Let’s say you run a business, and you feel threatened by the possibility of customers gathering information that, ethically, you should be providing them, and going elsewhere to make their purchase. In this situation you have two choices:
- Outright refuse to provide customers with the information they’re asking for, unless they agree to make a purchase through you, despite them having a right to know what it is, in the hopes of deterring them from making a purchase from any other source but yours.
- Resign yourself to the fact that customers have a right to shop wherever they want; but make the best of a crappy situation by charging a reasonable fee for the information requested.
Personally, #2 sounds like the better choice. But when it comes to giving out a specific component of an eyeglass prescription, a lot of opticians and opticians’ offices are going for #1. The component is the Pupillary Distance, or PD, number. This number represents the distance, in millimeters, between your pupils, from the center of one pupil to the center of the other. While it is possible to obtain this measurement on your own, with the use of a friend and a ruler, the numbers can be off. Dan and I found this out when he tried to measure my PD so I could purchase a pair of prescription eyeglasses from Zenni Optical.
Fortunately, my old optometrist, the one I haven’t seen in nearly a decade, was more than happy to provide my PD number. I’m glad he did, because the measurements Dan took were close to ten digits off. What’s ironic is that my current optometrist, the one both my husband and I see, the one that between my husband and I we’ve paid over $800 in eye exams, prescription eyeglasses, and contact lenses during the last two years. Go figure.
My theory is that these optometrists think they’ll “win” if they refuse to give out the information, and require customers to come to them for it — and then only if they make a purchase. Personally, I think that if you have or had an exam done by optometrist, they should be obligated to provide you with the FULL details of your prescription. And if you haven’t, I think optometrists should be willing to do a quick PD measurement and charge maybe $10 or $20 for the service. This way, we the consumers get what we want, and the optometrists aren’t at risk of losing a significant portion of their business.
Whew. With all that said, let me just say that I do really like Zenni Optical. I ordered and received a pair of black & lime green eyeglasses within twelve days, and a pair of burgundy & hot pink with white crystal prescription eyeglasses that I ordered on the 18th are setting to ship today or tomorrow. Whoo! 
My name is Jenn, and I'm a 27 year old married and babied chick. In addition to a husband, a seven year old daughter, and a five year old autistic son, I also have four cats, three hermit crabs, two frogs, a few fish, and one snorty little Pug. I work from home doing a variety of writing and even some web design. I love blogging, digital photography and web design. Kitty.nu has been around for several years. Once upon a time it was home to my personal blog (you can find that over at 
Well, federal law prohibits them from giving out medical information without written consent. So if you called it get it, it’s not THEIR policy that they not give it, they were just doing what the government makes them do. HIPPA laws are pretty strict for your benefit. Anybody could call, claim to be you, and walk away with private medical information.
Although, making you PAY for that information is just shady.
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