LASIK prices go up at Optimax while headline price falls to match Optical Express
Dave Allamby | Apr 30, 2008 | Comments 11
Optimax, one of the UK’s big 3 laser eye chains, has made a significant price hike for their wavefront LASIK treatment, the UK’s most popular type of vision correction.
Patients will now pay an additional £480 to have both eyes correct with blade free wavefront LASIK. Bilateral (both eyes) treatment has risen from £2,890 in August last year up to £3,370 today.
One of the big changes in the laser eye treatment industry is the battle for a low headline price. Optical Express lead the way with a “from £395” price headline with a huge marketing campaign across the UK. Optical Express have raced ahead over the past few years and now do more treatments than any other UK laser provider.
Optimax has responded to the challenge by dropping their headline price to match OE’s at £395 per eye (Epi-LASEK).
However, you have to look closely to see what is on offer. For Optimax, £395 will not get you either LASIK or superior wavefront vision correction. For that you will have to pay £1,290. The £395 headline is for non-wavefront surface laser which lacks the comfort and rapid recovery that makes the LASIK procedure the most popular amongst patients.
And if you want the advanced blade free Intralase laser rather than a blade, there is an additional £395 (up from £300 per eye last year) to make an Optimax price of £1,685 per eye or £3,370 for both eyes.
Optimax prices in blue as of April 30th 2008. You can compare to prices from August last year just below, in green. You can see how all prices have risen, except for the Epi-LASEK entry price of £395 per eye, which does not include wavefront advanced optics.
A complaint we hear from LASIK patient is just how much more the price escalates to once you attend for a consultation, above the advertised ‘from’ price.
As I wrote about in a recent post, Ultralase have also raised their prices to £1.945 per eye for blade free wavefront LASIK vision correction.
Both Optimax and Ultralase charge a fixed fee for all prescriptions, while Optical Express have a sliding scale based upon the strength of the prescription glasses correction required; the worse the vision, the higher the cost.
The patient attending Optical Express will find typically 3 jumps in price:
1. Additional cost for a prescription above the mild prescription of the headline price
2. Additional cost for wavefront correction ( an upgrade issued back in 2002 by VISX)
3. Additional cost for Intralase blade free dual laser correction
So overall, the UK trend is to offer a low headline price, while actual LASIK prices are on the increase.
I should add here, humbly, that FOCUS Laser Vision prices are against the trend, and we have lowered our advanced blade free wavefront correction price to the best available in the UK. However, we are a specialist clinic serving London and the South-East and without a nationwide footprint. Sorry to the rest of the UK! Blade free ‘Intralase-type’ wavefront LASIK starts at £595 per eye and most patients are not spending much more than around £1,000 per eye for this advanced treatment at FOCUS. OK, personal plug over!
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I forgot to add my vision. It's -6.50 on both eyes. 
Hi Dr. Allamby,
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I suspect Optical Express (and others?) are fixing customers in by getting them to sign up to low prices, then at the 11th hour, when the doctor has reviewed the notes, giving the intralase hard sell by telling them that due to eye architecture (or other reasons?) they really should go for intralase at an extra £300 per eye, with no rebate offered in relation to the fact that microkeratome is no longer being undertaken.
This was my experience; and while the surgery went very well and the overall price is in line with those quoted above, I am not happy that the cost went up by £600 at the 11th hour.
Does anyoe else have similar experiences or advice on how to proceed – is it worth complaining to trading standards?
In my business, if you pay for something and it turns out it is not necessary, then you get some money back!
hi my husband went to have his eyes done today and the exact same thing happened!
i complained bitterly and pointed out that they wouldn’t find anyone to fill his appointment at this notice and they would lose all the money if they didn’t try to meet us half way,a few phone calls later they said they could do it for £300 extra,
still out of order and i intend to complain to head office with the hope of getting it back as we feel we were railroaded into it unfairly!
how did you get on?
