Specsavers - do they have a complaint department and head office?

newleaf

I used Specsavers (Halifax) for the first and last time this year. The service was worse than useless.

lishalinski

in March this year I went to specsavers. I had my eye test as per usual, my prescription had changed so I ordered new lenses for my glasses. When they arrived I took my glasses to have them fitted and they were duly returned.

Since then I have had 2 mysterious messages on my phone about how my lenses were still awaiting me in the store, could I bring in my frames to have them fitted. The first time I ignored it, assuming it was an error. Then there was a second one. So a couple of weeks ago, I went specifically into the store (Dalston Kingland shopping centre, Hackney, London E8) to investigate this. Despite an apparently thorough 15 minute investigation by the assistant, who searched the drawers and even went downstairs to the lab, no-one had any idea what I was talking about. I came home wondering what on earth was going on, but assuming that was the end of it.

Imagine my fury when today I got another call from this mysterious lab-person, Wilder, who again informs me that my lenses are ready for collection. This time I answered the call so was able to get more detail. It does appear that my new lenses still reside at the store. Despite my attempts to find them, they are still there. Plus I have been driving around with my old prescription lenses since MARCH. And Wilder mentioned that this is not the first time this has happened.

I asked to speak to the store manager, but was told he was "in a meeting" - not a serious enough meeting to not give me, via Wilder, further instructions about coming in and who to ask for, so I assume the "meeting" was merely invented so he wouldn't have to talk to me directly.

So, the question is what exactly I've paid for, and how common is this practice of simply not replacing people's lenses when they come in - perhaps the lenses were not ready on time so rather than admit, take their glasses off them, make them wait a bit then give them the exact same pair back, they'll never notice. It's quite outrageous, not to say downright dangerous.

Nevergo2_Specsavers

After 6 years of being with specsavers having no issue with the lenses, I made the mistake "as they said" to change address and move to another location and move my details to another branch. What a big mistake, for three months they made my life hell. I had two lenses trials and saw three different opticians that had three different opinions and never remembered what lenses I had. They swapped my name with my surname. They hanged up the phone to me twice! Stay away from the Reading branch!! I never experienced in my whole life such a bad treatment.

F_T_Buyer

I have bad astigmatism, and made Specsavers remake my glasses three times before they were right. Firstly the chap said I need to get used to them, but they were way out I couldn't see a thing. Still, corrected in the end - but I have this problem with every opticians I go to.

forgotmyname

Well at least you actually got some service, I made an appointment my my in laws.

I specifically asked did they have plenty of room because she was in a wheelchair. I was assured
there would be no problem with wheelchair access. The rooms were spacious enough for a chair
and no problems with access.

Up bright and early to make sure we could park close to the store. Parking limited to 1 hour. Thought
risky but i could always move it if needed.

No great rush to open the store despite it being after opening time and me hovvering around the door.

FIL so impatient after 5 minutes he says lets go somewhere else. I said you need to make an appointment
for most places and need to find somewhere with the space.

I use the ASDA service, No problems for us, But the rooms are too small for a wheelchair.

Anyway, They opened and we got the MIL into the chair and wheeled her in. Told them we had an appointment
and got a strange look.

The rooms were downstairs in the basement. STAIRS...only...

Specsavers_company_representative

Hi Nevergo2 Specsavers

We're sorry to see you've had some troubles recently. I'd like to look into this for you. Please send a PM to http://www.facebook.com/RachelatSpecsavers via Facebook with your full name, date of birth and the store visited (Reading branch).

Once we have this information we'll be able to pass on to the relevant team who can contact the store.

dave_d2

i have posted this in another thread i am not trying to spam but this thread seems more relevant.
my apologies to mods.

i went into specsavers last week to see what the deals were.
(im currently off work with a broken leg but receiving income support.)
i was told that with the full voucher i could get either one £25 or £45 pair for free or 2 x £69 pairs and pay £10 or 2 x £85 and pay £25.
this follows suit with there bogof deal.
i booked a test for today and got the voucher only then to be told "oh no sir £10 or £25 respectively as i was told but this is per pair".
it was suggested i just opt for the free ones at £25 or £45.
basically i told where he could wedge his glasses.
i believe this was a deliberate sales scam and whatever i need now wont be coming from specsavers.

