rocwilder35;
Jubilee, a member here posted the message I'll paste below that answers why we don't answer consumers here. It's the best expaination I've seen........
You are more than welcome to use the search feature to find times when we have discusses this topic and many more. There was a time when we considered actually hosting a forum to answer consumer questions but there were a few issues..
1) There was a lot of debate about what people termed the "best." Value? Function? Technology? not to even mention the branding that goes and people's favorites to both love and hate. Just look at some of our current threads on aspheric lenses and when/where they should be used, or the use of free form technology in any type of lens.
2) Most questions really can't be answered in the specifics that consumers want simply cause we don't have you, your prescription, and glasses in front of us. Sure we can speculate, we might be able to even think we are 99% certain in our thoughts.. it still can't be verified unless we have those three things in front of us. Even then, sometimes we might need additional information like best corrected acuity, and comparison to old. With literally thousands of progressive lens designs, hundreds of polarized lens choices, at least 6 frequently used materials.. and that isn't even counting the patient's posture, head positioning, pd, frame, tilt, wrap, and one can easily see why one on one personalized service is the best form of service. The last thing any provider of a good or service want is to have a customer come in with misinformation and preconceived notions of what needs to be done.
As one of our members stated.. she had been having back pain for several days. Thought she might have pulled a muscle, then when it settled in a certain area was certain she had a kidney infection. Turns out, she had neither.. she had shingles. Sometimes being able to look and touch make all the difference in a diagnosis.
3) We were still debating on whether to proceed with a limited consumer forum when some people decided to become belligerent and started to harass people that are a part of this community and our founder. Having limitations but still trying to answer general questions ended up bringing use more grief than a flat out, no consumer posting on optical topics policy. Your attitude unfortunately does not help support reversing that decision. It instead drives the argument to keep the current one. Particularly with the numerous online optical sites that have popped up, why should we give away our advice and tips/tricks to make our competition money.
I originally supported a consumer forum, however with all the places advocating getting our services for free to make purchases elsewhere, I can no longer in good conscious do so. Not only does it not support what I feel is the best form of service through working with a face you can trust, but honestly it does not allow me to help support my family and make a decent wage for the years of education and experience I have put into this field. I am proud to be an optician and not just an order taker. However I would like a bit of respect and compensation for the additional value and service I provide.
I'll add to the above, that if you have general questions about optical theory, Wikipedia is your friend. You will get up front, researched answers from that site.
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