To think they've lost their minds?

[OneTiredMam]

During the pandemic specsavers have been a bit OTT.
Locking customers in the store, taking temperatures etc. i could deal with that.

Now they have a new policy where they refuse to see children until after 3.30pm during weekends and weekdays.
My DS needs his glasses, but they are refusing to give him a mid day appointment despite it being half term.
My DS has autism and relies on routine, they know this as I explained and was given a eye test in the day time and it was fine they were happy to adjust for him.

Now they are being awkward and won't let him collect them till 4pm and he won't cope with his routine being changed. I've explained to the manager and they are still being awkward as hell meaning either my DS will have a absolute melt down and probably refuse to collect them or he goes without his glasses that he needs.

AIBU to think there discriminating?

Yeah, tbh it doesn’t matter how many times you post, it’s still chilling.

That’s odd and really sad that you feel that way.

It’s not about bullying someone into submission - it’s about the fact there are no available appointments during a time.

If you need an appointment during a certain time you can ring and ask and if they don’t offer them you’ll either have to go at a different time or go somewhere that does have appointments at that time.

If somewhere had women only appointments between a certain time and a man kicked off saying it’s discrimination I would expect him to just go at a different time or to a different centre, regardless of whether he had a SEND or not.

I agree with you OP. They have been utterly ridiculous throughout and have lost me as a customer! The final straw was being made to stand outside the shop in the pouring rain whilst they adjusted my brand new glasses and then being told to use the shop window as a mirror. Idiots.

Specsavers acts like a franchise. All stores are different.
In one I can walk in ask to buy my contact lense solution and boom done. Another one half an hour away asked me to take a seat and wait for someone to help… by the time they said it I could have paid.
I just walked out

We get it's a franchise...it's been said approximately 436 times so far 🤦‍♀️

Their customer service is atrocious, I no longer use them, I took in a pair of specs that the pin at leg and come off, they replaced it, happened again and was then spoken to like a naughty child and then accused of being 'rough' with the specs, and said it'd be a charge of £60 for the repair.
Now use my small local optician.

@OneTiredMam

I can go to a different one, but it means paying for another pair of glasses as specsavers used the nhs voucher for that pair they won't let me collect and no they won't let me collect without him there.

I would escalate this complaint at Specsavers and seek help from an independent.

How much is the voucher? Can you maybe afford to pay it yourself this one time?

I see a wonderful independent and they are no more expensive. Specsavers are pretty rubbish.

I think you can get another voucher issued

Sorry op that posted before i meant to. I'm really sorry your going through this. It is discrimination and soooo needlessly unkind toward you and your poor DS. There is enough badness in life or the potential for it as it is , no need for their dictatorial nonsense. It has only made problems not helped. I think you are so strong advocating for your ds needs and i am sad you have to do so. I think you can get another voucher issued and the new optician can use it . I am not 100% sure though but my partner once did this. He was an adult but got a voucher as he had an NHS hc1 help with healthcare costs certificate. I cant remember now exactly why he didn't end up using the inital voucher he may have lost it . Sorry this post is so useless to you but i just wanted to add my support and as a neurodiverse adult say thankyou to you for protecting not only your son but all of us aswell by making people aware of the importance of meeting disabled peoples needs. Much love to all ax

Is anyone else dying to tell the posters who obviously haven’t seen all the OP’s very informative updates that they “should have gone to Specsavers”?

Well done for complaining I witnessed them do the same thing in my local branch. I was fuming on behalf of the mother there.

@PuppyMonkey

Is anyone else dying to tell the posters who obviously haven’t seen all the OP’s very informative updates that they “should have gone to Specsavers”?

👏👏👏

That explains why it is so much harder to book my daughter an eye test our local branch never has any kids appointments available so have to drive to the next town.
My local branch did let me in without an appointment when my glasses needed fixing.
I moved from boots as one year they had no frames I liked and were stupidly pushy so took my prescription and went to specsavers.