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Original poster

Can an eye test result be incorrect? (Specsavers)

69 replies

Batmanisaplaceinturkey · 29/12/2024 15:24

Got some new glasses from Specsavers but they feel 'off'. It feels uncomfortable to see through them and vision feels slightly blurry.
I went back but, after checking my eyes with a machine (the one where you look at a picture of a balloon), they fobbed me off a bit. Whilst I was there a couple in the waiting area mentioned they experienced a wrong prescription three times.

My actual eye test felt rushed and I was unable to blink properly because of their machinery pressing on my eyelids.

I have another appointment, because I insisted on being rechecked properly by another optician, but I'm doubting myself now.

Is it possible for opticians to get it wrong?

My prescription has numbers for sph, cyl and axis.

OP posts:
ATuinTheGreat · 29/12/2024 15:28

Yes, it absolutely is possible for them to get it wrong. It shouldn’t be a big deal for them to do a proper recheck, so don’t worry about it.

catandcoffee · 29/12/2024 15:32

My husband always allows himself to be rushed with eye tests and I don't.

Guess who always has issues with their new glasses.

YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME · 29/12/2024 15:32

Absolutely and a number of things can go wrong, from human error, through to manufacture and centering in the frame etc., and by who!! If you can't see out of the glasses, take them back as they are not fit for purpose.

TheJackalsJackal · 29/12/2024 15:32

Spec savers are shit. They didn’t correct my astigmatism in my glasses. Utterly useless. I now use vision express.

Original poster
Batmanisaplaceinturkey · 29/12/2024 15:38

TheJackalsJackal · 29/12/2024 15:32

Spec savers are shit. They didn’t correct my astigmatism in my glasses. Utterly useless. I now use vision express.

Yes. This is the vibe I'm getting too.

OP posts:
justmadabouttheboy · 29/12/2024 15:39

My previous - independent - optician said that it was fine to use your prescription to order glasses from specsavers and the like, but not to get your prescription from them in the first place, as the "volume selling" needed to keep their business viable is at odds with taking the time needed to accurately check a customer's vision. She wasn't touting for business as I was moving to a different area, just advising how to find the right person to look after my eyes when it wasn't her doing it...

GirlWithTheRedScarf · 29/12/2024 15:41

Batmanisaplaceinturkey · 29/12/2024 15:24

Got some new glasses from Specsavers but they feel 'off'. It feels uncomfortable to see through them and vision feels slightly blurry.
I went back but, after checking my eyes with a machine (the one where you look at a picture of a balloon), they fobbed me off a bit. Whilst I was there a couple in the waiting area mentioned they experienced a wrong prescription three times.

My actual eye test felt rushed and I was unable to blink properly because of their machinery pressing on my eyelids.

I have another appointment, because I insisted on being rechecked properly by another optician, but I'm doubting myself now.

Is it possible for opticians to get it wrong?

My prescription has numbers for sph, cyl and axis.

Yes they can get it wrong. I had a similar experience a decade ago and vowed I would never ever go back to a specsavers ever again. It’s a sausage factory. My advice would be to seek another opticians.

Itiswhysofew · 29/12/2024 15:41

Yep, they got mine wrong. I went to an independent for a 2nd opinion. I won't be going back to Specsavers.

rainbowunicorn · 29/12/2024 15:45

I gave up with specsavers after they got my prescription wrong twice.
The appointments always felt rushed.
I started going to my local independent optician a few years ago and the experience is like night and day.

MrsDefrost · 29/12/2024 15:56

Yes, it's the reason I dumped Specsavers.

Wildywondrous · 29/12/2024 16:03

Specsavers told me I needed glasses so I spent a couple of hundred buying a pair which made everything slightly blurred, I went back a few times and they said it was just because I was new to glasses and would get used to them.

They ended up in the drawer and a couple of years later I went to my local independent optician who told me my sight was fine and I didn't need glasses.

I think Specsavers just like to sell glasses.

