It has often been said “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. This is generally thought to be true, in that the provider of the repast is usually seeking to recoup his apparent generosity by way of some reimbursement through an order from the customer on whom he has recently bestowed such munificence, or perhaps some future exclusive access to favours which might have been distributed elsewhere.Could this broad principle apply also to free eye tests for glasses which one sees advertised from time to time.

An eye test is currently worth about £20.00. That is in effect a discount from buying your glasses.

Let us suppose, dear reader that, after a difficult and stressful, but of course, not unusual day at work, you are enjoying a relaxing pint at the accustomed hostelry, when a chap approaches you and says “would you like this £20 note”. The chances are that you would shuffle uncomfortably to the other end of the bar! If, on the other hand he said “would you like this £20 note, but there are conditions attached” . The chances then are that you would RUN to the other end of the bar. So why then would anyone wish to give a £20 eye test for nothing. We must hope that his motive is more honourable than that which you may have assigned, rightly or wrongly, to the chap in the pub. Now let’s suppose that having decided which pair of glasses ro buy online, someone calls you and offers you a 20 quid discount code …just before you push the “Buy Glasses Online Now” button. Would you accept ??

Certain members of the public are entitled to a free eye test. This would imply that the optometrist is happy to work for no pay. While acknowledging that there may be some such people around, the writer would be interested to meet (for the first time) any such philanthropic practitioners.

The truth is that any free eye tests under the National Health Service are actually paid for by the government, with you the taxpayer ultimately picking up the bill!

People over sixty, children under sixteen, young people under nineteen in full time education, people in receipt of means-tested benefits and others with certain medical conditions or with family history of some conditions are all entitled to a free eye test.

Quite a long list; for which you are to pick up the tab and not one to be extended, unless of course, you can make out your cogent case for the inclusion of all six foot red haired readers of this column.

Bear in mind that some groups of people (under 16 years old for example) are specifically EXCLUDED from buying glasses online - so check the details first. Of course it is never a bad thing to get your eyes tested regularly even if you have to buy your spectacles in a bricks and mortar operation rather than buying glasses online.

Tags: eye-test, nhs eyetest, spectacles

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Glasses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.