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Hello all, hope everyone is doing well! During these crazy times with COVID-19, many of us are looking for ways to fulfill various services that we would normally go to a physical store to get done. A service that has been disrupted is access to some eyecare services.
With malls across the county closed and many eyewear retailers only offering limited services, what are your options if your glasses broke?
Normally, there are various jewelry stores, watch repair shops, or eyewear retailers that could provide repair services in these situations but since COVID-19 has shuttered most malls and unessential stores in the country it might be hard to get your eyewear repaired if it broke.
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Where to Get Eyeglasses Repaired Online
Luckily, these days you could practically do anything online, and more and more service is now looking to bridge technology and get themselves online to a bigger audience. One such service is the service of eyeglass repair.
Although I think most people that have broken eyeglasses, especially prescription eyeglasses would want their glasses repaired as quickly as possible and not have to wait days or weeks for their glasses to travel through the mail.
Sometimes it might not be possible for you to get to a local repair shop. A great example is the situation that is currently going on in the world with COVID-19, all the shops are closed. Other people might not even have someone locally in their area that provides frame repair services so being able to set it up online and mailing your glasses to have them repaired is great!
So, if you have broken glasses, here are some great options.
Fixmyglasses.com
Out of all of the online repair options I came across, fixmyglasses.com is by far my favorite. Not only are they affordable, but they are also fast, and they back up their work with a 1-year guarantee.
The process is extremely simple. First, you would send in your glasses with the free pre-paid shipping label that is provided, then you could either drop it off to be shipped off or you could have them schedule a pick up from your house for free.
After your glasses are received by fixmyglasses.com, their expert technicians take a look at the glasses and contact you with your options, and what it will end up costing you to repair your glasses and carry out the repairs.
From the moment you confirm your repair, your glasses will be on their way back to you within 24-48 hours. During the entire process, they provide you with real-time tracking to let you know where your glasses are along the way.
fixmyglasses.com can fix the most common repairs such as welding metal frames, fusing plastic frames together, welding titanium or exotic metals, adjustments and overhauls, rivets and bushing, and broken screws.
In the rare situation that fixmyglasses.com isn’t able to repair your glasses, or you decide you don’t want your glasses to be fixed, your glasses will be shipped back to you free of charge.
Americaneyeglassrepair.com
Visit American Eyeglass Repair
Another great option for eyeglass repair is All American Eyeglass Repair. A family-owned business that opened their first repair shop 33 years ago in 1987, today they operate 17 service centers in 7 different states.
If you are near one of their physical locations that are located in Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah or Washington you could just bring you broke frames to one of those locations to get repaired. Sometimes you could get your repairs done within the hour.
If you aren’t near one of their physical locations you could mail in your glasses to get repaired. They have a form that you complete and include with your glasses when you send them in for repair. They have 5 mail-in repair centers located in Arizona, California, Ohio, Utah, and Washington.
They do not provide you with a shipping label for your mail-in but recommend you use Stamps.com or UPS for your shipping needs.
After they receive your glasses and you authorize the work, they will fix your glasses, process or payment and return the eyeglasses to you. Most eyeglasses get mailed back to you the same day that you authorize the work.
Worldoptic.com
Founded in 1972 as a family-owned optical lab running out of a garage making prescription eyewear for private doctor offices. Today they are a premier specialty eyewear shop located in Southern California that could repair modify and create eyewear you won’t find at any other optical shop.
If you are in Southern California you could stop by their shop located in Fullerton, CA, and do a walk-in order. Most repairs are able to be done the same day and no appointment is needed.
Alternatively, if you do not live in Southern California you could do the mail-in service. Getting started with the mail-in service is simple, first, you would fill out the online order form. After you fill the form out, you will need to print out the free shipping label that is provided, package up your orders securely and send it out. You could even have a pick up scheduled free of charge to any valid address.
Once your glasses are received, one of the technicians will assess the damage and email you with all your available options along with the price. Once you decide on your options the repair will usually take 24 to 48 hours and after that, your glasses will be on their way back to you.
Repairs done by World Optic are backed with a 1-year warranty.
Eyeglassrepairusa.com
This award-winning jewelry and glasses repair shop in Yelm, WA was established in 1989 and has been bringing glasses to life since 2002.
Using the same laser welders that they normally use for jewelry to seamlessly repair your glasses producing a weld that is nearly invisible to the naked eye.
The eyeglass repair process is simple and you could get it one in 3 easy steps. First, you would identify the type of repair that you are going to need. They provide photos of various damaged frames and you could select the one closest to what you need to be repaired on your glasses. You then would describe your eyeglass brand and repair location and proceed through checkout. After you do that you will print your checkout form and ship your glasses to them for repair.
After your glasses arrive at the shop they usually take about 1-2 business days to get them repaired and return shipping takes about 1-4 business days depending on where you live.
Framemender.com
Over near the capital of the country, we have another company with 35 years of experience in eyeglass repair. They could serve you at one of their 4 locations in Maryland and Washington D.C. or you could utilize their mail-in service if you are not close by one of their physical locations.
You could utilize the mail-in service in a few easy steps. First, you would request a quote through the form on their website, where you would describe your repair and upload some photos so you could be quoted for your repair accurately.
