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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Today I shouted at Specsavers...

93 replies

Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 19:26

I feel ashamed and upset with myself. My daughter wears a strong prescription. Right +6.75 left +8.00 she also has a squint in her left eye.

Today I was sorting out all of her glasses, and found a pair we had gotten from specsavers earlier this year which is a slightly different prescription +6.75 and +7.75.
I noticed that, the left lense was actually thinner than the right lense, which on comparison of all her other glasses appeared to look wrong - given the fact that her higher prescription was the left lense.

It should look thick, thicker than the right if that makes sense?

I started panicking thinking, have they given me the wrong prescription? I compared all of her glasses, even the pair that is the same frame (different colour) they were even different. In all of her glasses the left lense was thicker than the right, showing her left eye has a higher prescription.
But these glasses did not.

I went to Specsavers, I asked to see a manager. I got a bit teary with her, expressed that I wasn't sure if she had been wearing the wrong prescription which is important as we'd come so far with her squint, I didn't want to find out it had possibly regressed.

She checked it, told me it was correct. I kept asking why the lense is thinner, she couldn't answer me. By this point I was raising my voice, I was getting short tempered because I knew something wasn't right.

She got a guy to come down who told me that they had surfaced one lense but not the other. I told them I was getting a second opinion. They did not tell me why they had surfaced one lense and not the other.

I went to another optician who told me the prescription was correct, but the axis and cyl was not. I don't know what bearing this has on her ability to see but she explained it's the way the light hits the glasses depending on the persons shape of the eye.

Her cyl should be 0.25 and axis 180. It came back at 0 for cyl and 135 for axis.
She told me it could be that the machine isn't accurate.

I am not a professional, but I feel lost, upset and ashamed at my outburst. I apologised to the manager at Specsavers as I felt I had made a scene and couldn't be certain they were wrong.

I am intending to get a copy of the prescription they hold, and I'm going to take it to another opticians to have the glasses assessed again.
I also have an appointment with the hospital soon so will also verify the prescription with them too.

Is that unreasonable of me? Am I over reacting? Does anybody know if the cyl and axis matter?

A part of me just wants to accept that its most likely right and that she probably hasn't been affected. But I am concerned.
I never requested that the lenses be thinned, I cant quite understand why they would do this and not tell me, it has caused confusion.

OP posts:
Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 19:59

dementedpixie I wouldn't know that I'm not an ophthalmologist.
Her prescription is 0.25 cyl and 180 axis.
The lense registered at 0.00 cyl axis 135.

OP posts:
RaskolnikovsGarret · 26/11/2016 19:59

Specsavers are utterly awful. I complained last year, but got absolutely nowhere. They lied about what happened. Would never go back again.

That said, I think your DD's sight will be ok. Flowers

PeteSwotatoes · 26/11/2016 20:01

Are you OK in yourself OP? You just seem a bit stressed to me. I'm sorry Specsavers are so shit. I would be complaining too. It's just that the way you've written your post makes it seem like you might be feeling a bit down?

ValaMalDoran · 26/11/2016 20:01

That fuck up will make her squint. I got some
Glasses slightly off once and it was awful. I felt dizzy and was squinting. The opticians checked them straight away though and ordered an immediate free of charge replacement with a massive apology, in my case it was a new staff member had misread the script when copying it over to send
Off.

Spec savers here are absolutely abysmal. I went in with 3 kids as my opticians didn't do kids at the time. They booked me 3 simultaneous appointments so even with me and DH the eldest had to go in alone. They got frustrated that my youngest couldn't read and told me I shouldn't have wasted there time bringing him. They said the same to DH about the middle child. The eldest came out in tears. I complained all the way to head office and didn't even get a reply. Absolute assholes. I advise anyone who mentions them to steer clear.

Millionsmom · 26/11/2016 20:01

Just thought what it's like not having the correct axis and cyl
Imagine watching a 3D movie with 1 eye piece in.

For what it's worth, I don't think your are being unreasonable at all. These guys are paid to help you DD, getting the axis etc wrong is pretty terrible when it's their job to get it right.

I hope your DD gets the right prescription and her eyes are better soon.

Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 20:03

PeteSwotatoes Yes, at the moment I am struggling. I know that i'm being overly anxious. But I know something isn't right with her lense.
I always worry about her vision and how it affects her, it just really got to me today. I know I over reacted.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 26/11/2016 20:05

But she has a correct prescription now and these were old glasses? I wouldn't waste any more head space on it now tbh as you can you undo what happened in the past

tarheelbaby · 26/11/2016 20:07

It's terrible that Specsavers is doing you wrong. My neighbour has appalling eyes - her retina detached and she didn't even realise it! She has other eye problems too but she uses an independent optician, rather that SS, because they take more care over her unusual prescriptions, they keep a file about her unusual vision and needs and they prepare her lenses more quickly. She also signed on for their discount card at the beginning and is saving a bundle now.

Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 20:08

I know what you're trying to say demented but if it was wrong, she was wearing them for months, and that would have made her squint regress. I don't want her to have to wear patches because of that. I don't think you're understanding me.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 26/11/2016 20:08

I'm not an ophthalmologist either but my dd wears glasses and had a squint (and had an eye op). She is 13 and has had glasses since she was 18 months old so we have been through many glasses and different prescriptions.

