This review is for the opticians store Specsavers.
History
Specsavers is the biggest optical retailer in the United Kingdom with 39% of the market and have over 1,390 stores across Europe in various countries such as the UK, Holland, Spain and Scandinavia and now even in Australia and New Zealand as well.
They employ over 26,000 people and are owned by husband and wife duo known as Doug Perkins and Mary Perkins. They launched Specsavers in 1984 and in the year 2002 had even ventured into hearing centres which would be run inside Specsaver stores as well.
In the year 2008/2009 they made revenue of £1.2 billion pounds and it goes to show how capable they are at producing quality items which people keep returning for.
My Store
I have a Specsavers which is set on two floors, you have the upstairs for the contact lenses and downstairs for the frames and the store layout is pretty poor in all honesty.
On the downstairs as you walk in you have frames on both sides of the aisle and one side has the female spectacles and the other side the males and in the middle they have the designer frames which are pretty useful.
There is constant mirrors everywhere which give people an idea of how they look and in the middle of the floor is where the customer service desk is located and how you find out where to go.
There are about 20 desks behind the customer service one which is with employees speaking to customers and trying to sort out glasses for them and other details.
Upstairs is a similar idea but with more focus intended for the customers, there is a small waiting area with about 4 chairs which seems pathetic but I guess they know what they are doing.
Throughout the store there is a constant green and white theme which leaves you tired and almost asleep and there is no magazines to occupy your time so you just have to sit in silence and hope you get seen straight away.
The Eye Test
The eye test is nothing more than frustrating with these guys because when you initially sit down they talk about how your eyes are going and if you have encountered any issues. You know the eye test is just silly.
You sit down and have to read first off all the back wall with some letters starting off big and working smaller and smaller to form this triangle shape and when you cannot see any more if you’re struggling with your vision you then get to have these frames put on your head and the continually ask you are you comfortable with the vision now and seeing if the new lenses they keep putting on the frames are actually assisting your vision.
You then have to see which is brighter the red or green light and sadly this method is repeated for what seems eternity as it takes forever and is annoying. You then get given a short text to read which is very small and once you have read the first sentence they say stop and then you’re left with the dreaded lights off and lights in the eye.
To be fair the eyes are good for some things but when someone signs a bright light into your eye and seems obsessed and turned on by what he sees then it worries you.
I have seen how the optician might occasionally go to one eye and take 10 seconds with it and then the other one spend 5 minutes with it.
The worst part is when they sit there and write down what they have found and you want to find out what they have wrote but oh no they do never speak to you. They just say choose some glasses or your free to go and your left thinking well surely my eyes have altered.
I find the opticians sometimes rude in their behaviour and sadly hard to understand and I hate to be cruel but there English is very poor I have a German man who does mine and he is perhaps the most arrogant optician ever and he is rude to match it.
I would like to see them try and change the eye test perhaps and make it more enjoyable but I have found many faults with the eye test and they will be explained later.
The Contact Lenses
When I first was told I needed some glasses I said no straight away and wanted contact lenses because at the time I did not like the look but I had to wait 6 months first ‘apparently’ so when it came to get some the process was scary but they were actually very helpful.
I had to sit down in a waiting room and speak to a lady who informed me of the procedure to wearing contact lenses, she told me how you use them and have to put them into a solution at all times when not wearing them to stop potential infections on the eye and to make sure your vision remains improved.
In theory the solution is a way of cleaning off any scum on the lenses compared to normal spectacles where you have to polish the frames. The contact lenses department actually took me to the contacts area and I had to choose whether I wanted one day lenses or ones you use each month and chuck away and to be fair it was too complicated for me at the time.
I was then taught how to put them in and out and I was terrible, they told me to put them in slowly and when in places just blink a few times and they tell you how to deal with problems such as the contact not being in places. The removing them part was actually much easier and a gentle tap on the side of the eye managed to make them fall out and they were very helpful and at first gave me a free trial to use and let me experience how good they were but I had to wait a few days for them to arrive and in the end they worked well and I kept to them. The solution at the time was not that expensive either and I was quite impressed.
The Frames
The frames they have are usually a mixture of the good and the poor and sadly in my eyes the poor seem to be the dominate one. You have frames in various price ranges such as the £39 range and to be fair they are so cheap and horrible that if you were to accidentally bang them they might snap at the sides and that is not good enough at all.
Then you come across the small range of £49 frames and they are just as bad as the previous amount.
