Accuvision discounts?

zudecke

Hi guys,

My mum was quoted £3,800 for laser surgery at Accuvision and I remember when I had my consultation with Ultralase, they practically through discounts at me, notably 15% off just for knowing someone who worked for the NHS!

Has anyone had any luck negotiating price with Accuvision and if so, what's the secret? She has been quoted, but hasn't called back since the consultation Saturday to negotiate, so any tips would be appreciated and timely!

Thanks in advance,

Z

wardi69

They claim on their website that their most expensive treatment is £1800 per eye, so if that's the case then that quote seems too high.

I've read about lots of discounts from Accuvision in the past (~2006), but none from any recent years. They are doing a half price deal at the moment, but even with that I was quoted £3500. After a bit of negotiation on the phone I managed to have it reduced to £3200, but that still feels a bit high.

Optimax's first quote was £2195 with their half price discount, Optical Express' was £3795 then £3000
Ultralase were £4000.

All these were for their top treatment.

Although more expensive, Accuvision and Ultralase did feel a lot more professional than the other two.

Did you manage to negotiate a discount in the end? Has anyone else had much luckt?

joaniemerc

I'm going to an Optimax consultation on Thursday. I think I'm looking at about £2,000 with their 1/2 price promotion. I've also got a referral voucher off Ebay for £500 - the seller gets £50 once you've had your surgery. They accept the referral vouchers on top of discounts.

Haven't tried anywhere else but picked Optimax because of their "lifetime guarantee" - whatever that might involve! Will check it out on Thursday.

oliver76.b

Hi Wardi69

So of the two clinics you felt you could trust your eyes to, Accuvision were £800 less than Ultralase.

But when it comes to treating my eyes, I cannot trust anyone I do'nt want to select a clinic only based on its price; it has to be a place where I am treated as an individual and can trust the clinic staff.

Looking at the many testimonials on all the major clinics that you've listed I think on balance I would probably look for a consultation at Accuvision or Ultralase myself too as have been thinking for a while about having my eye consultation done.

Thanks for the recommendation.

wardi69

Hi @joaniemerc

I was interested in Optimax too, they do offer a very good price and I didn't realise you could use referral vouchers on top too! I did feel that they were the 'budget' option though, and the Optometrist huffed every time I asked him a question which I didn't like. I was still happy to go ahead though as the price was so good for the Lasik they recommended.

It was only when I had a consultation at Ultralase and Accuvision who both recommended that I have Lasek instead as my eyes were too thin for Laisk that I decided against. They both felt a lot more professional as well, and Accuvision had a very much more personal approach which I liked very much. They were happy to discuss the procedures in detail, even going so far as to explain how much cornea tissue I would lose from each different procedure and laser.

I also mistakenly went to Optical Express too, who convinced me to book surgery at the end of the consultation and I agreed being excited about having perfect vision and being told that the £400 depsoit was refundable anyway so I thought I had nothing to lose! Turns out I did! The deposit is only refundable within 72 hours of booking treatment, after that it's lost! I refuse to get treatment there now just out of principal that they failed to tell me this even after I asked specifically if it was refundable. No-one who cares about their customers treats them that way. I managed to get it trransferred into store credit so now I have £400 of sunglasses to buy!

@oliver76.b

I have learnt since that the procedures are slightly different, with Accuvisions procedure being the same as Ultralase's Plus, which makes Accusivion actually £200 more expensive. Apparently having Wavefront, that is designed to remove aberrations, can actually cause minor ones during treatment. The Ultralases Elite treatment anticipates this and will remove any it's created using a 'smoothing technique' as I understand it (I'm no expert, but this is how Accuvision explained it!) but will use more corneal tissue, which I'm not sure is a good idea with mine being thin. I'm not convinced the result will give any better vision as well, as I get the impression that the minor ones it creates won't have any great impact on your vision anyway, otherwise why haven't other surgeries taken on this technology? But I could be wrong.

All in all I found I was most confortable with Accuvision as they treated me on a very personal level, almost as a friend than a customer and decided which the best treatment was for me, without the notion of buying 'vision upgrades' which I found confusing.

Ultralase were a close second, who had an excellent surgeon as I understand who won't go ahead unless he's happy that you're happy to go ahead, and takes his time to make sure you're comfortable before proceeding.

Optimax felt very budget and the Optometrist was very uncaring and uninterested

Optical Express were just out for the money, and very robotic and 'hard-selling'. Even when I went beserk when I went to cancel surgery and found out that my deposit was non-refundable the lady on the phone tried persistently to go ahead, throwing it lines like '..that's why we'll soon be No. 1 for laser eye surgery..' every other sentence. I hated this.

Hope this helps people decide