- What is Contacts Online?
- How can I order my contact lenses?
- What are the delivery charges?
- What about international shipping?
- Are all lenses available for immediate delivery?
- What is your return policy?
- I'm hesitant to send my credit card info over the Internet. What options do I have?
- How do you keep your prices so low?
- Are there any hidden charges?
- I do not see my lenses in your product list... can I still get them?
- Why should I trust Contacts Online?
- I'd like to try a different brand or colour than the lens I'm wearing now. Is that all right?
- I've never worn contacts and would like to try them. Any problem?
- I just received my spectacle prescription. Can I order contacts from it?
- Can you help me understand my contact lens prescription?
Q. What is Contacts Online?
A. Contacts Online is a great place to order replacement contact lenses over the Internet. Our prices are extremely low and our service is excellent and reliable. We use only new, fresh contact lenses in original manufacturers' vials and packaging. There's no membership fees or any other hidden charges. Try us once and you won't be sorry. In fact like most of our customers, you'll probably tell all your friends about our great service and unbelievable prices.
Click here to read more About Us.
Q. How can I order my contact lenses?
A. Ordering is simple and straightforward. To place an order, you will need to have your contact lens prescription which should include the brand and details of your contact lenses, in addition to the power and other specifics about the lenses, such as base curve (BC), diameter, colour, cylinder or axis. Of course, your credit card number with delivery information is also necessary and your order will be processed by our secure server.
You may order directly from our secure website, at your convenience, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you prefer, all the information requested on the on-line form can be faxed to us at 07 3376 3092. Lastly, our phone number for ordering is 0409 LENSES (That’s 0409 536 737).
Internet orders that are received with all the required contact lens prescription details and credit card approval will be processed the same day. New orders are not processed on public holidays while orders placed on Saturday or Sunday are processed on the following Monday.
Q. What are the delivery charges?
A. The delivery/freight charges as well as our terms and conditions of sale are all listed on our website.
Q. What about international shipping?
A. We also offer International delivery and we deliver by air mail. The delivery/freight charges are all listed on our website.
Q. Are all lenses available for immediate delivery?
A. Most common lenses are in stock and ready for same day shipping. There are some lenses, however, such as specialty, toric, certain coloured lenses and other less common brands or sizes that may require several days to be made if they are not in stock. If this is the case, we will notify you of the situation as soon as we know.
Q. What is your return policy?
A. Contact lenses that are not suitable and in unopened vials may be returned for a full refund. Opened lenses may be returned, within one month of placing the order, only if the lens is thought to be defective. The final decision (re: defective lenses) will be made by the lens manufacturer's laboratory.
Disposable lenses may initially be opened many months after the original order is placed. Because of this, if there is a defect in a disposable lens purchased from Contacts Online, it will be replaced. All lenses replacing a returned defective lens will be delivered at no cost to you.
Send all returns to:
Contact Lenses Online
P O Box 1282
Oxley Qld 4075
AUSTRALIA
Please include a brief note describing the reason for your return.
Q. I'm hesitant to send my credit card info over the Internet. What options do I have?
A. Although some people are still concerned about the safety of the Internet, please feel secure in the fact that all personal and credit card information is handled over our "secure server" when dealing with Contacts Online. This offers "state of the art" technology to protect you from the possibility of "electronic theft". Just think about the times you have given your credit card to the waiter at your local restaurant who then proceeded to disappear from sight to process your payment. How secure is that?
If you prefer not to send your order in over the Internet, there are two other options you have. You could fax your order in to us on 07 3376 3092. You would need to complete all the information requested on the order form on the website in order for the request to be processed. The second option is to call us on 0409 LENSES (That’s 0409 536 737) and ask one of our Contacts Online representatives to process your order for you. Click here to read our Privacy & Security Policy.
Q. How do you keep your prices so low?
A. First, we try to keep Contacts Online primarily an Internet-based facility, rather than a telephone or store front business. This allows for much lower overheads due to decreased staff costs, rent, etc required to process our online orders.
Q. Are there any hidden charges?
A. Absolutely Not. You will only pay for the cost of your lenses and the freight costs. There is no sales tax or GST on prescription contact lenses. And we do not charge any membership fees. The only possibility for additional charges is if you have an unusually large (heavy) order that is being shipped to an international destination. There may be a small additional fee for shipping in that situation.
