Optical Express UK Reviews 

Fabulous team at Optical Express Dartford, who were very reassuring and made me feel confident about my lens replacement surgery. Surgery was quick and painless. I have just had my 24hr post op check and am delighted with the results. Amazing thank you!

Optical express St Enoch's centre branch is great. All staff are extremely helpful and professional. Have been going there for years as they are reliable and efficient.

Overall a great experience from start to finish in Glasgow SVS. Owen is a star member of the team and my Surgeon Huba was fantastic. Highly recommend to anyone considering surgery.

Recently took my two children for eye tests in the Shawlands clinic. The staff were fantastic, the optometrist Ruth was great with them both, and really listened to my concerns. Alex was amazing with my kids, and my daughter loved her. The manager Sandra was great and helped go through the best options for glasses for my son. Would highly recommend, the service is great!

Staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Plenty of opportunities to ask questions and clarify things. Fully informed of how the situation would pan out.

I had a constualtion done at the St Albans clinic and couldn't recommend enough from the moment i walked in Sue made me feel so comfortable, she is super friendly and honestly put my mind at ease. Once having my initial scans I spoke to Jack who explained the whole procedure and gave me all the right information to make me feel confident to go ahead with the procedure.

I went to optical express at Peterborough with an open mind and have come away with a life changing experience for me. After years of having the irritation of having to wear glasses for reading but not distance, I decided to go for lens replacement. With the knowledge and expertise of the surgery I have achieved both 20/20+ vision on both distance and close up.
The staff are very welcoming, reassuring and giving the most up to date technology. My only regret is that I didn't have it done sooner.

Hannah made me feel at ease in the Swansea clinic. Fully informative and professional, a very welcoming and knowledgeable person. Thank you for everything.

Always great service been customer for many years and my whole family use now staff excellent and friendly

Very welcoming, pleasant staff.. nothing too much trouble
Louisa has great customer understanding

Visited the St Albans branch for a consultation. Sue was very kind and helpful throughout my consultation and so was Jack who was very reassuring and thorough.

Great experience, Owen was extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. All staff were great and the clinic was very presentable. Overall 10/10 experience and would highly recommended to anyone looking to gain better vision.

My 1st visit to optical express in Truro was for a consultation and eye checks to see if I was eligible for treatment. Rachel met us and explained what would happen and the tests. After these I had a video call with an optometrist as they don't have them at Truro. This was a longer wait than usual but all good. Left in the knowledge everything had been explained well and I could contact them at any point to ask queries. Op was booked. Had follow up calls a plenty until the op date so didnt feel like id been forgotten. Fast forward 4 weeks and im all done and can see without glasses. Still a bit of healing to go but im so happy I went through with it. Truro was my 1st experience of optical express and highly recommended them. 👌

I wanted to wait until I was exactly seven days post-surgery before leaving a review so that I could give a completely honest account of my experience, from the initial consultation through to my recovery. I can now confidently say that choosing Optical Express for my LASIK surgery was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

From the very beginning, the entire process was smooth, professional, and incredibly reassuring. Every member of staff I met was friendly, welcoming, and genuinely cared about making me feel comfortable. Everything was explained clearly and thoroughly, from the consultation in Chester to the surgery itself at Bridgewater Optical Express, so I never felt uncertain about what was happening or what to expect.

I would especially like to thank my surgeon, Mr. Kazmi, whose professionalism, expertise, and calm manner immediately put me at ease. Knowing I was in such capable hands gave me complete confidence throughout the procedure. I would also like to give a special thank you to Ann at Chester Optical Express, who carried out my eye tests and was absolutely fantastic throughout the process. She was kind, patient, knowledgeable, and happy to answer every question I had, making me feel reassured from start to finish.

By the day of my surgery, I had absolutely no stress or anxiety, only excitement. That’s entirely down to how well the team prepared me and how clearly they explained the procedure and the very low risks involved. The surgery itself was incredibly quick and completely different from what I had imagined.

Now, seven days later, I honestly feel incredible. My recovery has been far easier than I expected, although I was warned can be different for everyone. And my vision is better than 20/20. Waking up each morning and being able to see clearly without reaching for glasses or contact lenses still feels amazing. It genuinely has been life-changing, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Thank you to Mr. Kazmi and the reception team in Bridgewater Manchester And to Ann and and my optometrist in Chester Optical Express for your outstanding care, professionalism, and kindness throughout my journey. You have all made what could have been a daunting experience feel completely straightforward, and I will be recommending Optical Express to anyone considering laser eye surgery.

Top Tip for anyone having LASIK: Have someone with you who knows which eye drops are which. Immediately after the procedure, and especially during your journey home, your vision will still be quite blurry, making it very difficult to read the labels on the different bottles. Having someone there to hand you the correct drops makes things much easier and allows you to focus on resting and recovering.

