Specsavers Opticians

Utterly incompetent and disorganized staff. You will inevitably spend at least 20 minutes in the waiting area every time you visit.

I think Specsavers are great. I used to go to a much more expensive opticians when I was a kid, and although my treatment didn’t cost much because of the NHS, I often found the staff to be snooty and the range of glasses limited to very expensive designer frames and quirky fashion frames.
I’ve been with Specsavers for over 3 years now and apart from them sending me excessive numbers of letters telling me I absolutely must get an appointment (usually a couple of weeks after I’ve had one), they’ve been great. The staff are very helpful and down to earth. My lens popped out a few weeks ago and I popped in that same day to see if I could buy a screwdriver or get them sent off to be fixed. The lady on the desk fixed it for free there and then, despite it being in a glasses case from a different opticians. She didn’t ask for my name, my details or anything, and gave them a clean for me too!
The contact lens schemes are great — starting from about £8/​month for lenses, cleaning solution, cases, check-​ups and aftercare. They let you try out lenses for free for a month and give you loads of check-​ups to make sure your eyes aren’t reacting badly to them.
They’ve got a good range of glasses, although there are often spaces on the display stands, where glasses are missing. They range from about £45-£140, with most designer ones being £125. They have Quicksilver, Roxy, FCUK and a number of other designer names, and although you’ll need to ask if you’re not looking during an appointment, the staff are happy to give advice on what will look good.