Help with £1000 deposit refund

Hi Sasha,

I am looking from some advice on my Optical Express refund problems.

On the day of the consultation (July 17th) at Newbridge nobody informed me I had only 3 days to cancel for full refund and I felt pressured into paying this deposit after being given eyedrops which caused blurry vision as part of the tests.

I was told that monofocal lense replacement was the option to go for since my age is 44. I asked if this will enable me to work on computers without needing glasses, and i was told that I definitely would not need glasses for computer work.

When i got home and got to read the documentation booklets a few days after, I read that computer work WOULD still require glasses with this type of lense replacement so I decided this is not for me.

Then I tried to cancel my surgery and get my deposit back as I felt the lens type offered (Mono vision) for surgery would not make enough of a difference to my eyesight and definitely not worth the €9k [£7620] price tag.

I sent an email to cancel the surgery on July 28th since I could not get to speak with any staff member prior to this date.

Now I am told I will only be refunded half of the 500 euros deposit which i paid on the day of my consultation.

I was also asked to fill out patient review forms before any surgery or even a "Clinical Discussion" took place.

I assumed that like most other agreements I would have at least a 2 week cooling off period.

3 days is totally ridiculous as patients go through the consultation and have blurred vision at the end and need time to read through the documentation of which there is a lot.

Patients should be given more time to make informed decisions on such an important health matter.

I realise after finding your site that I am not alone in this!

Many thanks
Nora

This is the email I received after my consultation:


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admin: You are too young for lens replacement and should not have been offered lens exchange surgery, let alone sold it without even talking with a surgeon - yet another complaint for the GOC! Nor have they provided the name of your intended surgeon, and I suggest that you do leave a review!
I received your email and will call you

Hello again Sasha!

Thank you for the great work and thanks for your help and support!

I have great news, refund has been processed 4 minutes ago!





Appreciate your work and happy to find you!

On 22 July I went for a free laser eye surgery consultation at Optical Express Westfield branch.

My left eye doesn't close properly after a number of surgeries and I was just told to do some exercises that the optometrist called 'mindful blinking’. I also have slight amblyopia and now understand that surgery would not have improved this.

When I said that I wanted to think about it over the weekend, I felt they pressured me by saying there was an 18 months interest free offer if I paid £500 deposit immediately. I assumed that there was a 14 days cooling off period as with most finance related agreements, and was not told otherwise.

My lasek surgery date was provisionally booked for September but I have dry eyes and was told to use the drops they gave me and a follow up appointment was to booked. I was not given the name of the surgeon nor did they confirm the follow up appointment, during which they would confirmed whether I could go ahead with surgery or not.

After thinking about this, and with planned changes in my work structure and uncertainty around my job, I decided to cancel. I called the Optical Express Westfield branch on Tuesday 27th July and spoke with the manager Amanda Ross. I explained my situation and she told me that I would only get £250 refunded, and the balance could be used to purchase glasses or contact lenses. I told her that this was not explained to me before I paid my deposit. She said that she would speak to head office and see what she could do.

I haven’t heard anything more, but after reading some of the posts here I realise I may have to fight for my full refund.

Please can you advise me.
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admin:Yet another complaint for the GOC (General Optical Council)!
Please send your phone number and I will explain
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk
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UPDATE 1 September: £500 deposit refunded in full.

Hi Sasha, I wonder if you can help me with a small claim court against this company. Is regarding my husband.

He has -7 eye prescription. We found their website. Free consultation, no financial obligation if not medically eligible for the surgery.

In 1st instance we went to eye check. They congratulated him to be eligible for the laser eye surgery and if he decide he needs to secure the big day, by paying a deposit and book an appointment with the surgeon prior the ..big day.

They also said that this is the only change because of his age as he is nearly 40years old.

They explained that the deposit to secure the day will be £500 and that he is having to pay £400 in advance to have an interpreter on the day of the surgery which was mandatory. I offered myself for acting as an interpreter on behalf of my husband but they said no.

