Optician refused to give me prescription

neil90

Hi, I managed to break my glasses and was told by my optician that they maybe able to claim under warranty and transfer my lenses to a new frame. Which is great but will take 4 weeks. I asked for my prescription so I could buy some cheap mail order specs to get me through and have as a second pair, but they refused to give me the prescription, saying it was illegal for them to give me an out of date prescription (it is over a year old), is this true? This is an independent and my original glasses were north of £800 and they are suggesting another eye test and guess what new lenses, which will be a fortune. What are my options?

Aylesbury_Duck

No, that doesn't sound right.  As I understand it, you are entitled to your prescription.  I wonder if they mean it's their policy to not make up glasses on a prescription over a year old, which would be a perfectly legal stance to take, but that's not what you're asking.

Speak to a manager if you haven't already. Perhaps a staff member has misunderstood the situation.

roddydogs

Why have you not got the prescription? If its old why not have a retest?

Were_Doomed

1 year old is not old. 2 years old is borderline, and the recommended interval for retests. Regardless the OP should have been given a copy of their prescription after the previous test ... even Specsavers do that.

Undervalued

Aylesbury_Duck said:

No, that doesn't sound right.  As I understand it, you are entitled to your prescription.  I wonder if they mean it's their policy to not make up glasses on a prescription over a year old, which would be a perfectly legal stance to take, but that's not what you're asking.

Speak to a manager if you haven't already. Perhaps a staff member has misunderstood the situation.

Indeed.

Most online places will accept prescriptions up to two years old, which I think is the legal limit, but as you say I am sure they are free to set a lower limit if they choose.

The OP is certainly entitled to a copy of the prescription and should report the optician to the regulatory body if they refuse. They could also make a subject access request an obtain a copy of all the information the optician holds about them which would include any earlier prescriptions issued in the last six years.

roddydogs

But for the sake of £25, if you paying out hundreds on lenses. A lot can happen in 1 year!

DiddyDavies

roddydogs said:

But for the sake of £25, if you paying out hundreds on lenses. A lot can happen in 1 year!

It might not only be the money.
I've recently tried to book an eye test and although opticians are operating through lockdown, many are doing so on a very restricted basis are are prioritising vulnerable people ( whin I don't have a problem with).
This is causing a backlog and the earliest date I could get was the 10th January.
If the OPs optician is the same, they may not be able to wait that long before getting their glasses.

Sandtree

Worst case scenario you do a SAR request to get your prescription details. There are online suppliers where you self certify that you have a prescription.

Years ago when I went to contact lenses I made the mistake of telling Specsavers that I didnt intend to use their subscription service but to buy online and whereas previous prescriptions stated they were good for 1-2 years the prescription they gave me after this appointment stated 6 months... first place I tried to order a years supply from refused saying they could only issue for the period covered by the prescription but the next place was a self cert setup and they issued a full year without questions.

elsien

I have previously been told an optician wouldn't accept a prescription over 6 months old. I think that may depend on the vagaries of your eyesight as mine were changing fairly quickly at that point.

unforeseen

The law only states that the prescription must be given immediately after the eye test. I assume you had that. If so then he has discharged his responsibilities and can quite happily fall back on any company policy about re-issuing it. 

born_again

neil90 said:

Hi, I managed to break my glasses and was told by my optician that they maybe able to claim under warranty and transfer my lenses to a new frame. Which is great but will take 4 weeks. I asked for my prescription so I could buy some cheap mail order specs to get me through and have as a second pair, but they refused to give me the prescription, saying it was illegal for them to give me an out of date prescription (it is over a year old), is this true? This is an independent and my original glasses were north of £800 and they are suggesting another eye test and guess what new lenses, which will be a fortune. What are my options?

Just how much over a year old?
Depending on the OP's eye condition, some will need a new eye test each year. 2 years is the norm, but some are yearly.
Also take it that the replacement frame is going to be exactly the same as the old frame.