The best thing about the free market ...

... is that if someone treats you like sh**, you can go elsewhere.

Back on Father's Day, after a round of golf, the frame of my sunglasses broke. Not on a joint or anything, but right in the middle of the right earpiece. I assume metal fatigue. (I was wearing these glasses when I got hammered playing soccer a year and a half ago, but there didn't appear to be any damage as they flew off of head.) At any rate, I waited most of the summer to look into getting new ones, mainly 'cause I'm a lazy bum.

At any rate, I finally go to a place recommended by my aunt. A very friendly (and attractive) woman shows me the latest athletic-looking (yet still dressy) sunglasses. The first pair I try, I'm sold.

Nine days later I go to pick them up. Uh-oh. I soon as I walk outside I notice something is amiss. My depth perception is way off. I continue wearing them as I think I "just have to get used to them." Wrong. The problem is highlighted when, a little later at a nearby Target store, I missed the handle of the milk cooler. Missed it. Completely. That's how off my depth perception was. I call the woman at the optical place and explain what's up. She tells me to bring them in the next day. When I get there, she thinks she's discovered the problem: The "base" of the lenses were not crafted to "wrap-around" lens specifics. I give 'em back to her, and again, nine days later I go back to get the fixed glasses ....

... last Friday. When I walk outside this time, all seems perfect. I wear 'em on the ride home. Great. The next day, I head up to a buddy's house in Downingtown. While on rt. 202, I notice what I think is a smudge on my right lens. I use a lens cloth to wipe it off. It doesn't go away. At any rate, the traffic light turned green, and I pretty much blew off "cleaning" the lens the rest of the way up. The next morning however, when I put on the glasses, I see what's really up: The "smudge" was nothing of the sort. What was obscuring my vision in that small section of the lens was a small half "teardrop" shape where the anti-glare/anti-scratch coating did not spread evenly on the lens. (It's like when you paint a wall and some of the paint collects in small teardrop shapes at the bottom of the wall.) The left lens also had one of these too, albeit smaller. But what REALLY pissed me off was that there were three huge scratches where I thought I was cleaning the lens the day before!! Like, I put out $120 for the latest anti-scratch coating!! And I used a lens cloth to wipe them!!

But the best part is yet to come.

Yesterday I drove to the place before I went in to school to set up my classroom. The lady who had taken care of me the previous two times was not in. The other woman said "It's OK, I can help you." BIG mistake. When I explain the story of the glasses, the situation immediately became like that "Seinfeld" episode where Jerry's auto mechanic demeaned him for apparently not taking proper care of his car, not knowing what kind of motor oil he put in it, etc. When I explained I was a bit miffed about how the lenses scratched, the woman immediately asks "Well, what did you use to clean them?" I had brought in the cloth and showed her. "Well, that's not a good one," she says. "I got it at Delaware Opthamology Associates," I respond. Oops. That seemed to faze her. Then she asks, "Did you wash that cloth?"
"I do sometimes, yes."
"But did you do it before cleaning the glasses this time?"
"No, I was driving."
"Oh, so you didn't even wash the lenses beforehand either?"
"No. I was driving."

I proceed to show her the information card about the "latest special coating" I had paid for for the lenses.

"See what it says here, ma'am? 'No special cloth or cleaner is required to clean your lenses.'"
"Let me see that. Hmm. Well, despite what that says, you still need to wash your lenses with soap and water each time."
"OK, that's fine, but you can see why I cleaned them how I did based on this card and what I paid for, right?"
"What kind of cleaner do you use on your glasses?"
"I don't know. Something I bought at a pharmacy."

She exhales audibly, exactly like Seinfeld's auto mechanic in that episode. Like, I'm somehow SUPPOSED TO KNOW the precise type of lens cleaner I had bought many months ago.

"Here. Use this." She gives me a small bottle of cleaner. She then grabs a box and -- get this -- DROPS IT on the desk in front of me. It's full of lens cleaning cloths. I am now officially seething. "Pick one," she says.

"Thanks," I say. "Now about those lens imperfections ..."
"Right. Hold on while I take a look at 'em."

She spends approx. five minutes in the back room. She then comes back a bit through the doorway, apparently looking very hard for the "teardrop" shapes I told her about.

"They're very tough to detect."
"Not if you're wearing them."
"Here, I'll circle where I think they are and you can confirm it."

She circled precisely where the imperfections were. Plus where the scratches were.

"That's them," I say.
"Again, they're tough to see."

At this point, I'm about to explode. I wanted to stand up and scream "WELL THEN YOU WEAR THE DAMN GLASSES AND ENJOY GETTING YOUR VISION BLURRED EVERY TIME YOU LOOK IN THE DIRECTION OF THAT IMPERFECTION, LADY!! I PAID OVER $500 FOR THESE F***ING GLASSES AND IT'S NOT A LOT TO EXPECT THAT THEY ACTUALLY BE MADE RIGHT!!"

But I didn't. Because, mainly, I knew that the lady who took care of me the first couple times would never have treated me so, and I didn't want anything to reflect negatively on her. As I sat there -- with a quite noticeable scowl on my face -- the woman proceeded to pick up my glasses and say "We'll call when they're ready."

"Thank you," I said gruffly and walked out.

I called the place that afternoon hoping that "my" lady was in by then. She wasn't. I plan to lodge a complaint (tactfully) and definitely make sure that SHE is aware of the problem with the lenses. As it stands, I probably won't be going back to this shop.

UPDATE: My original sales-lady got back to me. She was extremely apologetic about the incident yesterday, and promised me that she'd call the [lens] lab personally to make sure they know exactly what the coating problem is and yes, to rectify the scratch problem too. Still gotta wait 7-10 days for the glasses, 'tho.

Posted by Hube at August 19, 2008 09:07 AM | TrackBack