Optical Express

I had Lasik eye treatment, then told I could have another type of treatment, but they would be unable to carry out the new process until another date, which I felt was another type of hard selling to get more money out of me. Then bells started ringing were they just after my money. Thats when the whole process became a nightmare for me.When I asked why the last minute change i was told this would be down to the surgeon, and they could not comment.

Had it done 3 1/2 months ago - and really wished i had not had it done. eyes still really tired and sore. Dry eyes as well. Still putting in drops . I have had lot of friends that have had it done and said best thing ever !! Sad of me I am not one of them.

Just came back from a consultation and quoted £1800 per eye. The experience was one not of hard sell, but didn't feel it was unbiased. I have been informed this was the only surgery available due to the prescription (-5.25), It seems a bit expensive when they sell on the basis of from £395 an eye with £300 off. I might still go ahead with it, but not at the moment. If they had quoted realistic prices and advised from £395 to £200 an eye then they wouldn't have wasted an hour and a half of mine and their time.

I had my eyes lasered in Jan 2011 so write this with one year's experience. I had the consultation at Optical Express in Watford and was told that I could have LASIK. I agreed to this and paid a £300 deposit. On the day of the surgery at Optical Express in Uxbridge they ran a couple of tests, one of them they did twice to check the results. The surgeon told me that there was too much variation in the depth of my cornea to safely proceed with LASIK so told me that they would instead do a LASEK operation. I had done all my reading and research on LASIK and had very little knowledge LASEK as had been told at the consultation that LASIK was ok. This is probably my main issue with the the 'Laser Eye Surgery journey': the surgeon wasn't great at dealing with the questions and worries I had and seemed more keen on proceeding with the operation. He advised that the recovery time was longer and I would probably need a extra day or two off of work and briefly explained how the operation was different to LASIK. His main focus was telling me that I'd be saving £600 which was great but wasn't my main concern at the time. However, I'd gone this far, I read the brief info that they gave me and did a small amount of research on the internet using my mobile while in the waiting room and I went ahead with the procedure. I'm a bit of a pansy when it comes to my eyes (but had conveniently forgotten this!) so was a bit shaky during the procedure. It took about 20 minutes in total. Drops were put in my eyes: numbing drops and then further drops to dislodge the top layer of skin on the cornea (Epithelium). This is pushed to one side while the eyes are lasered and then put back in place afterwards. The lasering takes about 30 seconds and I didn't experience any problems or weird smells while it was going on (perhaps this is only during Lasik where the cornea is cut using a laser). Its an odd experience because you have no choice but to see what is happening but you can't feel a thing. Afterwards I was taken to a dark room for half an hour and talked through the drops that I would need to use. There were 3 different types that were used up to 4 times a day each, gradually decreasing over the following three weeks to a month. Anaesthetic drops were also given and I was told that once the drops given before the procedure had worn off, I would need to use these. I was expecting perhaps a half day of feeling uncomfortable but spent the whole weekend struggling (had the op on a Friday). This is probably in part to do with me not dealing with eye pain well. People I'd spoken to that had had the LASIK said that they were fine the next day. I took the Monday off work and my eyes were pain free by about lunchtime. Recovery time was lengthy. My vision was blurred for a few weeks after. I was ok to drive as advised by the optician on the Monday but I tried to stick to driving in daylight hours. The vision remains blurred until the top layer of skin on the cornea has healed properly. There was noticeable improvement after a few weeks but the vision was still blurred and not as sharp as I'd hoped. The optician assured me that it takes months before vision is sharp and they weren't wrong! I spent a lot of time wondering if I'd done the right thing and wondering if it would improve. It was ok in the morning but by the evening the eyes were dry and vision a bit blurred (nothing major but not what I'd hoped). I'd been expecting to use eye drops forever(!) but by around July when I had my final check up, I was told that my eyes were fine, that I didn't need drops anymore. One year on and I am happy to report that all is well. My vision is excellent - really sharp, better than when I had glasses or contacts. Only one minor issue: occasionally I get a sharp pain in one or the other eye when I'm asleep. Its like there's something in the eye. This has happened enough for me to realise that its nothing serious, I think that perhaps my eyes dry up a bit while I'm asleep, I then try and open them quickly or move them sharply when the eyes are closed and this causes then pain. It takes about 5 minutes to go away and all is well. Despite the initial lack of information from the surgeon and the following months of uncertainty, overall I'm happy with the process and especially the outcome. Optical Express in Watford were really helpful throughout and were always on hand to see me if I had any worries or issues. They were reassuring and friendly. I'd certainly recommend laser eye surgery but would stress that I found with LASEK, it wasn't an stress-free experience.

