help you! If you receive a negative or a response other than "YES" find another doctor. It's your money spend it wisely.
4. Get Your Prescription (FTC Website Article)
Millions of Americans wear glasses or contact lenses. And they have many choices in how, where, and from whom to buy their prescription eye wear: providers such as optometrists, ophthalmologists, and dispensing opticians, and sellers such as specialty shops, large wholesale stores, mail order and online retailers. When you’re considering whether to buy your eye wear from an eye care provider or another seller, chances are you’ll consider cost and convenience. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the Contact Lens and Eyeglass Rules, which increase the “portability” of your contact lens and eyeglass prescriptions. When you’re buying contact lenses or prescription eyeglasses, the FTC recommends that you:
Get your prescription. Your eye care provider must give you a copy of your contact lens and eyeglass prescriptions — whether or not you ask for them. You should get your eyeglass prescription at the end of your eye exam, and your contact lens prescription when your fitting is complete. Fitting contacts may involve more than one appointment.
Keep your prescription. File it with your other medical records. Keeping your prescriptions current and in a convenient place can reduce delays in getting your eye wear.
Send your prescription for contacts. You may choose to buy contacts from a seller who’s not your eye care provider. If you do you may want to fax or email a photo or scan of your prescription directly to the seller to expedite the process. The seller must verify your prescription with your eye care provider before filling your order however if you provide a copy of your prescription at the time of the order your order is considered verified and the seller does not have to contact your doctor. Keep in mind that all contact lenses, even those that are cosmetic, that is lenses meant to change the appearance of your eye rather than correct your vision, require a prescription. You may email a scan or a photo or fax a copy of your prescription to us. Our fax number is (619) 996-4321. To email a copy first place your order, you will immediately be emailed a confirmation, reply to that confirmation and attach a copy of your scan or photo to that reply. We will check your order against the prescription to be sure it is correct and email you a reply confirmation shortly thereafter.
5. Do I have a valid prescription and how long is it valid?
Unless your doctor has a valid medical reason your prescription is good for one year, if noted on the prescription it can be good for two years. Prescriptions in Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah and Washington by State Law are good for two years. Non-US prescriptions are valid in the US for two years but must have the same information including the name of the specific contact ordered. Prescriptions are not required for foreign orders. If your prescription is valid you may order contacts. As a general guideline for two week replacement contact lenses a one year supply of lenses would be eight boxes of six lenses (a 6 pack); for a monthly replacement contact lens a one year supply would be four boxes of 6 lenses. Some people change lenses more frequently, if you do please feel free to order more at any time. You may also order using the prescription information on either the contact box or the individual contact lens package. This information together with the manufacturer (i.e. Acuvue) and product name (i.e. Oasis) is all you will need to complete your order. Prescriptions are held until verified. The verification process can take up to 24 hours and is completed using the doctor's information you provide, the more accurate and complete the information the less time it takes. If you fax or email a copy of your written prescription at the time of your order or we have a valid prescription on file we can ship the order immediately saving the time it takes to verify the prescription. Please see question directly above for fax or email instructions.
6. What are your shipping charges?
We ship First Class US Mail for only $5.49 and USPS Priority Mail for $14.95 tracking and insurance included. Spend $149.95 or more and we will ship your entire continental US order free! Rates are subject to change without notice and charges on the website will take precedence over rates quoted herein.
7. How long does it take to get my contacts after I place my order?
We offer thousands of immediately available in stock contact lenses. If you email or fax a copy of your prescription and order before 2:00 PM EDT the order usually ships within 48 business hours however ALL PRESCRIPTIONS ARE VERIFIED AND CAN NOT LEGALLY SHIP UNTIL VERIFIED. The verification process can take as little as 8 BUSINESS hours and is completed using the doctor's information you provide; the more accurate and complete the information the less time it takes for verification. Due to FTC Regulations orders placed late Friday or over the weekend cannot begin the verification process until Monday and cannot be shipped until Tuesday, 8 business hours after verification begins, at the earliest. Unverifiable orders; those without a doctor's phone number or enough information to locate your doctor's phone number cannot be completed. Please help; doctor's information like "Walmart, Dallas" is not enough information as there are 15 Walmarts in Dallas. If you email or fax a copy of your written prescription at the time of your order or we have a valid prescription on file we can begin the shipping process immediately saving the time it takes to verify the prescription. Our fax number is (619) 996-4321.
Our free shipping is USPS First Class Mail delivery in 2 to 5 business days. Priority Mail delivery is usually 2 or 3 business days. Neither service is guaranteed as to delivery date and depending on several factors including weather, distance, mail volume, etc. shipping may be slightly longer.
It is impossible for any company to stock every one of the millions of prescription permutations for all contact lenses manufactured; the more complicated or unusual the contact lens prescription the more likely it has to be special ordered. As a point of interest the B&L Multifocal Toric contact lens by itself has 264,000 possible combinations! We estimate we ship 75% of our orders immediately upon verification, 75 - 90% take no longer than a week, more complicated prescriptions can take from a week to several. Delivery for Custom and Made to Order (MTO) lenses can take from one to four weeks. Weather is a factor during the winter months, if delivery services can't fly or drive orders may be delayed. Ordering immediately before a Federal holiday like Christmas, July 4th, etc. will delay orders. For non-stock contacts shipping times begin when we receive your contacts. If you give us an active email address when ordering you'll immediately receive an email order confirmation with invoice and will be sent tracking when shipped. If you don't receive a confirmation please remember to check your spam folder. All invoices are emailed, the confirmation has an invoice or you may print an invoice from your account. We are an Internet company and prefer email communications. We respect your time and do our best to answer each email we receive within 24 hours.