After you get your quote you would mail your glasses to their repair center in Maryland and pay for your repair through the website based on the quote you were given.
Glasses usually can be repaired within a day after they are received and will be on their way back to you fairly quickly. Framemender offers a lifetime guarantee on the part of the frame that they fix so if the frame breaks again in the same spot for any reason they will fix them again for you at no additional charge.
Repair vs. Buying New Glasses
So, are your glasses worth repairing? Or should you just buy a new set?
Well, I believe that really just depends on the pair of glasses that we are talking about.
If the frames are very expensive and it would be more cost-efficient to repair than purchase a whole new frame then the frame repair might be worth it.
How bad is the damage?
If the glasses just simply broke, the frame didn’t get really bent and the lenses are in fairly good shape then repairing might not be a bad idea. But if your frames are broken in multiple locations and the lenses are damaged you are better off just purchasing new glasses.
Special frame?
Sometimes we have that special one of a kind frame that just simply is not made anymore. Since frames like these are hard to find, this is definitely a time when repairing is really your only option.
One time I accidentally broke a customer’s frame that they brought in that fit into this category. Her grandmother had given her the frames and they truly did feel like they were vintage. So I broke them and luckily in my area, there are people that specialize in eyeglass repair locally so I was able to get it all fixed for the customer but it was a scary incident.
Expensive Lenses?
There are some of us that have stronger prescriptions or those that require their glasses to be able to see far as well as near may have lenses in your broken frames that cost a pretty penny. These types of lenses are not the most affordable to replace so repairing your glasses might be the best option.
On a Budget?
Generally, repairing your glasses will be the least expensive option. Even with all of these new direct to customer optical shops popping up all over the internet, repairing is still a bargain compared to a brand new pair of quality eyeglasses.
This is especially true for anyone who is wearing higher quality lens materials or multifocal lenses which could be in the hundreds of dollars no matter where you purchase them from.
Simple Eyeglass Repairs
At times the temple arm on your glasses could just fall off or the nosepad might fall off, which may seem like an alarming situation but it could be just a simple fix.
Sometimes your glasses didn’t actually break but a screw simply fell out and would need to be replaced. This type of replacement can be done virtually at any optical shop that sells eyewear. Most places carry a variety of different screws and nosepads to do simple replace such as these and many do not charge for these services.
If you don’t live near an optical shop, for simple repairs like these you could do it yourself as well using a simple eyeglass repair kit.
Eyeglass Repair Kit
For those simple repairs where you just simply lost a screw in your temple arm or maybe the nose pad got damaged, you may be able to take care of them yourself using an eyeglass repair kit.
Eyeglass repair kits typically have the screwdriver, spare screws, and the better kits even have a selection of nose pads.
More than likely you won’t be able to find a screw that fits perfectly and most will be longer then you need when you put them in. No need to worry though this is perfectly normal, as a matter of fact nearly all the screws that we opticians work with when we repair your glasses are long. All you need to do is simply use a pair of needle-nose pliers and break off what you don’t need.
What Type of Frames Can Be Repaired?
With the various advances in technology, these days you can practically get any type of frames repaired whether it’s a plastic, metal, titanium, or even the bendable (Flexon, TiFlex, EasyTwist ) metal frames.
The latest technology utilizes laser welding and electro fusing techniques to successfully make repairs for any material. Even plastic frames can be seamlessly repaired but generally just takes a bit longer.
Some repair shops can even lengthen or shorten temple arms if they are too long or too short for you.
Can You Repair Scratches on Eyeglasses?
Generally whenever the lenses on your glasses are damaged there isn’t much you could normally do to fix it. Scratches can not be buffed or polished out of prescription lenses as it would change the prescription of the lenses if you were to remove any layers of the lenses to smooth out the scratches.
For minorly scratches lenses if you have an anti-reflective coating on your lenses you may be able to remove some of the scratches by removing the anti-reflective coating. Your repair technician will let you know if this option is worth it. If you have deep scratches removing the anti-reflective coating wouldn’t do too much.
If your lenses are extremely damaged, the best option would usually be to replace the lenses which could be done by most optical retailers.
A good place you could send your glasses to get new lenses online is through Lensabl.
Final Thoughts
Well if your glasses are broken and you don’t want to leave the house or maybe you aren’t able to leave the house for one reason or the other you now have options to get them repaired right from the comfort of your own home. Fixmyglasses.com is definitely my favorite, but any of the repair shops above are fully capable of repairing your broken eyewear.
Hopefully, you have a spare pair of glasses to use in the meantime. If you don’t have a spare pair of glasses, finding a local repair shop that could get it done while you wait could be a better idea.
I hope everyone is staying safe during these times and thank you for stopping by Eye Health HQ. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or use the contact form. If you loved the article please remember to share it through your favorite social media with the buttons below! Have a great day!
There are two ways to fix broken glasses bridge at home that is fix with glue and paper and fix with sewing. With the first way, this method works if you want an immediate fix to work or study for the next few days with your prescription glasses. With the second way, it will create a much more solid and reliable bond that keeps the glasses usable for a long while.