Deposit Refunds

Hi I’m looking for some advice on the below email I received from optical express. They won’t give back the £500 deposit on a surgery that was technically never booked! Any advice would be appreciated.


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admin: They do try, but of course they're not legally entitled to keep your money!
It shows desperation, as Optical Express is apparently in dire financial straits, with the owner allegedly in meltdown
Please send your phone number: sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

I would like to thank Sasha for her support. OE have now responded and will refund the total amount that was paid for the consultation and deposit.

Sasha, your support and efforts are invaluable and without it, we would certainly be worse off. I would also like to thank you for your guidance as I am quite lucky to not have gone ahead with the surgery.

Best wishes,

Ali
advance.
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admin: I’m glad you discovered the risks before it was too late!
If my work saves just one person from the damaging effects of refractive surgery, it makes it all worthwhile

I had been considering laser eye surgery for a while and finally made myself go for a consultation with Optical Express in Harley Street. When I booked it I was charged a £30 fee for my consultation and told it would be refunded to me once I attended.*



Everything went well with my appointment on 23rd September, and I was recommended LASIK iDesign which is apparently the most suitable, and I was booked in for surgery on 24th November. I paid a deposit of £491, but further research made me have some doubts after seeing accounts from so many people who have experienced complications with their surgery.

Previously, I have been told by an optician that I have dry eyes (for life by the way) and should take drops, which do help to some extent, and now discovered that laser surgery will exacerbate this condition and cause discomfort more than it already does. This was not told to me by Optical Express.

I should mention that I did not speak to a surgeon and was not told who mine would be.

I have now decided to cancel my surgery after seeing so many cases of people having complications and issues, especially those who have dry eyes after the same surgery. Eyes are so precious and taking the risk with them is not something I wanted to go ahead with.

After contacting OE to cancel and get a refund, I was told that since it is out of the ‘3 days’ time limit I would only get 50% of my deposit back. So not only am I yet to see my £30 consultation fee refunded, but I am also out of pocket on my deposit.

I hope you are able to assist with getting my refund and deposit back as this is a lot of money, and absolutely ridiculous on Optical Express’s part in providing a small window of 3 days to claim your money back on a lifetime decision!

Thanks in advance.
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admin: As I’ve commented before, OE’s practice of refusing to refund the full deposit outside 3 days of payment is based on their own version of consumer rights, and is not legal!
And no-one should ever be approved for (any) surgery by anyone but a GMC registered surgeon medically qualified to perform such operations, with the patient fully informed of the accompanying risks
Please send your phone number: sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

*This is the first time I’ve heard of OE charging a refundable consultation fee, as Optimax have been doing for a few years. So I just called OE, said I’m considering surgery, and asked is there a consultation fee? After battling to get an answer, with the sales person diving straight in, pushing me to provide my details, she finally and somewhat aggressively answered my question, that the consultation is definitely free, no charge. She was still trying to pitch when I hung up on her. (I recorded the call.)

So why was Ali charged £30?

Just received back £500 deposit. All credit goes to sasha, thanks for ur help n support!

Hi Sasha,

I went to Optical Express for a consultation on the 21st of July, where I was pressured right there to put down a deposit and book my surgery.
This was a first red flag so I declined, but did book on the 25th after more pressuring and paid a £500 deposit over the phone.
I was booked for surgery on the 15th August with a Surgeon Consultation to meet Dr Sajjad Mughal just before on the 9th August.

On the 9th I was given a very poor impression of the surgeon and company overall when the appointment was booked for 3 o'clock, and after waiting for 10 minutes, was told via chat that actually this was a 1h window between 3 and 4.

At that point I cancelled the surgery altogether, and was told I'd be contacted by a retention team, and I should get my refund within 28 days.

I chased the refund 3 times in total, and the third time was told because the surgery was cancelled more than 3 days after it was booked, I was only going to receive £250.

I hope you're able to help as this a lot of money I only finished university recently and don't earn a lot.

CB
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admin: As I’ve commented before, OE’s practice of refusing to refund the full deposit outside 3 days of payment is based on their own version of consumer rights, and it is not legal!
And no-one should ever be approved for (any) surgery by anyone but a surgeon medically qualified to perform such operations, and the patient fully informed of the accompanying risks.
Contrary to the way refractive surgery is sold, this is NOT a cosmetic procedure, it is an invasive medical operation on your most precious organs!
Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk
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Hi Sasha,
My wife’s prescription is -1.75, and she doesn’t need glasses, but she thought she might but didn’t want to wear them so we went to Optical Express in Nottingham on 17th August.

We were carried away by the staff marketing skills and pressed to pay £500 deposit the same day and they booked her for lasik surgery with Dr Sajjad Mughal on 5th October.

Then we were sent email changing it to 26th September without asking us. But we had already decided to cancel when we came home from the store and the sales person had told us if my wife changed her mind she could cancel and that someone would call to discuss credit check for finance option. We waited for them to call so we could tell them we were not going ahead.



25th Aug no one had called so I called OE customer services 0800 number to cancel. The man asked reason and I said we had changed our minds and he said it would be up to 28 days to refund.

I waited 25 days and called them again. A different man told me I was only entitled to £250 because had not cancelled within 3 days. Until yesterday we had no idea of this policy.

We paid with a credit card.

