Zenni is Tops

[dougsnr]

Doug here from New Zealand.

I made an initial order with Zenni for a pair of progressive lens
glasses with a non reflective coating. They are brilliant, light and
easy to wear and use.

Before I made the order I emailed them twice with inquires and
received replies within 3 hours. A great test of whether a business is
interested in their customers.

I recently ordered 3 more pair of glasses. Another for myself and 2
for my wife.

When I made the order I accidentally selected Nigeria as my country of
residence. I advised Zenni by email and they advised they had updated
my address.

Unfortunately they were sent to Nigeria. I reckon some government
official is now wearing them and looking rather cool in my glasses.

I emailed Zenni tonight and had two replies back within half an hour.
One expressed their concern at the situation and the second advising a
new order number with glasses to replace the ones mislaid at no cost.

I can't really understand the suggestion that Zenni does not give good
customer service. I live on the other side of the world in New Zealand
and can only deal with them by email. I have found their customer
service people friendly, helpful and polite when replying to my
emails.

I have let everyone heaps of people I know here in NZ about Zenni. A
pair of progressive glasses here costs NZ$700-900. I am so pleased
that I found your site and in particular Zenni Optical.

Thanks Doug

[dougsnr]

Doug here again from New Zealand.

My replacement glasses arrived this morning 2 weeks after Zenni agreed
to replace the 3 pairs that went to Nigeria in error.

Zenni said they would replace them as soon as possible and 2 weeks to
make new glasses and mail them to NZ is good going. The last pair I
got made by a large optical group took one and a half weeks to make.
So I consider two weeks excellent going.

My new glasses work, fit and look great.

My wife has still to admire her two new pair.

Maybe some of the people having difficulty with Zenni need to look at
how they approach them with complaints. I would like to reafirm in
this case they sorted the problem to my satisfaction [when I found
they had gone to Nigeria] in 15 minutes by email.

Doug

[Fred Di]

It's incredible that thye were willing to replace the glasses free.

You said the error was yours

That really says something about Zenni wanting to please customers.

> > Thanks Doug- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[dougsnr]

Fred

I made the mistake of selecting Nigeria from the country list and
advised Zenni straight away. They said they had changed my country of
residence OK.

It would appear as though they accepted responsibility and I couldn't
ask for better service and both my wife and myself are still pleased
with the glasses Zenni made for us.

Doug

[Chuck]

Well, this is definitely in direct contradiction to what so many
people say... I can't help but wonder if it's the approach that they/
you took, that explains the difference in attitude.

I have my own business, so I deal with the public on a regular basis.
And it's much more likely that I'll go out of my way to please a
pleasant customer who just "had a problem," than a screaming customer
who never even gave me a chance to make things right.

Congratulations on your new glasses, and I'm glad that everything
worked out well for you!

-- Chuck Knight

[Ira Mitchell]

I run a business myself, and my approach to Zenni has always been
professional and courteous -- I've certainly never screamed. I've
never gotten a response. You might expect otherwise for someone who's
been instrumental in supporting their market.

Zenni ain't tops. They certainly do some things right and obviously
they have their disciples, but I'd rather give my money to a place who
has consistently backed up the customer. I like coatings and
photochromic lenses (and websites that don't rely on clip-art from the
1980's for a logo!). If I was (and when I am) in need of bifocals, I
certainly wouldn't want to, as some have suggested, get a whole bunch
of different pairs of glasses for different tasks -- not when there is
an alternative.

I've said in the past that I think there is a "sweet spot" in this
whole thing. It's not free (or next to free) glasses. It's not a
complete sacrifice of quality (and quality control) to facilitate
ridiculously cheap glasses.

What it is, is a reasonably priced pair of glasses, done right, with
at least a modicum of support. I also don't want to wait two or more
weeks if I NEED a pair of glasses (something I'll never have to say
again after insulating myself from the problem so many of us have had
when we broke our only pair). No one has perfected the recipe -- yet.
But some are closer to it, for my money, than Zenni.

I'm never going to pay big bucks for glasses again, but I don't need
$8 glasses any more than I need $2 shoes.

- Ira

[KayakerNC]

Ira said:
"What it is, is a reasonably priced pair of glasses, done right, with
at least a modicum of support."

I would have to add a good selection of glasses in the sizes I want.
Looking for bifocal friendly (lens height 32mm or more) and a bridge
width over 17mm, and lens width 54mm or better, with a temple arm of
140 to 145. Zenni has the best (most) selection in this area.
I can't say anything about their communications if you have a problem,
but they have answered all my email questions within 24 hours.
Zenni is at the top of my short-list.

