Sandeep's Story
Aged 29, I had Lasik Wavefront in October 2012 at Oprical Express Bluewater clinic and this is a brief account of my experience to date.
At my consultation the counsellor was pushy & rude when questioned on statistics, failed to organise a number of things, including finance and the one day aftercare appointment, falsely claiming my local clinic was not open on Saturday wanting me to travel 50 miles to another clinic!
My contact details were incorrectly recorded resulting in mail and numerous calls to a wrong address. I persistently told them to amend them, which it took my last call on 7 December to achieve.
Wavefront mis-sold. Results are non-existent, if at all. OE repeatedly move the goalpost for recovery time on halo/starburst and night vision & I am still in the same position I began with. First told that lights would dim down gradually, which they are not. Eye are dry and frequently bloodshot too.
One of the eye drops container given to me after surgery was unsealed. David Mungall tried to cover this up (saying they used those drop in surgery) despite my Optometrist assuring me they should be sealed. I believe this is negligence that could have caused a nasty infection or even loss of sight.
Aftercare failure especially on 1 week aftercare. Spent an entire Saturday from 9am to 4pm, at two clinics, being told nothing they were trying to contact the Surgeon. I later found out they'd only tried by email!
After 3 hours I was told that Surgeon was unreachable, but they did say my left eye was double the normal pressure. No explanation given for the cause!
Then told they did not have the necessary eye drops and I would have to make a 50 mile trip to another clinic to collect them. Failure in duty of care and breach of their terms of contract to provide adequate aftercare. I don't feel like I have been looked after at all.
I made an official complaint on 19 October and twenty subsequent phone calls. Each time asked again to summarise my complaint, and falsely promised a call back in the next day or two - never called back until 7 December, with no resolution.
Surely this breachesindustry regulations where complaints must be dealt with in a reasonable time, like the 8 weeks set in the banking industry?
A 10% discount was offered by David Mungall on 7 December 2012 but this is an insult considering the results. The product was mis-sold and by their own admission the aftercare and customer service is below the standards expected by Optical Express.
Factoring in my time, travel expenses, cost of calls to OE, distress and inconvenience, this is worth more than 10%. Let alone the £2,440 procedure cost with failed results.
I was also offered the chance to go to the "Waiting Room" in Harley Street which I declined.
When I questioned why I couldn't have have the same tests to compare against my prescreening results at my local clinic I was told I could but they are better equipped in London with their top consultant Jan Venter. Again I questioned this, saying that for the purpose of a fair comparison surely it would be better to compare results using the same equipment that I was prescreened against?
If Optical Express were taking me and their duty of care responsibilities seriously they would have arranged to compare prescreening results as soon as I highlighted my night vision problems from the outset, without my needing to threaten legal action.
On 14 December 2012 I sent a letter of complaint asking for a full refund and an independent consultation. Nearly three weeks later and no response!
If you want false promises and non-existent aftercare choose Optical Express. They will take your money and persistently fob you off with meaningless excuses rather than take responsibility for their actions hoping you will just go away.
I won't.
Sandeep.