RIPPED OFF by Lenscrafters!
Ron M.
they've always been absolutely, spot-on with the accuracy of their
prescriptions and grinding. We've spent thousands of dollars there
over the years on glasses for myself and my family, and never been
even slightly disappointed.
Until now.
About a year and a half ago, I bought some bifocals at LC, same place
we always went. I got a second pair just to use with my computer at
work. This was a pair of single vision glasses made specifically to
focus at 24 inches, the distance to my computer monitor. They were
pure heaven; no head-tilting are straining, the monitor was just razor
sharp.
These were Featerwates with the Duralens scratch resistant coating. I
take very good care of my glasses, keep them in cases, clean them
using eyeglass cleaner, etc.
Now, the coating is peeling off. On my "main" glasses, it has peeled
off about 1/8" around the ENTIRE circumference of BOTH lenses, and in
streaks reaching all the way to the center of the lens.
On my computer glasses, which I ONLY use a few hours a day in my
office, and which are placed in a protective case in the desk drawer
otherwise, the coating also peeled off - again, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch,
around the entire circumference of both lenses.
And this after only a year and a half!! I emailed LC and received a
reply that since they were over a year old, this was considered
"normal wear and tear." Good GRIEF! My prescription is very stable,
and I normally wear glasses 3 to 5 years before replacing them. So
it's "normal" for the coating to peel off after just A YEAR AND A
HALF???!!! I mean, as my teenage daughter says, "HELLO?"
I suggested that perhaps the technician had applied the coating at the
wrong temperature, or didn't let it cool off enough, or something of
that nature. OBVIOUSLY this was a serious defect.
He "understood my frustration," however, and to appease my feelings,
he mailed me (snail mail) a $100-off coupon, the SAME coupon you see
in the Sunday paper, or can even print off their web page.
Whoopity-do. To twist the knife, it came in a big 9" X 12" envelope
packed with brochures, booklets and advertising.
Do they REALLY expect me to go back down there and blow $600 on
another pair of glasses (two), assuming it's "normal" for the
coatings to peel off after just 18 months? "I don't think so, Tim."
I'm not sure that it will serve any useful purpose to post this
message, other than to let off steam. Sigh.
Ron M.
Austin, Texas
Mark A
news:d7fc3008.0308...@posting.google.com...
There are several types of AR coating. The standard coating applied by many
in-store labs is quite fragile is does not last very long. One and half
years life span is not unusual for this kind of coating.
The other type is a much more durable coating (such as Crizal) applied at
certain optical labs. There are also some good factory applied coatings by
the other lens manufacturers for their lenses (Sola, Seiko, etc.). Crizal
may not be available for all lenses and is not typically used by the chain
stores like Lenscrafters.
One advantage of the cheap coatings is that they can sometimes be stripped
and reapplied (or not reapplied). You might ask them about that (but you
would have to pay for a new coating if you wanted it reapplied). If you keep
your lenses for 5 years then you should use a product like Crizal or not use
an AR coating at all. 5 years many be a stretch for any coating, even
Crizal. Also, polycarbonate tends to not last as long as other materials due
to scratching.
One more thing. Just because the optical shop gives you a case for your
glasses, does not mean that the case will not damage the coating. No case
remains perfectly clean for the life of the lens, and most of them use
synthetic material for the lining that is not suitable for cleaning a lens
(such as cotton) and therefore is capable of scratching the coating.
Specs31
This is not an AR coating, which I do not know of any retail stores having
"inhouse" since the cheapest AR coater runs around $300,000 :-)
One of two things happened here, either it was a defective batch in the
coat, or they had a inhouse scratch coater and applied another coating ON TOP
of the existing factory coat on the front of the lens.. sounds like this is
what happened.. you can NOT recoat that factory coat and have it adhere for any
period of time.
Even though poly (featherwates) is high in tensile strength (impact )
those are very easily scratched material and have to be coated from direct
contact..I have seen in the lab running tap water over an uncoated lens scratch
the surface :-) .. sounds like they double dipped the coating, applied a second
coat over the existing front factory coat...
ALL poly's come coated from the factory and when we surface the back side we
are supposed to only apply a coating to the side we surfaced..
As far as satisfaction? Well it was more than a year..you can have hard
coats stripped same as AR coating and have them recoated, but be prepared that
the chances of getting a scratch is fairly high.. dust in the air getting on a
non coated poly surface can cause scratches :-)
BTW if you got "lens only" I would shop around, $600 for a pair of FT's
and a SV is CRAZY money..welcome to "corp." optics :-)
Jeff
Scott Seidman
news:d7fc3008.0308...@posting.google.com:
> And this after only a year and a half!! I emailed LC and received a
> reply that since they were over a year old, this was considered
> "normal wear and tear." Good GRIEF! My prescription is very stable,
> and I normally wear glasses 3 to 5 years before replacing them. So
> it's "normal" for the coating to peel off after just A YEAR AND A
> HALF???!!! I mean, as my teenage daughter says, "HELLO?"
>
Don't email lens crafters about this. Drag yourself into the shop where
you bought the lenses, and ask them nicely if they can help you. After
all, its THAT shop that prepped your glasses, that shop you would go to to
get new glasses, and that shop that would be profiting off that sale.
FWIW, even if they choose not to help you, you are not being "RIPPED OFF".
