// Boots customers had to wait 10 weeks for eyewear prescriptions
// Boots’ high street pharmacies and stores continued to operate throughout the pandemic
Boots customers have reportedly had to wait for 10 weeks for their prescription glasses after the retailer shut 549 opticians outlets due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Up to 12,000 customers have had to wait for more than 10 weeks for eyewear, The Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, Boots’ high street pharmacies and stores have continued to operate throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
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The vast majority of optical staff were furloughed due to the vast amount of closures.
Since then, thousands of customers who bought glasses just before lockdown, or brought in existing pairs for repair, have been forced to wait weeks to receive sometimes essential eyewear stuck in the closed stores.
Customers complained that they had found difficulty in getting any updates on deliveries of glasses.
Boots said it hoped to deliver all glasses for which it had a validated address within the next week.
The retailer said it had been slow to deliver glasses because it did not have the correct address details on file for some customers and had to contact them to update.
It added that some orders had not been paid in full and the customer would normally have expected to finalise payment when they picked up the glasses.
Moreover, Boots said it has since made the decision to deliver the glasses with instructions for customers on the next steps.
For categories of glasses that are restricted from delivery without a fitting, such as children’s glasses, it had set up a mobile fitting service.
Last month, Boots said it has been preparing to reopen its No7 counter and branded beauty lines to the public following a lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The health and beauty retailer laid out its plans to keep staff and shoppers safe when these sections reopen.
It said it was relying on digital innovation to launch its latest No. 7 product and reopen its in-store beauty counters in England from June 15.
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