Monday, July 10, 2017

FYI: I will add this to the top of my blog as it is very on point and current-

If The Deal Never Ends, Is It Really A Deal?

IMAGE COURTESY OF MIKE MOZART
The thing about getting a good deal on something? It only feels special if it’s limited in some way — whether that means only a certain set of customers has access to it, or it’s only available for a window in time. To that end, some LensCrafters customers claim proffered discounts on prescription eyewear are bogus, accusing the chain of faking a regular/original price and then offering a so-called discount.
In a lawsuit [PDF] seeking class-action status filed in a California district court, the plaintiff accuses Lenscrafters and its parent company Luxottica Group of violating the state’s unfair competition laws, false advertising laws, and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, accusing it of advertising fake prices and corresponding “phantom discounts” on prescription lenses.

A Familiar Tale

“If everyone is getting a deal, is anyone really getting a deal?” That’s the question asked by the lawsuit, quoting a 2016 article in The New York Timesabout the demise of meaningful list prices.
To be sure, we’re familiar with this kind of lawsuit: JCPenney, SearsKohl’sKate Spade, and Macy’s have all been accused by customers of making up fake original prices, or referencing a former price on an item that never actually existed, in order to then tout a deep discount on that product.

What’s Going On Here?

In this case, the complaint points to LensCrafters’ alleged practice of “continuously” offering a “substantial discount on its prescription lenses with the purchase of any eyeglass or sunglasses frame” by way of signs scattered around its stores to that effect. For example, ” __ % Off Lenses with Frame Purchase.” You can see a similar offering in the photo above.
But despite promoting such discounts, the lawsuit claims consumers don’t see the original list price until after they’ve made their purchase, and that that “regular price” for the lenses is a “total fiction.”
“The prescription lenses sold at the LensCrafters’ retail stores are never offered for sale, nor actually sold at the regular price,” the lawsuit claims. “Thus, the regular price is false and is used exclusively to induce consumers into believing that the lenses were once sold at the regular price and from which the false and discount and corresponding sale price is derived.”
The plaintiff’s lawsuit argues that in these kinds of situations, customers might not have bought said “discounted” items if they’d known they weren’t really getting a great deal.
“Lens Crafters’ deceptive pricing scheme has the effect of tricking consumers into believing they are receiving a significant deal by purchasing merchandise at a steep discount, when in reality, consumers are paying for merchandise at its regular or original retail price,” the complaint claims.

The Plaintiff’s Story

In this case, the lawsuit says the plaintiff purchased a pair of lenses for $179.00, originally priced at $298.34, as displayed on her receipt, when she bought a pair of frames for $120.
She “reasonably believed that she would be getting a good deal if she purchased a pair of frames and received 40% off a pair of lenses that had a value significantly higher than the discounted price,” the complaint states.
However, the prescription lenses were “never offered for sale or sold at the $298.34 price, nor were they offered for sale or sold at that price within the 90-day period immediately preceding” her purchase, thereby causing damage to the plaintiff, the lawsuit claims.
These kinds of discounts are fictitious, the lawsuit alleges, because the regular reference price for the lenses doesn’t represent a “bona fide” price at which the retailer previously sold a “substantial quantity of the prescription lenses for a reasonable period of time,” as required by the Federal Trade Commission’srules on the use of former price comparisons in advertising.
Nor was the regular price of the lenses the prevailing market retail price within three months of the promotion of the advertised former regular price, as required by California law, the lawsuit states.

They Know What They’re Doing

“Retailers, including Lens Crafters, understand that consumers are susceptible to a good bargain, and therefore, Lens Crafters has a substantial interest in lying in order to generate sales,” the lawsuit says. “A product’s ‘regular,’ ‘original,’ or ‘market’ price matters to consumers because it serves as a baseline upon which consumers perceive a product’s value.”
The lawsuit is seeking class-action status, damages for all involved, restitution and disgorgement of “all profits and unjust enrichment” allegedly retained by LensCrafters from the plaintiffs, an injunction barring from LensCrafters to continue the alleged unlawful practices, an order requiring the chain to engage in “corrective” advertising, and a jury trial.
We’ve reached out to Luxottica for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Don't bother with LensCrafters, High Prices, Poor Service


Think twice before dealing with LensCrafters

Here is a brief summary of my problem to date, following is info from an employee then additional info on my issue:

LENSCRAFTERS - Avoid this chain! 

Not getting satisfaction at the local store or their Internet site, I escelated the matter via my BBB complaint and then had input from David Bauer at HQ and it was agreed that LensCrafters would make up just one lens. (dbauer@luxotticaretail.com Rx Operations Manager (678) 472-8481) 

On Sat. 10/26/14, I returned to the Kennesaw location and had extensive discussions with the Manager and an Associate regarding a price issue. I had been told on 10/17 that the cost for 2 lenses would be $110. 

On the 26th I was told that they would, as per their HQ, make up one lens and the cost would be $110!  My opinion was that the cost should be in the area of $55-60 or half what they had wanted for making up 2. 

