Boots Opticians Fakenham

Unprofessional, unhelpful, unorganised and unreliable. After waiting 2 months for my appointment, it was cancelled the day prior and I am still waiting two weeks later for the re-appointment. No one answers the phone so I would avoid this place like the plague.

Boots Opticians really must do better. There is a long-standing problem with staff turnover in the Fakenham store which adds up to continuity and potentially a whole host of other problems for the customer. That said, the staff at Fakenham are pleasant enough to deal with, although one particular staff member could do with lowering the volume (of their laugh) which radiates from the rear to the front of the store; not really the best if you’ve received bad news about your eyes’ health. When booking online, from the personal details you provide, certain assumptions are made about you: that you must be a private customer because you are over 18 and under 65 years old, even if you have an NHS eligibility, none of which transpires until you turn up for your appointment. Another frustration is that their system seemingly does not recognise existing customers. You may well attend for your appointment to find that you have been registered as a new customer, even if you have been to the Fakenham store or any other Boots Opticians store previously. So, when asked, “Have you been to us before?”, staff are really asking if you’ve been to Boots Opticians in Fakenham, rather than Boots Opticians per se. This is not helped by the fact that the most important data is paper based, which would make it difficult to visit any other Boots Opticians. The way they share information between stores is to pick up the telephone (assuming it will be answered at the other end) and await the details by fax; that is to say, if the store being contacted actually has the time to find and send them your data. Why is this significant? Well, if you need glasses and the Boots Opticians store where you had your eye test doesn’t have in stock what you want, but you visit another Boots Opticians store which does, they will need evidence of your most recent eye test for you to place an order. The best way to avoid this headache is to simply ask for a copy of your notes before you leave the store, not just your prescription (which they should issue as a matter of course) so you are free to visit any store you wish. In other words, this is a company heavily reliant on a paper based system and availability of staff to answer the telephone. Why is that in this day and age? And shouldn’t this information be recorded on one single networked computer system, anyway? Even in pre-Covid times, let alone a pandemic, this should be a given, surely? This is 2021, after all.

The staff have been excellent every time I have had to attend my appointments. I highly recommend using this store for your eye care. It may be a small store, but the staff have big hearts and certainly know their customers.

Arrived 5 minutes late for an eye test after queuing in the chemist shop not knowing the opticians was another shop down the street and told they couldn’t do it. Won’t be rebooking and Boots as a whole have lost a customer forever.

Never met a more rude man, the place was very busy and he was having a bad day but he really should not have slammed the door and he made me feel very small. Just because I am an older person I still need to be treated as a human being. I have been coming to this practice for nineteen years and have never come across this before.

The process was very efficient

My wife and myself were extremely impressed with the courtesy and thoroughness that was shown during our consultations.

As this was a revisit due to problems with my latest prescription, I was very pleased with the people concerned and more confident than my initial visit and consultation. This time they were very thorough,helpful,friendly and full of knowledge which made me leave with a feeling of confidence the problems would be resolved.

Everyone was really friendly and helpful, even though the shop was very busy.

I was charged a great deal of money (£270) for my glasses and the frame which was made of cheap materials and cell to bits after just 2 weeks like any basic pair of inexpensive glasses. The bi-focal lenses did not make a significant difference to my eyesight in relation to cheap glasses. I have received a refund and do not wish to discuss matters further with Boots. I have since found a much cheaper, better option. Sorry to sound negative