Deposit Refunds

So just like everyone else I've been a fool and paid the £500 deposit for the lens surgery which i felt pushed into from the get go which was scheduled for 6th May.
I was offered NHS discount by the manager at the OPTICAL EXPRESS BRIDGEWATER CLINIC MANCHESTER, but because of all the horror stories I rang to cancel today (28th April) and YES, you guessed it - they won't give me my £500 back but said as a good will gesture I can have vouchers for glasses!
DOCTOR ASHEET DESAI was the surgeon I was booked in with, the manager told me he was the best there is and that he did her eyes a few weeks previously but I now know that he’s damaged patients eyes!
I'm so upset as it's a large amount of money and I was told all along that i would get a full refund if i changed my mind (otherwise i would never had paid that amount if i knew they would keep the lot) !! Even the surgeon reassured me that I would get my deposit back if I cancelled! He told me at my meeting with him he told me to really think hard about it as I'm only a low prescription and my night vision and driving could be affected and it's not too late to change my mind ! It felt like he was pushing me to not have it done , so now I've had time to think about it and read all the negative reviews I decided to cancel !!
I rang the head office and they are saying they will investigate and I know what the outcome will be!
I was pushed into deciding and paying the deposit too soon with no time to think and for them to now say they are entitled to keep £500 is disgraceful!!
So please SASHA can you work your magic ?
Amanda grixti
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admin: Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

With a big thank you to Sasha for helping to get my £500 refund...your an angel! Steveo

I had Laser eye surgery booked at Optical Express a couple of months ago and the procedure was fully paid for. On the day of the surgery I get a call from OE informing me the surgeon is ill so we will be in touch to reschedule the surgery. After not hearing anything for a couple of weeks I decide to chase them up and I'm told by my local branch that someone from central office will be in touch next week. Another 2 weeks go by and nothing. Seems like they just couldnt care less now that they had my money! I then get told that the surgeon is only down at my local branch once a month so they would be in touch once they had his dates for April and May. I did say in the meantime that I would like my money back and they did agree to this. Recently the money did appear in my account just missing the £400 deposit. I havent even officially cancelled the surgery but they have just completely gone quiet in regards to getting me back in. With this situation and after having time to think about it I'm definitely not going ahead with the surgery. Just wondered if it was possible to get the £400 back? I look forward to hearing from you.
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admin: Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

When I went for a consultation on 21st March 2023 at Optical Express in Dartford they seemed really nice and very convincing about the surgery even though my prescription is not stable, but pushy for me to pay a deposit for surgery on 27 April with Mr Eric De Koning.
I got a discount as I'm working for the NHS and paid £400 deposit.
They did not tell me anything about the side effects, which I found out about later after reading reviews online. I was shocked and cancelled on Monday.
They told me they would call me but I have had no phone call or email regarding my cancellation and my £400 deposit.
I hope you can help me to get my money back as you help so many people.
Ilona J
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admin: Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

This is the email I sent to Optical Express after they told me they would not refund all of my £500 deposit. Please can you help me with this?

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

Hi I recently went to my local Optical Express to see if i qualified for laser eye surgery. I had all test etc done then they sat me in a room after filling in all my forms saying I suffer from severe anxiety and they basically booked my appointment for me with Dr Muhammad Kazmi then handed me the card machine to pay my £500 deposit without giving me any time to think. I was really flustered and felt as though if I didn’t pay it they would think I had wasted there time. They was already being very pushy at this stage and because I had been considering it I thought what’s the worst, however she had booked my surgery for a week and a half after my initial consultation meaning I only had days to think about my decision. I was told I would speak to a consultant prior to surgery which did not happen and when I asked if I could they said well your surgery is too close so now we can't organise this. I then went on to call them to ask several more questions as I was getting anxious at this stage, to be given a long list of side effects I was not made aware of before paying my £500 deposit. I asked for this back on the phone and they said that would not now be possible. I also googled the suregon and seen bad reports about him. I have also signed up to a 0% finance agreement and with surgery due tomorrow I really don’t want it and don’t know how to best proceed!
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admin: Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Update ...
i got my £500 deposit back with the help from Sasha in less then a week...
These crooks wasn't responding to any calls or emails and didn't want to refund my money ...as soon as Sasha got involved they abruptly called me and gave me a refund to my bank...
I was a bit dubious that I'd get it back... lovely to have someone dedicated to fight our corner against these disgusting crooks thank you so very much for your help

Dear Sasha iam hoping you can help with this issue, In February of this year , I decided to treat myself to lens replacement surgery so made a appointment at OE,s Leicester branch(14 Feb) after several tests i was told I was suitable for surgery. But at a cost of £7790 ,I said I could not afford that so was given a 10% discount which made the cost £7011 which I agreed to so paid £500 deposit.
On the day of the surgery (9th March) I checked into OE,s Nottingham branch. After 2hrs of tests the surgeon said she couldn't recommend surgery because of slight pitting on the lens surface, she informed me that I would receive a full refund within 28 days.... 27 days later funds were deposited into my account minus £500
So on the 5th April I contacted OE to enquire about the missing £500 when I was told that even though the surgeon said she would not recommend surgery I still could have had the procedure, so based on that I would incur a admin fee.
2 days later I received an email from OE saying it would hold a investigation which could take up 3 wks, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Stephen Oldfield
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admin: This is a definite complaint for the GOC!
Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to Sasha for helping me get my full £500 deposit back. You have helped so many people and continue to do so not only in helping people get back their deposits but also helping to raise awareness of the actual risks involved in Lazer eye surgery that seem to be kept hush hush.
Thank god you're doing what you're doing keep up the great work you're an absolute star.