Specsavers - are they crap?

My H used specsavers in Swindon. He says that they are crap, but the sight test was OK. It's the 'spotty herberts' on the shop floor who don't know anything about glasses he had a problem with ?

I use Asda.

I'd say no, but then I did work for them before so I'm a bit biased ?

Which branch did you go to?

I've used them for years and never had a problem with them.

TBH - I'd be concerned if my eyes only worked one at a time - do you have to walk round with one eye shut or do you mean you have slightly blurry vision when both are open?

I've never had a problem with Specsavers, I use their Contact Lenses and have always found them quite helpful.

Thats not to say that all branches are the same.

I've always found the opticians fine, but have had issues with the front of house staff being complete numpties. vision express are better (but more expensive) IMO

I like Leightons in Old Town where I go for my contacts; I think I'll go there. It was all a bit weird.

I only look out of one at a time - neither is shut, they just don't work together, I only use one. If you cover my favourite one up, my brain switches and uses the other one ? It's nothing to worry about.

I think, from speaking to others that have used them, that it can very much depend on branch. I know some people have found them fine. I wrote a complaint letter to my local one at the time (Taunton) as I had some very mediocre and inadequate eye tests (imo) which left me with quite an underprescribed set of lenses and glasses, and I really couldn't see properly. Mind you this was 10 years ago!

I swapped to a local independent run by a friend of a friend soon after and it's a bit more expensive but I've never had any problems. I tend to shop around for my glasses though and I'm not averse to buying glasses from there, just wouldn't get my eyes tested there again!

Our local specsavers branch are pretty fab, the people working there are friendly, professional, organised and generally happy to help. I get my contact lenses through their lense mail system which is good as they just arrive in the post without my having to worry. I had an eyetest there last month as i was due a check up and need some new glasses, the test was thorough and when i went back on friday he saw me again to check how my eyes were getting on with my new lense prescription. Also cos i'm on the lense mail I got discount on my new glasses meaning they worked out very reasonable.

They will be ready for fitting and collection a week on monday.

It really depends on the branch i think as with any opticians but they do have some good deals.

I use Leightons for eye tests but get my glasses at specsavers as they are cheap.

My cousin's eyes work independantly of each other. She was born with a squint and had a few ops when she was young which caused it. She cant be a pilot or an air traffic controller but apart from that she has no problems.

I used Specsavers for a long time and found them perfectly adequate for eye tests.

However, H has a degenerative eye test and has to go to a specific optician for eye tests for his driving licence. I started going there to and the difference is amazing. She's so interested in eyes and picks up things that no one else ever has. For example, as things move closer towards me I have to blink to refocus. She picked up on this and by putting a prism in my lenses I no longer have to do it.

Second this - I use the Chichester branch and have used the Halifax branch as well - and found them to be fab (even getting me a quick referral to a local eye hospital when it was urgent!). The Bournemouth and Bognor branches however, weren't worth a wank. Hopeless.

Specsavers stores are a franchise rather than a chain so the service and standards that you get can really vary between stores.

I go to the store in Bath and although I'm not keen on the front-of-house staff, the bloke who does my contact lens checks is brilliant. He is really friendly (but not creepy like some opticians can be!) and appears to be genuinely interested in eyes and in getting my sight and my eyes to work as well as possible (my sight and eyes are terrible). He actually tells me what he is testing and why and what it all means - and doesn't treat me like I'm stupid like some of the people I have been to in the past. As my eyes are very odd, they also are very good at letting me try new lenses and see how I get on with them for free, and just keep trying different ones until they work for me. Specsavers are also way cheaper than everywhere else that I have tried (particularly for my contact lenses and getting my ridiculously high prescription lenses for my glasses thinned down to a normal looking thickness that can go into nice glasses!)

However I have been to other Specsavers branches in the past that have been pretty dreadful and didn't have clue about what they were doing!

OH and I both had our eyes tested at the Pudsey branch (for a fiver each!) and the eye test was great. The optician was a really nice guy. I would not, however, wear their frames if you paid me. Not a single pair, including the ones out of their supposed 'designer' range. Which is a shame, as my employer has an exclusive deal with Specsavers and is therefore the only place we can claim lens vouchers for. Out of the high street brands, I have found that Vision Express has a good choice of frames, and their eye tests are pretty good too.

My experience with Specsavers was awful. The customer service was hideous, they were pushy and tried to force me into buying very expensive glasses. I just wanted new lenses in my old frames. When I stood my ground, the service got worse! I waited ages for the glasses to be ready (almost a month) and decided never to go back. Instead, next time I was due I returned to D&A (where I'd been previously). When they examined my glasses they thought I'd not seen an optician since my previous time with them because my prescription hadn't changed and the 'new' lenses in my glasses were the D&A ones I'd had previously. They were horrified when I told them I'd been to Specsavers and had new lenses. The ones in my glasses were actually marked on the side with the D&A logo. Specsavers did nothing except keep my glasses for a month and charge me for the privilege.

Oooh thats quite interesting to read as my mum went to specsavers and got 'new' lenses for her old frames. Here eyes had changed quite a bit, when she got her glasses back she was convinced they were the same strength lenses (but they may have been the same lenses, if it happened to you, it may have happened to her!) - Specsavers made her feel like an idiot, and said that they would have to test the lenses and it would take ages (vision express can test lens strength in a couple of mins, so why cant specsavers?). They were very not bothered and she hated the whole experience.

I tried them, I can't wear glasses, so I tried for contacts. The man doing the contacts was very agresssive and impatient and said I couldn't wear them. Just because I kept blinking when he tried to shove his finger in my eye!

The eye tests me and mum had were not that great either. We both found the opticians impatient and quite agressive.

Luckily we have a brill Vision Express, mum got some glasses from them that she can actually see through and I now have contacts that I wear with no problem. The staff were lovely, patient and I actually enjoy going there! It's so worth the extra money (but only if you get a good branch, I bet!)

But, I guess each branch is different! Ours are the northampton branches.

I don't use them anymore as a friend of husband's is an independent optician. It means that I can't get my eyes tested for free with work as they have a contract with them which is a little frustrating. They were ok I guess but the attitude of the majority of the staff was awful - the optician who told me when I was 22 that now I was getting older I would have to consider bi or vari-focals particularly springs to mind - especially as I'm not sure he was more than 30 himself!

There's a branch in Pudsey??? Why do I trek into the city centre if there's one loads nearer to me?! ?

I found the Leeds branch to be pretty good and the Harlow branch to be dire but as someone else has said they're all franchises so level of service can vary dramatically.

I'm hoping to have laser eye surgery this year so hopefully will be able to ditch the glasses for good. Contacts and me just don't get on, sadly ?

The Bradford central branch used to be fab when I last went, as the professors at the Uni Optom dept worked there on their days off.

However other branches I've visited were as much use as choclate teapot and I go to a local independent Optom now who is fab

I work for an independent. Time and time again I see people that have been to Specsavers and have come away with the wrong prescription and/or the wrong measurements and the wrong advise. Be aware that if they do not have your actual prescription in stock, they will give you the nearest they have to it (I can't begin to tell you how wrong that is). I have sometimes had to phone them for previous information, and they have no idea what I am talking about, even when it is basic.

When I first moved to London I had two interviews. One for Specsavers (Totty Rd flag ship) for a good amount of money, second was for Moorefields Eye Hospital for a third of the money (NHS) I needed a job and pronto, but I still couldn't put my name to Specsavers. Your eyes are important!

I use the York branch and have used the one in Blackpool and York is 100% better than Blackpool.