Contact Lenses Online

There could be a variety of reasons you need to return your lenses, perhaps the ones that arrived were the wrong prescription, perhaps you found them cheaper and ordered elsewhere. Perhaps they're damaged or you've simply changed your mind. All online contact lens retailers we have reviewed will refund you the purchase price of your lenses provided you return them within 30 days.

There are a few other conditions to this and this is the same amongst all online vendors. That is the packages you return must be unopened, undamaged and undefaced. This is so they can send them back to the manufacturer or resell the items themselves. You need to be careful they are not damaged in transit on their way back to the retailer as they won't refund you for these items. Many of the retailers will have you obtain a Returns Merchandise Authorization number (RMA) before they will accept return, this is just a case of emailing their customer service with the problem then they allocate you this number.

If you find a lens damaged in anyway then these can be replaced for you at no charge as long as you keep the lens and the remaining box so they can be sent to the manufacturer for analysis. These they would not refund you but simply replace your lenses. For all returns it's worth noting as well that the retailers will not refund the shipping costs and some will charge a processing fee for actually taking the boxes back from you. Always check their individual terms and conditions to see where you stand in this regard.

There are also some lenses that retailers will not refund you for and they are lenses that are custom made or specially made to order. Toric lenses often fall into this category. With most retailers you are told before you purchase whether a lens is considered a custom made lens and these are the ones that often take longer to ship than most standard lenses.

There is one retailer who offers an additional and very generous returns policy and that is they will exchange your lenses should your prescription change since your purchase. The advantage of this is if you place a very large order you would normally have 30 days to return the product however 1-800 Contacts will replace any lenses with your new prescription no matter how old the box you are changing is. So if you order a 2 year supply and your prescription changes after a year, you can send back the remaining boxes and they will replace them with your new prescription at no cost! For this reason if you are placing a very large order then 1-800 Contacts should be one to consider even if you end up paying slightly more.

As with returning any product to a retailer when you're unhappy for any reason we say always let the retailer know what you want to do and what you want to happen and they should help you out as best they can as problems can occur occasionally.