You might not be satisfied, and you might even be justified, but you're not
being robbed.
Also, I've been told by a friend in the business that they consider the
expected life of a set of glasses to be two years.
Scott
Mark A
> Also, I've been told by a friend in the business that they consider the
> expected life of a set of glasses to be two years.
>
> Scott
A lens can last much longer than 2 years, but one has to be very careful
about which product and coating is used. It is not in the interest of the
retail optical industry to sell products that last a long time (even if they
exist). That would be shooting themselves in the foot.
Scott Seidman
news:6eq3b.56$zJ6....@news.uswest.net:
It's the frames that are expected to last two years. I've had plenty of
frames last plenty longer, though.
Repeating Decimal
rmor...@austin.rr.com wrote on 8/28/03 8:21 AM:
> I've always had my prescriptions and glasses done at Lenscrafters, and
> they've always been absolutely, spot-on with the accuracy of their
> prescriptions and grinding. We've spent thousands of dollars there
> over the years on glasses for myself and my family, and never been
> even slightly disappointed.
>
> Until now.
>
> About a year and a half ago, I bought some bifocals at LC, same place
> we always went. I got a second pair just to use with my computer at
> work. This was a pair of single vision glasses made specifically to
> focus at 24 inches, the distance to my computer monitor. They were
> pure heaven; no head-tilting are straining, the monitor was just razor
> sharp.
<snip>
Gee. I do not even get coatings on my glasses. I expect coatings applied
cold, as I think the must be on plastic substrates, to have adhesion
problems.
Ask them if they are willing to strip and recoat the lenses. The plastic
polymers are probably very resistant to chemicals that would be used to
strip the coating. But I am not sure of that.
Bill
Mark A
> It's the frames that are expected to last two years. I've had plenty of
> frames last plenty longer, though.
A high quality frame will last much longer than 2 years. But they are
expensive.
Scott Seidman
@news.uswest.net:
Some users (or rather abusers) have a hard time getting two years out of
any frame. If you're inactive, have non-acidic skin secretions, and
meticulously remove your glasses with two hands, even an inexpensive frame
might last a long time.
Are any frames warranteed for more than two years?
Scott
Mark A
High quality titanium frames will usually last longer 2 years. Some frames
(like Flexon and Accuflex) are rather immune to abuse. It's not really
reasonable to warrant frames for very long, since the warranty is really for
manufacturing defects, which should become apparent within a short time if
such defects exist. What you are talking about is insurance, not a warranty.
But as I said, such high quality frames are not cheap.
Ron M.
> There are several types of AR coating.
Sigh.. are some people just totally clueless? I said it was the
SCRATCH-RESISTANT coating, not the "anti-reflection" coating. Their
regular "Duralens" stuff. I'm quite aware of the problems with AR
coatings.
Sorry, try again...
Ron M.
nipidoc
Wow. What kind of a juvenile respons was that?? 99 times out of 100
the problem is with an anti reflective coating.
You could have politely pointed out that you were referring to the
scratch resitant coating, and not an AR coating.
With an attitude like that, I'm surprised Lenscrafters did ANYTHING to
help you out, regardless of how much many you spend there. Quite
frankly, if you ever came into my shop with an attitude like that, I
would have told you to kiss my ass.
Remember that old expression about catching more flies with honey than
with vinegar?? You might want to try reading up on that one.
nipidoc
Specs31
>scratch resitant coating, and not an AR coating
IF he would have READ ALL those that responded, the ones that were talking
about AR are not in the optical industry, and I know they just kind of got the
coating thing confused :-) .. but I explained the possible problems in my reply
about what it could have been to cause the delamination of the hard coat.. Oh
well guess he was not to interested in actually getting an answer as much as
just "venting" some frustration..
So if Ron goes back through the list of the thread and reads it again he
might get what he was looking for..
Jeff
Mark A
I admit my errors, unlike some people we know. The error had nothing to do
with whether one is in the optical industry, it had to do with my reluctance
to carefully read Ron's post that "was not to [too] interested in actually
getting an answer as much as just 'venting' some frustration."
The is no need for Ron to go back and read any previous posts, since he was
trying to damage Lenscrafters and not seek a understanding of what when
wrong.
The Real Bev
I would regard a pair of glasses that lasted less than four or five years
as a ripoff -- I've bought only the cheapest frames (maybe expensive
closeouts, but unlikely) and have had no problems.
SOMETIMES you get what you pay for, but mostly you don't.
--
Cheers,
Bev
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Tell him that the
government will give him lots of fish and he will vote for you forever.
When he doesn't get any fish, blame the other guys." --A Taxpayer
kabel...@gmail.com
All the glasses see is water, sun, snow and the poly cloth they came with, and the LC cleaner.
These glasses were my "high performance" pair for sail racing, since I was able to pick out marks on the water at distances approaching 2 miles. So the prescription was perfect, as was the colour, polarization, etc. So I guard them carefully.
The store's Retail Manager is digging in his heels that the warranty is for one year. I understand that for wear and tear, but not for defects inherent to the product. They should last until broken, scratched beyond useability, or a prescription change.
Next step is the outlet's General Manager, when she comes in this afternoon. After that, it's Luxotica itself. Maybe the threat of loss of business from four individuals, all astigmatic, all with at least two pairs of lenses, will do the trick . . .
Wish me luck.