… they came to me! You’ve probably seen the adverts for Specsavers home visit service. As it’s a lot more convenient for me than going out to an optician, I thought I would give it a go.

I filled out a form on the Specsavers website requesting an eye test and they rang back pretty promptly, the next day I think. They checked my details with me and gave me an appointment for later in January. Then a few days later they phoned to say they had had a cancellation nearby and they could come out that afternoon.

First the optometrist arrived and did some tests including a variation on the ‘puff of air’ test to check pressure and the usual reading lines of letters and seeing if your sight was better with one lens or another.

I can’t remember the official title for the other person who arrived to measure me and help me select frames. They had a pretty good selection although I wasn’t particularly keen on any of them. I chose some that were OK and she said the best thing would be to look at their website which shows their whole range and choose several pairs which could then be brought to me to try on.

On the site they have a cunning device where if you have a camera on your computer, it can take a photograph of your face then you can virtually try on different glasses. I only found one pair that I liked so we rang up and ordered those.

A few days later, Specsavers rang to say they could bring the glasses to me so I could try them on for real. Fortunately, they brought their whole case load of glasses because the ones I had chosen on line didn’t suit me at all! I tried several pairs until I found some that suited me and she printed out the order again and took my payment.

They said it would take a couple of weeks to get the glasses ready and they rang back two weeks later to say they could bring them out to me for fitting that afternoon. They then called again to say they would be with me in about ten minutes. After a quick check to see that they fitted all right and a slight adjustment, I was practising looking at things with my first pair of varifocals! They said they might take some getting used to but if I change my mind within one hundred days, I can get a full refund. I seem to be getting along with them just fine!

I definitely recommend this service if getting to an optician is difficult for you. The staff members were really pleasant, efficient and friendly and the service was prompt and well-organised.