Vision Express Opticians - Cheltenham

I had a sudden problem with my eye, I phoned the doctor who said I needed to see my optician urgently, I phoned Boots optician in Cirencester who I have been with for as many years as I can remember and have spent hundreds of pounds on glasses, they were not helpful at all but also said I needed to be seen urgently, I phoned vision Express in Cheltenham and Justin couldn’t be more friendly or helpful, it was nearly closing time so they got me in first thing the next morning, the optician I saw was amazing, she did so many scans and tests, luckily the problem wasn’t as serious as first thought. I am definitely changing to vision Express Cheltenham I can’t recommend them enough, Thank you Vision Express Cheltenham.

Absolutely fantastic experience. Professional and friendly

Good service, no waiting for eye test. Had budgeted up to £150 for basic varifocals. But this franchise are only interested in selling you a package of two pairs with a loan repayable over a year. Pushing to get me to borrow £400 or £500. All I wanted was one pair but that was going to be over £300. Will shop online instead.

Shivani Khagura she explained everything she asked me if I would like my appointment is part of further exams I don't mind she showed me photographs of my eye I WAS BLOWN AWAY excellent customer service I hope she does well in her further exams ( I sent a card to her GOOD LUCK) GOOD LUCK

Friendly greeting and helpful service.Eye test results explained, and help and advice when choosing my frames. Recommended :-))

Excellent customer service from start to finish. I have been going here years. I truly think you get a personal service at the High street branch. I always ask for Chantal as she really makes me feel like a valued customer, it's like having a personal shopper! Keep up the good work folks, it's really appreciated by your customers and it's why we keep coming back.

Chantal in Cheltenham was absolutely amazing. She sorted out my glasses and lenses- both of which were a problem. She was so helpful. Would highly recommend. Can’t praise her enough.

Had a very good experience in the CHELTENHAM shop. Becky was very helpful and so were the other ones I was helped by (don’t know their names) the manager (I think) seems very attentive and looks after the staff and customers. I’m thrilled with my new glasses I picked up today, and as they have such a good range I couldn’t resist ordering a new pair, only to realise they were half price as a second pair! Super pleased.

Appalled with the service my daughter and I recently received from VE Cheltenham.Walked into the branch, only to be completely ignored by the 3 members of staff on the shop floor for at least 5-7 minutes, if not longer. Two of the staff members were sat with one customer, and the 3rd staff member was sat with another customer.Now I appreciate that they cannot leave a customer straight away to attend to me, but a simple acknowledgment that they'd be with me as soon as possible was all that was required. I had nothing... not even any effort to make eye contact.It was only as another group of customers arrived that one of the staff immediately asked another to come over to the reception desk.I did raise my concern that I had been waiting for some time without a mere acknowledgment, to which I was told that she had been sat down with her colleague for some 20mins discussing some training.Now that is all well and good, but doesn't VE teach their staff that they should acknowledge the customer asap on arrival? It was glaringly obvious that 1 of the 2 staff members sat together could have broken away to come over to us, or at least acknowledged our presence and said that they’d be with us shortly. The fact that it took another set of customers to walk in before we were seen to, was completely unprofessional and very disappointing.Incidentally, I am not Caucasian, whereas the other customers were...in this day and age, it would be an appalling thought to think that that was why we were left unattended to for so long...?Having been a customer at VE Cheltenham for over 10 years, I have never experienced such inattentive and ignorant customer service. Also, being in the medical field myself, if I was to treat a patient of mine in the same manner, there would be outrage.It appears to me that the 3 shop floor staff members (the names of whom VE are aware) require some basic re-training in customer service, which they appeared to lack in abundance.The only positive to be drawn from our visit today, was that the optician who checked my daughter's glasses for fitting was wonderful. In fact it was he that provided me with the names of his colleagues. What a shame for him to have such sloppy colleagues in house whilst he was doing a great job.Not at all impressed VE Cheltenham, and I do hope that this message makes it way back to the staff members, as I'm sure that this is not the experience VE would want to be remembered for.Update: Interestingly, having made a complaint online to VE, I received a generic response, with an apology. I attach it below and will let you make your own minds up as to their quality of service. Coincidentally, the ‘busy time of day’ mentioned was Sunday at noon, and there were 2, perhaps 3 customers (excluding myself) in the building.…..’’Thank you for contacting Vision Express and for bringing this matter to our attention.I am sorry to hear about your experience when attending to collect your daughters glasses on the 10th September, I understand how disappointing you must have been.I have discussed your concerns with the Store Manager, they have offered their apologies for your experience.  They have advised that you had attended at a busy time of day and when the store had a new member of staff training. None the less this will be picked up with the team instore to provide further training to stop customers feeling like this in the future.I thank you for taking the time to raise your concerns with us, we have taken your feedback to the relevant teams to be investigated and further training to be provided.’’

I can’t rate the customer service of the team at this particular branch any higher. From start to finish with people like Anthony, Chantelle and Becky, (and all the others who I don’t know the names of) the entire staff couldn’t have looked after me better. It’s always a pleasure to be seen by any of them. My one criticism is of that they are clearly understaffed by the business model, and I just don’t think it’s fair on the staff. I hope they are getting the recognition and pay they deserve.