Deposit Refunds

Good evening.

I have been unsuccessfully trying to have my £500 deposit refunded. I had scheduled surgery with Dr David Teenan, but when I came across your website, and read some of the horror stories I cancelled it. This was within 14 days.

I attended my initial consultation on the 19th May 2025. After a number of tests, I was asked to watch a short video presented by Dr Stephen Hannan. At the end of the video I commented to the optician that the presenter needed some skills in presentation and noted that it was so dull, just a PR exercise, that I completely zoned out.

I was then asked to sign an electronic device to confirm I had watched the video. All that was visible on this screen was the signature box. 
I was then provided with some lovely glossy brochures about the operation. It was sold to me as a virtually risk free procedure that would completely transform my life in many ways for the better.

Over the next few days, I dug deeper into the possible dangers and risks of the operation, and as a working teacher, I decided the risk was too great and much more risky than had been presented to me at my consultation.

I wrote to Optical Express on the 29th May cancelling the surgery, but was informed that, because I had not cancelled within the stated 3 day period, I was only entitled to half my deposit back. This would take 28 days to be repaid. They could offer no explanation for this delay in processing the refund. 

I asked that they inform me as to where it was stated in the brochures I was given that it was a 3 day cancellation policy. 
I was then sent this email with a screenshot of a document detailing it was a three day cancellation period with my signature at the bottom. 

 

This, presumably, was the electronic signature I gave confirming I had watched the video. When I signed the machine, no text was visible. So, I was completely duped into signing something I was made to believe was something else. 

There was more written, followed by this:
‘’You will note that our “Cancellation policy” outlines that if a patient elects to cancel a surgery booking within three (3) days of booking the surgery, Optical Express will refund 100% of the deposit that has been paid.  However, should you elect to cancel your procedure more than three (3) days after paying your deposit, £250 of your deposit would be non-refundable.

In light of the above, whilst we would not offer a refund of the retained deposit amount, as a gesture of goodwill, and in a genuine attempt to bring this matter to a close, we would be prepared to provide you with the retained £250.00 in Optical Express vouchers.
Please note these can be used towards any Optical product or service provided by Optical Express and will be valid for a period of two (2) years.  The vouchers will be posted to your home address within the ten (10) working days.

We thank you for your communication and in light of our above response, we consider that we have dealt with your enquiry in full.  
Kind regards,
Kristopher Murray 
Patient Experience Associate”

After a number of further calls, I was eventually paid £250 of my deposit. This was on the 28th August, 3 months after the date of cancellation, significantly beyond the 28 days I was promised. 

Please can you offer any advice how I get my £250 back?
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admin: I can imagine how dull it must have been listening to ‘Dr’ Stephen Hannan, who I met many times over the years - his newly purchased PhD title not to be mistaken for any medical qualification!
As for Dr David Teenan - shockingly still a real doctor, thanks to the General Medical Council’s support - he has damaged countless numbers of patients, with dozens of legal claims, many settled (always out of court) and many in process.
Meanwhile, Optical Express are withholding your £250 illegally, and you are entitled to a full refund.
Please send your phone number 👀
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk
 

Hi Sasha just to update that after i send email on 3rd October i received phone call on Monday 6th that i would receive full refund of deposit and today 15th October I've received full refund, dated 9th October

Thanks for everything Sasha

Nigel

I had a consultation for lens replacement on the 6th September at Optical Express Belfast. I was told I was suitable and on the 12 September I paid £1,000 deposit over the phone and booked for surgery with Dr Manu Mathew on 25th October. 

On Tuesday 16th September I called to cancel the surgery because I was going on holiday in December. I spoke to Donna that I would be doing a lot of driving and I was concerned about possible halos and glares. Donna reassured me there was nothing to worry about as everything would be healed by then. Since I was still unsure, she transferred me to the optometrist, Claire, who gave me the same advice.

I was transferred back to Donna who said she could put me down for January with Dr Huba Kiss instead. I said I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go ahead but she told me that if I cancelled there would be a £250 deduction from my deposit as it was outside the 3 day cancellation period. I pointed out that the clinic was closed on Sunday so I was within the time limit. But she said they were open on Sundays.  I told Donna I would consider rescheduling and get back in touch.

On 29th September, after doing more research into the company, and finding out that it seems most of OE surgeons have damaged many patients and have numerous legal claims against them, I decided not to risk this at all and cancelled on 29th September, again to be told I would lose £250.

Please can you advise what I should do?

Thanks
Nigel
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admin: So they now call Sunday a working day 🤔 
Both Manu Mathew and Huba Kiss have been sued by their patients.
Please send your phone number 👀
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk
 

Sasha, I can confirm that shortly after sending a strongly worded letter to OE, they have returned my deposit in full. To my surprise, it did not require 28 working days to return. 
Thank you for your help with this. 
Denis 

Last year I accompanied my mother for cataract surgery at Optical Express and while I was waiting I was approached by staff who encouraged me to have lens exchange surgery, telling me I’d never get cataracts, and that I could have a discount when they discovered I work for the NHS.
I decided to go for a consultation on 21st May 2025. Following my consultation, during which eye drops were administered, I was advised I was a perfect candidate for surgery, however further tests were required. 
Once my consultation was finished, I left the premises to walk to where I would meet my chaperone to assist me to travel home and received a telephone call from the staff at Optical Express, advising they had forgotten to ask me for a deposit.  I was unable to do this at that time as my vision was affected by the eye drops and I couldn’t read my card details. 
On 22nd May at 9am, Optical Express contacted me by telephone. This was, as they stated an opportunity to check my vision and take a deposit payment. The terms and conditions of the deposit were not explained, either during this telephone call nor at my earlier consultation the day before.  I had received no information on the terms or conditions of my deposit payment.  It was a remote transaction, which although I provided consent, I was not present and had no explanation of my right to cancel or any of any cancellation.
In their recent correspondence they included this consent form that they claim I signed, yet you will see it says ‘px did sign pad deleted it.’.
They have then added their own signature ‘VCO’, which are not my initials, or remotely connected in any way to my name. I think this is fraud!

I contacted Optical Express on 14th July 2025 to advise I no longer wished to proceed with Lens Replacement, as I had researched this extensively and decided the risk was too great. The Customer service assistant initially advised I was not entitled to a full refund, however after checking with a colleague and reading the terms & conditions, he agreed I would receive a full deposit refund within 28 working days as a date for surgery had not been scheduled. According to the terms and conditions I found online, I understood I could cancel and receive a full refund of my deposit on the basis of having not yet booked a date for surgery. I had no planned date for surgery, nor had I any planned date to meet with a consultant or any planned consultation with an eye surgeon.
Optical Express customer services initially advised I would receive a full refund, however they have now only refunded 50% of my deposit. After raising this as a complaint, they have looked into my complaint and as a gesture of goodwill, they have offered the remainder of my deposit in vouchers to use on products and services which they offer. 
I want my £250 balance refunding, not vouchers. Please can you help? 
Thank you,
Denis
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admin: This is fraud, and deserves a complaint to the GOC (General Optical Council)!
Please send your phone number 👀
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

 

I have a surgery booked in my Muhammad Kazmi on Oct 1st but I have decided to cancel after everything I have read here. At the consultation the woman told me that my cornea is thin but just barely qualifies me for LASIK which was already kind of strange to me.
I have contacted them asking to cancel the appointment. Can you help get my £500 deposit back if they do not refund it?

Thanks
_________________
admin: Please send your phone number 👀
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Thank you so much Sasha.  I'm so grateful that you could help me get my remaining £250 deposit back.  I wouldn't have been able to without your help. Thanks again.

Good afternoon,

I am emailing on behalf of my Mother, Lesley, to ask if you can offer any advice on getting the full amount of £6390.00 from Optical Express. 

They initially took a deposit of £1390.00 on her debit card, but my Mom decided to pay the remaining balance of £5000.00 on her credit card, on the same day which was the 15th July 2025. 

After careful consideration, Mom decided to cancel the appointment and surgery all together which she did on the 17th July 2025, and was advised she would receive a cancellation email and that she would receive her full refund within 28 working days.

She did not receive the email, so she chased OE via email several times for confirmation of the cancellation, but so far, she hasn’t had a response. 

She also called OE customer services this afternoon and spoke to Priscilla who advised she wasn’t able to send her a copy of the cancellation email which I find extremely odd and most suspicious. 

As you can imagine my Mom is getting rather anxious and concerned as they are not responding to her emails. 

Her plan is to call customer services again tomorrow to try and get this sorted once and for all.

I understand it hasn’t been the full 28 working days yet, but after stumbling across  and reading customer feedback, she is extremely worried. 

I would be most grateful if you could offer any further guidance on this matter. My Mom (who is in her late sixties) is losing sleep etc. and I’m trying to do everything I can to assist and help her. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this email, it’s very much appreciated. 

Kindest regards and best wishes,

Keeley 
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admin: This crossed with your email to me and I subsequently spoke with your mother.
Hopefully she now has all her money refunded, but if not please don’t hesitate to contact me again 👀
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Hi
Just wanted to say I know have received all my money back from OP, I am so grateful to Sasha for helping me on this, THANK YOU SASHA xx
I will pass your details onto a friend of mind who is having trouble getting her deposit back. 

Hi Sasha I'm hoping you can help me get my full deposit back.

I had an initial consultation for vision correction on 3 April 2025 in Bury St Edmunds. I was first seen by Iwana Szmitka who is the manager of the Peterborough branch, standing in at Bury St Edmunds, and then by the optometrist, who after numerous tests said “I'm pleased to tell you that you are suitable for lens replacement surgery”. She also mentioned that I had the start of cataracts. Then followed a corporate video that was more of a promo than informative. Already alarm bells were ringing! Iwana said if I wanted the first available date for surgery in Cambridge I would have to book and pay a £500 deposit on 3 April, which I understood was refundable. I booked 8 May with Dr Saqlain Sadiq.

I needed further tests in Cambridge, as they didn't have the equipment in Bury St Edmunds and this was booked for 16 April. When I arrived they were not expecting me and the receptionist was very rude. After waiting for approximately 45 minutes I was finally seen and had another 9 tests. After I had left the building they called me to go back as the optometrist wanted to see me for a further test - looking at a dot through my fingers and through a hole cut in a piece of card.

I had opted to pay for the surgery in full instead of a finance agreement. Adrian Jago in the accounts department contacted me on 23 April to pay the balance which had to be paid by 30 April. I changed my mind and contacted Iwana to get the finance options. These have to be gone through either in the office or over the phone and you can't see the T&C's until you have done this. I never did get get an appointment for 0% finance.

I emailed Iwana on 23rd April to see what my options were if I didn't like the consultant. She replied on 29th April to say I would get a 100% refund if the consultant said I wasn't suitable. I asked what happened if I didn't like him but didn't get a reply to the question.

A Whatsapp consultation with Dr Saqlain Sadiq was scheduled for 28 April. He phoned me first and then called me back on Whatsapp. I didn't feel comfortable with him and didn't like his attitude. He finished every sentence with “Right?”, didn't mention there could be serious side effects, and said if I got dust in my eye I needed to “run home and put drops in them” as I could get an infection.

On 29 April I spoke to Iwana and said I didn't feel comfortable with Dr Saqlain Sadiq. She offered me the option to see another surgeon in a different location, Optical Express would pay my travelling expenses and hotel accommodation! Talk about desperate for commission.

I phoned Iwana and cancelled my surgery on 30 April, but she didn't cancel it. I had to follow it through with a Whatsapp to the chat team who advised that “in accordance with their Terms and Conditions no refund would be processed”. I reiterated that I had cancelled within 7 days of surgery and was entitled to a full refund of my £500 deposit. They put in a customer complaint which I had to wait for up to 20 working days to get a reply.

Kristopher Murray, Patient Experience Associate, emailed to say as a “gesture of goodwill” they would refund £250, but in line with their Terms and Conditions I was not entitled to a full refund as I hadn't cancelled within 3 days of booking surgery as stated on their website. The T&Cs on the website are completely different to the ones in the Lens Replacement and Cataract surgery brochure I received on my initial consultation. I pointed this out to Kristopher who asked me to send a copy of the ones in the brochure so he could inform their marketing department. I advised him to check it himself. He refused to refund the £250 claiming he’d sought guidance from senior management - which I very much doubt - and referred me to the OCCS.

I have since had an eye test with my local optician who said that I had the best eyes he'd seen all day, and my 20/20 vision is perfect, and if I was put forward for cataract surgery I'd be turned away. The optician advised against surgery and said that 60% of people who have lens replacement end up wearing glasses in their late sixties.  I'm 62.

So be aware of this bunch of wideboys and do your research before parting with any of your money.
_________________
admin: Please send your phone number 👀
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk