Why I think LensCrafters suck.
Posted by Lloyd Y. Asato | Filed under Poetics of Peet's
First off, why I shop at LensCrafters. They are at the mall at which Presh loves to shop. And although they are more expensive than the other guys in the mall, they claim that my glasses will be ready in about an hour. There is an Apple Store in said mall. I can wait an hour. Finally, they do not take my insurance, but screw it I am here make my glasses. They take a long time. But, I guess, sometimes “about an hour” means five hours. But, Presh is happy and I finally leave with new glasses.
That was less than four months ago. About two months ago I notice that the frames are wobbly and loose. Hmmm… Then yesterday they came apart. It may be hard to see in the photo but the bridge post came loose then popped out. A bad weld, or poor design. I go back to LensCrafters.
I am greeted by E. the retail manager who looks at the glasses and tells me that they do not sell frames made in Japan. “You sold me these,” I reply. He searches through the computer then through the stacks. “We no longer sell this frame you will have to pick something else,” he offers to credit me $100.00 towards a new pair. I remind him that the glasses are less than four months old.
LensCrafters has a 30 day unconditional warranty. After that they will credit you a percentage of the price. In this case fifty-percent of the frame price. I was raised by attorneys. I understand contract law. I am not arguing the validity of the contract. I question selling defective frames that fall apart less than four months after purchase. I ask him if there is something he could do, the glasses are less than four months old. I am getting pissed. He repeats the warranty information and says I signed the contract.
I ask him when this policy had changed. This was maybe my sixth or seventh pair of glasses from LensCrafters over the last ten years or so. There was a time when they guaranteed the glasses for a year, then they changed the policy so that it was a fifty-dollar charge. My last pair was replaced a little over a year ago under this fifty-dollar policy. He tells me that has been the policy ever since he has been working for LensCrafters. About seven months. Uh…
Is there someone else I could talk to? He gets a guy from the back (E. was very quick to point out that the guy he was bringing out worked for him and that he, E., was the manager). The guy admits that the policy was changed recently, maybe five, uh or maybe three years ago (actually less than that but okay). E. deflates a bit. The guy from the back goes on to say that the company was losing too much money so they had to change the policy.
I begin to realize that maybe it is not their warranty policy that is causing their losses but the poor product quality and awful combative service.
E. tells me that they do not have the lenses and may have to special order them. It could take up to five days. I suspect that the lenses will “show up” on E’s next scheduled day off. This is fine with me, sometimes “about an hour” means up to five days.
May 5th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
[...] No glasses yet from LensCrafters. “Ready in about an hour” sometimes means seventy-four hours and counting. Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Deep-roasted, delivered fresh, since 1966. [...]
May 6th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
[...] LensCrafters? Still sucking as “ready in about an hour” becomes 99 and a half hours and counting. Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Deep-roasted, delivered fresh, since 1966. [...]
May 7th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
[...] No word from LensCrafters, which makes “ready in about an hour” over one hundred twenty-three hours and counting. Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Deep-roasted, delivered fresh, since 1966. [...]
May 8th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
[...] Well, LensCrafters finally called this morning. Let us see. That means “ready in about an hour” was one hundred thirty-six and a half hours. Oh and, E. was not in. Probably just a coincidence? [...]
June 8th, 2006 at 11:22 am
[...] I am amused. I glanced at my logs and I am gettting a lot of search engine hits with the key word LensCrafters. In fact, if you Google “LensCrafters“, my post about LensCrafters’ horrible and combative customer service, shows up on the first page (currently, just above the Wikipedia entry). Most of the other search terms that people where using “lenscrafters warranty” and the like had my post showing up on the first page as well. Hopefully, corporate will read about my experiences and work to improve training at their stores but we shall see… Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Deep-roasted, delivered fresh, since 1966. [...]
July 15th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Too bad I didn’t find this post before I headed off to my local Lenscrafters for a bad experience.
August 4th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
I bought some glasses from them, and their “protective coating” didn’t protect much.