Bill
Orlando,#2Author of original report
Thu, October 16, 2003
Following is the text of my letter to the Florida Attorney General. March 25, 2003 Mr. Stephen Iglesias Office of the Attorney General PL-01 Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050 Re: Eyeglass World Investigation Mr. Iglesias, Thank you for your call yesterday. After considering Ms. Snell's request that I e-mail the information I have, I decided that it was not practical. As you will see, my file is more than an inch thick. Since we also discussed my sending you a videotape copy of Todd Ulrich's WFTV Consumer Report on Eyeglass World, I decided to ship my entire file to you. Along with the videotape and my Eyeglass World file, I'm sending the glasses I got from Eyeglass World. It is not necessary to return the lenses or the frames. The lenses make my vision worse than with my old glasses. The frames were mine and I had EGW mount the lenses in them. They ruined the frames by over tightening a screw when installing one lens. That screw cannot now be removed or turned making the frames useless. Notice also that the left trifocal is substantially larger than the right trifocal. The right side lens easily pops out of the frame -- apparently cut too small for the frame. Probably the work of unqualified and unlicensed people. On the videotape you'll hear Todd Ulrich mention that I had received a refund from Eyeglass World. I received a refund of $180, the amount they charged to make the lenses -- after five months and after filing a complaint with the Florida Board of Opticianry. I have not been reimbursed for the ruined frames. At the Kissimmee EGW I was quoted $149 as the price of an identical set of frames. They should also refund the $59 I paid to have my eyes examined in their store, since I had to go to another optometrist and get another exam. I also had to buy a new set of frames. They still owe me a total of $208. I am not a lawyer, but from what I have read about the RICO statute, it sure seems to me that Eyeglass World's business practices would fit the definition of racketeering. EGW complaints reflect false and misleading advertising, shoddy workmanship, systematic defrauding of customers and blatantly ignoring the regulations and laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate. In my file you'll find fifteen consumer complaints from a website, Rip-Off Report.com. Those complaints are from all over the US, including several from Florida. In my opinion, the content of those complaints shows a company-wide effort to deliberately defraud customers. The complaints detailed on Rip-Off Report.com, are very much like my own experience with them. The Better Business Bureau national website lists forty-one Eyeglass World locations. As of last night the BBB records show twenty-six (63%) with unsatisfactory ratings and only 9 (22%) with satisfactory ratings. In November 2002 it was 55% unsatisfactory. There are many more EGW locations than the BBB national records show -- 83 according to Marco Musa as of 11/2002. I suspect that the company makes a concerted effort to keep their stores off the BBB listings. Eyeglass World is not just a problem to the consumers of Florida. The company is systematically defrauding consumers nationwide. I hope that at the appropriate time you will invite Federal prosecutors and Federal agencies to participate in your efforts to protect consumers. Eyeglass World must be shut down nationwide. The owners and top management should be prosecuted and jailed. Sincerely,
Bill
Orlando,#3Author of original report
Thu, October 16, 2003
WFTV clarification In reading over my report immediately after submission, I realized that I failed to make it clear that the $11,667 per month payment to WFTV was not from Eyeglass World. The reason I included the WFTV story in my report was to illustrate the pervasiveness of the problem of disreputable companies buying favorable treatment. I think it demonstrates that it is quite possible other TV News organizations may have been corrupted by Eyeglass World. For example, about a year ago I found the website of a South Florida Opthalmologist who had been interviewed by a consumer reporter for a Miami TV station. That story was not broadcast. While he was in Las Vegas on vacation, one evening in his hotel room he was watching the evening news. There was a consumer report about Lasik Vision Institute, owned by the same people that own Eyeglass World. He was surprised to see the tape of his South Florida interview about that same company. He later found that the Miami station had killed his story and the reporter (probably frustrated and angry) had sent the doctor's interview to a station in Las Vegas. It might be very interesting to find out why the story was killed in Miami. Was there some corrupting influence? I recently I searched the internet to try to find the source website, but was unsuccessful. However, a printout of this story was among the documents I sent to the Florida Attorney General.
Bill
Orlando,#4Author of original report
Thu, October 16, 2003
WFTV clarification In reading over my report immediately after submission, I realized that I failed to make it clear that the $11,667 per month payment to WFTV was not from Eyeglass World. The reason I included the WFTV story in my report was to illustrate the pervasiveness of the problem of disreputable companies buying favorable treatment. I think it demonstrates that it is quite possible other TV News organizations may have been corrupted by Eyeglass World. For example, about a year ago I found the website of a South Florida Opthalmologist who had been interviewed by a consumer reporter for a Miami TV station. That story was not broadcast. While he was in Las Vegas on vacation, one evening in his hotel room he was watching the evening news. There was a consumer report about Lasik Vision Institute, owned by the same people that own Eyeglass World. He was surprised to see the tape of his South Florida interview about that same company. He later found that the Miami station had killed his story and the reporter (probably frustrated and angry) had sent the doctor's interview to a station in Las Vegas. It might be very interesting to find out why the story was killed in Miami. Was there some corrupting influence? I recently I searched the internet to try to find the source website, but was unsuccessful. However, a printout of this story was among the documents I sent to the Florida Attorney General.
Bill
Orlando,#5Author of original report
Thu, October 16, 2003
WFTV clarification In reading over my report immediately after submission, I realized that I failed to make it clear that the $11,667 per month payment to WFTV was not from Eyeglass World. The reason I included the WFTV story in my report was to illustrate the pervasiveness of the problem of disreputable companies buying favorable treatment. I think it demonstrates that it is quite possible other TV News organizations may have been corrupted by Eyeglass World. For example, about a year ago I found the website of a South Florida Opthalmologist who had been interviewed by a consumer reporter for a Miami TV station. That story was not broadcast. While he was in Las Vegas on vacation, one evening in his hotel room he was watching the evening news. There was a consumer report about Lasik Vision Institute, owned by the same people that own Eyeglass World. He was surprised to see the tape of his South Florida interview about that same company. He later found that the Miami station had killed his story and the reporter (probably frustrated and angry) had sent the doctor's interview to a station in Las Vegas. It might be very interesting to find out why the story was killed in Miami. Was there some corrupting influence? I recently I searched the internet to try to find the source website, but was unsuccessful. However, a printout of this story was among the documents I sent to the Florida Attorney General.
Bill
Orlando,#6Author of original report
Thu, October 16, 2003
WFTV clarification In reading over my report immediately after submission, I realized that I failed to make it clear that the $11,667 per month payment to WFTV was not from Eyeglass World. The reason I included the WFTV story in my report was to illustrate the pervasiveness of the problem of disreputable companies buying favorable treatment. I think it demonstrates that it is quite possible other TV News organizations may have been corrupted by Eyeglass World. For example, about a year ago I found the website of a South Florida Opthalmologist who had been interviewed by a consumer reporter for a Miami TV station. That story was not broadcast. While he was in Las Vegas on vacation, one evening in his hotel room he was watching the evening news. There was a consumer report about Lasik Vision Institute, owned by the same people that own Eyeglass World. He was surprised to see the tape of his South Florida interview about that same company. He later found that the Miami station had killed his story and the reporter (probably frustrated and angry) had sent the doctor's interview to a station in Las Vegas. It might be very interesting to find out why the story was killed in Miami. Was there some corrupting influence? I recently I searched the internet to try to find the source website, but was unsuccessful. However, a printout of this story was among the documents I sent to the Florida Attorney General.