Dissapointed , Very dissapointed , I was quite excited when I was told that i could have fantastic eyesight for £1790.00 with the best of the best treatment , I signed up to it straight away , I was told that I was a great candidate for treatment and it would be straight forward procedure , On the day of treatment I travelled to Leeds (an hour and a half away), the staff where very friendly and they put me at ease , they told me I could go in straight away which made me feel a bit rushed but I thought let's go for it , the procedure itself didn't hurt but it feels uncomfortable , within ten minutes I was sorted , my eyes where very sensitive to light so I closed them all the way home , the pain of extremely gritted eyes was at times awful so I took some strong painkillers put the goggles on and went to bed and in the morning the pain had gone , the right eye was I fine and I could see clearly but the left eye was a totally different story it felt like I had something in my line of vision , at the check up the next day they told me I had inflammation which I thought was the case but as time went by and with many more drops and creams the problem carried on , my anxiety went straight through the roof and with many sleepless nights it was started to become a real life changer, after 5 months I went to see the surgeon and he told me that it was debris and that he could clear it by lifting the flap and washing it away ,so with a great sense of relief I thought brilliant BUT THIS IS WHERE IT REALLY ERRKED ME a guy who was in patient relations said to me after I had seen mr Kahn I GUARANTEE YOU THAT THIS WILL BE SORTED !!!!! I SAID YOU CAN GUARANTEE IT ,, HE SAID TWICE MORE I CAN GUARANTEE IT ,,, so as you can expect I walked out of there on cloud nine , I even asked if I could jump on the days list and get it done that day , so I went back two weeks later to have the second procedure done , whilst I was having it done the surgeon checked if it had all been cleaned away , he said to me sorry but we will have to go back in to clear the rest off but i I thought no problem if it's going to do the trick , unfortunately they didn't put the patch back on my right eye so I could see the procedure through the reflective part of the machine , it's not what I wanted to see , but by then my eye drops had warn off so I could not only see it but I could feel it , it was awful , so with it all done and dusted and I went home , that was just before Christmas and although the debris has cleared my vision is still very very blurred , before I had the second treatment I had what's called ghosting where you see a double of everything like a second image ,well I still have that which is a massive shame because I would of been happy if that had cleared up , I have nothing but dread for the future , I don't think they can or will do anything to correct this , this is all on top of one other massive failing with the original treatment . When I first had my consultation I was told that I would be able to see really clearly at night time but nothing could be further away from the truth , even in the day when I see any lights eg .on cars ,street lights or even at home it has changed my eyesight to so blurred that its similar to squinting my eyes on a permanent basis , most people who have this treatment are happy straight away , I feel nothing good will come of this and it's made me feel very very depressed , please please please think very clearly about having this treatment , I CAN SAY I TOTALLY REGRET HAVING THIS DONE, it would be brilliant if i could come back on here in the near future and say it's all cleared now and it's great , but I don't think that will happen ,,,,

I had my treatment in 2013. The service and outcome was fantastic. However in April 2017 I developed posterior capsular opacity ( a known problem that generally occurs within the first year!!!! ) I was told that this was easily solved with laser treatment, and advised to ask for an NHS referral from my GP. I did this and was given an appointment for July. As I was finding the problem debilitating I asked for a private referral through Optical Express at a cost of approx £500. I was advised that I would be contacted by their head office with an appointment date. This never happened. Despite contacting my local branch an customer services, and being reassured that I would be contacted, I am still waiting that appointment contact. I have since been successfully treated by the NHS. Optical Express were fantastic in arranging my initial surgery, and prompt at taking my money. I was followed up for a year, but once that year has passed, they don’t want to know. I have been left very dissallusion do with their after care.

I was left waiting in the waiting room on the day of surgery for nearly 1 hour before someone came to me. My surgery has not been a success as I was told I wouldnt regress and I am regressing quickly. If I had known I would regress I would NEVER have had it done. I was
-6 before surgery and now -2.25 and 1.75 and I havnt stopped regressing.I have glasses again and cannot see to drive, see the tv clearly and everyting is blurry. Knowone call tell me if i will regress again if I had enhancement and I do not know if I can go through it again as it took guts. I am extermely unhappy as I wanted to be free of glasses and I am not! I had to pay all my life to get them thinner so I could stand the weight of the glasses on my nose. I am not happy as this procedure hasnt worked for me and I havnt stopped regressing and the whole point was to be glasses free. A VERY UNHAPPY CUSTOMER and upset

Had eye surgery at Optical Express Blue water 7 months ago, two hours after the procedure eyes very sore, next day had eyes checked unable to focus at distance,had to wear glasses and will require further operation.i read lots of reviews before surgery and found no negative ones and since my surgery 2 of my friends have had the same procedure with the same results as myself requiring another operation makes you wonder who writes these reviews

After a year of contemplating LASIK and speaking to various people who have had the procedure, I went for 2 consultations - Ultralase in Chester and Maxivision in Manchester. Both clinics told me I am a suitable candidate and I made the decision to go to Maxivision as I found the clinic to be more 'sophisticated' and modern than the Ultralase clinic. I booked in to have my treatment the same day as my consultation as I felt reasonably confident that they had their patients best interest at heart. However after phoning to book in for my treatment, I was asked for a £500 deposit over the phone. I did this by credit card and at the time, didn't really think it was that bad. However since then, I have received a letter informing me of the terms and conditions and confirming my appointment date, it also states that they want the remainder of the balance which is £1160 before my treatment ! It also says that if you cancel less than 7 days, you start losing your money and it could take up to 28 days to get your money back ! So I have today cancelled my appointment on the basis that I don't need this sort of additional pressure and it has certainly left a bad taste in my mouth if I was to go ahead and use Maxivision. I have discovered that Ultralase don't operate in this way and you pay on the day of treatment which is acceptable in my opinion. After pondering over which clinic to use, I will now either go to Ultralase or Boots and will give myself a little longer to decide. I just wanted to make others aware if you are contemplating using Maxivision to be prepared to pay beforehand. I am still awaiting for a member of the team to contact me to confirm my cancellation.

After atteding my consutation with my alleged councilor (sales person to most of us)in Sutton I booked an appointment for 2 weeks time. A disgruntled customer was waiting to go in after me and told me to look on this site first. Thank god I did. Is anybody 100% happy with Maxivision? I only have 6 days till I can cancel without loosing money so would like to hear from people who had a good experience as there only appeards to be dissatisfied customers on this site. I have small eyes and had prepared my self for some discomfort but need assurance about good vision after surgery & no complications.