Linda Greaves
Eye opticians in Barnt Green is an excellent experience for spectacle and contact lens wearers!
Shafik and the team provide excellent care and advice and there is a fabulous range of eyewear to choose from.
During lockdown, they also provided superb emergency help and care. If you need a local optician who can provide holistic advice, care and support then they are well worth a try.
Shafik and the team provide excellent care and advice and there is a fabulous range of eyewear to choose from.
During lockdown, they also provided superb emergency help and care. If you need a local optician who can provide holistic advice, care and support then they are well worth a try.
Joyce and John Grant
We have been customers of EYE opticians for some years.
We have always been met courteously by Shafik and his team at their Barnt Green premises.
We went today for our routine yearly eye test. As always treated as valued customers.
Can I mention the optometrist Sayyida who tested my eyesight thoroughly. Any questions I asked, she replied in non-technical language so that I would understand the answers she gave. A huge credit to Eye Opticians.
I would highly recommend this company without fear or favour.
Previous Customer (Visual Stress)
I have been a patient of Eye Opticians for over five years and I can attest that they provide great customer service. Their staff are always warm and friendly and give great advice. The reason why I decided to write this review, is because of the recent exceptional service that was extended to my daughter when I took her to get a visual stress test done. Mr. Haji was very professional and explained the procedure to us thoroughly. He also offered sound advice with regard to my daughter’s diagnosis and willingly answered all our questions. What pleased me more, was his empathy with regard to my financial circumstances at the time. My daughter required special glasses that were not within my budget and Mr. Haji offered me an affordable payment plan. Also, thanks to his promptness, my daughter received her glasses well ahead of the stipulated time frame and in time for her first GCSE exam. Thanks to his detailed letter and recommendation, my daughter was able to be properly assessed by her school and given her condition was eligible for extra time during exams.
I am very pleased with the experience and the great service they continue to provide and highly recommend Eye Opticians if you require fast, reliable and professional service.
Eve (Visual Stress)
I am reading History at Cambridge University, and the high academic demands of my degree cause me to read a high amount – often eight to ten hours a day, three to four times a week. The specialist visual stress glasses have alleviated a great deal of the eye strain I feel when I read, and have made doing my work much more comfortable and smoother. I have to take fewer breaks, and I get less tired while I am reading. As a bonus, my college fund was able to cover the cost of the specialist lenses and the test, as well as some of the money for the frames.
Heidelberg Engineering
Heidelberg Engineering have recently had the pleasure of working with Shafik Haji and his enthusiastic team. The transformation of the practice has been remarkable. They have demonstrated an outstanding ability to absorb the information conveyed in our training and translate this into offering outstanding patient care. The new clinical diagnostic room is an excellent facility and fulfils Shafik’s vision of providing services to the local community and potentially through referrals, further afield.
Colette Smith
Dear Shafik, thanks a million for your care and attention with regard to my specs. Thank you for a great service and also for saving the unwanted specs for a good cause.
Jillian Pearson
Dear Jatinder, I must thank you for referring me to Professor Shah following your examination of my eyes recently. After further tests and scans, it is likely I will begin by having cataracts removed. Professor Shah is full of praise for you and Eye Opticians and I am sure I am receiving excellent care
Helen Walker
I am writing to thank you for the excellent service which you offer to your customers. You have provided a personal and highly professional eye service to myself and my family for a number of years now. Yourself and your team deliver excellent eye care. We love your fabulous range of frames. Over the last few years, you have provided us with advice and support regarding a wide range of optical matters and we have experienced extremely high levels of customer satisfaction. You put in the extra effort to help your customers feel welcome, accepted and understood. I would strongly recommend the visual stress assessment to anyone who experiences difficulty reading or headaches when reading. Many thanks for your ongoing commitment to your customers and to your craft.
Alistair
Shafik has provided exceptional care to me and my family over the past few years. I have had visual difficulties over several decades which previous opticians and eye hospitals have been unable to help with. Eye Opticians were able to diagnose the difficulty and prescribe specialist lenses to rectify it. I have now enjoyed several years of trouble free sight. I am extremely grateful to them for their care, thoroughness and determination to solve the problem. Shafik is professional and approachable, always willing to take the time necessary to help. He is supported by a friendly and knowledgable staff team.
Lee
I would recommend Eye Opticians to anyone because they offer an exemplary service, a wide range of choice and they are perfectionists. AFrom start-to-finish, the service has been nothing but friendly, helpful, courteous and unfailingly professional. I have absolute confidence in the technical aspects of the eye test itself. They have a large range of quality, up-to-date frames – with modern, state-of-the-art materials (even for the more “traditional” styles). In fitting, Shafik is a perfectionist – with an enthusiasm for his products that is infectious. He is confident in the design and quality of what he sells, and there is never a feeling of being pressurised into choosing or buying. I have now had two pairs of genuinely bespoke frames, fitted around me. Shafik has contacted designers personally and has had prototypes made up (without obligation). In tailoring terms, I have had three or four “fittings” for each. If he is not happy with any aspect, then he will say so. The result is a pairs of specs tailored to and for me, and with the look of which I am very comfortable (in spite of the magnitude of my myopia). Shafik’s is a genuinely personal service.
It is a pleasure to be a customer of EYE Opticians. I would recommend them to anyone.
Teodor
Very nice optimetricians. The eye test was vigorous and short, and they even helped me choose a suitable frame of glasses. I strongly recommend it.
Fareedh
This is the best opticians I have been too. Very professional, friendly and very easy to talk too. They made me understand on what tests they were doing. It did not feel like they were rushing me out of the door. Definitely better customer service provided by specsavers. It is more expensive but DEFINITELY worth the money.
