Boots Opticians Southampton - Shirley High Street

Knowing my eye test was due I telephoned Boots and was given an appointment on 9th July at 10.30am. I repeated the information and this was confirmed. I arrived ready for my 10.30am appointment at 10.25am only to be told that my appointment was actually at 10.15am so I would now have to make another appointment. This was most frustrating but I agreed to a further appointment at 11.30am on 1st August. When I arrived for this second appointment I was told they were running 20 minutes late. The receptionist then did the preliminary eye tests. I waited and waited and waited some more, until just over an hour later I was asked in to consult the optician. She did not apologise. This lady had been eating spicy food, so the face to face consultation was not very pleasant. My prescription had changed a little, and as I had worn the same spectacles for 6-7 years I had already selected a pair I would like. These were duly measured etc. One point in Boots' favour was that I was given a 50% discount because I had waited so long - although this also rather proves how much the company makes on selling its frames and lenses. A note was made of my telephone number and I was told I would receive a phone call when my new specs were ready in 8 days (9th August). There was no telephone call so I rang Boots that afternoon to ask whether my glasses had come in. They had. I immediately went to collect them, but no apology was made because they hadn't phoned me as promised. I'm afraid I can't recommend these opticians any more as I myself will be going elsewhere.

Cannot thank the staff here enough. I was phoned to be told there had been a cancellation a few days before my booked appointment and although I wasn't in any hurry for an eye exam the staff were more than happy to accomadate me. When I arrived for my appointment they promptly took me through to do the first part of the test. The lady Lianne wiped all the machine down which I was super impressed by. She asked me all my details and made sure everything was correct. I was then taken through to the lady who done the exam. She was really friendly and explained everything to me. She advised me to have varifocals as it would help me stop losing all my different pairs of glasses . I was taken back into the shop and shown a range of glasses. Told what shape would suit me and what sort of frame would be best for my type of glasses. I didn't really know there were different types of varifocals but lianne explained everything and even told me I was entitled to 25% off if I had a boots card. I was amazed. I was also entitled to another pair for half price. Everything was great. Even the collection was perfect. I love my new glasses I will be back in 2 years. Thank you

It is with regret that I have to post a review of the service we received which is less than flattering; I do not normally do so but a litany of problems has forced me to share my opinions as my wife and I did not feel that the service we received on this occasion was in any way satisfactory, especially given that we spent well in excess of £400 on three pairs of glasses- one pair for my wife and two for me. Our use of the service was tempered with caution as on a previous occasion our son had asked for his new glasses to be sent to him at his University local branch, (in response from an offer to do so by the shop); the Shirley store did not indicate that this would be an issue- however, after enquiring a few times at his local branch in the north we found that they indeed had been received in Shirley and so we collected them and sent them to our son. His first couple of weeks at his university were spent squinting at the teaching materials, so that is, shall we say, unfortunate. They were, however, satisfactory, when received. My wife's pair were not. The frame didn't fit her face and the combined efforts of two staff members made matters worse. She was asked to go back on the following Monday when someone more senior would be available to assist. This she did, and was told by this person that if the frames were flexed again to any extent they would break. She hadn't done so herself! In cleaning them a couple of days later the lens fell out. I took them back to the store and after a half-hour the operative told me that they needed to be returned to the manufacturers as there was clearly a fault. They were due to be returned for collection "within five to seven working days". After seven days we returned- no glasses. after nine days- no glasses. At this point my wife had had enough an wanted a refund, which, to be fair, was processed promptly. My new varifocal pair have a very small 'sweet spot' for reading. This is disappointing as I had particularly chosen a larger frame to accommodate a larger reading portion of the lens, and paid a premium to obtain a larger working area for my reading and computer activities. My older pair had a much larger area by comparison and, on mentioning this to the operative, was told that "different manufacturers have different tolerances" and that I have a "large astigmatism" which necessarily meant that the lens area would be smaller anyway. None of this was pointed out to me when purchasing the premium pair and my experience does not reflect what I believe the graphic in the sales material led me to believe, so I really feel that I didn't get what I paid for, I'm afraid. The distance portion of the vision area is fine. My reading glasses also took some time to come to the store and necessitated several visits. As the least complicated part of the whole order, this is disappointing. The operative offered to remeasure the varifocal lens, but it wasn't clear what this would have achieved apart from necessitating yet another visit- the seventh- so I declined and have decided to 'make do'. However, we will not be returning to the store and will obtain our glasses elsewhere in future.

2 interruptions during the test, I wasn't bothered but it may irritate other people. You could also book next appointments due to recommendations that have price reductions?

Friendly staff. Better than Specsavers. Just wish there were more variety of cheaper glasses.

Staff were all very pleasant and friendly. We were told on arrival (we had 2 consecutive appointments) that they were running late, but it is very frustrating to have to wait over 30 minutes and 20 minutes after our first appointment time to be dealt with. An improvement in time management would greatly improve the customer experience!

hannah clearly explained .everything & made you feel relxed as the eye test was carried out redards keith simmons

I was previously at another well known opticians where I felt I wasn't very well informed about my prescription and what it all meant. Hannah the optometrist was very thorough and did so many checks on my eyes but explained everything at each stage and why she needed to do it. I'm not very good with the pressure check but Hannah was patient and allowed me to get myself ready. Picking glasses was very easy although the store is smaller they have lovely glasses for people of all ages and the staff explained about the pricing in a very easy to understand way without using any jargon. Boots also do a great offer for anyone who is over 60 and has a boots card they give you 25% on your first pair of glasses (and half price on any other additional pairs) which is great for people like me who don't have a great deal of money. I was amazed by the service and the fact that I was called 5 days after having my eye check to tell me my glasses were ready for collection is astonishing. I had to wait two weeks for my previous glasses! I was so pleased with the finish product and couldn't wait to wear my glasses. I cant thank Hannah, Graham, Leanne and Tasha for all their help and kindness. Great customer service and I will be returning!!! Keep up the great work!!

Friendly

Professional, Pleasant, informed. Great Job.