Laser Eye Surgery Cost Cutting Tips

geordie_ben

Total no go for me. Oh well, put the money towards the house deposit instead

Al1x

Optimax either take the deposit off the charge for surgery or refund you if you don't want to go ahead with it.

I think that they charge a deposit so they don't get 'no shows' for consultations

sat384

Hi All,

I'm after some advice please.

I have had a consultation at Optical Express a few weeks ago and will have one at Optimax next Friday. Optical Express have said I am suitable for laser surgery and have quoted me £2300 for the standard treatment, and around £3400 for the top treatment.

Optimax currently have a half price deal on, so they've already told me that they will charge £2400 for their 'top' treament (Intralase...etc).

Now I was thinking that Optimax sounds like the better deal, but I received a call from Optical Express yesterday, which has confused me. It was a courtesy call to find out if I had thought about the surgery anymore; i told them about the deal at Optimax and they told me that their standard treatment was better then Optimax's 'top' intralase treatment, because of the machines they use. Should I worry about this or is it just salesmanship?

Also i've heard that Optical Express' aftercare is much better (ie. should you require a re-treatment)?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

emcwill

sat384 wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm after some advice please.

I have had a consultation at Optical Express a few weeks ago and will have one at Optimax next Friday. Optical Express have said I am suitable for laser surgery and have quoted me £2300 for the standard treatment, and around £3400 for the top treatment.

Optimax currently have a half price deal on, so they've already told me that they will charge £2400 for their 'top' treament (Intralase...etc).

Now I was thinking that Optimax sounds like the better deal, but I received a call from Optical Express yesterday, which has confused me. It was a courtesy call to find out if I had thought about the surgery anymore; i told them about the deal at Optimax and they told me that their standard treatment was better then Optimax's 'top' intralase treatment, because of the machines they use. Should I worry about this or is it just salesmanship?

Also i've heard that Optical Express' aftercare is much better (ie. should you require a re-treatment)?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Optimax guarantee that all aftercare is free forever. I can't quite see how OE's could be any better than that! Optimax also claim that their machines are top of the range. If I were you I would see Optimax and put OE's claims to them directly. This is a competitive market and of course all the suppliers want you to go to them, especially as they get one hit per customer! Once you're done you won't be going back to spend another £2k with them!

I went with Optimax and was very pleased with everything along the way. Perhaps I'd say the same if I went with OE. Who knows as we all only end up having surgery at one place so it's hard to know if it would have been different elsewhere.

Your decision needs to be a balance of cost and how you feel at each place. If you get TERRIBLE service somewhere then it may be worth paying more for good service. If all things seem equal you may want to spend less money. Go for the Optimax consult and see how you feel.

Good luck!

intranix

serenawell wrote: »

Do they still offer 1/2 price deals if you are paying with Tesco Vouchers ??

Thanks in advance

My gf was going to get it done last year, for the "discount" price of £1800 - they wouldnt let her use any other vouchers, only if paying "full" (inflated) price.

purplepiglet

I just wanted to share some advice for anyone thinking of going ahead and having laser eye surgery.

I think one of the key misconceptions surround laser eye surgery is that all clinics are the same and it is only the price that varies. The most important thing when deciding on your clinic should definitely not be just the price – these are your eyes you are dealing with and so extremely important.

There is a lot to take into consideration when getting your eyes lasered, and the first thing to consider is that not all laser eye clinics are the same, the optometrists have varying experience and most importantly the technology that each clinic has available, varies dramatically.
Some clinics will only have the facilities to treat a small prescription, others much larger. For example Accuvision can treat prescriptions ranging from -14 to +8, a massive range – this is due to their Wavelight allegretto laser platform, the most advanced technology available.

The first thing you should expect from your consultation is a thorough examination from a highly experienced optometrist. Once this has been done they should be able to advise you on the best course of treatment for your eyes.
Often surgeries agree to treat people that they shouldn’t because they don’t have the experience or the technology available to do a completely satisfactory job.

My top tips would be to thoroughly research all three areas – diagnostics, consultation and the technology to see which surgery can provide the best in all three. Talk to as many other people that have had the surgery as possible, finally go for a consultation. At the consultation don’t feel pressured to sign up for the surgery, ask as many questions as possible, and if you don’t feel completely confident after this, then look elsewhere.

sat384

emcwill wrote: »

Optimax guarantee that all aftercare is free forever. I can't quite see how OE's could be any better than that! Optimax also claim that their machines are top of the range. If I were you I would see Optimax and put OE's claims to them directly. This is a competitive market and of course all the suppliers want you to go to them, especially as they get one hit per customer! Once you're done you won't be going back to spend another £2k with them!

I went with Optimax and was very pleased with everything along the way. Perhaps I'd say the same if I went with OE. Who knows as we all only end up having surgery at one place so it's hard to know if it would have been different elsewhere.

Your decision needs to be a balance of cost and how you feel at each place. If you get TERRIBLE service somewhere then it may be worth paying more for good service. If all things seem equal you may want to spend less money. Go for the Optimax consult and see how you feel.

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply.

I'm sceptical at the 'lifetime' guarantee to be honest. After reading reviews on the net, it looks as though Optimax dont want to know once they have your money, wheraas OE offer better aftercare.

There's not much point asking them I guess as they'll both promise the world, but its about who delivers. Has anybody had experience of getting aftercare treatment from Optimax?

emcwill

sat384 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

I'm sceptical at the 'lifetime' guarantee to be honest. After reading reviews on the net, it looks as though Optimax dont want to know once they have your money, wheraas OE offer better aftercare.

There's not much point asking them I guess as they'll both promise the world, but its about who delivers. Has anybody had experience of getting aftercare treatment from Optimax?

I can't speak for people a few years down the line who suddenly have problems and need top up or whatever but my visits since treatment for routine checks have always been first class. Last visit I mentioned my eyes were a little painful to open first thing and the optom gave me some eye drop gel to apply last thing at night for free. Frankly I would have paid for it so getting it free was a bonus.

Princess_Jane

Has anyone had treatment done at Ultralase in Newcastle?

I had my consultation today and am booked in for surgery Thurs.

It's cost £4,700 for both eyes as I need the Wavefront etc etc as am nearly -6 in both eyes, have really bad night vision (halos etc) and astimagtism in my left eye.

First tried to get it done five years ago but was told I wasn't suitable and since then I've had lots of eye infections, so many that I was told I might not be able to wear contacts again.

sunnymeadow

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]Hi Princess Jane - just to flag up, £4,700 is quite a lot of money for surgery even with a -6.00 prescription. There are other clinics with more advanced technology who can safely treat up to -14 for less. I had my surgery done at Accuvision and I'm a minus 8. It was much cheaper - around £3000.