To be cross with Specsavers

You may be interested to hear that they have finally come up trumps - they have put my old prescription in the new frames and refunded me the cost of the "free" pair that I now no longer need as I have my old glasses as a spare. The spare is not free for me as I have a complicated prescription and have to pay extra.

It is a bit sigh-making that I had to make a fuss to get them to sort it out - I hate all that. But my glasses are so expensive, I was not prepared to waste the money.

My husband lost a little screw from his specs when we were in France, so we popped into an independent opticians and they repaired them free of charge. So pleasant and obliging too. I've never had any problems with Specsavers, they've always got my prescription right and I've even been able to have varifocals on trial with no obligation to buy! That was some years ago. Nevertheless I will be switching to Tesco simply because I can drive straight there, with free parking, whereas I have to go into town for SS, pay for parking, then walk some distance from and to the car park. I struggle with walking these days due to arthritis and severe pain in my feet, so the switch to Tesco makes perfect sense.
Well done LG for getting what you wanted

It was a Specsavers optician who realised that DH had had a stroke even though our GP rubbished his diagnosis. He badgered and fully supported my desperate attempts to get something done. He implored DH to stop driving immediately and it was his letter that impressed the consultant when I finally managed to get a referral.

I was so choked with emotion when I went back to thank him I could barely speak.

My 'Man of the Year' 2010

after years of going for cheapest, tescos offers, boots etc I went to my local independent as they caught me in a good mood. Glasses OK but pricey. But he did tests which he said showed marginal pressure problems, and referred me to hospital testing regime. I'm now in their system for annual detailed checkups. Would this have been picked up at tescos?

If we don't support our independent opticians there will only be Spesavers and the like. Not a happy prospect!

Ours is fine too in my (limited) experience. I've had 1 pair of varifocals from them but get my contact lenses and eye tests from our local optician who is too pricey for glasses which I just wear in the evenings. When the leg of my glasses was wearing loose, ages after I got them, Specsavers mended them free of charge. I think they should get some points too for their imaginative sponsoring of football referees!

I have never had any problem with Specsavers; DH and i have used them for a few years now.

The side fell off my reading specs when I was in Australia - I went into Specsavers there and asked if they would screw it back on and they said it would cost me $20, so I bought a pair of reading glasses for $10 from the chemists instead.
When I got home I took them in for repair and they were horrified and said that Specsavers over there should have repaired them free of charge.

I tried varifocals from Specsavers for a fortnight but I felt queasy and decided they weren't for me; they changed them for bifocals and gave me a refund of the difference.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten how helpful they are if you lose one of those tiny screws that hold the arms of the specs on - DH was always having his replaced, all free of charge.

I've not had any problems with our Specsavers. I bought one pair of glasses with rather thick plastic frames and found they were just too heavy to wear all day and became very painful. I went back and they made me up a new pair in a different frame with no problem at all. I've gone in now and again for little tweaks when the frames have become loose and everything is done on the spot.

I've never had any problem with Specsavers either, and they've always agreed to fit new lenses in my old frames.

I did try Boots many years ago and wasn't happy with either the service or the choice of frames - and as they charge for frames and lenses separately it was far more expensive.

Our Specsavers seem good and very helpful.
Vision Express were absolutely terrible - they made up the prescription wrongly then were rude about making it up again correctly.

Specsavers is local to us and to get anywhere else, eg Boots or Tesco, would mean a very long trek. We have a local optician but he is very expensive.

I've been banging on about this bunch of charletons for years.
I started wearing glasses before I started school, so that's roughly 65 years, so I think I know a bit about eye tests and prescriptions.
Like a lot of people I fell for sales spiel when they first came on the market.
I had never had anything go wrong with a prescription before so I was unprepared for the horror that the presented me with.
The floor was coming up to meet me!!!! They told me I would get used to them!!!!
To cut a long story short, it got to the shouty stage in the shop before I got my money back.
I stick to a small independent optician.

I paid specsavers for coatings on my lenses which I am sure they have not applied. I thought anti glare came as standard, but I am dazzled by oncoming traffic, and can see a reflection in the corners of the lenses. It might well be that these lenses are quite a bit stronger than my previous ones, and that may be the reason. I ought to have taken them back to check, but didn't and persevered with them. Do you think it's too late now, after eighteen months? If I take them back and they want to retain them to test I will not be able to go to work, read or drive!

Didn't like Specsavers, Vision Express made a serious mistake. I swear by Boots and the very efficient and sympathetic optician who looks after me.

Three week wait for new specs , which I expect will be four weeks, grrrr

Our Specsavers is brilliant, as I have posted a few times before so I guess it is a case of each individual franchise varies.

Annoying though..

I had my hearing tested there some years back and they said I needed aids in both ears and quoted some enormous price. I went and had it checked out elsewhere and they said the need for aids was borderline and recommended I wait.

I don't think I've ever had a good experience with specsavers - an annoying company from start to finish. red tape everywhere to make them more money

Think you are right Luckygirl

I used to go to Specsavers but they refused to put new lenses into my old frames and I had to buy new ones which I did not like as much. Also the price kept going up as I made my choices.

I changed to Asda last time and was pleased with the test and the price of my new glasses. There was an offer if I bought two pairs so I paid a bit extra for one of them and got lenses that go dark in the sun.

Have given them up in favour of Tesco 4 years ago. Superb service

They've just rung back and said they will happily put my old prescription in the new frames - no problem. So why did they refuse when I was there this morning! Maybe the mention that I might want my money back lit the right fuse!

I've had all my specs from them. I've never really been happy with any of them, but I'm unsure whether my expectations are unreasonable or there's something wrong with the glasses. I keep going back to them in an attempt to avoid changing frames, because I find it so difficult to get ones that fit.