Nelson

[Chuck]

On Dec 27, 1:21 pm, KayakerNC <mystery1234...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ira said:
> "What it is, is a reasonably priced pair of glasses, done right, with
> at least a modicum of support."

I was just pointing out that Zenni's customer service is obviously not
ALL bad, and congratulating the person who received the excellent
service. This thread was started by someone who is positively
THRILLED with them, even after having to address a problem of *his
own* making. That does say something...and it says it in Zenni's
favor.

There is an old saying... "Good, cheap, fast. Pick any 2."
Apparently this is especially true with eyeglasses.

The online retailers definitely have the "cheap" down to a science.
And, with anything mail order, "fast" is probably not going to be the
appropriate word. So, consequently, I'm glad to hear that some of the
online retailers are improving the consistency of their "good."

Ira -- who do you recommend? It's obviously not Zenni, from the tone
of your message, but you offered no alternative. Who do you find to
be in the "sweet spot" you mentioned? I'm about to pull the trigger
on my order, and am not wedded to the idea of Zenni, to the exclusion
of any others.

-- Chuck Knight

[Ira Mitchell]

The "Big 5" on the GlassyEyes home page is my list of recommendations.
Based primarily on feedback I've gotten both in the forums and
privately, they're my picks. The thing I like about 39DollarGlasses is
that I can get a pair of glasses inside of a week -- this is important
for those times you're without glasses and they're support system,
while not perfect, is better than most.

Goggles4U and Optical4Less fill the slightly cheaper route for me and
are better suited to when you're adding a second or third pair and not
trying to replace your only taped-up, broken pair because you're going
to wait a couple of weeks, typically. They're both excellent.

These three have the highest ratings. EyeBuyDirect is also pretty
solid, and frankly Zenni isn't "bad" per se.

If you choose one of the first four and you have a problem, I can
usually get in touch with them and get something worked out. They've
been very helpful and have provided solid communication with me over
the past 14 months. They see the value of this and want to do what
they can to continue to be viewed positively. Zenni? Not a peep.

Good luck no matter which route you go.

- Ira

[Fred Di]

Don't you get a referal fee from the first 4, but not from Zenni?

> >      -- Chuck Knight- Hide quoted text -

[Ira Mitchell]

I have affiliate relationships with Goggles4U, Optical4Less,
39DollarGlasses, SpecsOnTheNet, EyeBuyDirect and GlobalEyeGlasses.
It's true that I get a small commission on sales. It's also true that
I can (and have) been able to get help from each of these
organizations (haven't had cause to yet with SpecsOnTheNet) when there
have been issues.

- Ira

[Ira Mitchell]

All of this said, Zenni obviously doesn't need to have affiliate
programs. I've heard they do roughly 10,000 pairs a month. So, they're
"tops" in one category at least.

[wpitman]

Ira,

I'm sorry -- I'm confused -- I read your post and my first thought is
that you DON'T recommend Zenni ("I'd rather give my money to a place

who has consistently backed up the customer. I like coatings and

photochromic lenses and websites that don't rely on clip-art from the
1980's for a logo!" and "I don't need $8 glasses any more than I need
$2 shoes") BUT read further and think you are saying that Zenni is
your top choice ("No one has perfected the recipe -- yet. But some are
closer to it, for my money, than Zenni"). I know that you were trying
to be even handed and fair to all -- but would you please clarify.
Thanks!

-- Walt

On Dec 27, 9:12 am, Ira Mitchell <ropad...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Ira Mitchell]

"But some are closer to it, for my money, than Zenni."

I think the punctuation is the issue. It would have read better with
parenthesis instead of commas -- or drop the "for my money"
completely.

My point is, that in my opinion, Zenni isn't best. Cheapest? Sure.
Will the glasses work? Odds are they'll be just fine.

There isn't a wide range of difference in the retailers in any of the
areas. My opinion is based primarily on how happy people are with the
experience and the product.

I've got an opinion like everyone else. That's what makes all of this
so interesting.

[Budda]

Ira:

Since you get money from other sites, we wonder how fair your comments
on Zenni. Budda

> > > > > with the glasses Zenni made for us.- Hide quoted text -

[Ira Mitchell]

I'm far from Zenni's only detractor in the forums. I don't dislike
them, I do however prefer a few of the others -- and I've laid out the
reasons MANY times. I think Zenni has the ability (they certainly have
the cash) to do things the right way. With or without my top rating,
Zenni will do fine and odds are anything you order from them will be
fine as well.

Thanks for your input.

[Budda]

Ira:

Although you are sincere in the comments, if you have nothing to do
with all of them, as a mediator, it is better.

Budda

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Ira Mitchell]

This argument has been debated on weblogs far more significant than
this and won't be here after this. Zenni gets hundreds of
clickthroughs a day from this site, just like everyone else.

I'm a pretty objective guy and I've stated many times that the glasses
I ordered from Zenni worked out for me. If that was my only
interaction and there wasn't the volume of other issues people have
had, they'd be near the top of the list, but that's not the case. All
of the retailers have issues of some sort from time to time. I've
acted as an advocate on every issue brought to me. Every one. My
interactions, brief though they may be, have been less than entirely
successful. With only one other exception (Eyeglass Direct -- who I
DID have an affiliate relationship with at the time), the others have
dealt with me and rectified the problems -- dozens of times. That's
powerful. I've offered this advocacy --
http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/2007/09/need-help-drop-me-line.html --
to everyone who has purchased glasses and had trouble with the lines
of communication.

I put over 60 hours a month into this site -- and it's flourished.
Thousands of people have been exposed to the idea that you can easily
buy glasses online -- from any of the sites I've listed and others.

I appreciate your concerns and welcome you to the glassyeyes forums.

- Ira
http://glassyeyes.com

[Tom Galczynski]

You know, I don't think Ira has EVER claimed to be anything but a guy who broke his glasses one day and decided to try buying a pair online and discovered it was incredibly easy, reliable and CHEAP!  He wanted to share this knowledge with others and offered to assist them with their purchases if problems arose.  He is not claiming to be any sort of rated, bonded, professional mediator or even claiming to be the last word on who is a good vendor.  From my experience, he has always been upfront about his affiliations and unfailingly even-handed and reasonable in his comments.  It seems to me Budda is expecting some sort of "pure" standard which is kind of ridiculous for what is essentially a personal web site.

Cheers,
Tom Galczynski

[Chuck]

Budda -- you are implying that there is a conflict of interests. I
don't get that impression from Ira, and here's why.

Ira has been nothing but honest and open about his top 5 picks...and
has openly admitted to having an affiliate relationship with 4 of
them. This is not the way to have a hidden agenda...it, in fact,
sheds the light of day on his affiliation with those 4. Given the
opinions voiced in this forum, his rankings appear to be "just about
right" too.

If, through affiliate links, Ira can get a little cash back...maybe to
help offset the cost of his time or the glassyeyes domain...good for
him! So long as he's honest about it (and he is) then I don't have a
problem with it.

In a perfect world, Ira should probably divorce himself fully from all
sites, absorb the cost of the domain from his own pocketbook (and
should only pay for it with money he doesn't receive from his primary
job...they might exert an undue influence on him, too) etc. In the
real world, though, he's done the next best thing...he's been open and
honest, and I applaud him for that.

Since I'm a relative newcomer to this list, let me just take the
opportunity to say this directly to Ira. Ira -- thank you for this
resource. You've done us all a great service.

-- Chuck Knight

On Jan 3, 9:59 am, Budda <tiburonju...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ira:
>

[Doug Herr]

On Jan 3, 7:59 am, Budda <tiburonju...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ira:
>

> Although you are sincere in the comments, if you have nothing to do
> with all of them, as a mediator, it is better.

It would be better for our ability to remove doubt of the objectivity
of Ira.

It would *not* be better for the ability if Ira to continue his
worthwhile endeavor.

Note that you said that Ira is sincere. If he is sincere and he is
reasonably intelligent, then he can go a very long way toward being
unbiased.

Sure, it would be better for all of use if some third party would pay
him to do this, but that is not likely to happen.

[Fred Di]

Oh cum on ... how naive are you guys.

The guy admits to putting in 60 hours a week.
He admits to getting referal fee's from some but not other supliers.
Obviously he's doing this for the cash.

[Ira Mitchell]

60 hours a week? Ha!

Please read more carefully.

- Ira
http://glassyeyes.com

[powrwrap]

> On Jan 4, 9:29 am, Fred Di <john_tar...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Obviously he's doing this for the cash.

Ahh, the secret is out.

Let's suppose that Ira does get a little taste of each order that is
generated via clickthroughs on his website. Whoop-dee-doo!

Oops, sorry, Fred. I mean I'm devastated! Disillusioned! Disenchanted!
Crushed!

To think that someone expects money for performing work!

Sheesh!

[Budda]

Dear Ira:

In order to create a fair play environment for all of us, I'm
volunteer to write to Zenni, ask them to give you a referral fee. What
do you think?

Budda