Deposit Refunds

I have received my deposit back and I am very grateful to Sasha for having supported me so that I didn't give up.

I really think that her commitment is very important to help people understand who they are trusting with their health.

I hope that she succeeds in her efforts to stop OE causing further damage and they start admitting their mistakes and maybe working in an ethical and correct manner.

Paid for lens replacement up front for both eyes, with assurances from the OE sales person that after having the first eye done then I could decide if the second eye should go ahead. If I was happy with just one lens replacement there would be no problems in obtaining a refund (Half the cost as she explained).

After the initial lens replacement my reading was substantially improved, however distance vision needed a further laser treatment.

Since then my eyesight has worsened, I now find I am back to square one needing glasses for reading and close up work.

I contact the clinic to request my refund of £1,500 as per what i was told at my original consultation if I chose not to have the second eye treated.

I have been pushed from pillar to post with no one being able to authorise my refund. When i mentioned it at one check up I was even told "good luck with that"!!!

I've read with great interest the similar stories on this site and decided to post my account too. Such despicable customer treatment...

Yay I too got my refund!!,

Not before time - and of course nothing to do with the Optical Express bubble about to explode on Sunday… much!!

Thank you so much to this brilliant website and of course the wonderful, lovely Sasha Rodoy without whom I would still be fighting a losing battle against this evil money grabbing company!!

Sasha, my admiration for you is immense and i will do anything i can to help with your campaign, these butchers must be stopped!!

I can't thank you enough and wouldn't know where to begin to try and repay you. Keep up your brilliant work, you have probably already saved so many people's eye sight!

Roll on Sunday!!

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From: LynnGilbey@OpticalExpress.com

Dear Alison,

I can now confirm that your £400 refund has now been processed. Please allow 3-5 working days for the funds to appear in your account. This processing time may differ depending on your card provider. Please accept my apology for the delay.

Kind Regards

Lynn Gilbey
Laser Refund Administrator I Customer Services Department
T: +44 (0)1236 795010 F: +44 (0)1236 795 017
E: lynngilbey@opticalexpress.com
Optical Express
A WORLD OF ADVANCED EYECARE

Just had a call from Hugh Kerr (General Operations Director) after the email I sent on the 10/3/14 to David [strike]Mousedale[/strike] - oops, Moulsdale.

Hugh Kerr left two messages yesterday and one this morning on my mobile asking me to call him on his number 07778782524. Then he called my home phone.

He told me their customer service centre had got it wrong, and he would be refunding my deposit immediately. He said they are amending their policies so it doesn't happen again.

The questions I should have asked are:

1. Which policy and how have they changed it?
2. Is it to protect them or customer?
3. Why are they suddenly so desperate to get in touch by phone, when a letter and immediate refund to my account would have done?
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admin: The answer to Crooky's last question will become clear very soon.
Tick tock...

Hi Bobby, the risks highlighted the main complications and side effects of Refractive Lens Exchange surgery which is what i was booked in for, but only a few of these were pointed out to me in both consultations and both consultants played the risks down as being so minimal it was highly unlikely to happen to me!

But the letter contains statisitics like 10% of patients still need to wear specs for reading or computer work, 10% suffer side effects and 5% have some problems driving at night - and for a percentage of patients this could mean they have to stop driving at night! Not a lot of use to me when i work evenings!

Had i been informed of any of this at my 1st consultation i would have run a mile!! But OE take your hard earned money and wait until you're not really in a position to back out (at the theatre door) then drop the bombshell!

Lucky for me my instinct told me to get out of there as quick as I could and after checking with the surgeon that i would get a refund and him saying YES! that's exactly what I did.

I'm so sorry to hear of your complications, i really feel for you, these companies are nothing more than evil tricksters ruining peoples lives and they need stopping now!!

Angie, were the risks the surgeon made you aware of, general risks of IOL surgery or just risks personal to your eyes? I had IOL surgery in Dec12 with very little information of risks and have suffered the worst time ever since, including having the lenses replaced at a cost to me and numerous other complications. I would really appreciate any more information you can give.

Thank you.

I too have been ripped off by OE as they point blank refuse to give me any of the £3591 that I have paid!

I backed out of my lens replacement surgery after I arrived at the clinic as 10 minutes before I was to have the operation I was handed a letter written by the surgeon, in his opinion giving a precise account of the risks involved, none of which I was told at either of the 2 consultations that I had.

This has been going on since January 2014 and I have no intention of letting it go. Maybe we should all get together and start a big protest to let others know what a rip off this company is!!

I will be going to the media with this and suggest everyone e-mails Watchdog to expose this terrible company!

This seems to be the tactic they now use as part of their business model.

Rather than charge £2k and have lots of aftercare to arrange and pay for, with the obvious possibility of litigation as more and more go down that route, it seems OE insist on large deposits, then suddenly the patient is not suitable any more and they keep the deposit.

20% of the operation cost with no risk of botched surgery litigation, and no expensive aftercare to cater for!

Really does show how vile this company is.

:oops: Here's my story - on Friday 14th Feb I went for a consultation for Lasik surgery at Optical Express Preston. I had done my homework, fully understood the differences between Lasik & Lasek, spoken with friends who've had it done successfully (including my husband) and I even researched the profiles of the Optical Express surgeons.

After the relevant tests, "refractive technician" Bajwa announced the good news that I was suitable for LASIK surgery. Bajwa explained that it wasn’t his department to sort "the money" side of things out so he would go and get Wasim (Wasim has written his name on my file as Refractive Optometrist) but just before that he would put the details into the computer and see what the figures "were coming out at", which was an amount over £2000.

I said to Bajwa, "Really – what happened to the £795.00 per eye you advertise all the time." He replied "that would be the price for the Lasek surgery, but you asked for Lasik surgery." He asked us to take a seat back in the waiting room and he would find Wasim.

Wasim told me I had to pay an immediate minimum deposit of £200 for him to be able to book the appointment for surgery at the St John Street Clinic in Manchester. I actually paid a £400 deposit.

Wednesday 19th Feb 2014 I went for surgery at Manchester and after further scans of my eyes the surgeon Muhammed Kahmi called me in to speak with him and explained there were several reasons why he wouldn’t perform Lasik treatment on my eyes. These reasons being:

• My left eye’s prescription was at the level he would perform surgery to in any case, and so I would not benefit from any treatment to this eye.
• My right eye was a different prescription but the cornea was too thick to perform Lasik treatment on.
• He had a level of thickness he would perform surgery on and the measurement of my cornea was beyond that , so he wouldn’t perform surgery on my right eye
• He explained that if Lasik surgery was performed it could result in scar tissue being formed and the shape of the cornea changed completely.
• That surgery would without doubt cause a dry eye issue, and the right eye was dryer than the left one in any case.

I thanked him for his advice and was shown out by the clinic manager who told me she had "put the file through" for a full refund., saying it was their policy to send the file off for a second opinion.

I presumed this was some sort of confirmation for them to refund the deposit and she did not explain any further.

After several phone calls over the past week, I have been told by Louise McMonigle (Clinical Care Associate) that Stephen Hannan, the Clinical Services Director, has made the decision that I am clinically suitable for LASEK treatment and under Optical Express booking terms and conditions I am not entitled to a refund of the £400 deposit I paid.

WHAT A COMPLETE SCAM!

I realise now just how I have been manipulated by Optical Express and am sick to the stomach that they can get away with this.

I don't intend to let this go, and will do all I can via social media etc... to warn others. I also intend to chase my deposit refund via the small claims court.
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admin: It should be noted that Stephen Hannan is an optometrist NOT a surgeon, and definitely not medically qualified to make surgical decisions.