£700 worth of glasses that are of no use ...

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The problem is that no-one here is qualified to say whether the optician has made a mistake. 

One option might be to go back to optician A and get a new prescription, and see how that compares to the prescriptions given from optician B. 

Alderbank

Si_Clist said:

OK ... so nobody has any useful suggestions as to how we might best proceed from here?

Correct - nobody can do that unless you share with us who this national chain is. They all have different terms & conditions.

For instance, if your wife had bought from SpecSavers, their T&Cs for prescription lenses include:

C) Prescription glasses and prescription sunglasses customers...we will be unable to complete the sale to you until you undergo an eye test with an optician or ophthalmic medical practitioner. If, for any reason, you do not wish to undergo an eye test, you may cancel the order.

In that case your wife could say she no longer wished to undergo the eye test with the hospital medical practitioner and would therefore like to cancel the order.

Other chains have different T&Cs.

Undervalued

Si_Clist said:

OK ... so nobody has any useful suggestions as to how we might best proceed from here?

You could opt to see the specialist privately, although that would probably cost you about £240 for a consultation.

You could also ask your GP if they are willing to argue that the hospital appointment should be more urgent.

I am not sure why the optician referred you via your GP? They are (certainly around here) able to refer direct to a major hospital ophthalmology department without involving the GP. 

Si_Clist

newlywed said:

If the prism worked for her previously, can she request to try that with the current optician, or are they refusing?

The first two optometrists at the current optician somehow decided that no prism is required.  The third optometrist wanted to first establish whether or not my wife's eyes are working together correctly, therefore he referred her to the specialist, who as we understand it will decide in November whether or not prism is needed, and if so how much etc.

They are not refusing.  I'm sure we'll get there in the end.  The issue is simply that we have had £700 tied up since March in two pairs of glasses which are of no use, and it now looks like being December before my wife has usable glasses.  £700 is in round figures 85% of our monthly income.

Si_Clist

Undervalued said:

You could opt to see the specialist privately, although that would probably cost you about £240 for a consultation.

You could also ask your GP if they are willing to argue that the hospital appointment should be more urgent.

I am not sure why the optician referred you via your GP? They are (certainly around here) able to refer direct to a major hospital ophthalmology department without involving the GP. 

We simply can't afford to go privately.  We too have no idea why the referral had to go via the GP, but you make a good point about trying to get it expedited.

lisyloo

I think they are fobbing you off by saying it’s her.
if they couldn’t supply your wife with glasses that were fit for purpose then they should have said so.
you Could go down the “unfit for purpose route”.

why did you wife not say that she couldn’t see properly on the eye test?
they should be mimicking the prescription and it should “mimick” distance vision.

Have you spoken to the store manager?
what have they said about your predicament?

eskbanker

Si_Clist said:

They are not refusing.  I'm sure we'll get there in the end.  The issue is simply that we have had £700 tied up since March in two pairs of glasses which are of no use, and it now looks like being December before my wife has usable glasses.  £700 is in round figures 85% of our monthly income.

If the issue is as much financial as medical (understandable for a couple with <£10K annual household income), has she explored support options via the likes of https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/?

Ergates

lisyloo said:

I think they are fobbing you off by saying it’s her.
if they couldn’t supply your wife with glasses that were fit for purpose then they should have said so.
you Could go down the “unfit for purpose route”.

why did you wife not say that she couldn’t see properly on the eye test?
they should be mimicking the prescription and it should “mimick” distance vision.

Have you spoken to the store manager?
what have they said about your predicament?

That doesn't sound like a fob off at all - "It's your eyes" isn't really a fob off - given two attempts to get the lenses right didn't work, saying "There may be more going on here" and referring to a specialist seems like a reasonable course of action.

They didn't say they couldn't create glasses that were fit for purpose because they didn't know they couldn't.

The OP's wife presumably didn't say she couldn't see properly in the eye test because she didn't realise it at the time - eye tests take place in an artificial environment and may not pick up on subtle issues.  This is especially true of part of the issue is the coordination of the eyes as the "distance" tests that can be performed indoors are obviously limited by the size of the room.

Fundamentally:  People's eyes change as they age, and not all problems can be picked up/resolved by a high-street optician.

Ergates

Si_Clist said:

OK ... so nobody has any useful suggestions as to how we might best proceed from here?

It's a complicated issue that isn't obviously covered by consumer protection legislation.

I'd suggest (if you haven't already) speaking to the store manager and explain the situation to them - that you cannot afford to be £700 down without a suitable pair of glasses.

One thing to consider though - presumably your wife needs *a* pair of glasses between now and the appointment?  How lacking are the glasses?  The first pair - took a few days to become apparent that there was an issue with the prescription, and the 2nd pair had at least a marginal improvement.  Given your wife doesn't drive (I assume - you said you had no car), can she live with the current prescription until December?   

This might factor into any conversation as it might influence whether you want to return the glasses or keep them.

theoretica

What I don't see in your narrative is how *your wife* sees her vision has changed - and how this relates to any of the changes in prescription. What changes are there in prescription that do not relate to her observed changes in vision? If she thinks she is more shortsighted than previously, did the prescription follow that?  The optician suggests there may be something going on in the relationship between her two eyes - when she covers one and only uses the other does her vision get better or worse?