Dolland & Aitchson

Becles

Not sure the best place to post this.

I need new glasses as my old ones are dropping to bits. It's 18 months since my last test, and although I don't feel like anything has changed, I thought I'd get my eyes tested just in case.

I had an eye test at D&A which went ok. The optician said my eyes had changed slightly, so there was a change in the prescription.

When I came out the optical assistant had taken the liberty of picking out a few frames she thought might suit me. However they were all designer frames and really expensive, so I had to say I couldn't afford them and ask if they did cheaper frames. She was really rude and snotty with me, so said I would shop elsewhere and left.

Later that day I was in Tesco and heard a tannoy announcement about their optician's offers. I had a look, saw some nice frames that I could afford and ordered them.

I've picked them up today and the lenses are not right. My vision is not as clear with the new glasses as it is with my old ones. I was wearing the new ones when I was working on the PC earlier, but I was getting a headache so had to put the old ones back on.

When I looked at my old and new prescription, the optician increased the strength in my right eye by 0.25 and decreased the left eye by 0.25.

I phoned Tesco who said there is nothing they can do as I didn't get my eyes tested there and they just followed the prescription I supplied.

I phoned D&A who gave me an appointment for Tuesday and will change the prescription if it is wrong, but they said they cannot be responsible for glasses I have bought elsewhere.

Where do I stand now?

Astaroth

I personally did always find that new glasses did take some "getting used to" and initially they did cause a bit of eyestrain etc but that could just be me.

As to where you stand.... I would say that they have provided a professional service to you however the service is reliant on you stating which is clearer etc and therefore there is some element of "tolerance" within the perscription. If they retest your eyes and state that the perscription is correct (within tolerance) then of cause the next thing is to make sure that the glasses that have been made are actually correct.

If they say the perscription was wrong then firstly it will be interesting to hear what their excuse is (and this can be a strong bargaining chip) and secondly should give you recourse on your losses caused by following their professional opinion (ie the cost of getting the lenses in the new glasses altered/ replaced rather than the full cost of the glasses).

You need to read the terms and conditions to see if they try to limit their liability however dont always assume that just because they state they accept no liability doesnt mean that they cannot be held liable.

tiger

hey i had a similar incident few months back,where theoptician fittedmy prescripton theother way round.can go back to tescos and ask them to check they fitted ok. then you can go back to d & a and ask for retest asuming the fitiing was ok. tell d & a thta you werent happy with the presciption am sure they will recheck your eyesfor free.

gregg1

Becles wrote:

Not sure the best place to post this.

I need new glasses as my old ones are dropping to bits. It's 18 months since my last test, and although I don't feel like anything has changed, I thought I'd get my eyes tested just in case.

I had an eye test at D&A which went ok. The optician said my eyes had changed slightly, so there was a change in the prescription.

When I came out the optical assistant had taken the liberty of picking out a few frames she thought might suit me. However they were all designer frames and really expensive, so I had to say I couldn't afford them and ask if they did cheaper frames. She was really rude and snotty with me, so said I would shop elsewhere and left.

Later that day I was in Tesco and heard a tannoy announcement about their optician's offers. I had a look, saw some nice frames that I could afford and ordered them.

I've picked them up today and the lenses are not right. My vision is not as clear with the new glasses as it is with my old ones. I was wearing the new ones when I was working on the PC earlier, but I was getting a headache so had to put the old ones back on.

When I looked at my old and new prescription, the optician increased the strength in my right eye by 0.25 and decreased the left eye by 0.25.

I phoned Tesco who said there is nothing they can do as I didn't get my eyes tested there and they just followed the prescription I supplied.

I phoned D&A who gave me an appointment for Tuesday and will change the prescription if it is wrong, but they said they cannot be responsible for glasses I have bought elsewhere.

Where do I stand now?

I was interested to read your post as I am actually going to D & A this pm to have a re-test as I think they have given me the incorrect prescription in my glasses. This is not the first time this has happened at D & A. I think it is time I changed my optician.

