Mr Tickle works for Specsavers (Specsavers Opticians)

Member Name: JohnCleese

Product:	Specsavers Opticians
Date:	23/10/08 (495 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pleasant and efficient customer service, great value for money (which money?)

Disadvantages: Not great advertising

Recently we noticed that our 4 year old son is stretching the end of his eye with the finger while watching television. It was a regular thing so we took him to the ophthalmologist. It turned out that he has astigmatism on his right eye which in turn makes his left one tired very often as it was doing double work. They prescribed glasses for him. That was the point where my wife and I searched the whole World Wide Web to find the most suitable frames, lenses etc.

We were aware that it is not so easy to make 4 year old comfortable with specs on his nose and that we need something durable, flexible, light, nice and done quickly. Ophthalmologist gave us NHS voucher which is supposed to cover the part of the cost. We visited few small optician shops in the area and saw some nice flexible models which were quite pricey. The NHS voucher is used to cover the cost of installation and lenses and you are supposed to pay for frames.

Our presumption was that Specsavers sell standard and simple models as we saw that they have no flex models (the ones which memorise their shape and you can bend them the way you like but after a second they go back to their initial shape). We couldn't find the model we liked in smaller shops so we decided to have a quick look at Specsavers. We were delighted with the choice on offer. The quality of frames was really good. All children models have springs on the arms which keep glasses tight. All glasses for kids are done with plastic lenses and non-scratch coating. On top of that they are all free (frames + lenses + installation) with NHS voucher. On top of 'top of that' they promise to give you second pair free if child breaks the first pair. On top of 'top of 'top of that'' they were all very kind, polite and did installation in a day which was much faster than any small shop can do.

As a result, my son is proud owner of blue Mr Tickle glasses (Mr Tickle mischievously stretches his arms alongside the glasses arms) and his father can warmly recommend Specsavers. See http://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/childrens-glas ses/mr-tickle

I understand that they can offer these deals as they are the leader on the market and they can flex their muscles on the small shops. Still, as a customer, I am very happy with the service provided and that is it. As long as they provide that kind of service they will have my vote.

UPDATE: 3 weeks later - my son lost a lens, it just dropped from the frame somewhere and we didn't notice. The screw was loose. We went to Specsavers and they repaired it for free within an hour. Well done, again!

Apart from my personal experience I have only heard that they got entangled in controversy with their recent TV commercial where Edith Piaf was singing "Non, je ne regrette rien" ("No, I regret nothing") and they had a taper running across the bottom of the screen saying "I wish I had went to Specsavers for a bargain". Apparently Edith was blind from age 11 to 14 as she was suffering from keratitis. Someone in their advertising agency forgot to take glasses...

...and now for something completely different...

Summary: On top of their game