Bloody eye

I've had surgery twice with OE and still need glasses , I was pressured into the surgery with explaining the risks to me.
I have spent £3500 with them and still I will have to pay for glasses for the rest of my life.
My eye sight is bad, I suffer from headaches due to my eyes and the stress of having to go in store constantly. Where do I stand? Can I take them to court for compensation for misleading and mis selling the surgery?

Dear Sarah, I do not know where you are going for surgery but I beg you not to do it wherever it is.
i worked at Optical Express and Optimax and wish I could show you the so many terrible things people had to live with because of this operation. Many mistakes by surgeons and nobody cares! They say you signed so you can not complain.
It is not worth damageing your eyes just not to wear glasses and you will need to wear them anyway later. PLEASE DO NOT DO IT!

Too right you should be worried Sarah ! Cancel your surgery, save your eyes from being utterly ruined, and ask for help from this site to get any money you've already paid out refunded. Most damaged patients had no idea of the very real horrors that these surgeries can inflict on your eyes and life, but thanks to this site, you do, so make the right decision. Once you get problems post surgery, there is NO CURE !

ok now im scared after reading all these complications. My appointment for Lasik is the end of November this year. I have paid my deposit. Do I go through with it. Very worried now x

Julie we need to talk please (re your post 18th July)
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admin: Please email Pat c/o admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

I just found this site and I'm not surprised I'm not alone but I am shocked at the number of people with problems. The main motivation for myself other than not having to bother with glasses or contacts was the 99% plus success rate. I'm shoked that it is legal for them to claim this and out right con people when it clearly is not the case.
I had Lasik Wavefront treatment carried out last May at the Cardiff Optical Express branch. I was due to have surgery that morning with Mr Luca at the Bristol branch but when I arrived they told me that the machine was faulty and that I could have the procedure done at Cardiff by the same surgeon.
At the time of the surgery I remember the waiting room being very busy, it appeared that other patients had also made the trip from Bristol to Cardiff. I was in and out in a short time and told that everything had gone well and I booked a 24hr appointment at Bristol. Thats when I entered into Optical expresses hideous aftercare program. I turned up the next morning to find the branch closed. I waited across the road at a Costa for over an hour until a girl came to open the store and then waited further until an optometrist was ready. My sight was nowhere near perfect and I was told that my eyes were healthy and were suffering from the trauma of surgery, they would just need a few days to settle. I booked another appointment, this time I was told that the surgery was fine but the muscles in my eyes were tight and needed time to relax in which my vision would improve. I went back countless times in which they informed me my vision had improved slightly and everything was going in the right direction but whilst it was still improving I couldn't have an enhancement until my vision was stable. In the meantime I was given contact lenses and was happy that the numbers were reducing. In December I was told that my prescription had settled and I was ready for the enhancement. Due to work I could not take this and had to wait until May when my circumstances allowed. I booked a pre op appointment, carried out all of the scans and was told that a member of the surgery team would call advising of a date for surgery. After several weeks and no call I rang them to find that I needed to book in to see an optometrist. On arrival the Optometrist clearly had no idea why I was there ran me through the same tests. I was not happy and he told me that he would email the surgeon and would call me the next day. To his credit he is the only person in this organisation that actually did what he said, he called the next day to inform me that when they had put in the drops my prescription had reduced and that they wanted to give me glasses with a reduced prescription, I was back were I started. When I went in to collect the glasses they were not ready and they informed me I had to pick a frame, at this point I asked to see the prescription. It was higher than what I was over 6 months ago. I was told I couldn't see an optometrist but they could book an appointment. I went home and spoke to they're customer services, they told me that they would get someone to call, I have started asking questions that clearly make them uncomfortable and they are blatantly lying and fobbing me off. I have spoken to them 4 times and accepted several profuse apologies and yet had no answers. I have calculated that I have been to the Bristol branch over 10 times recently (100 mile round trip). I found this site and I am not surprised that I'm not alone in my circumstances with this company.
My vision feels worse than before I struggle to read the big letters, I am currently short sighted and require contact lenses or glasses for daily use and my vision fades in and out. I have looked through your forum and the sheer size of people with complaints worse than mine is daunting. I fear an enhancement from these guys could leave me far worse than my current misfortune. I am unsure were I stand legally, is there any way I can be refunded at this stage I was under the impression if they didn't achieve 20/20 you were refunded, I would like to cut my losses?
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admin: Please send your number and I will call you

LASIK eye surgery as I have mentioned extensively has left me with eye floaters that really have reduced my overall quality of life, it has sucked the joy out of many things.

