Unhappy experience
I first used Iris optical in 2024 and was satisfied with their prescription and service, which was personal and attentive. However when I replaced these frames with a new pair in 2025, a whole bunch of problems occurred. I went back after 10 days, saying the new lenses didn't seem very good when looking at, eg, people's faces down the street, traffic lights, LED signs and other objects that appeared out of focus, blurry or just uncomfortable in some way. I compared my new vision with the previous lenses they had given me, and the older ones seemed better. Iris told me to give it more time, particularly since they had reduced the astigmatism strength in one lens, as per my eye test. I perservered with the new lenses but also had problems with the frames, which used some new technique for gripping the sides of my head instead of hugging the ears and yet constantly felt loose. They tightened them for me on more than one occasion and I sort of adjusted to them but wasn't totally happy about it. Meanwhile, the bigger problem of uncomfortable vision returned and I became really irritated. I went to a Boots optician for another eye test but this seemed to confirm the one from Iris. I was offered a second eye test from Iris which I accepted and this, too, confirmed the current prescription. I also told Iris that the lenses they had given me for my desk computer glasses were completely out of focus. Iris told me I was sitting too far from the computer but I had never had this problem before and as I type this review I am wearing my new pair of desk glasses from Specsavers and everything is wonderfully clear. The reading glasses from Iris also seemed to be off and just not that clear. Anyway, as a result of all this I went to Specsavers (Walworth road branch, which I had used in the past) and had an eye test there. At the end of it, the optician asked me how it felt looking through two different lenses. I told him that one looked much clearer than the other and he said this was the one using my old astigmatism setting (ie from 2024 and earlier). He also said that for someone of my age (58) he wouldn't adjust an astigmatism down even if an eye test appeared to show it. I ordered new glasses from Specsavers using this prescription - a main pair with varifocals and photochromic lenses and a second pair for desk and reading. Before I ordered them I told Iris about this latest eye test and they didn't offer to do anything more for me, just said that eye test results can change even from week to week. However I now believe that they should have considered reverting my prescription to one with the higher astigmatism. Like the optician at Specsavers, they could at least have asked me to compare lenses with the two different astigmatism settings. But they didn't do this. It is remarkable how much difference (positive) it has made getting this new prescription and lenses. My eyes feel much more comfortable and objects appear much clearer. Unlike with the Iris Optical varifocals, I am not constantly bobbing my head up and down in an effort to get things to come into focus. I spent a lot of money on the "upmarket" Iris glasses but got much better results from Specsavers and will be sticking with them in future.
18 December 2025
Unprompted review