Deposit Refunds

Many thanks for your invaluable help in getting my deposit back! OE rang me within 12 hours and said they would refund my deposit. Got this credited back after a day or so. Very happy to donate to your campaign in thanks.

I payed a deposit of £395 to Optical Express Bluewater after an eye consultation without the 72 hour cancellation period for a refund being explained. At that consultation I explained to the sales person that I might want to cancel and seek a refund of my deposit, but she reassured me that this was OK, which threw me into a false sense of security.

She promised me a call back the day after, which would have been an opportunity to notify them of my change of mind, but she did not call or leave a message and when I phoned I was left on hold for longer than I had time to talk.

The number I was given does not connect you straight through to customer services, you talk to a receptionist who says they'll put you through, but leaves you on hold.

I eventually got some sense out of the phone receptionist who arranged a call back 7 days after paying the deposit, and 7 days before my procedure was booked. Then I was told this horrific piece of news that my £395 was non refundable. They did hand me some paperwork on the day but I had drops in my eyes and couldn't read it. Is there anything I can do to get my money back?

Regards Adam

I cancelled my surgery on the August Bank Holiday 2014 and after a bit of too and frowing I had a phone call to say I would be getting a FULL refund to my respective cards within 28 days (ie £400 to my credit card and £2,595 to my debit card).
I am still waiting.....................
I have tried phoning today (1st October) and had to leave my name and contact number for a call back...............still waiting.
Also contacted the Optical Express in Merry Hill and played dumb that I got the wrong number, they said they would look into it and get back to me..............still waiting.
Hope I don't get to the point where I loose my temper with them as I think I have been patient enough in waiting for this refund. They have had my money for over a month now!

Went to Harley street clinic on Saturday 27th September and after my consultation was like everyone else given a 'special deal'. Wanted to think about it but was practically made to pay a deposit and was advised have 72 hours (3 days) to think about it and if don't want to go ahead can cancel and my deposit would be refunded.

Over the weekend I did my research and stumbled upon this page and from reading the comments and reviews I was disgusted and wanted to cancel. An email on Sunday evening was sent to the customer care department advising I want my deposit back as I want to cancel the appointment. I then spoke to Lynsay from the customer care department on Monday 29th (48 hours) advising her to cancel my appointment and to refund my deposit, she advised cancellation department would call me today but so far nothing. I don't want to take any chances. I just want my deposit back. Please help !!!

Hi I paid my £400 deposit a few weeks ago and have a date booked for November 26th.
After looking in to things a bit more I have now changed my mind. I have become very anxious about this and I just want to get a refund.
I would like to know what is the best way to go about this as I fear it won't be easy.
Many Thanks
xx
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admin: Please email admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Hi
Optical Express should not be allowed to trade ever again, I have been trying to get my deposit back from them since 30th January 2014 because I decided not to go ahead with the treatment.

They have given me the run around and now I have to through a small claims court. I thought about giving up but £681 is a lot of money to me. Everytime I try and talk to them I get the same story! I have sent a recorded delivery letter and got nothing back. It's nice to know that other people have taken them to court and won, more people need to know what's going on as its all lies just to get your money, and more lies when you try and get it back! But I will keep plugging. Please can you help me?

Hi there,

OE still have my £400 deposit and I don't know how to get it back. I was subject to very aggressive sales tactics on the day of consultation and told to pay then and there without time to consider, even though they had clearly already identified extreme dryness with my eyes which they said "should" be no problem and promptly booked me in for 2 wks later.

To cut a long story short on the day of surgery they said my eyes were not suitable and that I'd need further tests.

The patient care and explanation was practically non-existent and at this point I realised that my eyes were never suitable at the time they took the deposit; and that I don't want to go ahead with OE anymore.

However, when I told them this they refused to refund the deposit unless I go through the whole process again and am deemed unsuitable a second time!

I just can't believe that as a lawyer myself, I fell for such an obvious ploy to take my money without any due care for my actual wellbeing.

Any advice would be amazing as I desperately want my money back.

Many thanks,
Ella
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admin: Please email admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Since around March this year I have been suffering with severe Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC) and forced to stop wearing contact lenses. Even if it the doctor hadn't ordered me to, I simply could not stand the pain of the blisters under my eyelids and the constant dryness with or without contact lenses in my eyes. I have been in and out of Specsavers trying different lenses, drops, etc for 6 months.

After unsuccessful attempts to control the GPC with various drops (incl antibiotics) I was referred to the Gloucester Royal Hospital, where I saw an eye specialist on 07.08.2014. Even though I had not worn contact lenses for months she confirmed GPC was still active. My eyes are painfully dry and sore and I was told to stick to glasses for good. After asking about laser eye surgery and whether it would be an option, she said that the infection needed to clear first, but this might be a possibility in the future.

I scheduled a free consultation with OE for 06.09.2014 just to see if I could have it done as I previously heard that astigmatism is quite tricky and wanted to know the price. I had no intention whatsoever of rushing into booking then as I needed to do my research.  I consider myself responsible when making serious decisions - but here I am, now £2,552 out of pocket…

I indicated on the patient form that I suffer from GPC and made sure the optometrist knew it too, but looking back, I am sure he downplayed it and blamed it on hay fever. He did not check the state of my eyes and definitely did not look under my eye lids. All he did was give a scripted sales pitch and checked the correction I require. He told me I am THE PERFECT CANDIDATE and the procedure would be straightforward. I was then taken to a separate room, where Helena was meant to speak to me about payment options, etc.

Suddenly I was offered a goodwill discount of £600 if I booked 29.09.2014 for my procedure. My husband was with me (and paid the deposit with his bank card) and couldn’t believe that from going just for an informational chat, things turned out to be so serious.

And I fell for it… I paid £400 deposit on the day, and the balance on Tuesday 09.9.2014. On the Thursday we went away for a few days.

On our return five days later I started looking through the paperwork.  My sister had booked a day off work to accompany me... then I noticed that OE asks people to get in touch immediately if they suffer from certain conditions, conjunctivitis being one of them. 

Hold on! This is me. I have GPC!!! So I called the number provided and the lady told me that if my GPC is active I can’t have procedure done. I  asked why didn’t anyone tell me that when I was being “consulted"?! She said that if I went to Birmingham when they checked my eyes they would tell me they can’t proceed.  I called the OE Cheltenham branch and spoke to Helena (branch is only open on Saturdays but I remember Helena saying that they’re in on Tuesdays for training) who confirmed that indeed, my patient form did prove I had indicated GPC and agreed I wouldn’t be able to have it done. I said that I was unhappy that I'd received such a poorly informed consultation and tricked into paying £2,552.  She told me no problem, she’d pass my details to the cancellations department who would contact me. She didn’t know when!

I did receive a call back and voicemail next day.  I called back immediately but no one was there to speak to me. The same happened on Thursday.  By Friday I was determined to talk to someone, so by 2pm I decided to call them. Obviously Diana was not at her desk. Nor was the other person from the same department. I said I would not give up until I spoke to someone. I was on hold for 20 minutes and finally got to speak to Diana. I told her how I was told by 2 people at OE (central number and Cheltenham branch) that if GPC is active, the procedure cannot be done.

Diana told me she doesn’t know what GPC is and will have to check if it really is a contraindicator for laser eye surgery. I said I am unhappy for them to be treating me like this and sending me conflicting messages. GPC or not, obviously I was pressured into buying something I wasn’t sure I even wanted in the first place and obviously not meant to have at all!

I politely asked for my money back to which she replied that she needed to check with someone to let me know if I qualify for the cancellation. I have heard nothing and cannot begin to express the amount of stress my naivety has caused me.

Please can you help me?
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admin: Pls contact admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk :kiss:

With the help of Sasha I have finally been refunded my money back by OE. I dont understand why they had to overcomplicate the situtation by wanting to keep my money. Without Sasha I probably would never have got my money back. Thanks so much again I have donated to your cause!

I came across this website after having had a bad experience with Optical Express. I have not had eye surgery with them, but I was considering it and it went as far as me going in for the procedure only to be told I couldn’t have it on the day. Since then there has been poor communication, bad customer service and they are also refusing to return my deposit. They kept me in the dark about why I couldn't have the procedure and any explanations were half baked. I was told to take eye drops and come in for more scans. When I did, it was totally disorganised. I was kept waiting for ages and when I was called in the person didn't know how to even switch the machine on and I was told go to back to the waiting area.

After this, I would not ever consider surgery with them.

I have read the information on your website and forum with much interest and I am appalled at how many people have been treated badly by OE who are just out to make money from people and do not care about the individual. I am grateful for any advice you can offer on how to get my deposit back?
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admin: Pls contact admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk :kiss: