Specsavers

Took me 2 visits in person to be able make an appointment, and the third visit (that was the actual appointment) almost ended up being wasted because they couldn’t locate the trial contact lenses that they’d ordered for me. Once I did get an appointment though, it was all smooth. Good service, good prices. I’d give them 3.5 stars if I could, but have to stick to 3 since my initial experiences don’t justify 4 stars.
When I got started, a staff-​member took me to a couple of machines to measure the health of my eyes and get a ballpark prescription. The optician was thorough and really patient, explaining to me at all stages what he was doing.

I booked an appointment at this specsavers, expecting to pay, and then claim back the costs from work. It was slightly difficult to get an appointment (the first time I called their system was down, so I had to try again twice before they could find me a time…) Once I made it to my appointment I was really impressed.
To start with, a member of staff took me to a couple of machines (one blew air into my eyes — to test for glaucoma?), another checked how well my eyes focused to give a rough guide on what prescription I need. After that I got to meet the optician. She was thorough, really helpful and answered my questions about all the tests (I was curious!) She only looked at the machine results right at the end, to compare them to her findings… I didn’t feel rushed at all, and it seemed like they tested my eyes in sooo many different ways.
After she was finished, she wrote out my prescription, but then didn’t charge me for the eye test. I’m not sure why… maybe they had a special offer or something?! After that I spent ages wandering around and trying on different pairs of glasses, but I couldn’t find any that I liked, so I didn’t buy any from them in the end. Their prices are really reasonable, so I wish that they had some that suited me. Ah well.