Laser Eye Surgery Cost Cutting Tips

deefadog

Hi,

Has any one had any luck getting discount from Optical Express if you agree for 2 of you to have the treatment? Myself and my wife are thinking of getting this done together (or as close as possible).

Thanks

kelly41982

I have a consultation next week with optical express.
My prescription is -4.75 and i have astigmatism in one eye and im also long sighted...iv been told by a few ppl to expect the costs to be around £6000+ for both eyes and i know there is no way at all i can afford it....

Is there anyone with a similar prescription ect that has had it done that could share there costs as im sure it cant really be sooo expensive??
Also haggling, is it really that sucsessful??

ForeverMore

I had LASIK with Wavefront a few days ago, at Optimax in Southampton. I negotiated a price of £1995 - they had originally quoted £3200. I would not have gone for it based on the price only though - the surgeon was recommended by my optician and has done over 25 thousand procedures.

I can see beautifully now. I have been slightly nauseous and dizzy at times, which I put down to my brain adjusting to the new vision. Hopefully it will soon pass. It's early days, but so far I am really pleased with the result!

My prescription was minus 4 in one eye, minus three point five in the other. I have astigmatism in both eyes. I am 46, and I know I might need reading glasses in the future (almost certainly will) but that's fine.

hpifever

Anyone else had the £1995 price from Optimax?

JayneRosser

Hi All, .....I'm looking to get eye laser surgery in the Cardiff area. Any recommendations would be really greatful. Thank you.

Stonedofmoo

Hi guys

So I visited Optical Express in Southampton and got a consultation for laser surgery.
My contact lens prescription is PWR -4.25, CYL -1.75 and Axis 180 so nothing out of the ordinary and obviously I have astigmatism in both eyes.

I was impressed with the staff, especially the lady who I won't name but she was very enthusiastic and claimed to have had the surgery herself and it was life changing etc. I liked her attitude when I mentioned I would visit Optimax. she didn't attempt a hard sell or try and talk me out of it, she agreed it's worth looking at all options, but did point out OE's own success rate and the fact they believe they have the best equipment on the market with iScan/iDesign.

Because my pupils measure 7mm dilated they recommended their best (read: expensive) treatment at quoted £2395 per eye so basically £4800 for the pair :rotfl:. I am assuming that includes VAT, because if it doesn't it's frankly taking the mickey. It was explained it was this expensive because of the complexity of my prescription.

So this quote is clearly very expensive compared to what others are listing. I'm in no rush to get this done and at that price I don't think I would get it done at all. For me laser surgery in the UK is worth £2000-2500 and no more.

Others in this thread recommended going abroad to have surgery done so I've looked at Turkey. I've spoken to an eye hospital over there and an agency that take care of everything for you except your flights and they only charge €1100 for the best treatment which is what, £850?

Such a massive difference in price. Optical Express warned me against going abroad saying about complications and if it went wrong... also the logistics of going back which is logical and sensible; but they also said that only a handful of surgeons in the UK would touch me if I had surgery outside the country (I've not idea why that would be, surely UK surgeons aren't racist against their foreign counterparts ). I also question if that is indeed true, surely people who have had surgery outside the UK have been able to see someone in the UK to confirm their recovery has gone well.

I've got a second appointment at Optimax on Saturday so I will see what they do in comparison and how their pitch compares. Also the price will be interesting.

Finally Optegra is in the area. They price match but I don't know if they would negotiate on price.

If anyone who has been through this recently has tips or suggestions on securing the best value either domestic or abroad I'd be interested to hear your thoughts

I'll repost after speaking with Optimax.

Chris

Rian

I live by Southampton and have requested a brochure from optical express and ultralase. Optical express seem desperate to get me in 5 calls and 2 brochures they sent so far. Ultralase have only called once. I want to go and get a consultation but need to find time to do so. Let me know how optimax goes.

Stonedofmoo

Rian wrote: »

I live by Southampton and have requested a brochure from optical express and ultralase. Optical express seem desperate to get me in 5 calls and 2 brochures they sent so far. Ultralase have only called once. I want to go and get a consultation but need to find time to do so. Let me know how optimax goes.

Worth you knowing that Ultralase and Optimax and now one and the same company. I believe Optimax bought them out a year or two back.

OE called me yesterday and said they would call back after my Optimax appointment on saturday. I'll update after that.

Rian

Stonedofmoo wrote: »

Worth you knowing that Ultralase and Optimax and now one and the same company. I believe Optimax bought them out a year or two back.

OE called me yesterday and said they would call back after my Optimax appointment on saturday. I'll update after that.

Thanks Chris. I booked an appointment at OE for Saturday and Im going to ask ultralase for an appointment next week too most likely.

I was thinking of getting a post office credit card as they have 24 months 0% purchase rate to pay for it. That way I can lessen the burden of parting with my savings.

Will post back here after my appointment Saturday.

Rian

I spoke to someone I work with who had their eyes done at the OE in Southampton 4 weeks ago. He told me they quoted him 4400 for both eyes as his pupils were so big. said it was too much and then they dropped it to £3500 by saying they can give some historic deal but he said he would think about it. A few days after head office called him and offered 24 months interest free finance but he said he wasn't interested as he had cash up front, they then offered him the surgury for £2995 which he accepted.

He told me the procedure its self is Horrendous but he would do it again if he had to. He described the procedure saying they put immense pressure on your eyes to start with. After this you want to close your eyes but they are clamped open, next a laser comes over and it looks like the surgeon is flicking something over. There's a smell of burning and afterward he said his eyes were streaming (quite literally fried your eyes). He said he went home to sleep and the next day he could see perfectly and went back to work. He said he still gets dry eyes now but he has some drops to put in.

Thought I'd share this as the price will magically come down for you Chris. Will update tomorrow again, looking forward to your review of optimax .