Also, how much would it cost for WaveLight Allgretto Wavefront Optimised treatment?
My prescription is approxiamtely -3.25D (left)/-3.5D (right).
Kind Regards,
Allan Galbraith
Hi Mr Allamby,
I came across this website whilst conduing some personal research on laser eye surgery with the intention of eventually undergoing the treatment.
I received a text and email from another leading Laser Eye Surgery company and the following email in response to my questions:
“Dear Allan,
It is the top treatment, Lasik Wavefront and Intralase which originally would have cost £3570 for both eyes but will cost you £1895 for both eyes provided that you book treatment before the 31st May 2009.
Kind Regards,
Famidah.”
I would just like your opinion, which from the previous messages seems to be honest and genuine, on this offer.
Also, could you provide me with the statistics for your company compared to Optimax.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Allan Galbraith
Hi Allan
Thanks for your email. First, our price for wavefront blade free LASIK for your prescription is £2290 for both eyes, and we don’t do major price cuts such as the offer you were quoted. As I have written before though, the recession may force some clinics to offer some major price cuts to attract more business, and that may or may not be good value as price is not the only factor and patient should be thinking about.
We are a stand alone specialist clinic and not a chain of centres and some patients really like that. However, for clinic comparisons I will be posting this weekend about all London laser eye surgery centres who offer blade free LASIK, comparing price paid to quality ratings and I think this will answer your question more completely.
Best regards
Dave
Dave,
Thanking you for the response – have looked at figures ans see what you mean, however are these the most recent figures as these are dated 2006?
Only annoying thing is that i’m not suitable for the lasik treatment which seems to heal quicker with faster results but we can’t have everything in life can we!
Brandon
Hi
Went to Focus this morning and was very impressed with service and friendliness. Due to having thin cornea’s I am unable to have Lasik and to have Lasek will cost me £795 per eye. On my way home, popped into Optimax who then said they could perform Lasek for £695 but without Wavefront. I understand it is only £200 but they informed me that they suspected Focus’s wavefront will be a generic process and may not benefit my eyes.
Any thoughts
Hi Paula
Yes, based on those numbers above, wavefront LASIK with the Swiss Ziemer advanced blade free approach will be only £1020 per eye. We will see you at your consultation and confirm that prescription for you.
You can get a free consult at FOCUS by quoting LT01 when you book.
thanks
Dave
Dear Dr Allamby,
So.. if I understand correctly, £1020 per eye is the cost for my procedure, i.e. the WaveLight laser procedure with the Swiss Ziemer laser, with wavefront included?
Please confirm
Thanks
Paula
hi Paula, thanks for the message.
The prices shown in my article above ARE exactly the same today (I just rechecked that!).
They quote LASIK without wavefront at £895 per eye then another £395 to add wavefront for better vision (you should have this option), and then £395 for blade free LASIK. (all per eye)
Did you specify the wavefront option? Maybe they are running a promotion that isn’t listed on their website, e.g. an email campaign?
We include wavefront in all our treatments, and yours would be £1020 per eye. No we dont price match as we are still cheaper (offers from other centres excluded).
Hope that helps
Dave
Dear Dr Allamby,
Your article regarding price increase is very interesting, but it’s not accurate. I have approached Optimax just this morning, and enquired about the Intralase Lasik (with limited error margings), and the quote I was given is £2040 (Lasik plus Intralase extra), which is exactly the same as the quote I was given by Focus Laser this morning 7 August 2008. Also, Optimax has a patient referral scheme that offers the referee £100 and the future patient also a discount of £100, offering a total of £200 in cash back.
This would bring the cost of my procedure down to £1940 (the consultation is free).
Are you willing to match this offer, with or without patient referral?
If it helps, my details are as follows:
Right eye: Sphere: -3.25
Left eye: Sphere: -3.25, Cylinder: 0.25, Axis: 80
Age: 37
Kind Regards
Paula