On the 10th Sept a customer went for an eye exam and hearing test to Specsavers in Crewe. The first problem was one he raised 2 years ago your taken into a room off the reception area with no door. The girl then reads out all your details from the pc these being personal details so everyone in the waiting area can hear your medical and other details. This is in breach of the Data Protection Act were you supposed to keep details secure not share it with everyone waiting.
He was then given the hearing test which took 10 mins and the girl said it didn't work so that was a waste of my time.
He then saw the optician during the test she tested his eye pressure twice and she said his left eye pressure was very high and showed this with her hands. She didn't explain what that meant other than mentioning glaucoma and possible brain tumour but said she would book and urgent appointment at the hospital.
He then discovered that he could die from a brain tumour or go blind. he has spent a horrendous couple of weeks thinking he will die or be blind soon. Do you have any idea how distressing that is you have to try and put things in order in case you die soon.
He spent 5 hours at the hospital and they are not happy. They had the test from Specsavers and the first thing they said was there is no high pressure its perfectly normal so they couldn't understand why he had been sent to waste everyone's time. He was subjected to tests on his eye and they found nothing wrong and were going mad that their time and resources had been wasted when there was clear evidence from the opticians test there was no high pressure.
This has been the most distressing couple of weeks of his life and at 67 years he doesn't need this type of worry.
A complaint was raised via the Specsavers Website and also an email to the CEO. What is interesting that he had 2 replies from two separate people and both were the same word for word. So this isn't a personal response but canned speech, it doesn't address any of the problems or say what they intended to do about the matter. The fact the Data protection has been going on for over 2 years shows little regard for people's privacy.
You must remember that its law that they keep your data safe. This is a serious breach and to make matters worse the manager range the customer and discussed his medical details without checking he was speaking to the customer by verifying his identity
Others have passed comment of the fact they never seek informed consent for what they do. They just say put your head here and you will see dots. Informed consent means you tell people what the machine will do and what its purpose is and if it will be painful like the pressure test. People going along with it as they feel under pressure to have it done and it can be argued by putting your head there you are giving consent.
Specsavers canned response
Thank you for your email concerning your experience at the Specsavers practice in Crewe, which we received today.
I was concerned to read of your dissatisfaction with the customer service and your experience at Specsavers. We do pride ourselves on our professional and courteous service and we are sorry if on this occasion this has not been met. Please accept our apologies.
It is our aim that Specsavers provide the highest level of customer care attainable and we very much appreciate that you have taken the time to write.
Each Specsavers store is owned and managed by one or more directors who are responsible for the day to day running of their practice and the professional service provided. I have forwarded your email to them and requested that they contact you directly in due course in order to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
Once again on behalf of Specsavers thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.
They don't take into account that this man for 2 weeks thought he was going to go blind or die and he wasted 5 hours of his life going to the hospital. You can't tell someone their eye pressure is to high and not explain what could be the problem . Failing to do that and answer any questions means people will then search the internet to get the information which may be alarming.
Imagine if you had taken a child and they had sent them to hospital with explaining to you what it was properly how much would you suffer for 2 weeks only to find that the hospital say there is no problem. It wasn't explained that the pressure like blood pressure can vary depending on what you have been doing, if you ran to the doctors your pressure may be high and very normal.
Dear Jan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback, and for taking the time to explain in detail. We first want to reassure you that this is not a canned response as you call it, but is carefully considered with consultation from both the national press office team as well all the directors of our Crewe store, that is locally owned and run.
Regards the complaint about data protection in store, we have taken steps since the mentioned appointment two years ago to protect customer's anonymity in store, so no private details are overheard.
We hope you understand that due to similar concerns to protect privacy, we can't comment on an individual's case specifically in a public forum like this. Equally, we're sorry to hear that the man you report as being worried went through any distress, through his series of eye tests. Our staff are well-trained to explain the pre-tests to customers, and our qualified and registered opticians are trained to explain the eye test results in detail and in a reassuring way to customers. They do make professional decisions whether to refer people for further tests for glaucoma or otherwise and have a duty of care to the customer's eye health, front of mind.
We do urge customers with any concerns after an appointment to phone their optician again, or if they need to research their eyecare online, ask a registered optician at http://www.specsavers.co.uk/ask-the-optician.
If you have any more concerns please do email us at feedback@specsavers.co.uk or call your local Specsavers director.
Do you believe this firm? 2 years to improve data protection and still rubbish its the law for gods sake. Buy a flipping door.
ReplyDeletecarefully considered with consultation from both the national press office team as well all the directors of our Crewe store. So you need to have a press office to check replies? The guy nearly 70 yrs thought he would go blind wasted hours @ the hospital and suffered for weeks and you are not human enough to give a proper caring response for all the distress you caused it INHUMAN