Specsavers-incompetent eye tests have damaged my sight

joanne1984

For the last 4 years I've had my eyes tested by Specsavers (and bought 4 frames&lenses from them!) I wasn't happy with their latest test as it took less than 10 minutes so I made an appointment with a local independent opticians. They were so astounded by the initial results (difference between current prescription and theirs) that they asked me to come again a week later to be retested using special anaesthetic drops which give very detailed and accurate results. I have been partially blind for the last 3 hours until the drops wore off as they paralysed the eye muscles leaving just my eyesight to let me see and needless to say I struggled! It turns out Specsavers have been undercorrecting my eyesight by over two thirds and have ultimately damaged my eyesight (possibly permanently) and given me a permanent eye muscle condition as the muscles have been doing most of the work. I am not at all happy about this and want to know if there is anything that can be done. At the very least I will be making a formal complaint as this should never have been missed. I am quite simply long sighted, nothing fancy but in their mad rush to get customers in and out they havent properly tested my eyes. I also have glaucoma and diabetes on both sides of my immediate family so this should mean that a little extra care is taken to not miss anything. I've just been looking back at previous prescriptions by other opticians from the last decade which my dad had. It is only Specsavers who have made this mistake. Not once but twice.....

What do you think I should do?

dmg24

Can you prove that any of the prescriptions prior to your most recent were incorrect? Eyesight can deteriorate very quickly.

joanne1984

Yes as the prescriptions in the years previous to Specsavers were all in alignment and all a lot stronger. I have only just got them from my dad so I never realised the difference until today. I've only had the last 2 from Specsavers. My longsightedness has now doubled since the last test NOT by Specsavers which was done in 2006. Previous to that the changes were only a quarter or half unit change every 2 years. I'm now up almost 7 units in one eye and 5 in the other. No idea what the measurements mean but I've been on 1.75 and 2.5 with Specsavers.

McKneff

Is your other optician willing to put all these things down on paper and will he make a statement corroborating everything you say. Is what you say provable.

Perhaps Specsavers are correct and your new optician is wrong.

nedmundo

The proof in the pudding will be whether you can tolerate the full correction that todays eye exam produced. I'd hang fire until you have at least established whether the new prescription is better or not.

joanne1984

Three different opticians (two local independent and one chain) all have come up similar, Specsavers is the odd one out.... Plus a 1hr test vs a 7 minute test, which would you have confidence in? I'm going back on Friday to collect the changed lenses. Its going to take a couple of years to sort out as the change is far too big to switch to the proper prescription in one go. I'll ask her what she says about the situation with Specsavers.

Spongbong

I used to work for Specsavers as an 'optical assistant' and while they can be good for making glasses, I always recommend someone gets their eyes tested at an independent opticians. It was common practice in the branch I worked at for eye tests to last less than five minutes. Basically, you get what you pay for.

stugib

Must be branch-by-branch (they are a franchise after all) - my tests there have never been less than about 45 minutes.

bcl999

Spongbong wrote: »

I used to work for Specsavers as an 'optical assistant' and while they can be good for making glasses, I always recommend someone gets their eyes tested at an independent opticians. It was common practice in the branch I worked at for eye tests to last less than five minutes. Basically, you get what you pay for.

What about people in Scotland where eye tests are free? Are you saying they should pay for them to get a decent one?

bitemebankers

joanne1984 wrote: »

What do you think I should do?

Consider a complaint to the General Optical Council, the regulatory body for opticians in the UK. You can download their guide "How to Complain about an Optician" here:

http://www.optical.org/goc/filemanager/root/site_assets/publications/patient_leaflets/how_to_complain/complaints_booklet_final.pdf

jimbms

bcl999 wrote: »

What about people in Scotland where eye tests are free? Are you saying they should pay for them to get a decent one?

I think they meant only in England, you will find in Scotland and the same here in the Isle of Man where eye tests are free that the likes of Specsavers and Boots are competing against private opticians and the types of tests are strictly controlled so you get the same test anywhere. in our case it works out Specsavers etc do offer a better service as they can afford some of the more sophisticated machines to persuade customers to use them and get the extra tests which they are not allowed to charge for. It may be worth noting that of late opticians have been refering a lot more people to hospitals due to various conditions showing up under new tests, so there is a lot to be said for free testing. Anyway after testing you get a slip of paper stating the results and you are then free to shop around if you need glasses. Even with all this I still tend to make sure I use a different optician every time I have a test so as to ensure they are done with impatiality.