Great experience. After having contracted a condition where it's hard for me to be exposed to…read morebright lights (meaning I'll need to constantly wear shades), I went into (almost) every optician in Liverpool to browse for prescription-based sunglasses, and for an overall price comparison; from Blankstone to Boots to Vision-Express to Bennet and Batty's, and then some.
Now all of the opticians just listed and good, I wouldn't discourage going to any of them, however, I just find Millican to be the best, for several reasons:
1. They seem to have the widest range of sunglasses: Specifically Ray-Bans. I can't comment on other glasses they have in stock (though I will say they do seem to have a very large collection overall), but they definitely seem to have the largest collection of sunglasses, especially Ray-Ban's. They're also the only optician's that i've been to that has the Lennon Glasses, the perfectly rounded sunglasses that John Lennon wore.
2. Their prices are relatively cheap: I won't say their the cheapest as I forgot the prices for the other opticians, however, they are relatively cheap in terms of price. I believe of the 5 - 6 opticians I went to, around half of them quoted a price of under £300, the other half £300 - £450. (Note: I also requested the sunglasses to be reflective, and again their prescription based, not to mention Ray-Bans are designer wear, so this adds to the total cost of the sunglasses). So basically, in sum, they won't rip you off.
3. Very friendly and professional staff: There's not a single person there who didn't provide exemplary service. Now I won't slate any of the previously mentioned opticians based on their service, and I generally didn't feel like I wasn't welcomed in any of them. However, the ladies at Millican really do seem to give a damn. They're just on a level of magnitudes more friendly, approachable, and attentive. Again, it's not that other opticians provide bad service, but rather it's that Millican provides great service.
For instance, the ladies didn't actually know about my condition at the very start (as I kept that to myself). There was lots of friendly small talk as I was browsing, and one of them asked me if I was wearing them to go on holiday, to which I replied that I was not, but that I have this condition of mine. At this point she became much more involved, providing feedback such as "This particular shade might look a bit feminine" (they were rosy-gold shades), "This shape might suit you more", and even suggested between two similar looking shades the ones that were bigger, as they block out more sunlight (which would help with my condition). I really appreciated her input, and it's commendable that she was much more involved once she knew the sunglasses was going to be a permanent fixture, rather than a temporary thing.
When I finally picked a pair I like (am very picky), I asked if they could be ordered in various shades so as to try them out. It turned out that the company who issues was about to close on that the same day for 3 weeks, so the lady asked one of her colleagues to try and get in contact whilst we discuss various details, and I must say, they treated it like a military operation. There was no messing around on their behalf, they just did it.
Overall it was an absolute pleasure visiting Millican's, and to rate them anything other than a 5-star service would be an injustice.