D & A opticians - beware

lisa061

I recently went to my local D&A opticians for a sight test and contact lens assesment. I have worn contact lenses for over 15 years, but not during the last 9 months, so that is why I went.

I feel I have been ripped off by them, I have been to several opticians over the years and have gone with their different direct debit schemes and never paid over £15 per month, and that was also in the days before the cheap lenses could be bought on the internet, so I was very surprised when D&A told me their monthlies (same as I usually have) were £25 a month. They tried one eye with a monthly and the other with a 2 weekly lens, both were fine but when they told me the price there was only 10p difference in them so the 2 weeklies would be best to use.

When I questioned them about the price I was told they were the best for my eyes and they would not be happy with me wearing any cheaper ones. I said I usually only paid £15 a month and the optician said they would only be ones to wear for short period of time and not for 7 days a week, yet I have worn lenses with extended wear in the past and always told the optician I wear them virtually full time for 12 hours a day, and still they were a lot cheaper than D&A. Obviously all the opticians I have seen previously were incorrect in their assesment of my eyes, and D&A are right!

I spoke to Specsavers who told me the equivalent lens to the 2 weekly Johnson & Johnson one I was given are £15 a month, and that was their "top of the range" lens, but their lenses start from £8 a month including solutions.

I have no problems with my eyes apart from the fact I am short sighted, so do not feel the need to wear these expensive lenses when other cheaper ones will be just as suitable for my eyes, as they have been in the past.

I was also told by another member of staff there that their daily lenses were chepaer than monthlies which I don't think is correct and that lenses have improved recently and that is why they are more expensive, surely they haven't changed that much over 12 months.

Also the glasses I got from them don't fit properly, despite being adjusted twice, when my last pair from Specsavers fitted perfectly from the first fitting, so at the moment I am feeling very unhappy with their service and have cancelled the direct debit.

I was wondering if other people had bad experiences with D&A

tcr_3

D&A ? Hopeless.

Last time I signed up for their lenses by post scheme, half the lenses didn't arrive or were for the wrong prescription, so I cancelled. But they were offering a £50 cashback after 3 months so I signed up again ... guess what, first lens order was not only for the wrong prescription, but was sent out to my old man's address. Second months lenses didn't arrive, had a 30 mile return trip to the branch to collect. Third set arrived OK.

Cashback cheque ? Applied 1st Dec. Didn't arrive until February, after 5 or 6 phonecalls to chase them up.

Am now using Daysoft daily disposables, £9.98 per month, every bit as good as the ones D&A supplied.

Becles

I'm on monthly Ciba Vision Air Optix lenses with Specsavers for £13 a month including solutions. I know these are one of the more expensive ones, but they were best suited to my eyes than the cheaper ones.

I've got sensitive eyes and I'm on the hydrogen peroxide cleaning system and I love it. You just take your lenses out and put them in the special pot, and fill it with the peroxide. It reacts with a disc in the bottom of the case and the bubbles clean your lenses. After 6 hours the reaction stops and the liquid is just water, so you can put the lenses in straight out of the pot. Much easier than cleaning them with your finger.

ScarletBea

My experience with D&A is with eye tests and glasses and not contact lenses, but I have nothing but good to speak about them.

molerat

I will never go near D&A again. The eye test was very good, everything after was an absolute disaster.

One pair arrived with faulty lense. When they replaced the lense they broke the frame. The first pair needed adjusting and they broke the frame. Received phone call to say replacements were in, went to shop and found they were not in. 2 of the lenses had defects (chips) in the cutting that distorted the vision. After not being able to get on with the glasses I noticed that the arms were fitted at different heights on the rims. Rejected them as not of mercheanteable quality and got a full refund. Went to Specsavers and spent £150 less !!

newleaf

I stopped going to D&A when they refused to tell me my PD. The optician who tested my eyes was great, but the shop staff were another matter entirely. Plus I find D&A ridiculously expensive for (spectacle) lenses.

superscaper

I was put off by D&A after I had an eye test. And then I had another one with a small independent opticians paid for by my employer. I showed my D&A prescription and this other optician told me it was completely wrong. He said they may have just made a mistake with the numbers writing it down on my prescription, which I thought was generous of him but that doesn't really help if I'd gone somewhere to get glasses made to that prescription.

And the optician did prove the D&A prescription was wrong by showing me the lenses of that strength and they were actually far worse than any glasses I already had.

notsayingaword

D&A are useless! I don't have experience of contact lenses with them but when my son was 5 his school nurse advised us to get a sight test done for him. I took him to D&A who said his eyes were fine. I told the school nurse but she wasn't convinced and referred us to the children's eye hospital. It turned out my son was short-sighted. He needed glasses and also had to visit the hospital every few months for a couple of years. Once he no longer had to attend the hospital I arranged a routine eye test for him - again at D&A. The optician said his eyes were fine and he didn't need a new prescription but my son was struggling with his glasses and complained he couldn't see properly. I took him to a different opticians who gave him a new prescription! I'll never go back there as they are absolutely hopeless.

ellay864

I had my first pair of glasses at the age of 42 (3 years ago) from Boots and was fine with them...I'm near sighted but over the next couple of years approaching my next check up I knew that was getting worse so knew I'd need a new prescription. When the time came I had an offer with substantial discount from D&A so went there. Was prescribed varifcoal but never got on with them so got refund and ended up back with another pair of 'standard' lenses just for the near sighted bit. My eyes have got a bit worse the other way but I can cope with that so wasn't bothered by that though I did feel the lenses I got weren't as good as they could be. But the frames were a nightmare. Had to take them to be adjusted within a week, within another fortnight they fell apart with each lens coming out on separate occasions. Took 3 times repairing before they replaced the frames, but even then they have still needed adjusting. I'm back with Boots next time

bargainbetty

I had only one eye test with D&A through work, after which they tol dme that my eyes had deteriorated massively and I needed new glasses urgently. I usually go to Specsavers and get two pairs, but the D&A people basically told me that I shouldn't take my prescription anywhere else, as they wouldn't be as good. Ultimately, I paid for a pair of specs with them. After less than an hour I had a crippling headache and blurred vision. I put my old glasses on, and hey presto - headache goes.

Turned out that the optician had either tested me incorrectly or had just written my script wrongly - they had prepared the lenses with a 1.0 higher level of cprrection in one eye, and 1.25 in the other than was necessary. It took a very public statement of my willingness and intent to remain in the shop and tell every single customer who came in what had happened to get me a full refund, including the cost of the eyetest.

Should've gone to....

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

And they can't spot astigmatism with a signpost on your right cheek saying 'Astigmatism here'. Was a works eyetest so they were compulsory. Told the employer there was nowt wrong with my eyes. Obviously, I then went to my usual optician where I get my glasses from (so fairly clearly, I do have something wrong with my eyes!) and he produced a correct prescription.

And they have told my mother that it is against the law to give her a copy of her prescription. So got her to visit my optician, who gave her everything to enable her to buy online.

Although Specsavers managed to give me 3 different prescriptions in one year (due to problems with specs) and every single one was different!