Hoardasurass · 29/12/2024 16:14

The only time I got glasses from specsavers they got the measurements for my eye positions wrong and the glasses made me sick, it took 3 return trips to figure out what they'd got wrong with them arguing the whole time that the glasses were fine🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

EmmaMaria · 29/12/2024 16:15

I have always used SpecSavers and have had excellent service from them but.... my friend had problems on her last visit, as with you her glasses didn't "seem right" and she went back three times and they actually banned her from returning because their promise to make sure you are happy seems to ahave an unmentioned limit before they don't care if you are happy or not. She went to another optician who told her the prescription was incorrect, made her new glasses and they were perfect. She is in the process of making a claim against SpecSavers because they refused to give her her money back.

It does seem like you may or may not be lucky - in my case they continued to pursue my GP (whio was fobbing me off) because they said that my dry eyes were not "normal", they forced a referral to a specialist and they were correct. Turned out that I have a condition that needs specialised eye drops which the NHS "can" prescribe but would prefer not to (because they are very expensive). They had to prescribe them once the specialist instructed them to.

ManyATrueWord · 29/12/2024 16:16

Oh yes.
Got my new prescription from a Vision Express. Sent the new prescription to my old optician, who was a friendly chap I used to travel to, and the reply was "I don't think so..."
Most spectacles come with a guarantee of some.kind.

Feelingstrange2 · 29/12/2024 16:17

Yes, I've worn glasses since I was 15. I'm late 50s now. On 4 occasions I've had issues with prescribed glasses. All different opticians. All dealt with appropriately in the end....the only one who took me seriously straight away was the independent. The others wanted me to "try them for longer" but they all came good in the end when I.pushed back.

MeridianB · 29/12/2024 16:19

My last eye test at Vision Express felt like a sales effort. I left feeling very sceptical and will get a recheck at an independent optician.

creamsnugjumper · 29/12/2024 16:19

Oh this is interesting as I got my first ever glasses from spec savers and can hardly ever wear them they make feel a bit queasy.

I've been told it takes a while, but it's been 4 months of trying. Maybe I'll go back.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 29/12/2024 16:19

Yes, absolutely. Specsavers got mine wrong recently, plus neglected to tell me for about a month that the frames for the additional prescription sunglasses I ordered were out of stock. Then lost my order altogether. Utterly useless. I'll be going back to the more expensive but lovely independent optician's I used to go to.

biscuitsandbooks · 29/12/2024 16:22

Opticians are only human so it kind of goes without saying that they can make mistakes - from rushing tests, to putting in the wrong figures, to them being made incorrectly etc.

It's why a good optician will be very thorough in tests and spend a good amount of time checking the fit etc. when you collect your glasses too.

GinandGingerBeer · 29/12/2024 16:23

You can get a refund if you can't get on with them.
They did once put a lense in upside down in mine!

craigth162 · 29/12/2024 16:24

Spec savers are shit. Best to stick to independent

2chocolateoranges · 29/12/2024 16:26

I only started wearing glasses this year, I went to Specsavers for my eye test, I wasn’t rushed, optician asked lots of questions, guided me through test and I felt it was a really thorough eye test.

turns out I needed glasses which I had presumed as my vision wasn’t what it used to be, my glasses (varifocals) have been great, I can’t believe how bad my vision was!

no problem here, however my mum uses the same optician, she felt her glasses weren’t quite right(varifocals) , she went back and they have corrected the lenses and she’s much happier with them.

Hoardasurass · 29/12/2024 16:32

creamsnugjumper · 29/12/2024 16:19

Oh this is interesting as I got my first ever glasses from spec savers and can hardly ever wear them they make feel a bit queasy.

I've been told it takes a while, but it's been 4 months of trying. Maybe I'll go back.

The wrong prescription usually causes blurry vision or headache's, nausea is usually cause by misaligned lenses. I'd definitely go back and get them to check the measurements for your pupil position aswell as the prescription.

fivebyfivebuffy · 29/12/2024 18:04

Specsavers were good for me

Last time I got two pairs from boots, one is perfect and the others I can't wear, same prescription and they couldn't work out what was wrong

Was understandably nervous when I needed new ones, specsavers said my eyes hadn't changed much so kept my prescription the same. The glasses arrived and felt wrong and I was "here we go again" so I explained and they realised I needed heights(?) in them
Sent them back off and now they're great

Katemax82 · 29/12/2024 18:29

Specsavers made me think my dauhad type 1 diabetes with their eye scan..she had to have a blood test and I was worried sick for ages. Turns out she's fine. They also had my husband believing he had eye cancer for a few months. I might just change opticians

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