They would not agree to this and decided to take my contact info and contact HQ for further instructions. It is now a 'don't call us - we'll call you' situation as they will supposedly contact HQ for guidance.   At this writing I am still waiting to hear from them but I doubt this will happen!

Their treatment of a returning customer who had last year purchased 3 pair of lenses and glasses from them and had been impressed enough to tell the manager of that time that the associate helping him had done a great job, tells me that this firm has absolutely no concern about customers and no desire to encourage customer loyalty to their brand and from many complaints this attitude goes back many years. 

They seem to exist entirely for what goes into their cash register that business day and never mind any long term concepts of taking care of 'old' customers or encouraging future visits, they are just interested in how much $ they can wring out of customers that day. 

As you can see from the information I have posted here I have determined that there is great dis-satisfaction with consumers regarding this firm, with 447 complaints to the BBB over 3 years and 96 complaints on the site http://www.ripoffreport.com/.


Misc. I see from my sitemeters that LensCrafters HQ in Mason, Ohio IP Address: Luxottica (66.161.213.180) has been looking at my sites. I hope they learn something from my comments. As things stand now they have a very poor reputation and have some really stupid corporate policies. 


Misc.  Complaints about LensCrafters go back at least a decade and on Nov 5, 2007 ABC National News broadcast an investigative piece slamming the most expensive provider, LensCrafters, saying in part that the LensCrafters glasses were the worst of any chain they tested (Costco was the best chain). 

Note:  Target contracts with the same company that provides LensCrafters and those glasses also failed.  

See the Diane Sawyer Report at:   http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3820536&affil=katv


I see from my sitemeters that LensCrafters/Luxottica HQ in Mason, Ohio IP Address:  Luxottica (66.161.213.180) has been looking at my sites.  Luxottica operates in two sectors: manufacturing & wholesale distribution, and retail distribution with 7,000 outlets worldwide. Their brands include: LensCrafters, 

Pearle Vision, 
Pearle Opticians, 
Sears Optical, 
Target Optical,
 and many others.   

They have both 'house' brands and unnecessarily expensive 'designer' brands. Their US competition seems limited but includes WalMart/Costso.


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I had hoped to register the blog name of 'lenscrafterssucks.blogspot.com' but found an employee of the firm had already posted using it.  Here is that post FYI:








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Put LensCrafters into the search bar of the Rip Off Report and you get 81 complaints. 
Here is mine FYI:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/LensCrafters/Kennesaw-Georgia-30144/LensCrafters-Lens-Crafters-Unwanted-Upsell-of-Service-for-Existing-Customer-Kennesaw-Geor-1183643

If you input Lens Crafters you get 17 more complaints.
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Oct 18, 2014

MY Rip Off Report COMPLAINT ABOUT LENSCRAFTERS IN KENNESAW, Ga. 

LensCrafters 
Town Center At Cobb
400 Ernest W Barrett Pkwy Nw Ste 100
Kennesaw, GA (770) 421-0507

13 months ago I purchased 3 pair of glasses (frames and lenses) for about $550-600 from the LensCrafters store in Kennesaw, Ga. Got good service from Dave at that time.

A recent eye exam from my optometrist revealed that my right eye prescription had changed while the left eye remained the same.

I went to the LensCrafters on Friday Oct 17, 2014, Dave had just left and I spoke to another sales person. I wanted to obtain a replacement for the right lenses but they tried to 'up sell' the matter wanting to do both right and left lenses.

My optician had warned me that I should expect this and firmly told me that I did NOT need to replace both lenses, just the right one and she put this onto the script.

I was not interested in buying something that was not needed and left.

My complaint to the customer non-service people at this chain got an unsatisfactory reply.

I want my complaint to be on file so that future potential customers will know that this chain had no interest in customer service for existing customers and is only going to charge the most they can from customers as they attempted to do in my case.


Wm Harris

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Here is the BBB information on this firm, 447 complaints in 3 years.  Do you really want to do business with this company?

See:  
http://www.bbb.org/cincinnati/Business-Reviews/opticians/lenscrafters-inc-in-mason-oh-730/complaints

THIS BUSINESS IS NOT BBB ACCREDITED

LensCrafters Inc.
4000 Luxottica Pl, Mason, OH 45040
Phone: (513) 765-6000
Fax: (513) 765-6294
http://www.luxottica.com

View Additional Web Addresses
http://www.lenscrafters.com
http://www.sunglasshut.com

447 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years  (148 closed in last 12 months)

Complaint Type Total Closed Complaints
Advertising/Sales Issues 49
Billing/Collection Issues 14
Delivery Issues     24
Guarantee/Warranty Issues 30
Problems with Product/Service 330

Total Closed Complaints 447

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My original purchase was from LensCrafters in 2013:




I already had a script for them to use in making up the glasses, this was from a more reasonably prices optomitrist.


Addl. Info FYI:  
In case you read this site and decide that you should go instead to the chain called "America's Best" you might want to know that the BBB rates them at a 'D' with 283 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years, 77 closed in last 12 months - See more at:  http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/contact-lenses/americas-best-contacts-and-eyeglasses-in-lawrenceville-ga-760