When decided, we called them and paid the money, book the surgery date and the appointment wit the surgeon and also they asked us to pay in advance the money for having an interpreter on the day of the surgery.

We then went to meet the doctor and we were surprised to have an interpreter on that day as well, as we never asked for one. Finally, the surgeon (Dr Mehul Damani) decided that my husband could not have the surgery as he is not eligible and could be risky , but he can ask another colleague (doctor) maybe he will do the surgery and he made an appointment for my husband to see his colleague.. That broke my husband heart...he was desperate to have the surgery.

We give a 2nd thought and decided that he can not risk to have the surgery given surgeon decision. We called Optical Express, cancel the appointment and request the refund. We received £500 deposit fee but not the £400 the fee paid to have an interpreter on the day of the surgery. I called them and they said that I will receive the full refund in 21 day. We wait for 21 days called them back and they said we will not receive any money as that amount represent interpreter fee.

We disagree with this as the interpreter should never come until the date of the surgery. I raised a dispute with the bank and I am waiting for their decision (the money paid from my bank account).

We email Optical Express and gave them a notice to pay the money.... We want to make the small claim court. Are you able to help us? Thank you in advance.
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admin: I can definitely help you, and this is also a matter for the GOC to investigate - the first time I have ever heard of OE charging people for an interpreter! Please send your phone number
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Hi Sasha, many thanks for your help and support! I could not do it without you!

Following your advice and emails sent to Optical Express, I have been contacted by them and advised that even though I 'apparently' cancelled too late, they are willing to give me my refund and I got the money back!

Many thanks for what you are doing here for all of us!

UPDATE 24 July:
The day after posting here the manager phoned Amanda and informed her that she would receive a full refund

She wrote: 'Thank you for your help so far and keep up the good work. I will 100% not be getting eye surgery after reading your forum. I’m so annoyed with myself that I put my trust in these people and didn’t look further.'
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Hi Sasha

Please can you help me. Optical Express are refusing to refund me my full deposit as I cancelled out with the 3 day cooling off period.

I had my first appointment to see if I was eligible for the surgery (which I was). On the same day they tried to give me a surgery appointment and told me that they only had 2 dates available and I would need to book quick if I wanted to get them procedure done before my wedding in November. After 2 days they phoned me and asked if I wanted to book one of the dates. Me being me agreed and paid the £500 deposit. At that point I advised that I wanted to finance it and also that I was going into hospital in 2 days time. I was told by the MANAGER of the store to contact them within 7 days to arrange finance. Why did she not do it there and then? Cause she knew fine what she was doing.

(The MANAGER was in the year above me at school so felt I could trust her!!)

When I got out of hospital I phoned a few days later which would have been just over 7 days after I booked and paid the deposit. Unfortunately my finance was declined and I asked to cancel my booking. I was told by the MANAGER that’s not a problem and she would email head office.

I have today received a phone call from head office to say they are only going to refund me £250 as it’s out of the 3 days cooling off. However my actual appointment wasn’t until September and I have had no other appointments so why are they keeping £250 for what was a free consultation?

I am so angry and upset that they take people’s money they way they do and don’t even mention anything about it while trying to persuade you to book. It’s appalling.

I phoned the MANAGER of the store back and let rip. Told her how I thought her customer service was absolutely appalling and she should be ashamed of herself. She even said “Oh I didn’t know they did that I thought you got a refund” actually comical. She said she would phone her head office to get me a full refund but I’m not holding my breath.

Any advise on what to do next would be much appreciated.
TIA
Amanda
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admin: Please send your phone number and I will help you
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

After receiving an enormous amount of help from Sasha I emailed Stephan Hannan at 09:30 on 8th July 2021

At 11:00 on the SAME DAY I received a phone call from a Refund Administrator informing me that my complaint had been referred to him he will be handling my refund. He went on to say that as a gesture of goodwill my refund of £400 will be processed and I should receive the funds within 3 - 5 working days - I just needed to confirm my account details. I did so over the phone and asked him to send me written confirmation of what he has told me.