Drew
I do not normally write reviews, but am making an exception for EYE Opticians. My wife and I have been to Vision Express and Specsavers in the past, and always been disappointed with the service and the so-so quality of product. It’s okay, but nothing to write home about. So we thought we would try an independent optician, and was very happy indeed. The service was excellent, the care and attention provided was second-to-none, and the quality of the products is exceptional. My wife ended up with some Saint Laurent glasses whilst I opted for Lindbergh (plus some IC Berlin sunglasses). Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but you get what you pay for. We will be back in the future.
Richard
Recently I purchased a pair of Tart Arnel glasses with lenses, the service and advice I received was second to none, couldn’t be happier! and all this was over the phone or via messages so I can imagine it’s even better in person! Thanks again would definitely recommend and return in the future
Neil
Best in class opticians. Professional and friendly service, meticulous attention to detail and superb choice of frames and lenses. Highly recommended
Sinead
Excellent service and a fantastic range of frames available! They stock some really unique styles.. The staff were very knowledgeable and helpful, they took time to ensure that the frame and lens selection were the best for me. I love my new glasses and will definitely be returning for future check ups!
Carrie Ballard (Visual Stress)
I am a 51 year old woman who has worn glasses since the age of 3. Initially it was for astigmatism and long sightedness in both eyes and to correct a ‘lazy’ left eye. After numerous health issues that were affecting my eyesight which I had been managing all this as best I could, becoming increasingly afraid of how it would end up as there seemed to be more days where I had headaches than not.
All seemed well – then suddenly, in September 2019 I began experiencing migraines preceded by aura for the first time. I had one which lasted a couple of days and then a couple of weeks later I had one which never completely went away for 10 days, I repeatedly got the aura followed by terrible head pain and numbness in my right side. It seemed to subside and then two weeks later it returned and I became so frightened by the lack of break in symptoms I visited my GP and she was also very concerned to the point she referred me straight to hospital to receive a CT scan to rule out a bleed on the brain. Fortunately the CT scan and blood tests ruled out anything immediately sinister and I was able to return home, with an appointment to see a neurologist to discuss possible causes and plan a way forward. Unfortunately after reviewing and discussing my history the neurologist was unable to offer much more than possible medication options to treat, possibly prevent future migraines. All these medications would have unpleasant side effects. My husband and I ascertained that bright contrasting light, fast moving large colour screens and black and white geometric patters seemed to trigger aura immediately so I began to avoid these where possible. We also researched online and found EYE Opticians through looking for alternative solutions to medication. We were particularly interested by Shafik’s specialism in ‘Visual Distress’ evaluation, which seemed to accurately describe exactly what I had been experiencing. I phoned, half expecting to be placed in a long queue for an appointment, and was pleasantly surprised to be offered the chance to speak to Shafik there and then to explain what I was experiencing. I found Shafik to be extremely understanding and immediately able to relate to the difficulties I was experiencing. I felt he was respectful, professional and at no time tried to push any particular course of action – I felt I had nothing to lose by at least visiting the store and seeing what could be found out. I had a traditional standard eye examination first with a qualified optician colleague of Shafik, who detected that my prescription had changed rapidly since my previous test only 10 months ago. Then Shafik ran through a questionnaire with me and evaluated my visual distress responses via various additional eye tests, including colour overlays on text.
To say that I was amazed is an understatement…for the first time in so many years text stayed still on the page and I could comfortably look at words, numbers, patterns and geometric shapes/optical illusions that previously caused me difficulty – in the past I had to repeatedly re-read them as I often misread words or saw words that weren’t there. I also found that when Shafik put together a pair of glasses incorporating a colour overlay closest to that which I most positively and consistently responded well to, I could walk around without the ground coming up to meet me or feeling constantly dizzy, something else I had been increasingly experiencing in the past year or two. Shafik encouraged me to revisit how I feel about wearing glasses and shared his extensive knowledge on the frame and lens industry to explain how I had been short changing myself for years with a false economy, and was having to buy new frames every time I had an eye test due to some industry practices which went against my desire not to be wasteful and also to be able to stay with a frame that suited and fitted. In view of my mature and changing needs for an extremely accurate and tailored prescription, and the complicated physiological symptoms I was now experiencing meant I could no longer settle for a slightly ‘off’ prescription or frame fit…these can make a significant difference. Shafik’s skill is more akin to a craftsman who takes pride in producing a perfect fit and is prepared to take the time needed to make the necessary tweaks and adjustments to ensure optimum visual comfort. Shafik was also able to offer a number of options for frames/lenses/colour overlays/Polaroid and anti-glare functionality to suit my needs and lifestyle. I never felt pressured or hurried into a decision. I felt Shafik cared about making wearing glasses a good experience for me again not just about making a sale.
Since I have been wearing my new glasses (two pairs, one for everyday walking around multi focus needs – varifocal – and one for close work, plus two clip on lenses, one coloured for visual relief and one Polaroid for sun exposure and high glare/reflection) I have not had ANY migraines. I have also found that most of my inexplicably triggered almost daily headaches have disappeared. This is the first time for 30 years I have been so free of headaches and I wish I could have found solutions that work so well years ago. I now enjoy wearing my glasses and have control over my symptoms…if I feel tired or challenged visually I simply choose the most suitable combination of frame and lens and I very soon start to feel better, and I can also plan ahead, anticipate challenges in my day and prepare accordingly, probably preventing headaches from occurring.
I feel like a new person with more access to my life, more productive, happier and several years younger! I am very happy with the service provided by Sharik and EYE Opticians and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone who has found their eyes to be causing difficulties like mine. It’s worth trying something different that has been well researched for many years and has the potential to bring such effective and far reaching benefits.