to think she should have given me a cheaper option.

[Happyhippy45]

Bit pissed off. I asked the dispensing optician for as cheap an option as possible for my new glasses. I said this about 3 times to her that price was the most important factor. I told her I needed to do them as cheaply as possible and I'm not that vain. I am quite disabled (I hobbled in with crutches) and not working just now so money is a bit tight. I pick frames (with no price tag on them out of a few she got for me. She told me the grand total for glasses and reading glasses. Seemed a lot but figured it must be about right and I really needed new glasses.
Found out today when I went to pick them up that the frames are Raybans. Surely there must have been a cheaper option than that? I didn't see the tiny writing of the brand name on the frames because I'd need reading glasses to read it!
The dispensing optician was not there today so I couldn't get them fitted but I tried them on anyway. They seem worse than the ones I currently use but the receptionist said when they are fitted they'll be better. I took the reading glasses home as they seemed ok. Got home, tried them out and reading glasses reflect any lighting that is behind me really badly. I'll take them back with me when I go to get my distance glasses fitted. I'm really hoping that when I go to get them fitted that it sorts them out.
WIBU to mention the price of the frames? I'm thinking the frames for the reading glasses maybe could have been cheaper too now! Or should I just suck it up and ask more questions next time and not be so bloody trusting?

Thanks everyone for all the support. I'll go in and explain what happened. I'm not going to demand a refund but I do want to make them aware that this has happened......and if I'm brave I'll ask for some money back. Though hopefully they'll offer. I'm such a shiter when it comes to this type of thing.

Superdrug do glasses online now, very cheap. I'm happy with mine and they had no problem with my very high -11 prescription like Glasses Direct did.(they only do up to - 9). £100 all in as oppose to £220 for same style & prescription at high street Optician.

Go online and find out their cheapest glasses. Then Tweet like crazy. That's really shitty tbh.

This reminds me of when I used a voucher from work to get a free eye test and glasses at Boots. The assistant was pushy and even said I should choose a more expensive frame because I had the voucher (so I would have had to pay a top-up). It's none of his business that work give me a voucher and it doesn't mean I have to spend more with Boots.

You really have to be firm with people like this. Question the price of everything.

If you aren't great in person, I would try and sort it out via phone or email first. Have it done and dusted before you go in. Definitely tweet that they've screwed over a disabled woman.

I think asking for money off will make you look like you're trying it on tbh. I think you'd be better to just straight out ask for a refund because you were not given what you asked for ie the cheapest pair of glasses. Otherwise it might look like you're just after a discount. Good luck!

If you aren’t happy with the outcome when you do complain contact the optical complaints commission service (OCCS)
Rayban aren’t a cheap option in anyone’s book. They aren’t necessarily the most expensive either but unless you went to a really high end optometrist then it’s unlikely that was from their budget range.
However, you should have stopped when she gave you the price and asked for a break down of the costs.
While I agree that the dispensing optician may have taken advantage of the situation, there is a degree of responsibility from your side too. And if your disablility means that you find processing information difficult I’d advise that you take someone you trust with you in future- if at all possible.
A lot of opticians staff are paid bonus based on the more add ons purchased or the bigger the dispense.

Is she on commission or something? It sounds like Specsavers who are very pushy and money orientated. Go back (with a supportive friend if possible) and try and return them, write to head office if they refuse.

Something similar happened to me, completely miss sold my glasses,
really expensive, were worse than previous pair. I got a full refund and chose
some different ones, this was a large chain (S/S) they were very apologetic and
eventually saved a few hundred pounds.

Don't be afraid of asking for refund, and could you find a new optician?
You have my sympathy op!

It isn't spec savers but a smallish chain. They just recently took over the independent small store in a small town that has been in operation for decades. All the old staff are still there but the woman who sold me my glasses was new.
I have a choice of opticians in the small town I live in fortunately My adult son uses a different one and he's very happy with them. I was going to switch at his recommendation but I ended up using the one I did because I trusted them and I've used them for years. Since being diagnosed with MS I wanted to go somewhere where they have all my history and also the optician seems quite knowledgable about the effect MS can have on your eyes and I feel he could spot potential issues early on.
I KNOW I should have been more assertive and asked if there was a cheaper option but brain fog, fatigue and pride held me back I think.
I mean how many times could I have said I wanted the cheapest option for frames without getting embarrassed and stressed.
I've paid for them already. I had to use my savings and it'll take me a fair bit of time to recoup that money.
It could be a lot worse but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

You can just keep going to the optician you trust to do your eye test - not a bad idea at all in your situation- and you can take the prescription somewhere else if need be.

I really dislike all this “tweet like mad” business that some people have advised. Go and talk to them and see what they say. I don’t know why the first course of action in people’s minds these days is “try to ruin their business”

I know that is not what you plan to do though OP!

