Deposit Refunds

Since around March this year I have been suffering with severe Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC) and forced to stop wearing contact lenses. Even if it the doctor hadn't ordered me to, I simply could not stand the pain of the blisters under my eyelids and the constant dryness with or without contact lenses in my eyes. I have been in and out of Specsavers trying different lenses, drops, etc for 6 months.

After unsuccessful attempts to control the GPC with various drops (incl antibiotics) I was referred to the Gloucester Royal Hospital, where I saw an eye specialist on 07.08.2014. Even though I had not worn contact lenses for months she confirmed GPC was still active. My eyes are painfully dry and sore and I was told to stick to glasses for good. After asking about laser eye surgery and whether it would be an option, she said that the infection needed to clear first, but this might be a possibility in the future.

I scheduled a free consultation with OE for 06.09.2014 just to see if I could have it done as I previously heard that astigmatism is quite tricky and wanted to know the price. I had no intention whatsoever of rushing into booking then as I needed to do my research.  I consider myself responsible when making serious decisions - but here I am, now £2,552 out of pocket…

I indicated on the patient form that I suffer from GPC and made sure the optometrist knew it too, but looking back, I am sure he downplayed it and blamed it on hay fever. He did not check the state of my eyes and definitely did not look under my eye lids. All he did was give a scripted sales pitch and checked the correction I require. He told me I am THE PERFECT CANDIDATE and the procedure would be straightforward. I was then taken to a separate room, where Helena was meant to speak to me about payment options, etc.

Suddenly I was offered a goodwill discount of £600 if I booked 29.09.2014 for my procedure. My husband was with me (and paid the deposit with his bank card) and couldn’t believe that from going just for an informational chat, things turned out to be so serious.

And I fell for it… I paid £400 deposit on the day, and the balance on Tuesday 09.9.2014. On the Thursday we went away for a few days.

On our return five days later I started looking through the paperwork.  My sister had booked a day off work to accompany me... then I noticed that OE asks people to get in touch immediately if they suffer from certain conditions, conjunctivitis being one of them. 

Hold on! This is me. I have GPC!!! So I called the number provided and the lady told me that if my GPC is active I can’t have procedure done. I  asked why didn’t anyone tell me that when I was being “consulted"?! She said that if I went to Birmingham when they checked my eyes they would tell me they can’t proceed.  I called the OE Cheltenham branch and spoke to Helena (branch is only open on Saturdays but I remember Helena saying that they’re in on Tuesdays for training) who confirmed that indeed, my patient form did prove I had indicated GPC and agreed I wouldn’t be able to have it done. I said that I was unhappy that I'd received such a poorly informed consultation and tricked into paying £2,552.  She told me no problem, she’d pass my details to the cancellations department who would contact me. She didn’t know when!

I did receive a call back and voicemail next day.  I called back immediately but no one was there to speak to me. The same happened on Thursday.  By Friday I was determined to talk to someone, so by 2pm I decided to call them. Obviously Diana was not at her desk. Nor was the other person from the same department. I said I would not give up until I spoke to someone. I was on hold for 20 minutes and finally got to speak to Diana. I told her how I was told by 2 people at OE (central number and Cheltenham branch) that if GPC is active, the procedure cannot be done.

Diana told me she doesn’t know what GPC is and will have to check if it really is a contraindicator for laser eye surgery. I said I am unhappy for them to be treating me like this and sending me conflicting messages. GPC or not, obviously I was pressured into buying something I wasn’t sure I even wanted in the first place and obviously not meant to have at all!

I politely asked for my money back to which she replied that she needed to check with someone to let me know if I qualify for the cancellation. I have heard nothing and cannot begin to express the amount of stress my naivety has caused me.

Please can you help me?
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admin: Pls contact admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk :kiss:

With the help of Sasha I have finally been refunded my money back by OE. I dont understand why they had to overcomplicate the situtation by wanting to keep my money. Without Sasha I probably would never have got my money back. Thanks so much again I have donated to your cause!

I came across this website after having had a bad experience with Optical Express. I have not had eye surgery with them, but I was considering it and it went as far as me going in for the procedure only to be told I couldn’t have it on the day. Since then there has been poor communication, bad customer service and they are also refusing to return my deposit. They kept me in the dark about why I couldn't have the procedure and any explanations were half baked. I was told to take eye drops and come in for more scans. When I did, it was totally disorganised. I was kept waiting for ages and when I was called in the person didn't know how to even switch the machine on and I was told go to back to the waiting area.

After this, I would not ever consider surgery with them.

I have read the information on your website and forum with much interest and I am appalled at how many people have been treated badly by OE who are just out to make money from people and do not care about the individual. I am grateful for any advice you can offer on how to get my deposit back?
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admin: Pls contact admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk :kiss:

After your help Sasha, OE called me to get my credit card details and refunded all monies within 72 hours!

Thanks again for all of your help and dedication to bringing these jokers to account!

Just had a ‘phone call from Linda at OE, requesting credit card details so the £400 will be put back on the card within 72 hrs!!!!!!!

Thank you so much Sasha, not as much for the money as stopping me go ahead, my wife has always been nervous about the whole thing, but OERML put the nail in that particular coffin

Donation on its way to your fighting fund, keep up the good work!

