Frequently Asked Questions

To ensure that spectacles are made as quickly as possible, all orders are placed straight away. The lens manufactures will start creating your lens once the order has been placed.

If you decide to cancel your order for any reason, please let us know as soon as possible. Since our optical products are bespoke, the deposit already taken is non-refundable.

All prescription lenses are bespoke items, which are cut to a specific lens shape to fit the spectacle frame. Once the lens manufactures start working on the order, the lens shape cannot be changed. If for any reason you wish to change the lens shape, for example to change the spectacle frame the lenses are fitted to, a new lens order will have to be placed, which will incur further lens cost. For further details, please feel free to contact us.

If you find there is an issue with the new spectacle lenses purchased from us, this is classed as a non-tolerance issue. There can be several reasons for non-tolerances, sometimes due to the change in the optical prescription or due the lens optical design. If there are any non-tolerance issues, we need to be notified within 4 weeks so they can be discuss options to improve your symptoms. Depending on the symptoms, it may be deemed necessary to ‘modify’ the optical prescription or change the lens design to help improve your symptoms. Any non-tolerance issues not reported within the 4 week period will fall outside our non-tolerance policy. If there are any changes to the optical prescription or design, there may be an additional charge outside this policy.

With any non-tolerance cases, if the final result is consistent with the initial prescription found, and it lies within the published tolerances, it is then deemed a satisfactory result of the contract to supply you with spectacles. This will also satisfy trading standards and the Optical Consumer Complaints Service requirements of ‘fit for purpose’. In this case, there will be no requirement for The Opticians to provide any new spectacle lenses or any refunds, as the contract to supply your prescription spectacles has been completed satisfactorily. The Opticians will always take care to make your spectacle lens order correct every time, and will always endeavour for a satisfactory result.

If you have any further concerns, feel free to contact the Optical Consumers Complaints Service via their website: www.opticalcomplaints.co.uk

Depending on the design of the frames, we should be able to fit (glaze) your new lenses into your current spectacles. However when glazing your frames, we will not be held responsible for any damage that can occur to that frame during the glazing procedure or any other adjustments required for that frame.

Please note even if you have purchased a brand new frame from another practice, any guarantee with that frame is with the company you purchased from and not with The Opticians as it was not originally bought from us.

We believe in fair pricing, so all our products are priced at the recommended retail price as advised from the designer. We do not price any of our products above the recommended retail price.

If another supplier provides the same product at a different price, it has to be considered whether the product was actually supplied from the brand, or through a different avenue. We know our designers would not want their products purchased from companies that they have not approved. This can affect the guarantee you received for the product, as our guarantees are from the actual brand itself and not a third party. We do not price match any product from another supplier.

If we were to fit lenses into any spectacle frames from another supplier, please note that we can not guarantee the quality of their product. Any damage that may occur to that product will be at your own risk and will not be covered by us.

You are entitled to your optical prescription once the sight test is completed.  The information on the prescription will enable another optical practice to make up spectacles suitable for you.  The optical prescription provided does not provide any dispensing measurement.  The practice that dispenses your spectacles will have to measure any other measurements required.

We strongly advise against having your spectacles dispensed elsewhere.  Due to the varying qualities of external supplies and optical products, we cannot guarantee the prescription we have issued if it is made up elsewhere.  The Opticians will not be liable for any spectacles dispensed elsewhere, irrespective of where the error lies.

If another practice has the spectacle frames or optical lenses you require, we would strongly advise you to have your sight test at that practice to protect you from any issues you could have.  We always advise that the sight test and the optical dispense should be at the same practice.

If you have any problems with your spectacles made elsewhere and would like us to recheck the optical prescription there will be a £50 charge for this service.  If you would like us to check the spectacles which were made elsewhere, there will be a separate charge of £50 for this service.

Please note The College of Optometrists recommend “The prescribing and dispensing of spectacles are very closely linked and it would be in your interest to have your spectacles dispensed where you had your eyes examined.  It is often more difficult to resolve any problems you may have with your spectacles when prescribing and supply are separated”.

The Optical Confederation also advises “it is the responsibility of the dispensing practice to resolve any non-tolerance issues, which could involve providing a new dispense if necessary”.

If you have any further concerns, feel free to contact the Optical Consumers Complaints Service via their website:  www.opticalcomplaints.co.uk

We will provide a copy of your spectacle prescription to you.  If you required another copy of your spectacle prescription for any reason, there will be an admin charge for this service.

The pupillary distance is a facial measurement which is not part of the eye examination.

When we dispense any spectacles, several measurement will be taken to make sure the frame is suitable; frame width is suitable for your head with your prescription, the bridge width to make sure the frame fits your nose properly, the distance from the back of the lens to the front of your eyes, the central position of your eyes in relation to the spectacles worn, and the length and tilt of the side of the frame to fit around your ears comfortably.  All these measurements relate to the individual frame you have chosen.  Different frame size and styles can affect these measurements.  This dispensing service will be included in the price of your spectacles as part of the professional service will provide.

It will always be advised that the dispensing practice will take the responsibility for the dispensing measurements required to provide the spectacles correctly.  The Opticians will not be liable for any spectacles dispensed elsewhere.

If you would like The Opticians to measure the pupillary distance, we can book an appointment for you to have this measured.  The charge for this service is £50.

