Specsavers Opticians (Shop)

To look at me now, 6 foot tall and just under 13 stone (sorry, don't do metric) it's hard to believe I was only 3lb 10ozs when born very prematurely in the mid 1960's.

I thought I'd got away pretty luckily however eye problems surfaced in my late twenties that were put down to my eye muscles not developing properly. This resulted in an operation on both eyes that subsequently failed and later I needed regular botox injections in the eyes to paralyse the muscles. Oh how I wished they'd kept some for my laughter lines!

As a result of the above I've been a regular frequenter of opticians and have used Specsavers on a number of occasions. Now I know branches can vary, however my experience has not been particularly good.

I have one eye a little weaker than the other, and need regular changes to my prescription. On two separate and unrelated visits they mixed the two lenses up which obviously did not help a great deal. If you happen to wear glasses, you are always told with new spectacles that it takes a while to adjust to a new prescription and for a couple of days I drove around with less than perfect vision. Not ideal.

My daughter, who is now 12, also visited Specsavers and was told her eyes were fine following an examination, and when I was paying for the test I'd noticed that the optician had put the word 'malingerer' on the test sheet. I then thought my daughter had been trying it on just to get glasses to look cool. How times have changed from when I was in school.

However, only a few months later, we had to take her to be checked again, at a different opticians this time, and not only did she need glasses for shortsightedness but they found crystals on her eyes necessitating a trip to the hospital. This had been missed by Specsavers.

Specsavers stores can be found in most towns. They carry out eye tests relatively cheaply and apart from glasses also cover contact lenses as well.

My impression is that the eye tests are carried out a little to quickly for my liking as they have an appointment system and appear to have a set amount of time for each test and the opticians always appear harassed and rushed.

In terms of choice, they have a wide range of glasses for men, women, and children with unisex frames as well. The prices range from cheap to more expensive designer frames. A good plus is that they invariably have two for one offers and the prices are clearly described with no hidden charges. You can pay extra for tinted and special prescriptions.

They also have a range of contact lenses from daily disposable to more hard wearing lenses, with appropriate cleaning solutions on hand. For contact lens wearers, you can take out a monthly payment plan by direct debit to cover the cost.

The layout of the stores is very good with glasses displayed on perspex stands normally with the different price ranges in different areas, so if you have a set budget, all the glasses within your range should be in the same place. The glasses are normally considerably cheaper than with an independent high street optician. An added bonus is that for the vast majority of prescriptions they have their own lab in store and can usually rustle up a pair in around an hour.

Despite my rather negative experiences, what I do now is have my tests carried out by an independent optician who I trust and then take the prescription to Specsavers and have them made up there. I must admit that once I have the glasses, the first thing I have them do is check the lenses have been put in the correct sides.

After-care is pretty good, as with all new glasses, they normally need adjustment after a couple of weeks. There's never any problem with nipping back and getting them altered.

Overall therefore I'd give 3 stars, because you can get a wide selection of frames and lenses at a competitive price but I'd be wary of having a test done there.

I must reiterate that this is my own personal experience and I do not wish to tar all Specsaver branches with the same brush.

Also posted on Dooyou under same name.