You need to go to the £79 range and above to find something which might suit you and the biggest problem I find is that with the frames you try them on and most of the time they look disfigured and bent because people have used them before and have left them in a mess so when you try them on you look silly and you feel your head is tilted when it is not.
Not only is that an issue but when you are trying them on and your looking into the mirror if your vision is impaired you cannot see how you look at all so again your left in limbo so you need to take someone with you.
I learnt from experience do not take the word of the actual staff as they have no idea what they are talking about, I tried a pair of frames on and they told me I looked fine in them and after I waited I found out they were terrible but because I had paid for them already they would not exchange them so go with someone who knows what they are talking about.
They do have designer frames as well and they usually begin in the £99 range and they are the frames I think most people stand amazed at and they look the best ones to be fair. They have a large range of colours, they look stylish and they seem to be durable compared to the frames Specsavers have to offer to customers.
Some of the brands in the designer range are Bench, FCUK vision, Animal, Quicksilver and Osiris. They are more but these are the ones in my eyes that offer the best choice of frames and to be fair sometimes they are more expensive but you have to see what you’re getting and usually it is top quality.
Offers and Prices
They do have many offers on all the time and this is something I cannot fault them for because they have offers usually which are outstanding and some of them can be buy one get one free.
When I first got some glasses I had a pair in the £99 range and they actually gave me the option of buying another pair in the same price range for absolutely nothing and I was amazed because of how much they were giving me and I did not know anywhere else which offered the same sort of schemes.
Contact Lens Prices Solutions - £12.95 and above
Daily Disposables (90 Pairs/3 months supply from £54.90)
Daily Toric (90 pairs/3 month’s supply from £96.00)
Monthly Disposables (6 pairs/6 months from £28.50)
Monthly Toric (6 pairs/6 months from £52.50)
Twice Monthly (6 pairs/3 months from £29.75)
Coloured Lenses (6 pairs/6 months from £59.70)
Frames Colour Lenses - £12
Ultra Violet Filter - £12
Ultraclear - £30
Extra Thin and Light Lens - £40
Polaroid - £60
Reactions - £49
Ultradrive - £30
These prices can alter but at the time of writing this these were the prices for the individual types of frames.
Offers
Students tend to get 25% of the frames they choose and that is a good deal for students who are on budgets and they can get a good pair of glasses for a decent price.
They tend to have buy one pair get one free on frames over £69 and sometimes in that offer they might add free reactions as well so you can see from above how much you might save.
They sometimes do buy one get one free on designer frames if you spent up to £99 and above so again another superb deal and it does show you how good the offers can be there.
If you have a NHS certificate they tend to give people a free eye test with that voucher and usually there is 70% discount on the frames you choose so sometimes you do need to pay out for them.
Getting the Frames
When you have a pair of glasses you have chosen they take you to a desk and this is where it gets fun they try and measure your eye length and work out what sort of angle the glasses will be but they try and add you extra things on top.
I did get reaction lenses once and there were superb with various colours and they came on in full view when the sun was out or if the weather was freezing cold which looked funny.
When they arrive which sadly can take up to 7 days they come in a box they put them on you and tighten them up or loosen depending how they fit on the face.
They sometimes can spend ages adjusting them but you just wish they would hurry up but they do take their time to get it right and you usually find it is a whole new experience once they have been fitted.
Good Points
I like the way they have contact lenses and the glasses department in two separate areas and you can go to that particular area and avoid all the queues and the sometimes over the top bickering amongst people waiting.
I appreciate the fact they do the hearing tests now and although I have never been for one I am assured they are free to have providing your local opticians actually do this.
I also like the designer frames because for the price and quality you do get some superb looking frames which people will notice and pass comment on.
I like the deals they do because some of them are excellent and definitely worth the price you pay out for them.
Bad Points
I dislike the way the opticians themselves are never English in my store and even though I sound cruel they are really bad at their English resulting in communication problems.
I think they are bad for the delivery times of frames because they could easily get them there quicker in my view but they seem intent on taking forever for frames to arrive.
I do not like the eye test when they continuously aim that silly light into your eyes and never tell you how your eyes are so the honesty is sadly not there at all.
Summary
They are a huge brand in the opticians world which is obviously why they do so well and make such get revenue but what I do not like is the attitude of the Opticians and when you are paying £21.50 for an eye test then I find that extraordinary, however a note to people is this price is not needed when Tesco do the eye test for free.
In my view their offers are good and if people are reading this I would get my eye test done elsewhere as stated above and take the prescription with you to locate the glasses there if you find a suitable deal which suits you best.
Blind as a Bat 
