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Thread: Breaking News in the Great Glasses Court Case

  1. #176
    Master OptiBoarder Shwing's Avatar
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    Delegation- agreed

    Gary, on your note vis-a-vis delegation:

    This is a matter for serious discussion. I encourage you to persue the delegation issue with both the College and your association. I recommend you make this issue a priority for both.

    I suggest you start a new thread on this matter.
    Shwing

  2. #177
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    Regarding Delegation:

    The COO dealt with Bergez and his delegation of controlled acts to non-licenced persons in 2005, although without much effect.
    Compared to similar cases it seems that the COO's decision and discipline was in line with how it has dealt with similar cases.

    Unfortunately, it seems that Bergez wasn't scared into submitting to the delegation regulations, among others, the way most previous violators have been.

    It is curious that he was on probation for a year from Jan 2005 to Jan 2006 and yet it appears on the surface that the college did not follow up on him to ensure compliance since by all accounts here, he was delegating his own opticianry licence to the off-site, un-licenced franchisees up until the comtempt of court ruling.

    The colleges definately need more authority to enforce compliance in these cases.

  3. #178
    registeredoptician Refractingoptician.com's Avatar
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    Last edited by Refractingoptician.com; 03-02-2007 at 12:38 AM.

  4. #179
    OptiBoard Professional Ory's Avatar
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    Great Glasses ordered to 'follow the law'

    They've been ordered to follow the law but as their lawyer says,
    "The question as to how to comply with the regulations is something that's under discussion."

    And on it goes....

  5. #180
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gary View Post
    Is authority the problem ?
    You're right, authority is not the problem, what is needed is somthing more than the threat of miniscule fines and licence suspension to put an end to this, perhaps criminal sanctions against people that fail to comply with the orders of the regulatory agencies.

    The college should have permanently revoked his licence long ago, but even that I'm afraid would not have put an end to this (doesn't excuse them from not trying...) - Bergez and friends have long demonstrated their willingness to operate opticals in the absence of licenced and trained persons. One less licenced optician likely will not do much to influence how they operate, but a $1,000,000+$50,000/day fine or jail will make it an unprofitable venture.

  6. #181
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    I just received an advertisement in my mailbox from the local Great Glasses and it says the following:

    FREE EYE TEST*
    a $75 Value

    And in small print at the bottom, there is an asterisk with the following:

    *Receive a FREE Eye Test with every 3 for 1 Purchase.

    Something tells me that Bergez simply will not get it until he's actually in jail. I normally wouldn't wish jail time on anybody for bending the rules, even as much as Bergez has done, but he's gone WAY over the line in this case, going so far as to ignore a judge TWICE now. Simply threatening Bergez with the consequences of breaking the law hasn't worked. I truly believe that the only thing that will make him understand that he has done anything wrong is to make him EXPERIENCE the consequences of breaking the law, which means jail time. I've had enough of his shenanigans and I think that it's only a matter of time before the court system has had enough as well...

  7. #182
    Excalibur
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    send the ad to the OAO too.

  8. #183
    registeredoptician Refractingoptician.com's Avatar
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    Last edited by Refractingoptician.com; 03-02-2007 at 12:37 AM.

  9. #184
    OptiBoard Professional Ory's Avatar
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    Small update. Apparently Standard Life is no longer processing insurance claims for eyewear purchased through Great Glasses.

    http://www.coptont.org/docs/Legal/A11.pdf

  10. #185
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    Heres the latest update. Keep your fingers crossed, maybe something positive will come out of it.

    http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NAS...=1178253394268

  11. #186
    Master OptiBoarder mike.elmes's Avatar
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    Looks like his empire is about to CRUMBLE:hammer:

  12. #187
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    I just found out the name of the optician that sold out and is allowing Great Glasses to use his name and license number.
    His name is Arthur Kochberg and is license number is C202. He is the one and only license for 17 stores

  13. #188
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrummerBoy View Post
    I just found out the name of the optician that sold out and is allowing Great Glasses to use his name and license number.
    His name is Arthur Kochberg and is license number is C202. He is the one and only license for 17 stores
    The only Arthur Kochberg that I know is/was a sales rep for the frame company Cerem Eyewear. I wasn't aware he was liscenced. Perhaps he is still on the road and is delegating from his Dodge Durango?

    Regards,
    Golfnorth

  14. #189
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    I don't think we carry Cerem in the office, but if we do we won't be for much longer. :finger:

  15. #190
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    A Big Mess

    I recently started working at a Great Glasses store, but just now am I hearing about the mess Bruce has got himself in. However, I just want to clear some stuff up. The store I work at still does free eye tests, and we still work with Insurance companies. There is not an optometrist on site; ever. I personally do not do eye tests, I only sell the glasses, but is there still a possibility of me getting in trouble just because I work for them? What about anyone who does eye exams?
    I read earlier about people who claim to have received the wrong prescription from one of our stores, however the people who do perform eye exams in my store are trained and never have i heard anything about a wrong prescription. I am not calling them liars, I just can't see that happening - from my point of view as someone who works in a Great Glasses store. Also there was something about the health concerns for the customer, I don't know if it makes much of a difference but we tell the customer that we do not check for any health issues and that they should still see an optometrist for that especially if they haven't in the past.

    Oh and also someone said something about the frames being dollar store frames [sorry i know were not supposed to make references to pricing but], i just want clear up that they cost a lot more than a dollar when we order them.

    Hope that there will be more updates and that someone can answer my questions..

    Liupid

  16. #191
    Excalibur
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    The GG case has been well documented in the media, as well as various College bulletins. It is difficult to believe that any optician or optometrist has not yet heard of this matter.

    You may be held in professional misconduct for dispensing eyewear without a legal prescription. The fact you are dispensing on the basis of someone who is not licensed to write a legal prescription may land you in hot water. The safest bet is to call the College of Opticians and ask them their position -- and get it in writing.

  17. #192
    OptiBoard Professional Ory's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Liupid View Post
    I personally do not do eye tests, I only sell the glasses, but is there still a possibility of me getting in trouble just because I work for them? What about anyone who does eye exams?
    You are still breaking the regulated health professionals act (RHPA) every time you dispense a pair of glasses to a patient. That is a controlled act than can only be performed by a licensed optician, optometrist, or medical doctor.

    Great Glasses is kind of shady because they hired you as an "independent contractor" I'll bet. That means you personally are liable for any issues with the glasses, and you personally can be charged criminally, as 4 employees at the Richmond Hill location were recently. That's right, it is a criminal offence to break the RHPA. The worst part is they are probably paying you $10 per hour to take on this risk.

    A similar idea would be if Bruce started handing out blood pressure medications to people, without being a licensed pharmacist or medical doctor, based on an automated blood pressure machine.

    My advice is to leave the company. There are other jobs out there that you can get without having to break the law every time you go to work.

    And just to clear things up, I personally have had to clean up some of their messes. Great glasses consistently makes errors with their wonderful machine, and the frames/lenses are low quality.

  18. #193
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    Thanks I appreciate the heads up since no body tells you anything around there. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but hopefully I won't get completely screwed over just cause of Bruce.

  19. #194
    registeredoptician Refractingoptician.com's Avatar
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    How were you hired ? Are you an independant contractor ? Do you have income tax , CPP and Unemployment insurance deducted from you pay check ? What did they explain to you about the basis on which you are hired ?

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