NHS in certain circumstances provide financial help towards spectacles with a GOS3 voucher. The NHS do not provide ‘NHS glasses’. The actual value of the GOS3 voucher is the same for all practices. However, depending on the quality of the actual products provided, each practice will use the value of this GOS3 voucher towards their products differently.

For children, we have a selection of spectacles where the whole value of the GOS3 voucher will cover the cost of the spectacles and basic lenses. For any other frames outside this selection, the GOS3 voucher will cover the cost of the prescription lenses which come with an anti-reflective coating as a standard.

For adults, the GOS3 voucher value is simply deducted from the overall cost of the spectacles

“The College believes that it is in your best interest that you have spectacles that fit you properly, and are positioned correctly in front of your eyes. We do not advise that you buy spectacles from a source that does not ensure that this is the case (College Guidance F3.11). In addition to this, the Opticians Act (s.27(3B)) requires that the seller of the optical appliance ‘makes arrangements’ for the buyer to receive aftercare ‘in so far as, and for so long as, may be reasonable in his particular case’, so if you purchase your spectacles online you should enquire how this to be done. This may be by having an agreement with a local optical practice to provide this service for you.”

If for whatever reason you spectacles are not fitting properly, we will be happy to adjust them to fit you better. The fit of the frame does always depend on the spectacles frame size itself, but we will be happy to adjust the frame as best we can.

For any adjustments or any repairs on frames purchased elsewhere, there will be a charge for this service. Feel free to contact us to arrange an appointment.

Please note we cannot be held responsible for any damage to the frames or lenses whilst we make any adjustment if the spectacles were purchased elsewhere.

If the spectacles are not fitted properly, the spectacles may be too tight or too loose. This may be uncomfortable and your vision may not be clear because you may be looking through an incorrect area of the lens. If you are not looking through the correct centres of the lenses, this can cause eyestrain and/or headaches.

Even though these symptoms will not cause any long-term damage, it is very important that spectacles are sitting properly if you are doing any safetycritical tasks such as driving.

We are always happy to provide you of your contact lens prescription once your contact lens specification have been fully determined. To complete the contact lens specification, the optometrist will need to check the vision, fitting of the contact lenses, and the ocular health on at least two separate appointments before the contact lens specification can be confirmed.

However please note that this will differ for each individual, and some patients may need extra contact lens follow-up appointments.

There will be an admin charge for the contact lens prescriptions.

The Opticians will not be liable for any contact lenses dispensed elsewhere.

The Opticians will only provide contact lens consultations for contact lens products will provide. We will not provide aftercare for products we cannot supply. If you like us to provide your contact lens care, and currently have a product we do not supply, you will be required to be have a contact lens fitting consolation and further aftercare appointments.

The Opticians can only provide spectacle lenses and contact lenses with a valid optical prescription which is in date. We will not be able dispense any spectacles or contact lenses if your prescription is invalid. This is to help protect your eyes from any risk of damage and is part of UK law monitored by the General Optical Council.

If any company provides you with any spectacles or contact lenses without a valid optical prescription is going against the code of conduct instructed by the General Optical Council.

If for whatever reason your contact lenses are not feeling comfortable, remove them immediately and wear your spectacles. You should seek medical attention from either an optometrist or medical practitioner swiftly.

Please note if your sight test or contact lens check is out of date, or you purchase your contact lenses from another practice, we will have to perform a full consultation with professional fees.

Even though modern contact lenses are very breathable and wet-able, there is always a risk of eye infections and other problems occurring if contact lens war is abused. We always recommend regular breaks from contact lens wear, so it is always advisable to have a spare pair of spectacles with the latest optical correction.

If you feel discomfort or visual problems with your contact lenses, always remove your contact lenses, wear your spectacles, and seek medical attention from either an optometrist or medical practitioner swiftly.

We are happy to test children’s eyes at any age. It is always recommended to have the child’s first eye test before they start school. Children’s eye tests are different from adults, and the child’s ability to read letters is not as important as we can use pictures as a form of visual measurement. Children’s eyes are normally fully developed by the age of 8, so any problems need to be detected before this.

Every eye test will be custom to each individual patient. The optometrist will first ask a few questions about your vision, health, family & work lifestyle before performing any tests. They will examine your vision, the way your eye muscles co-ordinate, ocular health, measure your ocular pressure and peripheral vision. Digital retinal photography is a supplementary test advised by our optometrist for all patients. All our eye tests are performed with the latest technology.

The Opticians does not offer any refunds. A credit note will be issued where any optical products or other goods are returned within 30 days of purchasing only if unused and in the original packaging. Once a product has been adjusted or worn, the product can not be returned. Any products which are faulty due to manufacturing issues will be either repaired or exchanged under the manufacturing warranty service provided by the specific brand. Please note that each brand has its own specific warranty service.

Your statutory rights are not affected.

We pride ourselves at providing high level of personal care and service. As an Independent practice, this is the most important thing for us. But if in the very unlikely event you feel our service or optical products fall below our normal high level of service, could you please write to our resident Optometrist Amandeep Matharu.

If you have any further concerns, feel free to contact the Optical Consumers Complaints Service via their website: www.opticalcomplaints.co.uk