Please can you help us?

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admin: As you paid with a credit card the provider can usually refund the payment. Unfortunately debit cards don’t have the same protection.
Regardless of which, OE’s practice of refusing to refund the full deposit outside 3 days is based on their own version of consumer rights, and not legal. No-one should ever be approved for (any) surgery without first having been examined by a surgeon in person!
Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Good Morning Sasha,

Just a quick message to say that I had a call from head office on Friday to ask for my credit card details to enable them to refund the deposit!

I asked how much that they would be refunding - “the full amount as you cancelled within the time frame”.
This was after receiving their email that I would only receive £250.

Checked this morning, all settled 😊

“Thank You” for the support you gave me during this nasty experience.

Big kisses to you,
Angela Xx

I had an appointment at Optical Express in Norwich on Friday 8th September.
Their Terms & Conditions were handed to me after I paid the deposit and eye drops had been administered to both eyes.
I was not aware of the document until after the credit card transaction had taken place.
As the deposit was being paid to the staff member I was informed that I would receive an email the following day with the details of the surgery (date & time) and the surgeon’s name.
I paid the deposit in good faith, expecting to receive the email on Saturday 9th September.
I was also informed that Optical Express in Norwich does not open on Sundays.
I did not receive the email as promised.
I also digitally signed some other forms on a handheld device whilst being taken around the various rooms and eye drops administered. The questions were read out to me but I didn’t see them
I was told these were to be placed in my Patients Hub where you can view your signed documents.
The terms and conditions do not show my full name on the document.
It does not show the amount of the Deposit paid.
It does not show the amount of Balance to be paid.
It does not show the name of the Surgeon.
It does not show the date of the surgery.

As I did not receive the email as promised and no documents were placed on the Patients Hub and no amount showing on the credit card receipt, I cancelled the “booking” on Tuesday 12th September and was then informed that my £500 deposit would not be refunded because I was too late cancelling after three days.

Please note that no surgery had been booked for me up until the time of my “Cancellation”.

This process appears to be a scam OE to withhold the £500.

OE also informed me that should my surgery go “wrong” then the NHS will “right” their procedure 😳

OE made it clear that they preferred me to pay the deposit with a debit card, not a credit card, but at least I didn’t fall for that one. With a credit card it is easy to get back your money, not so with a debit card. I have contacted my credit card company and will keep you posted re my refund.

Since “cancelling” I received this email this morning and they have now deleted everything from my patient hub.

Hi Sasha,

A few weeks ago I booked in for LASIK in Belfast, Northern Ireland and paid a deposit of £395. The surgeon I was allocated was Dr Huba Kiss.

I started doing some more online research and thankfully came across your site and started to feel very nervous about going through with the procedure.

I went to a scan appointment on Friday to which I was told I would not be suitable for LASIK and I would need iDesign Lasik at an additional cost per eye of £200 so £400 in total - I was told at my initial appointment in Derry, iDesign was not for me but now being told by Belfast my pupils are large so iDesign is my only option.

I questioned the optometrist Mary about additional risks associated with having large pupils such as halos with nighttime driving as well as all the other horror stories I heard online. She wasn't interested in hearing anything I had to say, and when I asked for percentages of side affects/complications her response was here are my percentages, the surgeon will have his own. I said statistics shouldn't differ from person to person, again she wasn't interested. She did not want to be challenged or questioned about the risks. I was due to have a video consultation with Huba Kiss later this month - Mary advised I could voice any concerns to him. However I'm not quite sure how a video call could offer me any reassurance as he isn't even going to examine my eyes??

My surgery was already due to cost £5090, but now they want £5490. I emailed the Derry clinic where I had my first appointment to say I would not be going ahead with the procedure as it was not the one I signed up for and did not have the additional £400 in my budget. I was planning on not going ahead with the surgery anyway as it seemed much too risky, so I thought I would have to fight for my deposit. But as they changed the surgery I was due to have am I entitled to a full refund of the £395 deposit? Neither the Derry/Belfast clinics are answering my calls and Nicole from Derry has not replied to my email requesting to cancel the procedure.

I was hoping you could help. Thank you very much for everything you do for people who are a lot worse off than me.

Mairéad
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admin: Lasik v iDesign Lasik - I don’t think any of them know what they’re talking about!
I heard from someone in Belfast that OE allegedly struggling to stay afloat, so that might explain pressuring you for more money.
Regardless, you’re entitled to a full refund
Please send your phone number: sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Hi Sasha,
I’m 46, and was due to have lens replacement surgery at Optical Express White City Westfield store last Friday, however on meeting the surgeon two days before he discovered an issue with my retinas and said the surgery could not go ahead.
I got a phone call last Friday saying I would get a full £7000 refund but that it would take 28 days. Is this correct that it takes this long? I also asked the caller to put it an email confirming that I would get a full refund - I never got the email.
Are you able to offer any advice please?
Thanks
Paul
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admin: Amazed that you got to see the surgeon before the day of surgery, as OE’s cost cutting exercises in recent years have mostly done away with that right! (I’m told they’ve also cut down on the amount of anaesthetic drops they administer during ops!)
Besides the fact that at 46 you’re too young for RLE, they have no legal right to keep your money for even 24 hrs, let alone 28 (working!) days
Please send your phone number: sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk