Has anyone had any experience with this line? Saw it at VEW - gorgeous styles and incredible craftsmanship. Just wondering if they sell thru, how customer service is and anything else notable about them. Thanks!
Has anyone had any experience with this line? Saw it at VEW - gorgeous styles and incredible craftsmanship. Just wondering if they sell thru, how customer service is and anything else notable about them. Thanks!
-Tony
We had the Kio Yamato and the O&X New York lines. They sold great for us. I made a follow up appointment with our rep last year at VEW. He never showed for the appointment, so I called and rescheduled. He blew us off again. I called customer service and was told to leave a message on his voicemail.Originally Posted by TLG
18 months since his last visit and a year since I last saw the rep. We obviously no longer carry them.
The product is great, I hope you get a good rep.
A lack of planning on your part DOES NOT constitute an emergency on mine!
The product is very good, but a little bit pricey. It has no name recognition with the public. It sold well for us but the rep was not the most cooperative fellow.
Hmmmmmmmm......... Pattern forming here? Texas and NY? Can't be the same rep.......
Last edited by obxeyeguy; 10-15-2008 at 04:07 PM. Reason: can't spell dot
Bob,
Thanks for the input - much appreciated...
It may be worse than that. VEW ended ten days ago - I haven't heard from the rep I met there yet. From conversation I know she lives only a few minutes from here, but I have been totally baffled by the sales reps in southern CA since moving here as there seems to be this expectation that I will call them. I can't remember all the times an optician from our other office will call to tell me that a certain rep was in and "would like you to give him/her a call". Huh? If you're so busy you can't call you obviously don't need my business - move on.
Thanks for all the input - keep 'em coming if you have any experience with this product - and of course now I'm really interested in hearing your experience with your rep also.
-Tony
Great frames, very good quality and fresh styling. But.... absymal representation. We carried them ~ 6-7 years ago and pulled them due to no representation. We get a rep from them in our dispensary ~ 1 yr. ago basically "making up" for KY being rather poor in representation in the past. So we put them in and, boom, ~4 months later the rep is no longer with KY and now we are forced to deal with a corporate rep. from their U.S. HQ. Don't know if KY has a future with us.
I could see if the product doesn't come in, but what's the big deal with the rep?
Seriously, I'm not trying to turn this into a rep bash thread, but is this a line that changes styles a lot, and without the rep you're out of the loop?
Or is it one of those companies that won't take a return or send product w/out rep authorization?
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Johns,
You've established yourself on this board as the guy who 'buys cheap' - I respect, and in some ways, admire that. If I'm spending a buck for a frame, I don't think I need a rep to 'service' my account. But if I'm spending $300 (I'm using divergent price points on this public forum only to make a point - not insinuating Johns pays a buck or that the KY frames are $300) I'm pretty sure I would like a human being in my office occasionally so I'm not stuck with product I can't move. At the show the rep explained the return policies and they are not as straightforward as most - there was some sort of percentage of cost credited for returns based on overall volume. I don't wanna mess with someone on the phone on the other side of the continent to help me figure it out.
Actually, I am rapidly losing interest in this line base on this thread. In this case, it sounds like representation is the problem, not a solution.
-Tony
No, that's why I'm asking. Contrary to my reputation, I actually pay real money for frames at times.(oh it reeeaallly hurts.:bbg:).
A good example of some of the lines I carry are Koali and Kata. I wouldn't consider either line low end, but they are not what I consider luxury either.
I put the Koali in last year, and the rep asked when he should come back. I told him I'd call him. I haven't seen him since, and that's fine with both of us. He's got time to cold call, and I've got time to sell glasses. He saves gas money, and I save time. I've reordered twice, and had no returns (yet). I still don't have a pressing need to see him.
Kata, is about the same story. I put the line in last year at VEW. It sold well, I ordered more, then sent some back for credit that weren't moving. I saw it again at VEW, and decided not to put any new pieces in right now.
I also carry Ultra Palm and a few other lines that aren't inexpensive, but I don't see the reps. Maybe it comes from my days when I was a one-man show and didn't have time, but now I've got a little more time I don't have the desire.
I interviewed a gal last year, adn I asked her what one of the most important aspects of her job w/ her last employer was. She replied "Seeing reps, and doing insurance." Seeing reps? Sorry honey, "seing reps" is not a job description at any of our offices, and our insurance person does only insurance, and works very part time.
Now, the point you made about getting stuck w/ a frame is a very valid one, but every line I carry has reps that have agreed to send me RA forms if I need one. I use them very seldom...
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
We like reps. in to ensure that we have current merchandise. We've had it happen too many times, pat. gets new specs. and returns a month later after having sat on their specs... we call to re-order the frame to find-out that it has been discontinued Now we eat the cost of new lenses to put the pat. into a new frame. We don't have the time to comb through catalogues and product CD's and compare to what we have in inventory.
I often wonder if we would need reps at all if we could:
1) Do returns without thier O.K.
2) View the product on line with good pictures.
3) Get information promptly on line when product is discontinued or about to be discontinued.