The short period where she may (or may not) have had a slightly wrong prescription really doesn't matter now so don't waste your time and anger on it Flowers

StarryIllusion · 26/11/2016 20:09

They may have thinned them down if they are very thick and mistakenly not charged for it. Why shout at them? What does that solve? You've pretty much ensured that they won't go out of their way to help you now.

dementedpixie · 26/11/2016 20:10

I gather she has had an eye test since the other pair of glasses and they didn't say the squint regressed so stop worrying about it now when it can't be changed

InfiniteCurve · 26/11/2016 20:10

-0.25 is the smallest amount of astigmatism you can have,many people ( though not all) wouldn't notice if it was corrected or not.A lens where the cyl(inder) power is zero is a spherical lens - and to say a lens has a cyl power of zero with an axis of anything is a nonsense ( if some one told me that I'd assume they didn't understand what they were checking.)
With big amounts of astigmatism very small differences in the positioning of the lens can make a huge difference to vision ,but not at this level - please don't let it worry you . ( Optometrist here,by the way.)

Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 20:13

Ok thank you, that reassures me massively infinitecurve

StarryIllusion take it you don't have a child with a squint as clearly you seem to think this is acceptable not be told at collection they've been thinned when never asked for. I would have rather they said something, than nothing. As it's made me worry for no reason.

OP posts:
Pixel · 26/11/2016 20:13

Are you sure they didn't just make the lens thinner because they thought it would be lighter for her? I have a strong prescription and they always try and make them as light as possible for me. Just a thought.

ValaMalDoran that's terrible. My optician asked if I wanted Ds's eyes checked as I was there with Dd. I said no thanks as he has them done through his SN school and remarked that he probably wouldn't be able to do it anyway as Ds is non-verbal and wouldn't be able to say what the letters were. The optician said they still have ways of checking children's eyes even if they can't read. Afterwards I thought well Duh, I should have realised that anyway as otherwise hardly any of the kids at Ds's school would be having an eye test!

Guavaf1sh · 26/11/2016 20:14

Sounds like communication issues. Zero cyl can have no axis and a quarter diopter is nothing. Specsavers did nothing wrong save poor communication in telling you this. The second optician made a mistake more likely in worrying you and telling you about an axis which didn't exist. It's ok to be stressed and you apologised to the manager so I would leave it be

dementedpixie · 26/11/2016 20:15

When dd was younger they used pictures and a card that could be pointed at to show what they saw. It wasn't until school age that they moved on to letters

User1234567891011 · 26/11/2016 20:15

Can I just say you didn't shout 'at Specsavers' as a company (if that's what you mean), you shouted at a retail worker and for that YABU, I think when you go back to get it sorted you need to apologise for your attitude.

YANBU to be upset that they got it wrong - mistakes happen - but you should not have raised your voice and to be honest I'd have told you where to go if it was me (I was assaulted at work by an angry customer 3 days ago).

Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 20:15

Thank you to all those who understood my concern, and those who have children with squints who know exactly what it's like, it's not easy.

I'll stop panicking and move forward.

OP posts:
Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 20:17

I did apologise to her.

OP posts:
Guavaf1sh · 26/11/2016 20:17

As a general point while being stressed over medical things is understandable it is never ok to shout at a healthcare provider and use being stressed as an excuse. In this case you apologised and that is good

InfiniteCurve · 26/11/2016 20:24

Agree with Guavaf1sh that neither Optician did a great job communicating - explaining stuff so that members of the public can understand it is part of the job ( particularly people who are worried about sight/ glasses/ etc)
Hope you can relax a bit now, OP Smile

Branleuse · 26/11/2016 20:24

Youre not overreacting. id be pissed off.

I once really struggled with a pair of glasses (also from specsavers) and they kept telling me i just needed to get used to the new prescription, but it was awful. It turned out they had got the left and right eyes muddled up.

Chwaraeteg · 26/11/2016 20:25

I too had massive problems with specsavers. For years I had problems with pain in my left eye and kept getting tested at my local branch and being told everything was fine. It wasn't until I went to a different branch that they tested my eyes properly and found I needed a prism lens.

Then another time I ordered a pair of of glasses from there and suffered headaches s / dizziness for a eek. When I took them back to get the prescription checked it turned out that they had gotten the lenses in the wrong way (left lenses on the right side and vice versa). They didn't actually give me an official explanation - I only know what happened because I heard the staff arguing about whose fault it was! They kept me waiting around for an hour while they were fixed without so much as a sorry.

They also flogged me contact lenses despite my eyes being completely unsuitable for them. This actually led to me suffering headaches for months on end and being refered to the eye hospital (where I was told that one of my eyes was shaped like a rugby ball, therefore not suitable for contacts and also that if you have a prism lenses you can't wear contact lenses).

So basically, Specsavers are a bunch of morons. You should definitely make a complaint. I only stuck with them for so long because they take workplace vouchers. It's a huge pity opticians don't have some sort of governing body like the GMC or something.

Original poster
Potatoooooo · 26/11/2016 20:26

That's what I thought they had done with DD's Branleuse I thought they had gotten the lenses the wrong way around.
I hadn't considered they had thinned one and not the other, nobody had told me that.

OP posts: