Deposit Refunds

Pat, sadly unless Optical Express dramatically change their ways after the 28 days nobody will have rung you so by the time you get through to somebody on the telephone, like me, you will be given a series of lame excuses, then the promise of a refund in another 7-10 working days, that for me came and went, then another 6 working days. By this time on the advice of Trading Standards I sent a recorded delivery letter warning of an escalation in actions to recover the sum due. This finally led to the refund being made but needless to say no apologetic reply to the letter. Optical Express obviously monitor this forum so hopefully it will prompt them to refund you straight away but don’t hold your breath.

My husband has just been given the same load of boloney. 28 days to process a refund which basically means they sit on our money EARNING interest for 28 days while we PAY interest. Then on the 28th maybe they'll call to get your card details to do a refund which takes about a minute. I know this because I do credit card refunds every day.
I wish we had found this page before we set foot in the door of Optical Express!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it took me 10 weeks to get my deposit and advance payment (£3000) back after the surgery failed to go ahead at Southampton back in April this year. I contacted Trading Standards for advice at the time and this proved helpful. I hope you have more success than me but Optical Express are a total nightmare.

It begs the question how come so many people appear suitable for Laser Surgery following the consultation, pay out money, but then the surgery ends up not going ahead. It appears Optical Express endlessly exhibit a deliberate business policy of encouraging customers to part with significant sums of money then resist processing the refunds until either it becomes publicly embarrassing or the threat of legal action has to be made.

Looking at Companies House web site their business practice is tantamount to fraud and it's about time somebody in authority stood up and took them to task on this.

I had in interesting experience with Optical Express in Shandwick Place Edinburgh.
I am 28 and was sick of wearing glasses/contacts and thought I would pop in for a chat about laser eye surgery. On the Saturday 25th July I had my appointment. I was met and had all my eye tests done by a boy that had only just recently graduated from university and had only being doing the tests for a few months. I was a bit apprehensive about this as he seemed quite young and although he was very pleasant he didn't have the experience you would expect for laser eye surgery consultations. Then after I was greeted by the consultant who although was pleasant spoke very fast and went through everything very quickly. She then put eye drops in my eyes that stung and I couldn't see properly but didn't warn me of this before hand.
After she then made fun of me for blinking a lot which I would do having just had stinging eye drops in my eyes. She then asked me to watch a video while I couldn't see properly and I repeatedly told her this. I then preceded to tell her I suffered a little from dry eyes and she said that wouldn't be an issue. I do not think she explained the risks fully in the consultation but before I knew it she had me down for an operation for two weeks later. She then said I should pay the deposit to secure the 10% discount that is ending at the end of August and this is a rare offer. She then commented that I seemed very nervous but it will be fine and nothing will go wrong other than a 4% chance of a top up surgery and that's what I need to focus on. She said I had until Monday the 3rd August to cancel and I will get my full deposit back. I had only gone in for information but left with a deposit of £395 paid and a surgery booked.

Over the week after doing research online I had loads of questions to ask as I felt they weren't covered in the consultation. I went in on Thursday with my list and although I received a quib from the graduate about me having far too many question (which I ended up snapping that these were my eyes after all), the lady I spoke to did answer all my questions and said there would not be any problem with the surgery providing I do everything they say. I then said I was still worried about my dry eyes but she said it would not be permanent with the surgery.

I then phoned up on Saturday with more questions and then after looking at more stories online and finding this site I decide I wouldn't risk it. I can live with glasses but not without my sight. I then had a really sleepless night and a minor panic attack that they wouldn't give me my money back. I phoned up the Gyle on Sunday 2nd Aug at 10am as Shandwick Place is closed on Sundays and she said that I would get my deposit back and she has emailed the customer service to cancel and return my deposit and that everything would be fine. She gave me a number to phone tomorrow.

I am still worried that I will not get my deposit back after reading this site as people are still waiting after 28 days and I would like my money back as soon as possible and I just read on the internet there is a cooling off period of 7 days which wasn't told to me only to cancel by Monday 3rd Aug which is more than 7 days so they may hold this against me even though this is what I was told. I do appreciate the staff gave their time to answer my questions after my appointment and all seemed very polite but after reading this site and others like it I am still worried I wont get my deposit back. If they give me my deposit back in a timely manner then that is great but I think that to improve the experience things could have been explained a little bit slower and in more detail and maybe as a little less of a "sales pitch" during the consultation.

Hi

So I went to optical express for a free consultation on Saturday 25th July. I was told that I could have the surgery and they give me a quote of £2373 for the lasik procedure. I was told I was getting 30% off as I offered to pay in full, I was told I had to pay a deposit of £400 and I decided to pay £500. The sales girl pressured me into the surgery and told me I had until the end of the day to get it for that price as previously they had quoted me £4300. So I went and booked it and paid the money. Now I've done my research I don't want to go ahead, I have called the company for a refund and I've been told that someone will contact me in 28 days to confirm my card details and refund me the money. Is there any way I can get this money back quicker and will I get it back?
Stacey
____________________________
admin: Yes! Send your number to info@opticalexpressruinedmyife.co.uk

On April 21, I went to Optical Express at Shaftesbury avenue for a laser surgery consultation. They convinced me to pay a deposit of £400 pounds. Then I called in to let them know I won't be going on with the surgery. They claimed that they had started processing my refund.

3 months later and I still haven't received the refund. I have gone there multiple times for them to say "oh, it has been processed, it takes up to 28 days" !

Please help me get my refund. I wish I knew about this refund problem before hand.

I called June Moulsdale today but she hung up on me, so I text her with the message below:

"Hi June Moulsdale,

Thank you for hanging up on me. You asked me to call you on Monday for my deposit refund. Patient reference 61787021, patient name Pinki Gaba. Upon taking the deposit my wife has not signed any consent nor was she given any terms and conditions. No one from your staff explained anything to us. So it is illegal to hold on to our deposit for no reason. If I don't get our refund immediately, I will go to Trading standards and Financial Ombudsman to get your company closed down. I will also be informing bbc media along with other victims. If I don't receive my refund of £400 this week, I will proceed with the above."

Later today, I called her again and she didn't pick up so I left a voicemail and she returned my call. I repeated the above, as texted to her. She was very rude to me and said I have to wait 28 days and that I only complained on 10th July! This is untrue as her colleague Shauna (see post below) said I complained on 4th July. You can see they don't even have correct information on file and they lie to their customers. She repeatedly told me to contact customer services, said it has nothing to do with her etc etc. When I said I'd report OE to the Trading Standards and Financial Ombudsman she replied "Good luck with that!" and hung up the phone.

Beware! Very rude staff and owners. I will report now report them.

Just wanted to let you know the saga is over, thanks to Sasha and OERML I have finally had my deposit refunded, after numerous attempts it took one call to June Moulsdale (not happy) and I recieved a call straight back from the refund dept and the money was returned to my credit card after 9 months!
Hooray. Sasha thank you so much I am donating £100 to the fundraising campaign, I feel confident I could not have done this without you, and might have had my eyes ruined too if I had not discovered your site in time.
THANK YOU
Charlotte Mac.

I just called June Moulsdale at 10.21 and she said that she is home today and she can't do anything. It seemed like she is getting too many calls and she just want to hang up. She did ask me to call the office, I said they are not answering my calls, then she said she will be in the office Monday morning 9am and I should call her then.
I told her that you are holding my deposit illegally, because we didn't sign a contract nor were we explained or given a copy of terms and conditions. So, If I don't get my deposit back by next week, I will be going to the trading standards and to the Financial Ombudsman as it is illegal to hold someone's money for no reason.

Let's see if she answers my phone call on Monday.

After posting here earlier and calling Optical Express again I received these emails from Shauna Lyon.





My wife was not told that she was signing a ‘consent declaration’ and was not asked to read it and was not given a copy. She was definitely not shown any term and conditions. She only remembers completing a questionnaire and was not told she was signing an agreement with terms and conditions.

I am going to Trading Standards and the Ombudsman as this is illegal and a refund should not take 28 days when they took my money immediately.