Bought spectacles but not happy, what are my rights?

L31mr0d

Ok, I went to my local opticians to get my eyes tested and I decided to get a new pair of glasses.

I bought them, and got a second set for free. After they had installed the lenses in both I took them home and they started giving me terrible headaches using them. Looking through them almost feels like being extremely dizzy and disorientated, like looking through a fish eye lens.

I tend to get motion sick on boats and when reading in a moving vehicle and the headaches and nausea I was getting from these glasses was identical.

I went back to them and they took the glasses back to adjust the lenses. I went back today after they had altered them again and they had improved but almost immediately I started getting headaches again.

I haven't worn glasses in years (I've been wearing contacts) but I tried on my last pair from around 2001 and they are fine. Don't cause me headaches at all.

The optician is pretty much saying the lenses are the same as my old ones, just slightly stronger in the left eye. But if they are giving me headaches and nausea I'm not going to be able to use them.

They are altering them again now, but I'm thinking I just don't want them anymore.

An additional problem is that I don't have the receipt. They wrote my drawer number on my receipt and when I went to collect them the first time they took the receipt to see what drawer my glasses where in. They never returned it to me. It's a small enough opticians though so they know me by name as I've been going there for a few years.

What are my rights? Can I just tell them to give me a refund for the frames? Will I still have to pay for the lenses though? Am I obligated to let them keep trying to fix them or can I just cancel them and get my money back?

Ian Beale

Well there's nothing wrong with the specs or the frames so you won't be able to get a refund, usually lenses in glasses are stronger then in contacts and as well your dominant eye may have switched which is why your getting headaches,which to be honest sounds like the issue, only thing to do is keep wearing them until your head gets used to them, sounds like your right eye was dominant and now it's switched to your left.

Kensington

If you've just got new lenses, then unfortunately headaches and dizziness are to be expected. It's just your eyes adjusting to now having to focus differently due to the altered lenses. I find the best (or least disruptive, work wise) way to "breaking in" new lenses is to start wearing the glasses on a Friday afternoon and then wear them every waking second throughout the weekend. Try and carry on as normal, eg. reading, watching TV, computer. The nausea and dizziness should start to ease off Sunday and by Monday, your eyes should have adjusted to them and you should be able to then wear them without any further problems.

Miaireland

I agree. I had awful headaches and nausea when I got my glasses changed recently. It took me a couple of days to get used to them. As it has already been said start wearing them over the weekend.

I very much doubt that you would be given a refund unless you went to a different place for an eye test and came out with a totally different prescription.