Q. I do not see my lenses in your product list... can I still get them?
A. Yes, most probably. We just cannot list every type of contact lens ever made. Simply let us know what your current lenses are and 99 out of 100 times we can supply them. Even most of the rare older brands and prescriptions.
Q. Why should I trust Contacts Online?
A. Contacts Online is a group of qualified Optometrists and Contact Lens Practitioners with over 25 years of experience in contact lenses. We have first hand knowledge of the high prices patients pay for their replacement contact lenses when purchasing them from their usual source.
We feel confident that by serving contact lens wearers via the Internet, you can save substantial money and enjoy excellent service while getting the same brand name contact lenses that you currently wear delivered directly to your home or office. We pride ourselves in providing excellent service and patient satisfaction.
Q. I'd like to try a different brand or colour than the lens I'm wearing now. Is that all right?
A. Our service is intended to be a replacement contact lens service. This means that when the lenses you were originally fitted with need to be replaced, either because they tore, were lost, developed deposits or just to replenish a supply of disposable or planned replacement lenses, the same lenses can be ordered from Contacts Online. If your eye doctor or Optometrist recently fitted you for contact lenses, or changed your current prescription, the prescription information should be given to you (legally, it is your property) and new lenses can be ordered with those contact lens specifications.
If you would like to try a different brand of lens, then the decision as to whether the new brand fits your eyes properly is one to be made by your eye doctor or Optometrist.
Also, each lens has important specific fitting parameters besides the power of the lens. These include the diameter of the lens, the curvature of the lens and other details. Not every lens is made in the same parameters as the ones that you wear.
If you wear a certain brand of lens that comes in various colours, it is no problem to keep the exact same lens and change only the colour.
Q. I've never worn contacts and would like to try them. Any problem?
A. If you have never been fitted for contact lenses, we cannot supply you with them. Contacts need to fit your eyes comfortably and properly to ensure good vision and ocular health. This can only be done by your eye care professional.
In addition, you must be trained in the insertion and removal of contacts before using them. Although it is very rare, serious complications can arise from wearing poorly fitting lenses or from not knowing the proper ways to care for your lenses.
Q. I just received my spectacle prescription. Can I order contacts from it?
A. Unfortunately not. Your spectacle prescription only has the power component of the prescription. The proper fitting of contact lenses involves taking certain measurements of the eyes and examining the eyes with the lenses on. This allows your eye-care professional to specify the proper base curve (BC), lens material and diameter, which are all necessary for a healthy and comfortably fitting lens. This information is not present on a spectacle prescription.
Q. Can you help me understand my contact lens prescription?
A. The prescription for your contact lenses will generally have a minimum of three items: The power, the base curve(BC) and the lens diameter.
Typically, the power is a number that starts with a + or - (plus or minus). For example, +2.50, -1.75, etc. This is to correct the nearsightedness or farsightedness of an eye. The Base Curve (BC) is a measure of the curvature of the contact lens. This helps it fit your cornea more comfortably since some corneas are "steeper" or "flatter" than others. A typical BC is 8.3, 8.6 or 9.0. The lens diameter is a measure of the size of the lens and typically is in the range of 13 to 15mm for most soft lenses.
The right eye may sometimes be abbreviated as OD, the left eye as OS and both eyes as OU.
A more complicated contact lens prescription may include correction for astigmatism and is known as a toric lens. Astigmatism is often due to an irregular shape of the cornea. It isn't equally round, but rather is oval, like an egg or football. The toric lens has two other important values - the cylinder power which is a number value with a minus sign before it, such as -2.50 or -0.75. In addition, this value has an axis, which is a number between 0 and 180.
A typical toric contact lens prescription might look like this: -1.50 / -1.75 x 180, where -1.50 is the power (the first value is always the power), -1.75 is the cylinder and 180 is the axis.
Bifocal/Progressive contact lenses are also available for those people who need a little help with seeing up close and fine print. This extra reading power is called the "addition" because it is a power that is added to the distance prescription. The addition is always a + power and can be used even if the distance prescription is zero.
Click here to ask any other questions you may have about your contact lens prescription.
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