A high street optician has confirmed it does not conduct home visits in Cornwall, despite a high-profile national advertising campaign for that service. 

Specsavers’ current commercials play on its most famous slogan, “Should have gone to Specsavers”, with a customer saying: “No – they come to me.” 

But a Voice reader from St Austell, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was “disgusted” to be advised by staff at the town’s branch that it could not send an employee to her home to visit her husband, who is housebound for health reasons and cannot attend outside appointments. 

“Specsavers do not come to you if you live in Cornwall, and yet I see these adverts regularly,” she said. “Are they breaking the law if they advertise a service they are not providing here?

“My husband is very poorly and has a hospital bed in our home. He needs glasses, and cannot get out to an appointment. 

“I have tried to find an independent optician, but one I called just played music and didn’t even answer the phone.”

A spokesperson for Specsavers said: “Since Specsavers commenced home visits in 2013, we have continually looked at opportunities to expand these much-needed services and are now proud to offer eye care to anyone who is unable to leave their home unaccompanied in almost all parts of the UK. 

“Regrettably, there are still a few areas where we don’t currently offer this service, including parts of Cornwall. 

“We are pleased to advise that plans to open two new home visit businesses in Devon this year have completed and they launched in June and July, expanding the offering in the South West. 

“We hope these new services will see many more people able to access Specsavers home visits, while we continue to look for further opportunities to expand in the region.

“In the meantime, we apologise to anyone living in the small number of areas we don’t operate that would otherwise have wished a Specsavers home visit. 

“We hope we can be of service in other ways until such a time that we are able to visit them at home.”