Opticians booked me in for eye test recheck appointment, then told me appointment not on system and refused restest because I asked for refund on glasses!!

[linzie]

I went for an eye test, was told distance and near is weak and glasses required. I was never told I didn't need to buy seperate pairs for distance and another pair for near. I only found out about Varifoculs after I paid for distance and near glasses.

he glasses I was given had a problem...when I walked on any kind of stairs/steps and looked down they appeared to be floating in the air and it was difficult walking on steps or stairs.

I went back to the opticians and told them this and asked for a refund. A member of staff told me he would book me in for a recheck, to figure out why the problems with stairs/steps appearing to be floating when I wore the glasses. The refund was actioned and I received a text message about my next appointment which was the recheck eye test.

On the day of the appointment I arrived and was told my appointment did not exist on their system. The person that actioned my refund supposedly did not put me on the diary booking system. I was told the opticians had phoned me and sent me a message. I replied they was no call or text received from the opticians.

The lady that dealt with me was going through the notes the person who actioned the refund put on the system the week before and I think I caught a glimpse of the word 'recheck' BUT the lady was just staring and scrolling up/down on the screen.

I explained I took the day off work to be told my appointment did not exist which was inconvenience and stressful, with also being told I had to now pay another £25 for an eye test!

I asked for the complaints procedure to be told to send an email to their customer care team?

Where do I stand with this?

[Homer67]

I would go somewhere else for a new eye test, not on the High Street, private patient at Moorfields in your area would be best.

If you paid by Credit Card go back to the Opticians, complain and say you want a refund (do that anyway) if they refuse you can open a dispute with your CC provider for a chargeback.

[Stay calm. Drink Tea.]

Hello.

Came on the forum for something completly unconnected but this popped up on my search.

My partner who is sitting next to me happens to run a successful independant independant opticians in the Barnham area that is just about to open a second branch and I showed her this post.

So just a couple of general points she made.

1. It sounds like you have gone to a large chain that often says something like "should've gone to s#######s". Dont go there. She gets a never ending stream of discgruntled and badly served customers from high street chains, as do most other small indipendants. Almost invariably, you will get better service and better aftercare from small independants. Sometimes this does mean more expensive than the large high street chain due to the bulk buying power they have and the cheaper lower quality lenses they tend to use. But hey, you only have one pair of eyes. Look after them...

2. It sounds like you were badly advised by the dispensing optician. All her customers are advised of all options and the pros and cons explained. But please be aware, not everyone can wear varifocals, some people just dont get on with them and cant wear them. From a cost point of view, they can be more expensive than seperate distance and reading glasses. They are not a magic wand alternative, you might not get on with them.

3. The issue with the 'floaty' feeling when looking down isnt unusual, and can sometimes be resolved by a simple re fitting and adjustment by the dispensing optician (which would be the first option), you may have had the glasses measured incorrectly by a poorly trained dispenser, so that would need to be checked and you might need the lenses re measured and replaced, or you may need lenses with a different base curve (which would be a later option). None of these options should result in any additional financial cost for you.

4. There should be no reason for you to have a retest. The test will have been done by a certified optometrist and it should be roughly in line with all your previous prescriptions. If there was an alarming difference to previous prescriptions or eye history, that may be a red flag that needs looking into further.

5. IF there was any legitimate rerason for you to require a retest, there should be no cost to you for this.

6. In an independant shop the complaints dept is more often than not the dispensing optician you are speaking to. Future custom depends on current face to face customer service not a tv advert.

 

Hopefully some of those points may help you with your next optician.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Stay calm. Drink Tea.