Lenscrafters Make it even. false advertising and a ripoff Florence South Carolina
On March, 4, 2003: I took a prescription for reading glasses to Sears Optical in Florence, South Carolina, and was quoted a price of $182.32 including tax, and promised delivery in a week.
After no delivery I enquired twice, and on March, 24 I cancelled the order, recovered my prescription, and took it to LensCrafters in Florence. They were good for their word, having received the glasses in an hour at a cost of $243.73. A few days later I received a letter stating "If you find a lower price for the same eyeglasses at any competitor before 4/24/03 we will refund the difference."
On April 21 I took the confirming documentation to LensCrafters and was told I must show exact duplication in order to receive the rebate. I don't mind very much being refused, but advertising and reniging is a rip off!
Robert
Darlington, South Carolina
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Cassandra
Indianapolis,Indiana,
U.S.A.
The price match policies are to compare apples to apples.
#4UPDATE Employee
Sun, September 21, 2003
I have worked for LensCrafters for almost 10 years now in evry facet of the store operation and in 10 different stores in 3 regions...
The price match policies are to compare apples to apples.
There are several different types of materials lenses can be made of. Glass, photochromic glass, hi-index glass, plastic, hi-index plastic, hi-index 1.67, polycarbonate, trivex and the options go on from there.
Coatings and tints..anti-reflective, UV400, cosmetic or sun tints, scratch resistance level??
Frames, there are thousands of brands from hundreds of manufacturers with major differences in the materials they are made of and quality.
What the price match is meant to do is compare the cost of our hi-index plastic photochromic to theirs..not to their basic plastic that would be heavier and thicker..w/o the ability to lighten and darken..
If you had a price quote breaking down the cost of the lenses by themselves, and the lens option quoted by Sears was the same..same material, same style (single vision, lined bifocal, progressive or lined trifocal) same coatings or tints..then they should have matched. If not, then you could have went back to Sears or another optical and had them write down what their quote would be on the same lenses.
The cost of the frame is also a mitigating factor here. There is very little duplication between the exact styles carried by Sears and carried by LensCrafters. So while the frame make look similar, the materials, function (spring hinges, quality of solder points, number of points, etc) and brand name all can impact the costs.
We do offer after the fact discounts as well, so I would have hoped they offered you this out if they couldn't match price. We have coupons in almost every Sunday paper for $50 off and more...but that is only valid if there was no discounts previously applied.
Hope this clarifies this for some of you
Marilyn
Baxter Springs,Kansas,
U.S.A.
In other words..........
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, June 25, 2003
.......but since there is such a wide variation in product quality, construction, and material it is hard to Price match.
All this means is that LC has an out with just about any lower price offered, because make their own lenses. The only thing that could be the same would be the frames which is usually, at most 50% of the cost of the glasses.
Patrick
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Why don't you just ask them to give you the glasses for free
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, June 25, 2003
Florence,
Almost every company I know will match and try to beat a competitors price on products. 99.999% of the time that is a definable, exact product, i.e. 12 pack of Pepsi. As for the optical industry, the consumer is very uneducated as to the different products and that there is hundreds of different production companies. Therefore, it is hard for a consumer to discern between products. Lenscrafters has and always will match a competitors price. It is only good business. However, you cannot just walk into LC and tell them you found X product at Blank store and expect them to give you a refund. You have the responsibility to present to LC, the information you found from Blank store about X product and why you believe you are due a reimbursement. LC will kindly refund you any price difference, but since there is such a wide variation in product quality, construction, and material it is hard to Price match.