Hi my journey with optical express started the day I set up my first appointment to see if was able to have the surgery required to correct my vision. At first wanted laser eye treatment but after being tested and talked through the procedures available to me opted on lense replacement treatment, the chester branch staff are well worth the praise for professionalism and high standards of practice! And the optometrist (who just so happened to bare a very strong resemblance to George Clooney) helped me understand what the operation woukd entail!
After signing the initial paperwork and setting up the required appointments to scan my eyes and get the measurements for the new replacement lenses the Manchester office was just as highly trained and professionalism service didn't have to wait long before found out my operation would be in the April of 2026! The weeks before my operation flew by and booked hotel near by the medical building where my operation would take place!
Now as a single person didn't have anyone to take me there or pick me up after so everything was worked around me,staying in a hotel for few days after operation!
Few days before the operation I went through the booklet and information that is all provided at the beginning in depth of how each and every step of the journey taking would affect me the dos and don't for before and after the operation and trust me when I say abide by it they write it for that reason!
The day of the operation again the staff at the medical centre were absolutely amazing and professional the nurses were outstanding and the Doctor was exceptional always reassuring me when needing it, being autistic I usually dont like being touched but due to the antithesia drops didn't feel a thing! The operation its self is like having an intense light show in your eyes and they start with your weakest eye which is marked up just before the operation by the optometrist (Usman) exceptional man very calming and cheerful personality!
Although the operation was by far weird within in seconds of finishing the first eye I could see clearly, as soon as the surgeon finished my second eye I was taken by the amazing nurses to the recovery lounge and taken through the steps of how to use the medications used and the rest required and reminded of the time frames of healing! Then my eyes were tested to make,sure whilst staying at the hotel was safe to do so I had 20/20 vision at that point!
From the day after I went to the Manchester office where met Usman the optometrist where he cleared me to go home and reminded me to wear my sunglasses until my eyes had time to heal whilst outside!
Again the staff at Manchester were amazing and very professional!
Appointments were made for my follow up at Chester branch and in the weeks following even though started work earlier than should have done and had ups and downs the lenses and eyes started to set in and my vision was exceptional!
My first appointment at Chester was greeted by Katie one of the ladies who do the eye measurements and eye tests so the optometrist Nathan can do his job!
Katie is a highly skilled and very professional worker and along side her other colleagues who are just as highly trained she made the last transition of my journey easy to deal with as so many questions and upd and downs along the way she handled them quickly and patiently which makes her above and beyond her skills and deserves every recognition for it!
On to Nathan now this is a man who goes above and beyond to make you feel, cared for, looked after and makes sure you get the fullest support to making things work for you, my eyes after the initial appointment had apparently become thicker and needed more medication and he patiently talked me through it letting me know it was normaly and there was nothing to worry about he explained what I needed to do even wrote it down for me and then arranged to do next appointment today where he confirmed my eyes were ok and healthy and my journey had ended with having above 20/20 vision! I would like to thank everyone for giving me my sight back but most of all give the recognition to the high quality if training and customer care standards given by Chester Branch and recommended they be given an award or reward for such amazing service from all the staff! Thank you! This review is 100% accurate and well deserved!

A great very professional experience from the initial consultation with Mandy at the Middlesbrough branch.also pre op tests at Newcastle, pre op consultations with the surgeon Muhammad Cheema, all very friendly & informative.
On Surgery day i was a bit nervous but everyone was so friendly even down to chatting during the operation to make me feel at ease.very professional team throughout

I had Laser eye surgery with Optical Express yesterday, I am amazed at the skill of the surgeon who talked me through the procedure. I have an illness which has taken away my speech. All the team were aware of this and showed me kindness all the way through surgery. A lovely nurse held my hand all the way through keeping me calm and checking in with me , making me feel safe.All the staff were so lovely and professional from the moment I walked in until I left. I would urge anyone seeking treatment to go to Optical Express day after surgery I can feel a marked improvement in my sight and I am amazed that my sight will still improve more in the next few days, I am so happy I made the decision to have this surgery

Alisha and other staff at St Enoch centre were very friendly and helpful during my eye test. They provided me with detailed info re varifocals. Highly recommend 👌

I went to Optical Express as I felt my eyes were deteriorating so wanted to know what all options were laser, lense replacement etc. I was dealt with by Maryanne who was really nice and friendly and the optician (if that what he is classed as) was call Dawood who again was very friendly.

I was a little concerned it could potentially turn into a hard sell to have a procedure but after the tests and a discussion with Dawood he confirmed my eyes are still in good condition and it was just age. He actually advised not to go ahead with a procedure at this stage and suggest maybe glasses just for up close activities to prolong my eye health.

It was refreshing to go to a company that didn't push a "sale" and to advise for my best options.

Thank you all and I will be back when my eye do get to the point of needing it

Please take your time to read my experience with Optical Express so that you may not suffer the irreversible situation I have now found myself in.

I was heavily marketed with tons of ads before I finally gave in, the phone call came in sharp and the salesman prompt and polite.

When being consulted they simply asked my profession which is a musician and they said I would be suitable for LASIK over LASEK.

What they forgot to mention to me is that the flap they create in a LASIK surgery never goes back to the pre-operative strength and goes to about 23% of it's original strength.

I play sports and box every week and they did not even ask me these questions before recommending LASIK - I have come to learn that if I were to get punched in the face, poked with a twig or finger, hit by a ball, the flap can be compromised and depending on the severity of the damage it can be fixed or it can ruin your vision.

I was not told about this LIFELONG condition I now have to live with at the age of 33. I pray to god none of these things happen to me and I wish I had done more research beforehand regardless of the medical negligence of Optical Express not explaining the full side effects of this treatment.

Your eyes will be very dry, you will see halos at night, you can never rub your eyes again or risk dislodging the flap, you have to wear safety goggles all the time for any activities, no one asks to get punched in the face but if you do, the one punch can take your sight until you go and see a eye surgeon which makes you even more vulnerable in that moment...the list goes on.

My friends, please take caution, if you are a bit of an clumsy over-thinker like myself, you should be aware of all these risks.

Optical Express is a money grab and they will not explain the risks and side effects to you properly, they hand you a booklet with some information, make you sign it and that's that.

I hope this post can save someone from making the same mistake as me.

Stay safe!