dave

beckochka

I wear monthly contacts and switched in June last year from Vision Express to Specsavers in Muswell Hill. Big mistake. Catalogue of disasters as follows:
3 set of contacts sent to my home were the wrong prescription - apparently 'on the system' someone had set a - to a + so I couldn't see out of them. When I reported this, they cancelled my order 'on the system' instead of changing it and I didn't receive anything at all for some time. Went for a check and a moan (they ordered some for me to wear in store for the check) - turned up and they hadn't arrived in store - I got asked if I had ordered them myself. Aagghh. Optician took some persuading that my prescription had been wrong and only admitted when she checked the lenses on my glasses. Re-ordered a new set in the branch, they arrived in the branch too late so I asked them to be sent to my home (I don't live near the branch) - no sign four weeks later, called today, they are still sitting in the branch. I have been paying for this appalling service since June last year and in that time have only received one set of lenses which I could actually wear. Have demanded a refund of 6 months money. Staff don't know what is going on. Have never known such bad customer service.

baldmosher

quayzero wrote: »

I'm not surprised by all these complaints about specsavers. According to the Times Rich List the owner of Specsavers Dame Mary Perkins is a billionaire. You must *be good in business* to make a billion pounds. Presumably *random guesswork* but for the life of me I cant see why *so why presume*. The frames they sell for children *are not all made in China, where everything costs a few pence to make anyway* and they charge the NHS £36 for them *including the lenses*. Their *dispensing* opticians are *employed to sell glasses to people*. They call it the Conversion Rate that is the percentage of people through their door that they sell glasses to *just as every other business monitors sales percentages*. When I was there the optician had left her computer on and *handily this means I can pretend to have illegally spied on private information to invent a good story*. So if youre at Specsavers and the *dispensing* optician says you need new glasses I would check whether you really do *by having a look at your prescription and seeing if it's different from your current one, or by going to another optometrist who will give you the exact same prescription for £20 more*.

I call shenanigans on every single part of this post. The only bit with any substance whatsoever is you quoting the wealth of the owner of a very profitable multinational company. Are you surprised? I'd be more worried if they couldn't make a decent profit, given that they are a retail business.

From the company website: "For the past nine years it has been voted Britain's most-trusted brand of opticians by Reader's Digest." That accolade, along with their staff's individual professional accreditations, are not meaningless. Their shop staff might be clueless, overbearing, rude, dismissive, and pushy, but their optometrists are certainly qualified.

Anyway, rant over, here's my own complaint:

EDIT: complaint fully resolved, and then some.... see later post

Paid £170 for rimless carbonate specs with a free pair. Why not splash out on a nice pair, I thought - I don't play football any more so they should last me a fair while and I can get repairs done easily.

Skip forward two years and the nose pad arm snaps off the bridge. Should be repairable, so I take it in and they quote me £20 and 7 days. Fantastic, I think.

Skip forward two weeks (over Easter) and I'm passing the store, so I pop in to ask if they've come in yet, surprisingly there they are! (No attempt to contact me.) However, they're not fixed! Dispensing optician reads the note and says they don't stock spares, so I'd need to buy an entirely new frame. They don't stock spares for a £170 pair of glasses that they are still selling them today??! What a swizz.

Can you imagine Kwik Fit trying this on? "Sorry mate, flat tyre, we don't do repairs, and no spares in stock, so you'll need a new axle and two wheels."

To be fair though, that situation is not the store's fault, so I ask them, how much to replace the frame? "£170." So for the price I paid for the frames, lenses, and an entire spare pair also worth £120, I can get my bridge fixed? What a swizz.

At the moment, they're losing a valuable customer. I stopped using Specsavers in 1999 because Optical Express were a bit cheaper and just as good with similar style lenses. I switched back last time simply because OE contact lens test is extortionate and Specsavers had also great value offers on frames. I got my eyes tested at Vision Express last week (had a Nectar voucher for a free test) and the entire process was no different to Specsavers or OE, but the customer service was a notch above. However, VE are much, much more expensive, a bit like Boots, who I've not used for years mainly because I couldn't believe the price of their lenses when I was a skint student.

I suppose you should expect to get what you pay for, but charging Boots/VE prices and not keeping spare parts is just taking the proverbial. It's not like they have "complete frames" for rimless specs anyway, it's just two spare arms and a spare bridge in one packet! They could repair my bridge, and they'd then have two spare arms in stock. Problem solved. I'd probably be happy to buy the spare arms too, if they didn't ask £170 for them.

Complaint sent to Specsavers HQ... let's see what they will/can do about it.

EDIT: complaint fully resolved, and then some.... see later post

riley1988

Hi

I know this thread is from last year and a few of the links no longer feed through to the main site. I would like to get an actual contact email/number for Specsavers HQ if anyone has one??

I tried calling my local store to complain and was told I would be called back - 4 times the same day. The last time I recognised the optician's voice and he lied to me over the phone that he was out!

So I need to contact someone higher, it's outrageous.