carrust, I've posted this on other threads in the past - my varifocals are fabulous and I don't know I'm wearing them. You need to make sure that your optician tailors the layout of the various "stripes" of different focuses to YOU, and what you want to use them for, and doesn't fob you off with a "one size fits all" layout. I had four pairs of lenses from my optician before they got the dimensions exactly right - now I can't do without them, they're brilliant.
boxy; You say had 4 pair of lenses before they were satisfactory. Did you complain about the first 3 and if so after how long? How did you ascertain they were not right for you?
In response to post asking what I meant by "up-grading" varifocal lenses - when e.g. Specsavers has a deal on which includes "standard" varifocal lenses, they always try to tell you that if you pay extra for better quality lenses, you'll see better - I can always see well with the standard varifocals and believe me I'm blind as a bat without them!
I stuck with them for about 3wks, but in the end I went back to Boots & found that I've been given the wrong prescription.....no wonder I was suffering from eye-stain & dizzyness. I did try driving in them for about 10secs: now that was scary :-@