Small Claims Case Against Specsavers

Okell

Tr33house said:

Specsavers customer service is terrible, I have not once been able to speak to the store director at all, and I know I am not the only person to complain about this...

I believe "Specsavers" are simply a franchise and you might be fully justified in arguing that your local franchise is useless, but I don't think that is necessarily true of all Specsavers franchises.

My local Specsavers is excellent.  I suffer from a recurring eye condition that requires frequent medical treatment and my local Specsavers has always been extrememly helpful in helping me better to understand and manage the condition.  I wouldn't use any other chain or independent opticians. 

They have also been extrememly understanding in the past and when I queried the accuracy of one of their prescriptions they gave me a free re-test without any question.  And the optician who re-tested me explained exactly why the prescription I was querying was in fact the correct one for me.  I cannot fault their service.

Getting back to your spectacle lens, has your prescription not changed sufficiently over three years to need new lenses anyway?

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(PS - A couple of years ago my wife experienced the symptoms often associated with a detached retina.  She got an emergency appointment with her optician (not Specsavers but another high street chain).  And was not particularly impressed by the service they provided.  The optician referred her to A&E under the mistaken impression that the Eye Casualty clinic was closed on Saturdays, and by the time she had been seen in A&E, Eye Casualty was closed for the day and she had to return the following morning - Sunday.  When she eventually saw a proper eye specialist he was scathing about the way her optician had dealt with her.  Fortunately she didn't have a detached retina, but she does now use Specsavers rather than the other High Street chain.  And she's equally as impressed with Specsavers as I am.)

ArbitraryRandom

Okell said:

My local Specsavers is excellent.  I suffer from a recurring eye condition that requires frequent medical treatment and my local Specsavers has always been extrememly helpful in helping me better to understand and manage the condition.  I wouldn't use any other chain or independent opticians. 

I would agree my experience has been equally good - my main dislike is that they're a little TOO good when it comes to the upselling portion of the experience (my prescription is such I can't realistically buy glasses online using their prescription). 

Local optometrists can be great and I have used one on the odd occasion when it's been an emergency (broken and lost glasses), but at the same time - as they're individuals without the type of corporate policy that's so annoying the OP, when there's a problem it can be harder to solve (you're depending on the business owner/optometrist knowing and accepting their obligations when it comes to consumer rights and if you have a complaint they're the top of the escalation route) 

RefluentBeans

As others have said I think this is an uphill battle. The simple fact is that most people’s lenses will change within 3 years (even if just marginally) and the lenses should be replaced within this time at the date of checkups. Apparently if what is said about coatings is true (that they last only a year or two) then I think that’s even stronger proof the product is past it’s best, and the claims are hard to prove. 

Unfortunately by starting proceedings (which it sounds like you have) means the clock is ticking now, and going to court with verbal reports from mainstream competitors of the company saying they ‘think it’s faulty’ is probably not enough. 

It’s also worth remembering that in cases of faults discovered after a while, the company can reduce the money back by looking at use. So let’s say that SpecSavers think that glasses should last 6 years (the statute of limitation for CRA) and you’ve got 3 years of use, they can (with a good chance of convincing a court) reduce the claim to 50% of what you paid for them. So this means if you got a pair of £100 glasses, you’d be looking to get £50 back (plus filing fees if you’ve added them to your claim). This amount of money will only go down the longer you’ve had the glasses. 

In my opinion, and without offering any legal advice, I don’t think you have approached this in the right manner. Ombudsman are often pro-consumer whilst courts are neutral, and will look at the probability of likelihoods when evidence isn’t presented. I think the claim that you have not scratched your glasses and caused the damage may be refuted by SpecSavers, and the court will probably agree with them as glasses do get scratched, especially three year old ones. Additionally, you are lacking strong evidence to support your claim of them being faulty. And finally, for the price reduction (and unless these were top tier designer glasses worth several hundreds of pounds, which would still be worth over £100 when you apply the time discount) I don’t think it’s worth the risk of losing. If you haven’t actually filed the paper work (and paid the fee) then I would seriously think hard about it. 

However you will probably disagree with this, and that is fine. But I would take what the ombudsman said and think about that specifically. If they don’t want to intervene it’s probably because the case is weak. Either way, good luck. 

born_again

Alderbank said:

GingerTim said:

I can't see any optician willing to risk the legal jeopardy of putting their name to a report which states that a rival's lenses are faulty. 

That's a little unfair. I've always found opticians, and particularly independent opticians, to be extremely helpful.

But high street opticians, or optometrists, to use their proper name, don't really grind and polish spectacle lenses. They are trained to test your vision, examine your eyes and fit your spectacles but they don't actually make them. They just send the prescription to an optical laboratory who sends them back ready made.

It's the same as your GP doesn't actually make up the medicine he prescribes. He just writes the prescription and another professional (the pharmacist) actually prepares it.

You need to look for an ophthalmic technician to give a report about the manufacture of your lenses.
Is there an ophthalmic laboratory in the town where you live?

Specsavers have their own optical lab, & in many cases glaze the frames in store.

GingerTim

Alderbank said:

GingerTim said:

I can't see any optician willing to risk the legal jeopardy of putting their name to a report which states that a rival's lenses are faulty. 

That's a little unfair. I've always found opticians, and particularly independent opticians, to be extremely helpful.

But high street opticians, or optometrists, to use their proper name, don't really grind and polish spectacle lenses. They are trained to test your vision, examine your eyes and fit your spectacles but they don't actually make them. They just send the prescription to an optical laboratory who sends them back ready made.

It's the same as your GP doesn't actually make up the medicine he prescribes. He just writes the prescription and another professional (the pharmacist) actually prepares it.

You need to look for an ophthalmic technician to give a report about the manufacture of your lenses.
Is there an ophthalmic laboratory in the town where you live?

Oh no, I didn't mean to say that independent opticians weren't helpful (mine is brilliant!) - this was more of a comment that an independent optician, in my view, might be unwilling to state that an industry behemoth's lenses have an inherent fault, for fear of letters from m'learned friends.

I quite agree that the sort of report needed for the claim the OP wants to submit would be from a technician.

born_again

Tr33house said:

The point here is those scratches are not from me causing them, they are the layers coming off. I have microfibre cloths. And glasses cleaner.

The other lens: still scratches from wear and tear of course but not anything like the other side.

Not sure just what that arrow is pointing at, as all I see is the reflection of the other side of the lenses.
But if you are using a microfibre cloth & lenses cleaner spray, where from, as they can be very damaging especially when coating is scratched as much as that.
Has cloth ever been washed?

I'm not surprised SS are not entertaining that they are faulty. Purely on the basis on how the rest of the lens looks.

I think even a indi would not want to say what has caused the issue, given the state of the lens.

sheramber

Another optician could be telling you it is faulty to get your custom.

Worked for  Boots as you went to them for your next pair.

MattMattMattUK

Personally this just looks like wear and tear, after nearly three years I suspect you have no chance of a claim succeeding. 

TELLIT01

lincroft1710 said:

Surely after 3 years you should be due for an eye test

Having an eye test doesn't mean needing new glasses.  My prescription has remained unchanged for over 10 years and I only got new glasses because the frames were deteriorating.

lincroft1710

TELLIT01 said:

lincroft1710 said:

Surely after 3 years you should be due for an eye test

Having an eye test doesn't mean needing new glasses.  My prescription has remained unchanged for over 10 years and I only got new glasses because the frames were deteriorating.

You are very fortunate. Every eye test I have had, meant new glasses.