Approximately 5-6 weeks ago, after watching yet another ad on the boob-tube on how to get 2 pairs of eyeglasses and a free eye exam for only $69.95, I told the wife to call and make an appointment. We both needed new glasses as it has been a few years and I could definitely tell that there needed to be a change in my prescription.......things were getting fuzzy-like at almost any distance I held the book!!!
So we traveled over 35 miles one-way to the closest place they had and sat around and waited to be seen by the doctor. Went thru the testing and afterward we were ushered out to pick out the frames that we liked. Of course the dorky ones were cheaper, but we finally settled on a pair that looked good on both of us and was also "in stock".....(a lot of the others were unfortunately, no longer available.......the old "bait and switch" coming into play) and after our "helper" did the tallying on the calculator, we were looking at nearly $600 for our original $69.95/pair; including free exam!!! Of course we didn't have that kind of money to spend and I immediately tried to see what we could prune to get the costs down. Asked about how much for just a single pair for each of us and the savings were rather slight.....maybe $40 bucks on the total!!! Then the wife decided she didn't really need all the "fancy" things that she had placed on her order; the photogray feature, etc. and we finally got it down to around $535.00 or so. At this point, I made the statement, "Why don't you just give us the prescription and we'll pay for it ($49.95 x 2) and we'll go shop for our glasses someplace a bit more reasonable?" Of course the "helper/saleman" had been schooled in how to handle these questions and claimed that their prices were competitive with others and that we were unlikely to find a better deal in town. We asked how long it would be before we'd get our new glasses and was told about a week to 10 days.
So we reluctantly signed our John Hancocks on our Discover card and went away muttering......wondering how in blazes we were going to afford to pay for them. Finally, after discussing it further and seeking a way to try & calm down, I went on-line to our favorite place (HOMESTEADING TODAY) and would you believe it, just happened to come across the thread on Zenni Optical???? Of course, I'd heard/read about this eyeglasses mail-order company earlier, but it had completely eluded the thought processes just 4 hrs previously. After we both studied what they had to offer, we decided that this would definitely work for us; especially since our limited budget couldn't afford the other route. We called America's Best the following day; less than 20 hrs after our visit and told them that we wanted to cancel our order and that we only wanted to pay for the eye exams and would it be possible for them to please send the prescriptions to our residence by mail.
(Legally in Michigan, the prescriptions belong to the customer and they are entitled to a copy if they request them)
No problem we were told; the credit card amount would be adjusted accordingly and our money cheerfully refunded. And then we waited.......and waited ........and waited some more.
A week passed and no prescriptions. We called, explained again and were assured that they would be in the mail the following day. The weekend came and went and so did Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, before we realized we'd been had. We called again, and repeated the story......and the wife finally asked if they could fax the prescription to us.....yes that was possible. But in reality, when a couple hours went by and we still had received nothing; not so in practicality. We called again, and after once again explaining our problem, was then told, that
NO, we can't send prescriptions via fax...... it's against the law and that their policy forbids it......whatever, but whoever told us before, that it could be done......well.....they didn't know what they were talking about!!! However, they could mail them out to us if we'd like......oh really, well, that would be so very nice of them......how soon could we expect them? They would be "in the mail" that very afternoon. Again, we waited and after 3 more days of
NOTHING, I told the wife: "You know, when you pay for something by credit card, and receive ZIP, NADDA, NOTHING.... the customer has a say in the matter as far as whether the other party profits from such actions. Call Discover up and tell them that we paid for a service, but have yet to receive it and let them sort the matter out." This was done and the matter is currently "under review" and the charge has been removed until the investigation is complete; at which time we will be cleared completely of the amount in dispute or .......well, if it goes the other way, I'll be cutting up another credit card!!!
Imagine my surprise when early this afternoon, I got a phone call from a representative of America's Best, who informed me that my eyeglasses were in and I could now pick them up!!!! Excuse me?!?! What did you say? She repeated her earlier statement and I told her: "I don't think so!" She asked what I meant and I told her that we had cancelled that order 5-6 weeks earlier and all that we had been trying to get since then, was our prescriptions. She wanted to know what was to be done with the glasses? You can keep them for all I care.......seeing as how the original order had been terminated and the glasses were about 3 weeks too late as well. She seemed confused and stated that she would check with management and see about getting the order completely refunded. I told her go ahead, but that it really didn't matter, seeing as how we'd already contacted Discover and the situation was being investigated and we'd go with their decision. Anyway, she promised to get to the bottom of it and would get back with me TODAY and would get us the prescription at the "very least". A few hours went by and the phone just rang and it was our friendly rep from America's Best, who explained that management had agreed to a complete refund with a few minor stipulations. Is everyone sitting down? Good......because I wasn't at the time........
I'd have to come in......scratch that......we BOTH would have to come into their office to meet with management and "sign some papers" and then our initial monies for the GLASSES would be cheerfully refunded......but we would still be responsible for the eye exams. I told her quite plainly, that since we don't normally "visit" their fine town and had only done so because of their televised ad offering such a great deal on a couple pairs of glasses and a 'free eye exam', that it was highly unlikely that we would be heading that way again,in the near future. And seeing as how the matter was already being handled by Discover, it didn't really seem necessary for us to travel so far, for something that shouldn't even be an issue.
She was confused again, I could tell, by the way she blabbered about not knowing anything about that matter.....it had
NEVER happened before and oh yes, would I still like them to send out those prescriptions by mail......or she could "fax them" today??? I'm really surprised that I held it together as well as I did........ I finally told her: "Don't even bother, we're going to get our eyes re-examined (no mention of our heads..... for even thinking of using their companies services again) locally, and that it was a
BIG MISTAKE on our parts for going outside our county to do business elsewhere; would have had less hassle if we'd stayed in our own little town." She apologized for the inconvenience and we both said good-bye and hung up.
Sorry for so long, but this is not only a question, but a warning to others out there as well.......
HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD DEALINGS WITH THIS COMPANY and if so, what were your experiences? Anything else that people can offer up in suggestions, comments? Good, bad or indifferent.......whatever, just want to know if this is standard fare for this company.... or other companies......or has the whole service field taken a hit in the "common sense" department on how to run a business into the ground? Or am I just a crochty, old man and this is the "brave new world" that we read about back in high school; aka 1984 + 25 years later?
. His glasses were the advertised total tho'