@shoppingwithmother I'd feel awkward doing that. I am a shiter when it comes to things like that. I've done it before in another's opticians years ago and I felt like I was getting stink eye from them. It shouldn't bother me but it does.
I feel a bit sorry for the staff who have been kept on. I mean it's great that they still have their jobs but they don't seem as happy and seem a bit stressed with all the new systems.
I posted here for some in put rather than ask friends on fb. It's a small town and I wouldn't want to lose them business because of a "mistake."
I'll speak to them next week and hopefully it'll get resolved.

Definitely ask for refund or a straightforward reduction (if the glasses are ok once they are fitted ) as you were MISLED! They took advantage of your disability.

Yes you should of questioned the price but you did make it clear you needed the cheapest option so why was she bringing you Raybans? If someone says cheap you don’t think of Raybans!

I would definitely talk to them explain and hopefully they will refund or discount

Why wouldn’t you ask for the price when you picked the frames? You wouldn’t just pay for groceries or furniture for the house without asking surely.

You can’t complain and moan if you didn’t ask the price. You weren’t a vulnerable disabled person being taken advantage of. You were a person who did not ask the price.

Honestly, I wouldn't know that MS affects your ability to process and react to information. I didn't know until I read this thread. I'm sure I'm not the only person who doesn't know.

She brought you a selection of glasses... maybe she brought you the cheapest from their own brand and the cheapest from their designer selection, so you had a choice. All you had to do was ask the individual prices... And she wouldn't have judged. No one buys stuff without asking the price.
You also would have had to go through the lens options etc, so she'd be telling you lens prices as she went along and as you made your choices, so when the total came out it would be easy to work out a rough estimate for the frame price.
Also, I assume she handed a receipt to you once you paid and you'd have been able to see the price straight away; we all know we can get frames for £50 or up to hundreds of pounds, and if they weren't near the cheap expected price then you could have queried it then and there.

If I was serving you, and you did not ask the price of the frames, didn't add up the cost of the lens options compared to the total price, and didn't check the recipe once I gave you it then I'd be really quite angry to be accused of discrimination because I wouldn't have known your processing abilities were sub par. I would have just been treating you like every other customer.

She brought you a choice; there would have been cheap and slightly pricier. That's their job. Yes, you asked for the cheapest, but every sales person will always bring at least one thing that's a bit of a higher price. If you know you're not good at this stuff, then inform them of your disability beforehand and ask for extra help or bring someone with you. Or simply learn that you need to speak up because other people don't know.

How much were they? I always ask for the cheapest nhs range of frames

I said previously that I SHOULD have asked but didn't due to fatigue and brain fog which can be quite debilitating.
I also stated 3 times that I needed a cheap option. It was obviously naive of me to expect to get what I asked for.

I wouldn’t worry, people do it all the time. They should automatically give you your prescription at the end of the test, but if they don’t, just ask.

If you get a voucher then make sure you ask for that too, as it has to be issued by the prescriber.

Just say you’ve not got time to look now and you’ll come back another time if you want to.

Just to be clear, I wasn’t saying you were doing anything wrong by asking on here, just the people saying you should get on Twitter and complain about them already at this stage.

It doesn't have to be a complaint when you talk to the optician (at first, anyway)

You could just say that you have been struggling with the glare with the reading glasses, and can they talk about the options for resolving that. Then mention that you were surprised that Ray Bans were the cheapest option frame - is that really the case?? You were very definite with the sales assistant that price was the most important factor for you, and now you have found out that they are RayBans you are wondering whether there was a better, cheaper option that you should have had.

Then see what they say

Be clear when you start the conversation what you want to get out of it. Do you want a refund and to choose new frames? Do you want a refund and your written prescription to go elsewhere? Do you want them to do the AR coating for free because the frames are nice and comfortable?

@Rocinante1
I'm not accusing them of discrimination. The front of house don't know of my condition and like you don't know about symptoms of MS.
As far as they were concerned I had crutches and couldn't really get up to choose glasses.
She didn't tell me the lens prices, just the total cost of each pair of glasses. When I got my receipt my taxi arrived so I didn't look at it until I got home. Even so, I didn't realise they were Raybans until I went to pick them up today as the receipt just had a code on it not the name "Raybans"
She gave me about 8-10 pairs to look at.
I am kicking myself for not asking if there were cheaper options. She offered me £150 frames and £110 frames. That's not acheap option IMO.

@OlennasWimple
I'd just like them to acknowledge and be aware that the dispenser didn't really do as I'd asked. If they offer me anything I'll accept, if they don't then I prob won't go back...or if I do I'll make sure I take my husband with me!
I like the glasses, they look pretty much like ones I've had previously and I don't want to go through the hassle of choosing different ones in a different store. These things take up valuable energy. With MS I have very little energy. I have to use it wisely.

That sounds like a very realistic outcome Happy! Good luck

Boots stock their frames by price, so there's a £25 section, £50 etc. Much easier.