Deposit Refunds

Seems like OE has a certain way of doing things as my experience with the free consultation was very similar to the ones I have read here.

I visited OE's Shaftesbury Avenue branch on Saturday 9th of August with an appointment booked for 4pm. Nobody actually talked to me for nearly an hour, eventually they did all the necessary eye tests. I was not eligible for laser, so they recommended the Phakic IOL procedure and finally I was speaking to Sophie Greenhalgh about the cost and next steps. I am not even sure how it happened but she has managed to pressure me into paying a deposit of £500. I was not comfortable with this, but Sophie reassured me that should I change my mind I can get a refund in a matter of few days (She forgot to mention the 72 hour refund time limit by the way).

I've spent the rest of the weekend researching the procedure and realised I am not comfortable with it and decided to back out. I visited the branch today (Monday), called their customer services as well as emailed, demanding a refund and I will not accept the waiting time of 28 days. I am well within their 72 hour time-frame and expect to be refunded in the same rushed way as payment was taken from me... Let's see what happens.

P.S. I am glad I came across this site. I would not put my health into OE's hands as they came across as unprofessional and incompetent.

Imrich

I am delighted to inform you all that after a couple of months of waiting patiently I have finally been contacted by Optical Express Customer Care department to discuss my deposit of £500. Thankfully I have been informed that this will be refunded into my account within 3-5 days.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sasha for all her advice and support in getting this outcome and will be making a donation to her fund raising campaign.

Good luck for the future!
Margaret

How many people have had an "accidental" extra month DD payment taken from their account?

It happen every few months... with 30 days for the refund to be returned or
"We will just credit your account with a free pair of contact lenses for the next month".

Has this happened to anyone else?

I have had confirmation this morning that I will be getting my refund back - the lady that called was very helpful and understanding.

It appears like I am in a similiar situation in getting my refund back!

I have contacted Optical Express on numerous occasions and have always been promised a phone call back but never had one.

I paid a deposit of £400.00 and now want my money back for various reasons, including poor customer service, lack of information about surgery etc.

If I do not hear back from them soon I will pursue legal advice.

A few days after posting on this forum I got a missed call followed by an email to contact Terri at my convenience. I phoned but she had already left so they said they would leave a message for her to call next day.

Again I missed the call, received another email to call, phoned Terri who took my card details and said the refund would be in my bank account in 3-5 days.

I'm very happy and relieved. If it wasn't for Sasha I wouldn't have got my money back. Thank you for all your help.
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admin: Knowing that OERML stops so many people risking their eyes makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Janine, thank you so much for your very generous donation to MBE!
fundrazr.com/campaigns/3kL86

So you were advised to undergo a surgical procedure to induce monovision without a contact lens trial first! That is seriously concerning.Thank goodness the surgeon was paying attention. You are not the first, see Sybil's story and the consequences. Yet, here we are with this still happening years down the line. This must have been disappointing and bewildering for you but thank goodness surgery did not go ahead.

Hard to have any confidence after this episode and the "someone will phone" but NOBODY phones scenario is symptomatic of the fragmented model of care which is Optical Express.

Also, this signing of a contract/paperwork with dilated pupils is arguably like signing a consent form AFTER having been given a "pre- med".

I am sure Sasha can help you receive a refund.

I had a consultation at Meadowhall, Sheffield on 23rd June. The refractive optometrist Junaid Manir recommended I have one eye lasered, telling me that I would then have one brilliant long distance vision eye and one brilliant short distance vision eye (mono vision). And that my brain would chose which eye was the dominant eye. It sounded absolutely perfect.

I had dilating drops applied before booking the surgery. Then I was told I couldn't book without a £400 deposit. I was not shown any paperwork. I was not told it was non-refundable.

One month later, on 21st July, I went for my surgery. The surgeon Mr Erik De Koning asked me if I had worn a contact lens in the eye being lasered. I said no. He asked how then could I know if my brain can make the switch between dominant eyes and told me 95% of people can but 5% can't, and I might be one of the 5%.

I said this was completely new information to me. He said I should have been told this at my consultation. I was very grateful that the surgeon was so honest and open with me and found him completely professional.

He refused to operate that day and told me to try a contact lens first. I was told Meadowhall would phone me "within two or three days" for an appt to teach me how to put in the contact lens.

Nobody phoned me. This added to my concerns about Optical Express's professionalism.

On Saturday 26th July I phoned to cancel and get my deposit back. Amanda said someone would phone me on Monday 28th July. No one phoned.

