This past Monday, I accompanied my wife to Visionworks, she wanted to get herself a pair of prescription sunglasses, and seeing as they have the buy one pair, get a second pair for free sale going on, I thought I would get an extra pair of glasses for myself.
The salesperson brought up my wife’s records on the computer, and while she began to shop, I asked the salesperson to look up my information, but I was nowhere to be found, it appears the stores were not networked together. My wife finally found a frame she liked, and the salesperson went about calculating the cost of the prescription sunglasses. When the amount came out to about $350, my wife decided against them. She then asked for and received a copy of her prescription, which was set to expire in a few days, to keep for her records.
I decided to drive across town to the Visionworks where I had received an eye exam and bought my prescription glasses a while back. I had no idea where my old prescription was and wanted a copy for my records, like my wife had received at the previous store.
The salesperson that approached me was named Bashar, I informed him that I needed a copy of my eyeglass prescription. He brought up my information on the computer screen and told me that since I had been there in 2006, a copy of my prescription records were not in the store anymore. I glanced at the computer screen and noticed that it contained pertinent information, like my OD and OS parameters. I then asked Bashar if I could get a printout of what he had in the computer, he said no, I asked why, he said that the prescription was expired and couldn’t give me those records, it was policy.
When I arrived home, I called customer service at ECCA, the company which owns many of the retail eyecare stores in the United States. The customer service rep confirmed Bashar’s policy claims but failed to point me to a written policy. Undaunted, I then emailed customer service inquiring about the elusive policy and received an email back from Davis Vision, it just so happens that they own ECCA. Long story short, playing email tag for the last week has failed to produce said written policy, but it did pique my curiosity.
Was there a policy, or was Bashar protective of my prescription numbers for a reason? Mouse click here and there, oh my, you can get prescription glasses online. Zenni Optical, Best Price Glasses and GlassesUSA are but a few websites where you can buy prescription glasses for a very low price, from $6.95 for frame and single vision lens, plus $4.95 for shipping.
Now all I need to do is visit an optometrist office to get a new prescription and go online to order me some glasses. Why pay more indeed!
Feeling down ‘n’ dirty, feeling kinda mean
I’ve been from one to another extreme