Online Optician Mark Bowden Responds to Allegations of High Street Opticians Profiteering
Online optician Mark Bowden B.Sc.(HONS) M.B.C.O.O from www.spex4less.com who also operates two high street optical practices in the Bolton area defends the Profession (with reference to the Daily Mail article on page 29, 13th Jan - Daily mirror page 27 13th Jan).
(PRWEB) January 15, 2005 -- 1,000% profit on the supply of prescription
glasses (Daily Mail) is a completely false allegation.
Claiming that
high street opticians are “rip offs” (Daily Mirror) is ludicrous.
Mark
Bowden who has followed in both his father’s and grand father’s footsteps as an
optician and runs two highly successful opticians in Bolton Lancashire,
providing a personal quality service to its patients for many years.
High street practice overheads include fully qualified Ophthalmic
Optician, Dispensing Optician and ancillary staff all with many years of
professional training and experience behind them. Along with expensive optical
equipment and one to one time spent with a patient the average cost of an eye
examination simply doesn’t cover the outlay, in-fact many local opticians who
provide a personal service struggle to make ends meet.
Mark Bowden
realizes that many of the public want to buy their prescription spectacles
online, without the full practice service. Consequently he set up the web site
www.spex4less.com, the fist
of its kind as it is run by a fully qualified ophthalmic optician, where people
can buy professionally glazed spectacles complete from just 20 pounds.
Because companies such spex4less.com can provide prescription glasses
over the internet at these prices does not mean the high street opticians are
“rip off’s” (Daily Mail) they are simply selling their glasses at a higher price
to cover the expensive equipment professional service that you receive when you
visit the opticians.
In time as the internet grows and more people turn
to it for their prescription glasses the cost of glasses in the high street will
reduce to be able to compete with internet prices and the cost of an eye
examination will increase to cover the costs of fully qualified staff and
professional equipment.
Being able to buy cheap glasses online is only
possible if you have an optician to first examine your eyes. Unfortunately, due
to the internet companies online at the moment many opticians will simply not
survive this transitional period. To call them rip offs and profiteer’s is
simply not fair.
M Bowden
B.Sc. (HONS) M.B.C.O.O
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb197295.htm