I phoned Optical Express again on Tuesday 29th July. Again explained I wanted to cancel because of my concerns about how unprofessional they were.

Nicola phoned me today and said because I'd backed out, not them, they would not refund my deposit. I pointed out that I had backed out because of their shoddy service.

I would be most grateful if you could advise me on how to get my money back.

Many many thanks,

Jane
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admin: Pls email me: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

I went to have a consultation at the Peterborough branch on the 20th May, excited at the prospect of having no glasses to wear after listening to sales assistant and optometrist saying how good it was. They told me I needed RLE for both eyes and it 'd cost just under £4000. I gave £500 deposit and signed the agreement, which I couldn't see!

Then after a week or so I started to have doubts and I stumbled across this website. I phoned OE on 7 June to cancel and asked for a refund, but was told I could not have it. The woman I spoke to quoted the 72 hour cancellation policy, which was never explained to me before and as I couldn't see the agreement I signed I knew nothing about it! She said she'd send me a link to explain the RLE procedure and stop me worrying about it.

After reading this I said I still did not want to go ahead and wanted a refund. She then said she'd get one of the surgeons to call me to put my mind at rest. I declined her offer saying It would not make any difference to my decision. Basically she said I could not have my deposit back.

£500 is a lot of money to anyone, and I realise I should have thought about it more, but the sales assistant and the optometrist convinced me there were no problems I needed to worry about and put a lot of pressure on me to sign up there and then.

They lied to me and I want my money back!

I have just had the most horrid experience with Optical Express.

I had a three hour consultation at the Westfield, London clinic three weeks ago. Their so called professional experts told me that I was suitable for the laser surgery and took my money. I turned up at the Harley Street clinic as scheduled on Fri. After more than an hour wait, the surgeon just told me that he couldn't perform the surgery because I was not suitable for the laser treatment. And I have to wait 28 working days to get my money back. This is the most disastrous experience I've ever had in this country. The service they provide is extremely poor for the reasons below:

1. Misleading and wrong information given at the consultation at the Westfield Clinic:
Here I had a three hour consultation with Refractive 'Technician' Andra Ciucos, and Refractive Optometrist Elizabeth Vourazeri.

They did all the scans and eye tests, and told me that I was suitable for Lasek iDesign treatment. Elizabeth explained that the reason for recommending this treatment was because of my high short sighted vision.

I seriously doubt if they are qualified to carry out this type of consultation! During the whole consultation, they didn't show me a Laser Eye surgery Consent Video as mentioned in their T&Cs

2. Poor customer service at the Harley Street Clinic:
When I arrived on Fri as scheduled. As soon as I got there, I was taken to a room for the same scans I'd had during my consultation. They took about 10 minutes, then I was told to wait to speak to the surgeon.

I waited for more than 1 hour, but nothing happened. I had to ask the receptionist how much longer I needed to wait but all she told me was again to wait. After another 15 minutes my name was finally called to see the surgeon, Dr Manek Patel, who told me that he couldn't perform the surgery because I wasn't suitable. No explanation , instead, he recommended me to do have Lens implants. I asked him to explain this treatment to me, but he told me to wait and someone else would give me more details. I was rushed out of the surgeon's room after only two minutes of being there.

Their service is even worse then NHS! Such a long wait, no explanations from the surgeon, no information to update me while I was waiting. Nobody explaining the lens implants, instead another leaflet was given to me and I was told to book another consultation.

3. Their refund process is in breach of Consumer Rights
During my consultation at the Westfield clinic I was asked for a £700 deposit, and a 10 months finance agreement with Hitachi instalment was set up for me. No refund policy was explained to me at all - and I only agreed to pay because I was told that I was suitable for laser surgery.

After Dr Patel told me that I couldn't have this surgery, nobody came to explain to about the refund policy until I again asked the receptionist. Then a woman, (I didn't get her name, but guess she is the clinic manager) and Alex told me that I have to wait 28 working days to get my money refunded.

28 working days is a ridiculous amount of time to wait for a refund of payment for something I've never received. I have already consulted my solicitor who told me that I shouldn't have been charged in the first place for the treatment they falsely promised and failed to deliver!

My boyfriend is an IT contractor and paid on a daily rate. He took a half day off because of this surgery, so he's lost a half day's income, in addition to my three weeks of anticipation, preparation and taking an extra day from work, because of their incompetent consultation process.

Optical Express - Big AVOID!!!