Finally got my refund today :woohoo: thanks for your help Sasha really appreciated. If only I had spoken to you sooner I would not have had to incur credit card interest

Thank you for taking the time for putting this website together.

I am contacting you to seek your advice on getting back my deposit from my booked surgery.

1 month ago I booked a free consultation with Optical Express as I’d been advised to get surgery by my friends. I attended the consultation at the Westfield White City branch. I had very little knowledge of the procedure and thought it would be a good chance to find out more. Unfortunately I had no knowledge of any side effects and was sold by the 20/20 vision claim.

I got a little uneasy when the sales person who performed the initial tests sat me down in a dark room to wait before I saw the optometrist. She began talking to me about how good the tests had been, and then got down to pressure selling. She told me I needed to book soon or I would miss out on the discount. I had to refuse several times and eventually she gave up as I stood my ground. This experience was very unpleasant as was just me and her in a dark room with her staring at me to get me to book. Luckily I walked away.

Wednesday 3 Sept I received a call from a number I didn'’t recognise so called to see who it was. It was an Optical Express sales rep! I told her I'd decided against the surgery as it was out of my budget. She then came back with a finance offer of paying over 2 years instead. However was told to secure the deal I had to book immediately. I agreed to book and to my surprise I was asked for £395 up front, which I thought could be paid on day of surgery. I gave my card details and 9 September was booked for my surgery at the Shaftesbury Avenue clinic.

I was still a little uneasy about the surgery and decided to check online whether it was a good idea. LUCKILY I found your website! I found so much information I was unaware of and read about the many problems of hazy blurry halos etc people were having. This was a definite 'no no' since I am a freelance graphic designer and I drive a lot at night. Naturally I decided against surgery and thought I would cancel on Monday since it was by then the weekend.

I then phoned to cancel and ask for a refund but was put straight through to the clinic at Shaftesbury Avenue, who asked why I had decided not to go ahead. It took a long time to finally get the rep on the phone to accept I wasn’t having surgery as he kept asking 'why, why, why...' like a toddler. He then added the final nail in the coffin by saying 'if you cancel you will lose your deposit’. I told him this was wasn’t on as the adviser I spoke to had said 3 working days after the booking. To which he replied by saying ‘We are open 7 days a week'. I repeatedly asked him to escalate this to a senior line manager but he told me there was no one else, that he was the most senior person.

Eventually I gave up and decided to not cancel since I didn’t want to lose my money.

What did I get myself into I was thinking! So today after talking to my local optician I decided against surgery and discussed it with my parents, it’s either my eyes or my money. I then called Optical Express and said I definitely would not attend surgery today as bluntly as I could. The same rep asked ‘why' again but this time I didn’t let him persuade me!

I’m really angry at the whole situation, but thank god I had found this website otherwise I may have regretted it for the rest of my life.

Is there anyway I can get my money back?

Thank you for taking the time to listen.
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admin: Please send your number and I will call you
info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

At an initial consultation on Saturday 23 August at Optical Express in Southampton, I signed up for eye surgery on 11 September because of an offer expiring ‘that weekend’. During the consultation I mentioned to each of the various people involved that I had considered this surgery some years earlier but was told my eyes were too dry.

The initial consultation process was OK, but did leave some nagging doubts which I sought to clarify during a follow up visit arranged for Wednesday 3 September, when I was promised I would be able to meet a surgeon to discuss things, in particular my dry eyes. However, I did not get to meet a surgeon, instead I was re-examined by one of the optometrist who, despite saying originally that everything was OK, commented that indeed I did show signs of dry eyes, particularly in my right eye.
He gave me some Hyco San plus ++ and Altacor Clinitas Hydrate eye drops - saying that was what he used for his dry eyes (he told me he’d had laser) and I should try these for the remaining 8 days before surgery.

The person who’d booked my second appointment was off sick, and no one was able to answer the question why I saw an optometrist and not a surgeon as I’d asked. I paid a £400 deposit and signed up to a 12 month Hitachi finance agreement for the balance of the cost of surgery

My wife then did some research over the weekend and discovered OERML website. After reading various comments on the website & Facebook page I was left feeling some concern over forthcoming treatment and was sufficiently unimpressed with OE to cancel the surgery.

I called OE’s cancellation dept countless times this morning but kept getting the busy tone! Presumably there are many more like me who changed their mind! Eventually someone called me back demanding reasons for my cancellation, trying to persuade me to go ahead, and telling me if I changed my mind at a later date it would be far more expensive!

I politely said I still wished to cancel and asked for my deposit to be refunded. I was told that’s not possible because I am out of their 72hrs cooling off period, which was not mentioned to me when I paid my deposit!

I will take legal action if my deposit is not refunded to my account as fast as it was taken out.

I will update you

Still waiting for my refund

Mick S wrote: Will do, thanks

Mick S wrote: admin: Cancel appt and ask for full refund. If they refuse please contact me: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

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admin: I can't help unless you email me
info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Aurora Allen wrote: I don't understand why Optical Express are refusing to refund my payment when their own Terms & Conditions say they should!

I got my refund back, and I'm very happy.

I will not be proceeding with surgery, and I am now going to make a donation to My Beautiful Eyes!

Thank you.