Deposit Refunds

Update:

Finally I have my deposit of £400 back in my bank account.

Sasha, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done over the past two weeks, it would have been so much more stressful without your support. You are an absolute superstar. We so need people who are prepared to stand up and fight big corporations like this who otherwise will unscrupulously screw anyone and everyone in the name of profit.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I don't understand why Optical Express are refusing to refund my payment when their own Terms & Conditions say they should!

Scheduled for surgery on August 7, at my pre op check the day before I was told surgery would not go ahead as planned because the prescription in my left eye had changed.

I was very upset and asked to speak to my consultant* but they refused to call her, questioning why I wanted to speak to her. Eventually they did and I told her the situation.

The next day she explained my options were to have surgery in one eye (unacceptable to me) or switch to soft contact lenses and carry on with pre op checks until my eye settled down, with no expectation of when that would be.

I am off on holiday in a week's time so decided to put off surgery for now.

I requested my £400 deposit back but was told that my file has been reviewed and I am suitable for surgery, so my refund is non refundable.

I also called Hitachi to cancel the finance agreement and they told me they cannot cancel it because it is past 14 days and the authorisation must come from OE. Even though I am not having surgery!

I wasn't suitable for the surgery on 7 Aug yet OE are happy to keep my file open, and my money, and keep checking my eyes indefinitely until I am suitable.

I am not happy or comfortable with any of this and would like my £400 refunded and walk away from OE.

I will also take this up with Consumer Affairs and Which?

Aurora Allen

* admin: Not a consultant, a 'Refractive Technician' aka Salesperson

Will do, thanks

Mick S wrote: admin: Cancel appt and ask for full refund. If they refuse please contact me: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

I recently had a consultation and was talked into having Mono vision Lasik on my right eye. I paid in full up front of £900.00 and not offered any sort of deposit payment.

My surgery was planned for this Thursday but I put it back a week as I wasn't sure it was for me. I have been trying out a contact lens in the right eye to get used to having mono vision and am now 99% sure laser is not for me.

Should I get a full refund as they never asked or mentioned a deposit?
_____________________________________
admin: Cancel appt and ask for full refund. If they refuse please contact me: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Seems like OE has a certain way of doing things as my experience with the free consultation was very similar to the ones I have read here.

I visited OE's Shaftesbury Avenue branch on Saturday 9th of August with an appointment booked for 4pm. Nobody actually talked to me for nearly an hour, eventually they did all the necessary eye tests. I was not eligible for laser, so they recommended the Phakic IOL procedure and finally I was speaking to Sophie Greenhalgh about the cost and next steps. I am not even sure how it happened but she has managed to pressure me into paying a deposit of £500. I was not comfortable with this, but Sophie reassured me that should I change my mind I can get a refund in a matter of few days (She forgot to mention the 72 hour refund time limit by the way).

I've spent the rest of the weekend researching the procedure and realised I am not comfortable with it and decided to back out. I visited the branch today (Monday), called their customer services as well as emailed, demanding a refund and I will not accept the waiting time of 28 days. I am well within their 72 hour time-frame and expect to be refunded in the same rushed way as payment was taken from me... Let's see what happens.

P.S. I am glad I came across this site. I would not put my health into OE's hands as they came across as unprofessional and incompetent.

Imrich

I am delighted to inform you all that after a couple of months of waiting patiently I have finally been contacted by Optical Express Customer Care department to discuss my deposit of £500. Thankfully I have been informed that this will be refunded into my account within 3-5 days.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sasha for all her advice and support in getting this outcome and will be making a donation to her fund raising campaign.

Good luck for the future!
Margaret

How many people have had an "accidental" extra month DD payment taken from their account?

It happen every few months... with 30 days for the refund to be returned or
"We will just credit your account with a free pair of contact lenses for the next month".

Has this happened to anyone else?

I have had confirmation this morning that I will be getting my refund back - the lady that called was very helpful and understanding.

It appears like I am in a similiar situation in getting my refund back!

I have contacted Optical Express on numerous occasions and have always been promised a phone call back but never had one.

I paid a deposit of £400.00 and now want my money back for various reasons, including poor customer service, lack of information about surgery etc.

If I do not hear back from them soon I will pursue legal advice.