AC Lens is an Ohio based online retailer of contact lenses and other eye wear. The company has been trading since 1995. There's a fairly broad range of eye wear and accessories, and the choice is extensive. As we explain further into our AC Lens review, the company focuses on deep discounts and subscriptions and handles both very well. The site offers limited free shipping, free returns and a range of offers, and carries many of the best contact lenses online.
AC Lens is a well-established discount seller of contacts from a broad range of manufacturers. The prices are excellent, and we couldn’t find much lower. It also offers a small range of the best eyeglasses online from a variety of designers as well as unbranded frames. The website Is plain and clear and easy to navigate. Shipping is free for orders over $99, as well as all subscriptions.
AC Lens offers an additional range of eye care accessories, including cosmetics, cases and goggles. The team will contact your optometrist for your prescription, but you’re responsible for keeping it up to date and valid.
AC Lens review: Price and offers
The prices are most definitely low. All the lenses we checked were at or very close to the lowest price point around, and with subscriptions and free shipping (subs are a straight 10% off after your first order) you couldn’t do much better for price. As we explain in our Discount Contact Lenses review, even that brand struggles to match the prices at AC Lens.
It has a complete range of lenses from all the manufacturers you’ll be looking for, including some more complicated orders like progressives that will need to be made to order. These are more expensive, obviously, but still competitive when lined up against other sites’ offerings.
There are always a good handful of coupons and offers online for AC Lens, and they’re not signposted well on the site. It’s worth noting there is a standing 10% discount for veterans, though it’s not well advertised. For a site with clearer pricing and discount schemes, read our Contacts Direct review.
AC Lens does accept FSA and HSA cards for prescription lenses (not colors and cosmetics though) and it accepts PayPal as a nod to convenience. It doesn’t deal with insurance, but will provide you with the receipts you’ll need to claim money back from your insurer. If you use one of the best vision insurance companies for your contacts, and would rather not deal with them direct, we suggest going for someone like 1800 Contacts, who can do the work for you.
AC Lens review: Features and website
Other sites have options to help you with keeping your optical prescription up-to-date, but AC Lens leaves you to it. It will contact your optometrist and check your prescription, but staying on top of vision checks will mean a trip to the doctor’s office and an afternoon staring at charts. Not the end of the world, but one little inconvenience that could have been avoided.
The customer service department isn’t AC Lens’s first selling point, but there is a toll-free number for you to call should anything need clearing up. There is also a live web chat button on the site if that suits you better. If you want to go into an actual store for your contacts, or to set up an eye exam, you should try Lenscrafters.
There are free, no-questions-asked returns on contacts, whether you have issues or you’ve just changed your mind. You can exchange glasses if your prescription changes but only for 30 days after purchase. But the free shipping policy isn’t the most generous, only kicking in at $99 or whenever you begin a subscription.
AC Lens’s biggest extra is the range of accessories and other eye care products it has available from its site. Everything eye related is here, from cosmetics and cosmetic friendly gadgets, to solutions and cleaners, cases and applicators.
There’s even a good range of sports, ski and swimming goggles, as well as protective eye wear for kids and adults. A much broader range than is generally available, and a very welcome addition, although for even bigger choice read our GlassesUSA review.
Should you buy from AC Lens?
AC Lens lets its prices do the talking, and very impressive they are too. The site is unencumbered by tricks or gadgets and the subscription model is simple and provides yet deeper discounts.
There aren’t many concessions to quality of life, and beyond phoning your doctor, it won’t help with renewing your vision prescription, and doesn’t deal with insurers direct. But it does take FSA and HAS cards, and accepts PayPal.
AC Lens is reliable, has a good reputation and ships quickly. If you can cope with a big website that offers minimal hand-holding, you’ll get the benefit of a really good deal.