Hello Sasha,

I really need your help as I am in tears as I write this to you.

I had a free consultation with optical express in White City, London on 26th January 2021. I was advised that I qualify for Lasik laser. They advised me I can secure a date with a deposit of £400. I did not commit on that day but told them I was going to think about it and they should give me a call the next day. I received the call and they went through everything, paid the deposit over the phone. I then had my clinician discussion on the 25th February where I was advised I am able to cancel the surgery and get back my deposit as long as I don't cancel 3 days or less before the date of the surgery. I did some research on Optical express and after reading some of the reviews I was no longer confident in my decision of doing this and on top of that I have recently lost my job.

I called Optical express on 13th June 2021 to tell them I would like to cancel my surgery.They went ahead and cancelled it without informing me of this policy they have where I can only cancel 3 days after booking/paying my deposit. The date of my surgery is 26th July 2021 which is about a month away. I was informed I could cancel up until 3 days before the surgery and get my full refund. They advised me over the phone that I am not entitled to any money back and said they will take this up with HR. Reading some of the posts here I can see where this is going to go where they will refuse me my refund. Please advise me on what the next steps I should take to get my money back.

Regards,

Comfort
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admin: Please send your phone number and I'll help you with this
sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Just a quick update.
Another win for Sasha!!
After two emails sent with the help of Sasha, I received my full £500 back within a week. Not the 28 working days they tell you. Thank you Sasha once again.
See below proof.

Dear Mr Kowalik,

I am writing to confirm that your £500.00 refund has been processed on 25th May 2021. The funds will show in your account within the next 3-5 working days, depending on your banking provider. Please see attached copy

If we can be of further assistance do not hesitate to contact Optical Express.

Yours sincerely,

Russell Hamilton
Refund Administrator I Customer Care Department

Hi Sasha I was hoping you will be able to help...

I was considering laser eye surgery, so I decided to go for a free consultation with Optical Express in Kingston upon Thames on the 6th February 2021.

I qualified for a LASIK procedure and was very excited. I booked a possible surgery date and paid a deposit of £400 to keep the date. At no point during my meeting was I made aware of any cancellation policy and was told I can cancel it no problem and will get my deposit back. Well, that did not happen...

Three days later on 9th February, I got a brief call from someone in Scotland asking if I had any questions and checking if I still want to proceed with the surgery. At this point I still wanted, but then I called them to check which surgeon was scheduled to operate, so I can research. I found out it's going to be Dr Marwan Ghabra, however, I could not see any reviews for this surgeon on the Optical Express website, and I read a lot of bad reviews about Optical Express so I got unsure if I still want to progress and cancelled the surgery.

I called the Kingston branch directly to cancel on 16th February and said I was cancelling because I couldn't afford the surgery, I didn't want to tell them the real reasons. I was told that they will send my request to the Head Office.

After three months of chasing for a reply, I only just got a letter from the Head Office advising that my deposit is not going to be refunded because I cancelled too late.


Had I known this at the point when I was making the deposit payment I would have not agreed to that. But I do not remember signing anything after receiving eye drops and could not have seen to read if I did. I do remember that at the very beginning they ask me to fill out an online questionnaire and I then had to sign it. So the signature they sent might be from the signing of the online questionnaire.

Can you help get my money back?
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admin: They should have explained the cancellation policy AND told you who your surgeon was BEFORE you paid your deposit. But of course if they did this, too many people would not go ahead with surgery, and/or not leave deposits.
Optical Express make a huge amount of money by refusing to refund deposits when surgery is cancelled - even when the customer hasn't yet spoken with the surgeon.
NB: The GOC are currently investigating a number of complaints about this company and I woud like to add yours to the list, if you please remind me when we speak
Send your phone number to: sasha@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk