Specsavers bizzare free eye test rules.

KLW

I don't know if this applies to all Specsaver store or just the one I went to.

So the story goes, I'm a contact lens wearer and any other contact lens wearer will know that after a certain amount of time it is legally impossible to buy contact lenses on the high street without an updated eye test.

Now I work in an industry that requires me to travel the country a lot so I frequently find myself without contact lenses and caught out with an expired prescription.

I was in Manchester when I was walking past a Specsavers offering a free eye test I thought great how convenient went into store and got an eye test right there and then to my surprise but after the eye test they didn't give me my prescription they told me that as I wore contact lenses I had to have their free trial and introduction to lenses despite telling them I had worn contact lenses for at least three years.

To appease them and hopefully have my prescription to buy new contact lenses I went along with it, it takes a couple of weeks of going back and fourth telling them how they feel in my eyes etc.

It came to the end of the trial and they gave me the hard sell on this mail order lens thing they offer, they REALLY wanted me to sign up but I explained I couldn't I never know where I'm going to be and sort of live out of a suitcase in various hotels.

Finally they agreed to just let me buy a months worth but then told me I would have to wait a week before they gave into stock... I couldn't I was heading down to London in two days time so I asked for my prescription so I could pop into a Specsavers in London to buy with the ease of them not having to ring Manchester etc... They said that it was illegal for them to give me it unless I buy at least three months worth of lenses from them.... Which has to be a lie really.

I thought maybe it was all in aid of grabbing back the money for the free eye test but my lenses cost £30 a month. An eye test is normally £15 - £20.

If I had known I would have had just paid £20 to get an eye test with some one else and get sorted right away.... My experience with Specsavers wasn't great and spanned over a month and at the end I'm in the same position. How annoying.

keyser666

I always thought it was illegal for them to not give it you? probably some rubbish I read as I cant see it happening

London50

I found this information it may help

Can my Optician refuse to give me my prescription?

An Optician can only refuse to give you a prescription before the end of the contact lens fitting phase (i.e. while you are trying out a new contact lens), or if the prescription is out of date.
Article 26 (2) of the UK Opticians Act 1989 states that all Opticians have a legal obligation to provide patients with a signed copy of their contact lens prescription once the fitting has been completed. This means that your Optician should hand you a copy of your prescription before you walk out of their practice, regardless of whether you ask for it or not. The exact wording of the clause in the Opticians Act 1989, which you can quote to your Optician, is:
“It shall also be his [your Optician’s] duty to give the person whose sight he has tested, immediately following the test, either a signed, written prescription for an optical appliance or a signed, written statement that he does not need to wear or use an optical appliance”. Article 26 (2), Opticians Act 1989
Unfortunately, many people often have to ask for their prescription before they receive it. In case you don’t have your prescription, all you have to do is call your Optician and ask them to send you a copy via e mail, fax or post. Some Opticians are happy to read your prescription to you over the phone; in this case, make sure you refer to our “What should be included in a contact lens prescription?” section, to check that you are being provided with all the details you need.

abacab

I spent years wearing contact lenses with my eyes getting more and more irritated as time went on.
In the end I took the plunge and went back to wearing specs,so arranged an eye test with specsavers before ordering a new pair.
After the Optician did the eye test she then spent 10 minutes trying to test my eyes for contact lens suitability and trying to sell me a plan.
I never want to have the tricky bits of plastic in my eyes again.Silly moo!
Specsavers exist to extract as much money as they can.
Most days it resembles a Zoo,with multiple staff trying to hard sell products as you attempt to browse.
Nowadays I pop into Tesco opticians for a free eye test,then give it to an online opticians to supply the Specs.
Tesco don't try to sell anything,they just inform you to take a look at their range if you wish.

whitelabel

they should give you an eye test prescription LEGALLY at the end of the test

a contact lens prescription they can with hold

id seriously contact their head office - the owner of specsavers would be very interested in this.

that said I know there is mystery shopping going on in a lot of opticians at the moment so if this is a regular thing they are doing, they may well be getting caught out anyhow

kwikbreaks

I read in some other thread that Specsavers branches are franchises not centrally owned so probably each will have its own rules and ethics. I'm perfectly happy with my local one although I don't use contact lenses so possibly thatwould be a different story.

Bantex_2

whitelabel wrote: »

they should give you an eye test prescription LEGALLY at the end of the test

a contact lens prescription they can with hold

id seriously contact their head office - the owner of specsavers would be very interested in this.

that said I know there is mystery shopping going on in a lot of opticians at the moment so if this is a regular thing they are doing, they may well be getting caught out anyhow

Is this the case if the test is free?

stevemLS

keyser666 wrote: »

I always thought it was illegal for them to not give it you? probably some rubbish I read as I cant see it happening

You need to think maybe about getting some contact lenses:rotfl:

whichwhydoIturn

I went to spec savers many years ago , I asked how my cataracts looked as I hadn't had a check for 6 months at the hospital and was told I didn't have them.
Strange that , I was born with cataracts ... It's all bout the money & tills ringing , not quality eye care .

KLW

Interesting replies!
I'm going to call them up today and ask for my prescription, see what happens.

My work colleague went to the same store because I told her about the free eye test, this was before I was disappointed with the service. They tested her eyes and agreed to replace the lenses in the frames she already owned, when she picked them up she told them wearing the glasses made her feel a instant sick feeling they told her it was normal and she should wear them for a week to get used to the new strength.

She went back with the same feeling when wearing them as she had when she left they retested her eyes and told her that one of the lenses was "right but wrong" they had tested her eyes completely right but her brain was telling her eye that it was too strong... I don't know how that works but I guess alarm bells should have been ringing at this both but were to busy laughing about it at the time!

PDC

Interesting reading.

I always used to use Dollond & Aitchison, maybe it was just the branch I used, but without fail they would 'forget' to hand over the prescription at the end of the test, had to ask for it every single time wherein they would produce it saying they'd forgotten and just put it into my file by accident.