AD | My customer experience with Specsavers

Last week I was kindly invited along to experience a routine visit at Specsavers in Abbeycentre. Before my arrival, I assumed it was just going to be shouting about how fab the store is laid out, post-lockdown! Offers they have on and so forth. But no. I was given a full eye test experience, which is much more in-depth than I remember {back in 2014!}. Before I got into that, however, let me tell you a few other things.

Specsavers in Abbeycentre reopened on June 29th 2020 and you cannot enter the store unless given permission. Only a certain number are people are allowed in the store at any one time. To attempt to adhere to social distancing requirements. Every Specsavers staff member is in full PPE gear {disposable gloves, apron and face covering} and they have a sanitise station for you to use as you both enter and leave the store. There are also shields around the desks where you fill out information for your glasses and also at the check out where you would pay. So every measure that can be taken, has been taken to protect both you & themselves. Both my daughter and I felt very much at ease during our visit.

Did you know…

All through lockdown, Specsavers were offering essential and urgent care to those who needed it most. From little kids accidentally breaking their glasses and Specsavers being able to get him a replacement pair as soon as possible. To an NHS worker having her bag stolen from her home {that contained her glasses} and unable to do her work, Specsavers swooped in to with a replacement pair. You can read more stories here, but all of them are amazing!

Another thing I did not know was that you can buy glasses online with Specsavers. Did you know that? I was clueless, but I’m excited to know this now as somehow it makes it all a little easier? Especially if you have an up to date eye prescription and not due an eye test, but you just fancy a change with a new pair of glasses? It’s really cool to have that option.

Getting an eye test at Specsavers

There are two kinds of eye tests that you can have at Specsavers, which was something I was unaware of. You can have the standard ‘vision test’ which includes the glasses {that make you look like a mad scientist} and a wall of letters you had to read when the lights went out. However, nowadays and thanks to funding, Specsavers received a flashy new piece of machinery known as an OCT scan.

The Abbeycentre store received this just before COVID-19 kicked-off {and they did say it felt like Christmas when they received it!} but it is an amazing piece of kit and let me tell you why!

The OCT scan {Optical Coherence Tomography}

This machine helps the Specsavers staff view your eye in greater detail. It basically looks through all of the layers of your eye, which can also be mapped and measured to get a clear view of your eyes health. This OCT scan can also detect sight-threatening eye conditions earlier. According to their website, it mentions that eye conditions, such as glaucoma can be detected up to four years earlier. Which is amazing!

The OCT scan isn’t your standard eye test. It’s separate and can be requested if you are over 30 years old. The main job of the OCT scan is to check your eyes overall health. This also involves having a digital retinal photograph being taken of your eyes for the optician to look at in the next step of your eye appointment.

Now I am going to be completely honest with you, I am one of those people who will get her two-yearly reminder letter for her eye test, then forget about making the eye test appointment entirely. Rinse and repeat this process and I realised, as of this year, my last eye test was way back in 2014. Naughty me!

After the OCT scan test, I was brought into the Opticians office.  This is where my retinal photographs were looked at and it was confirmed that I have two very healthy eyes. She did a vision test which is the standard ‘goofy’ glasses and reading letters on a sign.

But it turns out, after a gap of six years since my last eye exam, my eyes have only changed very slightly. Which was reassuring!

Choosing my frames

When it came to choosing my glasses, I was given a basket and you can choose five pairs to try on {at a time}. They are then taken off to be sanitized and then put back onto the shelves.

Choosing my glasses was a lot of fun. Especially with my youngest daughter there to tell me if they suited me or not. I chose a luscious red pair, which according to Annabelle look amazing because they match my hair! And a black pair, both thick ‘geeky’ style frames and I am in love with both.

My thoughts on the overall customer experience

I have said it once already but I will say it again – this is so much more than a standard eye test now. Which is amazing! You are getting a full eye health MOT and I will make it known here and now, that I will not be leaving my next eye test for another 6yrs. I will be listening to that next letter reminder I will get in two years time to go for my eye exam.

When was your last eye exam? Have you experienced an OCT scan? I’d love to know your thoughts!

Disclosure: This was a paid collaboration with Specsavers. I was provided with a voucher for my eye test and glasses in return for an honest review on my customer experience in-store.