This would probably save us, the manufacturer/distributor, and the customer a whole lot of cash and time.
I don't really have anything against reps, but a good one makes $50,000.00-$100,000.00 a year after expenses and this is something we could be putting on the shelf or in advertising.
True some advise us on styles and trends, and others advise us what the style they are overstocked and asked to get rid of is. But I don't really see them as necessary.
Chip
Last edited by chip anderson; 10-16-2008 at 11:44 AM. Reason: Mo' ta' say.
we looked at the O&X line in July, decided we liked it and turned in the credit app. 3 months go by--no frames--no rep- no nothing. One week before VE the rep calls us and asks how things are selling. I told him we never recieved the product. I dont go chasing down reps for much of any reason. He scheduled an appt for the week following VE and, low and behold, no rep, no frames, no nothing. So, needless to say, what he's selling, I'm NOT buying. Could the company be doing So Well that they don't need to follow up with an ORDER that HAS ALLREADY BEEN PLACED?!?!???!?! Hope he doesn't grace MY doorstep anytime soon.:angry:
Chip, sign me up when they start doing something intellegent like that.
While still other advise you to buy as much as you can so they can make their car payment.
Again, I was talking about the specific line of frames mentioned in the post, and was jsut wondering why the line was so different that it required such hands on by the rep.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Kio and O&X always sell well!
The last office and present office I am in currently carry Kio and O&X. I can say they are great frames. They both have great attention to detail and color. Customer service has always been very helpful. I cannot say anything about the rep, because I have not heard or met the man or woman.
It is priced between moderate and high end, but the comfort and design makes these frames an easy sale!
:)
opticianjohn,
:cheers: WELCOME TO OPTIBOARD!! :cheers:
(There FEZZ, I saved you the trouble)
We all pay the price for an industry that has rewarded opticians and doctors for making poor buying decisions. There is, no doubt, a huge price built into most frames to take into account the returns and warranties (real or imagined) they must deal with. I wonder if there is another industry that allows such freedom to exchange product that doesn't move. If we were all forced to create a "Closeout" rack to get rid of our bad buys we would all become much better buyers - and product would be less expensive because of it.
-Tony
Tony, I have to disagree with that last sentence. I've heard that over and over again. Name me one major frame manufacturer that will cut the price of their frames if you agree to no returns except true defects. I've asked every single one of them, repetitively, if they would cut their price to me under those terms. Not one has taken me up on that offer. (except disco's). They all complain about the cost of returns, and I know it does cost them, but they are getting such an inflated price for their frames made from tin cans in China, it way more than compensates for the return. If you follow the logic that no returns would equal lower costs, then the same logic follows that when they shifted manufacturing from Europe to China it would lower the costs of goods.....Remember when they dropped the price when their manufacturing costs went down?....Oh yea, they didn't drop the price. :hammer:
I'm sure some smaller operators would, but not one of the top 5 out there will. If I'm wrong, big company frame reps out there, please chime in and tell me so!
None. But I never suggested there was so I'm not sure what your issue with my statement is. My opinion is that IF we did not have a history of liberal buying/returning policies, product WOULD be less expensive. I can't erase history and I'm not stupid enough to think that companies will change on a case by case basis and didn't mean to imply I thought they would/will.
-Tony
I like to see reps because I want to inspect the quality of the frame, see the colors in good lighting, and feel how it fits. I can't do that online or with a print catalog. Besides, if part of the price I pay for a frame goes to the rep, then earn the money, damn it!
I haven't had an Alain Mikli rep in five years. They say Washington isn't a good market for them. Yeah, DC is a real backwater. They will, at least, send frames on approval for 30 days. My Judith Leiber/Kata rep came to DC only once a year and only if I begged. Plus I was lied to about returns. I was told that Leiber and Kata NEVER took anything back. The other day an ex-rep of theirs was in and asked why I had so many old Leibers. I explained and she was shocked. Apparently they WILL do returns and exchanges; she said she'd never had a problem when she worked for them. A dishonest rep is worse than a lazy one.
I appreciate a rep who calls me regularly (every couple of months is enough) to find out if I'd like to see her/him. Sometimes a second look reveals a frame that should have ordered the first time, but maybe couldn't afford. I've got some wonderful reps and I am loyal to them and try to let them know how much I appreciate them.
Try this:
Ask the rep, if for the cosnideration of not having to visit your office; an if you keep the same volume, if they will comp you frames. They WILL do it, or I should say they have done it in the past. It's a rep thing, not always a company thing. You have to remember that the rep gets dinged for returns on their commission.
Keep frames in the office? Save gas? No donuts to buy? Of course they'll deal. Comp frames are the same as discounts.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I was with you till you said " No donuts"......
The O & X rep here in Washington State is one of the best reps I have ever met. O & X uses independent reps that are not employees so they have less control over their sales force. The reps in these cases may have multiple lines and very large territories. Its a problem in many industries, not just optical. Its less expensive for the company, but you get variations in rep quality.
Sharpstick
are you still interested to see the collections?
would you like to see the collections again?
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