Personally, I think if it is proved that the prescription is wrong then they are responsible for the resulting glasses whether you bought them there or not. It is perfectly reasonable these days to get your prescription and go elsewhere for glasses but at the end of the day it is their responsibility to get the prescription right as that is what you, and whoever makes up your glasses has to rely on. I would take this point up with their head office if the prescription isproved to be wrong.

lisyloo

The first thing you need to do is to find out where the problem lies.
It may be the prescription but it could be an errr in making the glasses.
First thing I would do is go back to Tescos and ask them to check the glasses.
If they say they are right then you need to go back to D&A and ask them to check the prescription.

If D&A are at fault then first try writing to their head office.
If you get no joy then you will need to look at the small claim track in the county court.

As someone else said, just because they say they are not liable doesn't mean they are right.
There are lots of big companies that try to fob people off and it really annoys me.

Start with identifying the problem, but if you need to take it further then check you house and motor insurance to see if you have free legal advice.
I would check the house insurance first but some motor policies give general legal advice and are not restricted to motoring.
This will cost you nothing. You phone them up and a solicitor calls you back within the hour. It does not affect your no claims.

Baby_A

I have done 4 mystery shops for D & A in the space of a month at different branches. The results were:

1. Prescription needed 0.25 for both eyes
2. Prescription needed 1.25 and 0.50
3. Prescription needed 0.50 and 0.75
4. No prescription needed at all!

One of the optometrist assumed (never asked about my lifestyle) that I work 9-6 in a office every day on the computer. He therefore started going on about taking breaks etc whereas I use the Pc a hour at the most a day.

From my previous experience I would never pay to get my eye test done at D&A and prefer Boots anytime. Their tests are alot more detailed and alot more questions asked.

mandyc

It may be that frames themselves need adjusting as this happened to me one. I got new frames with new prescription and within hours felt really sick and headachey but didn't reallise it was the glasses. When the penny finally dropped I returned to the opticians who adjusted the frames and everything was fine.

I would recommend having your eyes tested by a local independant optician. You don't have to get your frames from them. You can either take you prescription elsewhere or, you can buy frames from the internet and take them to the independant to be fitted with lenses.

Becles

Just an update:

D&A checked my eyes again and said the prescription was right. Then they checked the new specs and said the pupil distance is wrong. As my right eye is a lot worse than the left, and the eye is not looking through the centre of the lense, it will give a blured effect as I was getting.

I've been advised to go back to Tesco and ask them to replace the lenses. I couldn't face going today though as I haven't felt well, so I'll go later in the week!

gregg1

following up from my earlier post - I went back to D & A for a re-test as since I got my glasses in Feb I had been back a couple of times cos my vision was not so sharp (I had three pairs, distance, reading and sunglasses at a cost of £600!)and been told on one occasion that the prescription in my glasses matched the prescription on screen (?) so the glasses must be right. Anyway, the result, after insisting on a re-test, is that the prescription was way off, hence my sight not being so good and all three pairs of glasses need to be replaced with the proper prescription.

I will never ever go back to D & A as this is not the first time I have had this problem with them.

To rub salt in the wound, the guy who tested me this time was really snotty, as if they were doing me a favour and kept on and on about me having varifocals (which I don't want). He kept on and on saying that it would solve all my problems. Hello - if they can't get a single vision pair of spectacles right how on earth can I trust em to get a more complicated pair right?

System

I had a horrible experience at D&A too, file a complain with the OCCS! They jsut replied to my complaint today, but they issue the branches with warnings etc. Good consumers revenge.

http://www.opticalcomplaints.co.uk/

alison99_2

candyflossing wrote: »

I had a horrible experience at D&A too, file a complain with the OCCS! They jsut replied to my complaint today, but they issue the branches with warnings etc. Good consumers revenge.

http://www.opticalcomplaints.co.uk/

Do you really have to drag up ALL the old D&A threads to post the same link?