If a walk-in requests that his/her eyeglasses be cleaned, do you oblige even if their eyeglasses may not have been purchased at your place?
If a walk-in requests that his/her eyeglasses be cleaned, do you oblige even if their eyeglasses may not have been purchased at your place?
Smile, be as friendly as possible and when he asks the price, say no charge sir, just keep us in mind when you need new glasses.
What in the devil did you ask for.
Or do we know think we are too important to be bothered with any non-profit activities?
Chip
i agrre with chip, as a courtesy we will do this,, years ago in atlanta i had an old aphakic who use to drop by every day and have his glasses cleaned, as he could harly see to clean them with them off, only person i ever refused was a black guy who came into the store, threw the glasses across the counter and said clean these boy.
Der you go Harry discrimminatin all ova da place. Racist, racist, racist.
This is a service industry.
Hopefully, besides the exceptionally high pay:D, it would be nice to think we derive some pleasure in simply helping people. How cool is it to improve someone's vision by the simple act of running a cloth across the surface of their lenses?
Nobody's asking you to wash their feet and dry them off with your hair...
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Normally this kind of service is free if the boss is a nice people. It helps their business.
What difference does his race make?Originally Posted by harry a saake
When you are talking about cleaning eyeglasses, do you mean just spraying them with some cleaner and wiping the lenses off or do you mean a deep cleaning where you remove the lenses to clean the frame and clean the nosepads with a toothbrush?
Happy:
You may or not be aware that us rednecks used to call negros "boy" was a racial insult which they highly resented as it insuated that they were less than men. I was teasing calling Harry a raceist.
The black person was attempting to put the same sort of racial insult on Harry (some of the rich ones and those that think they are bad asses try to get back at us in this fashion now) and Harry was having none of it.
Good for you Harry.
Chip
Wouldn't you? Clean them, adjust them, new nose pads for a small fee, give them free advice. You shouldn't be surprised to see these walk ins become your patients down the line. They do.
Sometimes I clean the glasses when doing a general repair, as a courtesy. Of course, I wipe my fingerprints off the lenses after an adjustment. Sometimes I have to get out the old q-tip and scrape away at the green gunk to even find the darn nosepad screws. Overall, though I try not to go overboard. The way I look at it, when I bring my car into the mechanic's for an oil change, I don't expect them to throw out the old burger wrappers and soda bottles in the backseat.
Clean them.........................
To do that is the cheapest and best low cost advertising you can do for your business. Not only clean glasses but also check the adjustment and make corrections when needed.
Having a good ultrasonic cleaner and using proper cleaning materials for the purpose........not your own home made dishwasher soap mix ..............will remove all dirt, also behind pads and shake it loose everywhere else so there is no other work to do than rinse glasses and dry them.
The few minutes it take in the cleaner can be used to make some small talk with a prospective future customer.
Last edited by Chris Ryser; 05-12-2008 at 02:38 PM.
I do free cleanings and adjustments, but I also eyeball the lenses before I touch them. That way if they are scratched, I stated that before I start my work.! Otherwise, I've had a couple people say I scratched them when in fact I know I didn't.
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To do that is the cheapest and best low cost advertising you can do for your business. Not only clean glasses but also check the adjustment and make corrections when needed.
This statment is so true, my desk is in a small waiting area at one of our satalight offices, I get up and offer to clean everyones glasses telling them of our specials, if a srew is about to fall out or the temples are loose I tighten them and tell the Pt. I did so, when they need glasses they have come to us to have them made because of the great customer service they recieved while waiting for there exam. I also take that opportunity to educate them on new products exp; Drive wear, transitions 4 etc.
Also, use the time to ask when they're last eye exam/health check was. If you have a Doc, you may be able to schedule a walkin right then and there.
I'll clean 'em...the best way I know how:
1. Clarity alchohol wipes + microfiber finish: CLEAN AS YOU EVER GET THEM!
2. All-off if there is hairspray on them.
3. Remove lenses if I can get the corners better (but only if removing them isn't DANGEROUS!)
4. Quick touch-up of all screws and (slight-of-hand) bench align...
VOILA! WOW! I never get them this clean.
I tell 'em its called a Professional Eyewear Detailing!
Barry
You bet I clean them. You have been given an opportunity to impress someone. Don't let it go to waste.
Do what Barry S said. And then explain it to them
"Sir/Maam, I took the liberty to check and tighten the screws and adjusted the frame. Your frame looks like it's in good shape (or maybe it's not). Now let's see how it fits . . . . .(mention a special or a special service we provide). There, that looks a lot better. [wipe off your fingerprints with a cloth that has your logo and phone number on it and hand it to them] Thanks for stopping by!"
I don't charge, but there is no free lunch. You have to listen to me in order to get your frame cleaned.
Be careful as such a free service recently ended me up in small claims court when a walk in patient's frame broke due to being brittle. Minor adjustement that was approved by the patient in advance. A disclaimer was posted that it was being done at the patients risk. He just thought that it broke in my hands and that made it my failt...and the judge agreed!!! But I will not change my free adjustment policy as it is great advertising. There is always someone looking for a free lunch!!!
That's insane!
We clean,fix,scrape goo off, and do whatever someone ask us to do for free while excepting no tips. This is the wal-mart way and we don't always like it but what can you do but follow company policy. :) As far as turning the black dude down well, he deserved that one no matter what race he was/two wrongs do make a right.
cleaning
We do have to warn patients that any damages caused in the process of doing this are totally at your own risk. i have bought two pair of glasses in the 3 years i have been doing this. One was a rimless progressive that was about 450$/ the truth of the matter that is sometimes even when we warn them and something breaks they still get a new pair. i have seen it a few times / i remember changing someones nosepads the most mundane and simple thing you can do and the nosepad post breaking after i barely even touched it. i had to get a new pair of glasses for this babe.
i'll agree that that's really messed up, but you can't let this person's diseased personality infect you. like you said, it is great advertising. and in the long run, just compared to a yellow pages add, it's still cheap in spite of the cost of an errant judge's ruling.
I had similiar the other day he bought the lenses here (his own frame) but he was really showing off in front of his girlfriend
I did clean them however
Alan
In all of the 37 years I've been practicing, it's never occured to me to NOT clean glasses for anyone who was in the shop, sometimes it's the postman, the UPS driver or someone who's just asking directions.
It's a small kindness.
Jeez, Judy:
Don't you realize how impotant we wans ta think we is. Us opticians, gittin ta be far, far too escalated in our status to be bothered with menial stuff like makin the patient happy and comfortable for free. We jus' sposed to rack up dem add-ons and hear dat cash register sing.
Why the very idea that we need to be nice, with us bein so important and indespensible an all.
Chip
I'm a little OCD when it comes to cleaning eyewear, if I'm doing an adjustment they get cleaned prior to the patient putting them, even if I have to change the adjustment a number of time.
I also use cleaning as a clever ploy. It gets me the frame style, which I can plug into my computer and bring up the patients file. Then I have their name (if I forgot it), style of lenses and a date of purchase, which I can incorporate into a conversation. Clients are amazed by my memory :bbg:.
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