8. How do I order lenses?
To order online first find the product and select it. You'll then see drop down menus for each parameter. First select the power or SPH (ex. -2.50), next select the BC (ex. 8.6) and then select the diameter (ex. 14.2). The BC will frequently have only one or two choices; Diameter will almost always have only one choice. Finally select a quantity; select a quantity of 1 either for one lens or one box of lenses (a 6, 30 or 90 pack) depending on how your contact lenses are packaged. Add the lenses to your shopping cart and proceed through the check out steps where you will be able to input your address, payment information, choose shipping and complete your order. If you have any questions or problems at any time while ordering please call and we'll be happy to help you complete the order. Please note: If your prescription says "median" for BC (Base Curve) for 99% of lenses the median BC is 8.5, 8.6 or 8.7. If there are two choices available please DO NOT GUESS, please call.
9. What are Toric lenses and how do I order them?
Toric lenses are for people with an astigmatic eye or eyes. To order online first find the product and select it. You'll then see drop down menus for each parameter. First select a quantity, select 1 either for one lens or one box of lenses (a 6, 10, 30 or 90 pack) depending upon how they are packaged. Next select the power or SPH (ex. -2.50), next select the cylinder or CYL (ex. -1.25), then select the axis or AX (ex. 090 or 90), select the BC (ex. 8.6) finally select the diameter. The BC and Diameter will almost always have only one choice. Add the lenses to your shopping cart and proceed through the check out steps where you will be able to input your address, payment information, choose shipping and complete your order. If you have any questions or problems at any point please call and we'll be happy to help you complete your order. Please note: If your prescription says "median" for BC (Base Curve) for 99% of lenses the median BC is 8.5, 8.6 or 8.7. If there are two choices available please DO NOT GUESS, please call.
10. Do you give free samples of colored or clear contact lenses?
It is illegal for us to offer samples of any contact lenses, only your doctor can provide samples called "trial" lenses usually as part of your contact lens fitting.
11. I'm having a hard time finding my product, which lens should I order?
Unfortunately some contact manufacturers purposely label their lenses under several different names for the large eye care chain stores to confuse customers into thinking the contacts they were prescribed are only available through that chain. It's unfortunate, but not illegal. Coopervision lenses are often sold like this; for instance their Biofinity contact lenses are sold as SIH-48, Aquaclear, Sofmed Breathable XW and Aquatech Plus Premium among others; these are all the same Biofinity 6 Pack. We have tried to list the names of these multi-labeled lenses in our search function, if you can't find them on the site please email and we'll do our best to help. If you order using these private label names we promise to send you only the original brand lenses.
12. Do you ship to countries outside the U.S.?
We accept orders shipping outside the continental U.S. including Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and US territories like Guam, Palau, etc. We continue to ship to APO and FPO addresses by insured US Priority Mail only. We ship to all of Canada as well.
13. May I order my contacts by email or phone?
Certainly! To order contacts by email or phone we need the following information: prescription, name, address, phone number, quantity, credit card number, expiration date, doctor's name and phone number and how you would like your order shipped. We will email you as soon as your order is placed. For security reasons it is unwise to email your credit card number, please call it in. Orders placed online may ship faster then orders placed by phone.
14. My prescription says OD, OS or OU which is my right contact and which is my left contact?
OD is the right contact, OS is the left contact, OU is both contacts. Although from the manufacturers point of view there is no "left" and "right" contact; a contact is made to a particular prescription and can be used in either eye. As long as you order contacts for both eyes it doesn't matter which prescription you put in OD or OS your contacts will still fit. If your contacts do not have an OD or OS designation on your prescription your right contact is usually the one listed first. OU means your prescription is the same for both contacts you wear.
15. What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept both MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards.
16. Are colored contacts made for people who wear bifocals or for people with astigmatism?
Not any longer.
17. Should I order a few pairs of contacts at a time to have in case I lose or damage one and how long will the contacts I order be wearable?
You'll most likely experience loss of or damage to a contact from time to time. It's always a good idea to have a backup set of contacts, especially true if you're going on vacation. Unopened contacts will keep for years so ordering more than one box at a time is a great idea and will save money on postage by not having to reorder as frequently.
18. May I order colored contacts without a prescription?
No, everyone's eyes are a different size and shape so you have to get the proper lens for your eyes. Colored contacts also need to be matched to your eye, skin and hair color, if you don't try the lens first you won't be sure how it will look; colored lenses are relatively expensive and it's better to get it right then to have lenses you can't use.
19. I am considering using contact lenses for the first time. Can I use the new 30-day lenses (24 hours per day for 30 days)?
Only your doctor can tell you which contact is right for you, however unless you have a medical condition which prevents you from wearing this type of lens you should have no trouble. The B&L Purevision 2 and the Alcon Air Optix Night and Day lenses are the only lenses currently approved for 30 day continuous wear. We carry both. Please see question 1 for more info.
20. What is astigmatism?
A visual defect in which the unequal curvature of one or more refractive surfaces of the eye, usually the cornea, which prevents light rays from focusing clearly at one point on the retina resulting in blurred vision. Contacts to correct for astigmatism are called "Toric" lenses.
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