On several occasions I have mentioned this to Jan Venter who spoke very highly of YAG laser and insisted that they would easily evaporate with this procedure. His assistant, a young twenty something would rave about how she had YAG laser for her floaters and it worked wonders and she can't see any problems with it.

Unsurprisingly Jan Venter could not perform this YAG as didn't have a strong enough laser apparently to attack my specific floaters so he referred me to Miss Louisa Wickham at Moorfields.

Before even assessing my eye floaters Miss Wickham expressed her concerns over YAG laser and how she would not perform it on floaters as felt the risks were not worth it and success rate was small. She would however perform a vitrectomy if I wished but stressed how risky it was so obviously I am staying away from it.

My point here however is that Jan Venter if he had the right technology would have happily performed YAG laser on me which came with side effects and risks that he NEVER mentioned. He spoke of YAG laser as though it was an easy non intrusive procedure when truth is it is another laser beaming into my already damaged eyes.

This is proof that no matter how sympathetic they seem and how much they says they want to help, do your research, do not trust them and take what they say at face value, get independent opinions!!!

After wearing glasses for many years, in April 2011 I decided to have my eyes lasered.

Optical Express advised I only needed my left eye treating as my right eye apparently had clear vision. They quoted over £1400, which I thought expensive, but nevertheless it was my eyesight.

I decided to go ahead and pay through Hitachi interest free credit agreement otherwise i couldn’t afford it.

After surgery and numerous post op appts I realised my vision was still not right, and if anything, after 6 months it was deteriorating

Disappointed at the results I complained and was given the option, as “a gesture of goodwill” to have more surgery “free of charge”.

My second surgery was Lasek, far more painful with a longer time to recover. After a week or so my eyesight seemed to be improving, but by three or four weeks later the results were just the same!

To have spent over £1400 and be told by so called eye surgery specialists that my eyesight was improving after two surgeries was total rubbish!

Has anyone else had this treatment with the same outcome?

I would not recommend anyone use Optical Express! I feel I have been totally conned out of my hard earned money!

I had Lasik surgery on both eyes in February 2012, to correct my distance prescription. The ophthalmic surgeon was Dr Luca Antico.

After surgery I was told everything was fine. It is not.

My eyes have been very dry ever since surgery, and now they are blurry after doing any close work for up to 20 minutes. The optometrist told me this was normal and would get better with time. They have not.

In February 2013 the flap on my left eye was lifted and creases smoothed out. Since then I've asked to see the surgeon a number of times but this hasn't happened and I have just been passed 'messages' from the optometrist.

My next appointment is now overdue but I'm very concerned about going back. The optometrist advised me to wear 'off the shelf' ready readers (+2.00) whilst my eyes recover. Does it really take two and half years?

Dictated to my son, as I can't see a thing!!

Eve wrote: Optical Express have said they will perform cataract surgery (RLE/refractive lens exchange) free of charge, but I am hesitant to accept this as I think I would get better treatment on the NHS.

You are right to hesitate over this decision. Please don't trust your precious eyesight to these butchers again.

If you have flashers and floaters in your eye(s) and you are shortsighted, you need to have your eyes assessed by an ophthalmic surgeon, not an OE optometrist as these are warning signs for a retinal detachment and need to be treated seriously.

I speak from experience (hindsight is a wonderful thing!). I had RLE at OE nearly two years ago and had a retinal detachment in my left eye as a consequence of the surgery. Despite numerous trips back to OE the detachment was never identified and I was told I had 20/20 vision (where have we heard that before I wonder?) and that my eyes would settle down. They didn't, and I ended up having a retinal detachment when driving alone on the motorway. I was lucky to make it home.

The good old NHS and their brilliant surgeons sorted me out the next day and saved my sight, so I am eternally grateful to them.

However, as a result of the subsequent complications I have a number of morbidity issues with my eyes, including fierce one sided headaches and distorted vision that will never improve. These complications would not have happened if the developing tear in my eye had been noticed before it became a detachment.

I have not been back to OE since that time and they have not contacted me to find out how I am doing, despite their promises to look after my eyes for as long as needed to get my vision right.

Please don't trust them and don't let them touch your precious eyes and make them worse.