Specsavers Richards Bay Contact Details

Richards Bay has two Spec-Savers practices, one in the CBD shopping centre and one inside a medical centre in Arboretum. A third, in Empangeni, is close enough to be worth knowing about if neither has an appointment slot. Each is independently owned by its optometrists.

Spec-Savers Boardwalk Inkwazi

• Telephone: 035 302 0989
• Address: Shop U001a, Boardwalk Inkwazi, Krugerrand Road, CBD, Richards Bay, 3900

Spec-Savers Richards Bay

• Telephone: 035 789 8011
• Address: Caredoc Medical Centre, 3 Lira Link, Arboretum, Richards Bay, 3900

Nearest alternative

• Spec-Savers Empangeni: 035 940 2470, Shop 30, Prince Buthelezi Mall, near the R34 and R102 crossing, Empangeni

Empangeni is about twenty minutes from Richards Bay, so it is a practical fallback for an urgent repair or a test slot, but it is a separate practice: a prescription or a repair started at one store is not automatically on file at another.

Booking an eye test

Both Richards Bay stores work by appointment for testing, and walk-ins are usually limited to frame browsing, repairs and collections. Bring your current spectacles, any previous prescription you have, and the name of any chronic medication you take, since several common medicines affect vision and the optometrist needs to know. If you wear contact lenses, say so when booking: a contact lens fitting is a longer appointment than a spectacle test and is often billed separately.

Prescriptions and repairs

• A spectacle prescription belongs to you, and you may ask for a copy to take elsewhere
• Lens turnaround depends on the prescription, and a strong or specialised lens is ground off site, which adds days
• Frame repairs and adjustments are usually done while you wait, but a broken frame under warranty needs the original sale record from the store that sold it

Medical aid cover

Optometry is normally funded from a scheme benefit that runs on a two-year cycle, and many schemes pay only at network practices. Ask the store to verify your benefit and your network status before the test, not after, and get confirmation of what the scheme will pay towards frames as opposed to lenses. The two figures are usually separate and the frame allowance is the one people overrun.

Complaints

• Take it up with the individual practice first, since each store is independently owned
• Optometrists are registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, which handles professional conduct complaints
• For a scheme payment dispute, the Council for Medical Schemes rather than the practice is the right office