Deposit Refunds

I was booked in to have LASIK surgery on Friday but the surgeon looked at the scan and said I was not suitable, even though at my consultation I was congratulated for being suitable for LASIK.

The surgeon offered LASEK instead, which was more expensive but said they'd do it at the same price. I discussed Lasek with the sales consultant at my first visit when I told them this treatment was not for me.

I paid £2,995 in full for Lasik treatment and have been told I can not have a refund because I am suitable for Lasek treatment which they would kindly do for the same price.

Now I am thinking I have been mislead all the way. How many other people have lost their deposits or payments because of this?

I have sent a complaint by e-mail but this has come back with the response their inbox is full!

Any advice would be greatly received

Thanks
__________________________
admin: Please send your number and I will call you: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

I had no luck with OE's refund team until I got in touch with the wonderful Sasha who helped me no end.

After following Sasha's advice and posting the email I sent to OE on this forum I final got a response from the cancellation/refund department (within half an hour).

I have been told I will receive a full refund in 3-5 working days which I could not be more happy with, as I was first quoted up to 28 days at first.

Once again THANK YOU Sasha for all your time and effort not only did you help me get my deposit back but you also stopped me making what could have been the worst decision of my life. Anything I can do to help you and the OERML team out I am more than willing to do.

Thank you OERML.

I have tried to contact OE's cancellation dept all day and left countless messages.

Guess what, no call back! All I was told from telesales is they have a 48 hr turnaround time.

I said I cancelled with sales on Saturday and she said "Oh. They are extremely busy."

I wonder why?!

I have also sent a e mail to Lynn Gilbey, Guess what, no response!
__________________
admin: Alan, pls contact me asap! :huh:

Hello,
I am currently awaiting a call from OE cancellation team after trying to cancel my Lasik treatment.

I sent this email to OE customer services :

"I want to cancel my Lasik eye surgery and receive a full refund on my deposit of £395 (paid 05/04/2014 in Optical Express Newcastle Upon Tyne) for Lasik eye surgery. My deposit was paid to my Refractive Technician, I have also rang the Refractive Technician on the mobile number provided today and left a message requesting my cancellation and the refund of my deposit.

As I only paid my deposit yesterday I am well within my 72 hours full refund period as stated in your terms and conditions.

I feel I was not informed of the true risks of the surgery, these risks may have been worth it if my eyes were worse than what they are, however, with my current prescription I feel it does not warrant this procedure.

I will be calling into the Newcastle Branch first thing tomorrow morning (07/04/2014) to confirm all of this to the branch and ensure my refund is processed."

I have also been to the shop and called their customer service team; however, I am repeatedly told I have to wait until their cancellation department ring me back... I am still waiting.

Hi

Call OE on Thursday last week and advised them of my intention to protest outside their store in Reading. The refund was processed the same day.

I still however feel people need to be aware of dangers of Laser eye surgery and OE's bad practices.

With kind regards
Keith

Hi
I have just cancelled my RLE surgery at Reading. I paid £500 deposit with no quibble refund. My deposit was taken by Sean, another 'Sales counsellor', and Peter Sharma checked my eyes.

I went to my Harley Street for my consent appt. Well that was an eye opener! Production line or what? Let's just say I came away feeling they would give me any lens of the shelf.

So on Friday morning I phoned Sophie at Reading and explained I needed to speak to someone about my concerns, she said she would get Peter or Sean to call me.

No call Friday, even after leaving messages and nothing on Saturday.

I didn't want to risk going over the 72 hrs so due to my treatment at Harley Street and the lack of response from Reading I decided to cancel.

I have looked through all the T&Cs for OE and cannot see a 28 day turn around mentioned.

To any new patients of OE, be very careful it's all about money to them not your health

Hi

I had a consultation at Optical Express in Reading on 22nd March 2014 and was considered suitable for LASIK procedure by the optometrist Peter Sharma. The sales counsellor Sophie Greenhalgh offered me a discounted price of £2,995 if I paid an immediate £400 deposit.

As I was unsure I asked Sophie would I receive a full refund if I decided not to proceed with the surgery, no questions asked. Her response was a definite "Yes". No mention of the 72 hours cancellation policy.

I paid £400 deposit on the Saturday to secure the discounted price and said I would call them with my decision the following week. The next day I fortunately read OE's terms and conditions, and the fact that Sophie had not mentioned the 72 cancellation policy gave me a bad feeling about OE and I decided to investigate. That is how I stumbled upon this forum.

On Monday 24th (well within 72 hours of making the booking) I called OE and informed them I was not going ahead with the surgery and requested a refund of my £400 deposit. I was told my request would be forwarded to the refunds team and they would contact me within 42 hours.

Sure enough I receive a call from Sophie on Tuesday 25th asking why I had cancelled the surgery. She informed me she would not be able to refund the money to my debit card as this was handled by the refunds team and it could take up to 28 days to process. She could not however give a reason for WHY it could take up to 28 days to process and advised I contact the head office.

Head office told me the reason for the 28 day turnaround is because the request has to go through various committees before a refund is processed.

Lol! What is there to be discussed? This is straight forward, I decided not to go ahead and cancelled within the 72 hours cancellation period.

Should my £400 deposit not be refunded by Friday 4th April I will be staging a protest outside Optical Express, 50 Broad Street, Reading on Monday 7th April, every day until I receive the refund.

I have leaflets from Optical Express Ruined My Life to distribute. The protest is legal and I have informed both Thames Valley Police and Reading Borough Council with details..

Should anyone want to join me at this protest please contact me via Sasha:
info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk.

Kind regards
Keith

Hi All,

I had a consultation at Harley Street in February and dived in head first without doing my research (foolish and something I don't often do) and booked my surgery for 18th April. Since then I did some research, read the waiver and decided against going through with treatment as my confidence in OE and the procedure has dropped somewhat.

During my consultation I told the 'sales rep' I was interested in surgery mainly because I play contact sports. I was recommended for Lasik and only told that I shouldn't play for up to 3 months after the op. However I've since read a fair amount of information online advising that after Lasik you should not play period, and that lasek is the better procedure for athletes.

Coupled with my larger than average pupil size I was annoyed to see that lasik could also lead to further complications which I wasn't told about.

I've tried to cancel over the phone once already but they just kept trying to talk me into having the operation and wanting to give me a call back (which unsurprisingly never came). The cancellation never actually gets anywhere, let alone even me broaching the subject of my deposit.

Either way lesson learned!

Thanks.
_________________________________
admin: Pls contact me info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Hi

How do we contact Sasha.

With kind regards
Keith
_____________________
admin: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Hi all,
I have recently decided not to have my LASIK done with Optical Express after finding this site and they are refusing to refund me my deposit of £400, they will only give me vouchers or store credit

They told me I only had 72 hrs to get a refund and it's now too late! Strange no-one told me this when they took my money 10 days ago!

I have noticed that all of you have managed to get a refund so would appreciate some advice.
Thanks
Phil