Venting about how my fellow opticians sell AR

[seymourspots1]

HELLO PEOPLE!!! Why would you sell a 2yr top of the line AR to a person re-using a crappy POF that's falling apart??
All you did was just guarantee that they won't be back to buy another frame for at least 2 yrs.
If you want to sell them AR...great...just sell a basic AR so that when the lenses scratch or the frame breaks in 8 months they will need to come back to you for a new pair. Then you can professionally say...See, I told ya so. I told you 8 months ago your frame wasn't going to last another prescription. That's why we don't put brand new engines in cars with rusted out bodies. Am I goofy? I can't be the only one that sees this.

[uncut]

Nice rant seymour! We feel your pain! Now count to ten and breathe deeply, and exhale slowly..........

Feel that oxygen flood your brain, and your pulse slowing down.


Pet your pussycat......that will lower your blood pressure.

Now.................if what you say is the absolute way it happened, that the person was "sold" anything, then you have the "right" to be inscensed, to shake your head, and say "tsk, tsk.


But............you may be wrong.

You only may know part of the story, and perhaps it is only from one perceived point of view. It is a possibility that the person wanted to do this, perhaps if only to get out of buying a complete set, so that they could come to you later for a much better complete pair........ya never know!

[Barry Santini]

Placing top of the line AR lenses in a goofy old frame is usually only done at the client's insistence. I do it probably more than I'd like to admit. When their frame coughs its cookies up for the last time, we simply remount/recut them into another new frame of similar shape.

No biggie.

B

[sharpstick777]

I only sell top of the line ARs. The reason being that when their frame brakes, I can prove to them that the AR we provided was stronger than their frame. No better selling point than that. Although it does make sense from a utility stand point to have both fail at the same time, I would always rather the AR be the last to go.

I hate it when previous AR patients come in and said "I had AR once, but I am not getting it ever again, it fails to easily", then I have a ton of work to convince them otherwise.

No one ever switches to contacts because their frame broke once.

[jmainwar]

I have more than my fair share of shiny new parts into rust buckets or that 40k reman engine into a decrepit piper arrow, we do it at the customers request. If I feel the frame will make through another cycle I will put the order through with little hesitation.

[seymourspots1]

I still don't think its the right thing to do....saying "its what the customer wanted" is a cop-out. Customers also may want their -10.00 rx is a 58 eye Carlos...doesn't mean we as professionals go along with it just for the sale. We advise. We educate. ...and when it is appropriate we say no, you shouldn't do that.
Its the same frustration as watching people sell a digital lens in a $2.00 junky frame. WHATAYA DOIN'?
A top notch AR belongs in a viable frame in my book. I think it's wasting the customer's money that could be better spent on another product in your dispensary.

[Barry Santini]

I think adopting such a strong stand in anything other than a real high end environment is doomed to negative reprocussions in the age of client access to inexpensive online eyewear.

B

[Fezz]

I guess one could argue that selling that patient any AR is reprehensible!

I thank my lucky stars that we practice in a country where we can sell anything and everything that we damn well feel like!


I say.......be thankful that you are selling something regardless what it is or isn't!

[Fezz]

Am I goofy?

Hell yeah, you're GOOFY!













We are all GOOFY!

You have to be GOOFY to be in this business!

[scriptfiller]

Educate

Illustrate

Buyer beware

It's not OUR fault!

[MikeAurelius]

I detect just a teeny bit of arrogance here on the part of the OP.

It isn't a cop out to say if the customer wants it, he/she gets it. That is basically a trueism. The customer is "usually" right. Not always, but usually. And the retailer who ignores that trueism tends to lose the customer.

Did you tell the customer the previous dispenser was an idiot or did you keep it to yourself? How do you know what condition the frame was in 8 months ago? Why shouldn't the patient have the best available AR? Seems to me that if you are going to sell AR it should always be the best you can get.

[CCGREEN]

Educate

Illustrate

Buyer beware

It's not OUR fault!

Then smugly sell them a new frame put the lenses in it and dance all the way to the bank

BTW why would anyone sell a "poor quality" A/R? All A/R is a direct reflection of your business. So why would you let poor quality represent you and what you have worked to achieve?

[becc971]

the customer is always right ... but that doesn't mean they aren't unreasonable!

as long as you practice the "duty to warn" it's their call to me, i flat out told a guy when he bought physio w/saphire for his 20 YO frames that when (yes WHEN) they broke it would be out of his pocket to purchase new lenses, came in a month later with a broken frame and bought a whole new pair. i did give him a small discount, but in his wife's words "she told you so"

[Browman]

I sell patients the best AR that they need. Not everyone needs a tricked-out, high-end AR; sometimes they just need something to reduce the glare. The insistence of other opticians always trying to push the most expensive option available regardless of the patient's lifestyle is what really grinds my gears.

[CCGREEN]

I sell patients the best AR that they need. Not everyone needs a tricked-out, high-end AR; sometimes they just need something to reduce the glare.

Now this is what "grinds my gears"

I have never seen any A/R coating reduce "glare". That is what polorization does, reduces glare. A/R reduces "reflections"
Say what you mean and present your product properly. Educate the consumer using the correct termanology.
(sorry just a pet peve of mine)

[Uilleann]

Now this is what "grinds my gears"

I have never seen any A/R coating reduce "glare". That is what polorization does, reduces glare. A/R reduces "reflections"
Say what you mean and present your product properly. Educate the consumer using the correct termanology.
(sorry just a pet peve of mine)

Except that it does reduce "glare". As the patient is being viewed, the "glare" of lights on the front of a basic lens can indeed be greatly reduced. Patient sees that on the front of a pair of glasses, and that's "glare" to them. No need to try to confuse them by tossing out useless (to them) semantics about something they already perceive and are (we generally assume) seeking to reduce.

[SeaU2020]

I hate doing it too... I call it "pimping out a Yugo" (yeah, that ages me,lol). They always get a warning first.

[cocoisland58]

I still don't think its the right thing to do....saying "its what the customer wanted" is a cop-out.

I don't see why. I have a lot of customers that put their money in their lens not their frame. All you can do is tell them that if their POF frame breaks we have a very nice pair of lenses with nowhere to go and then I note in in the record. In the end it's their decision and I'll do it. Since all I sell is premium AR the alternative is to sell them lenses without and why would I do that? What your co-workers sell is no reflection on you so try to concentrate on your own sales and have a glass of wine when you get home.

[Wes]

" People suffer from 4 types of glare: distracting, discomforting, disabling and blinding. Distracting glare is caused by reflections on eyeglass lenses. This can be eliminated with anti-reflective coating. At Westside Optometry, we recommend this type of non-glare coating on the back side of sunglasses also. Discomforting glare is caused by everyday light conditions that cause squinting and eye fatigue. Tinted or photochromic lenses will reduce this type of glare. Disabling glare occurs when excessive, intense light reaches the eyes. The effects of disabling glare can cause long-term eye damage. Good sunglasses with maximum ultraviolet protection eliminates disabling glare. Blinding or reflective glare comes from light reflected off smooth, shiny surfaces such as water, sand, snow or wet roads. A polarized sunglass is the ideal solution for blinding glare.

Glare is a problem during the day and night. It bothers people working at a computer, driving on the freeway and fishing on a boat. Don’t squint and suffer any longer, let us eliminate the discomfort of glare with appropriate glasses."

http://www.westsideoptometrynow.com/2012/05/03/glare/

[Wes]

Except that it does reduce "glare". As the patient is being viewed, the "glare" of lights on the front of a basic lens can indeed be greatly reduced. Patient sees that on the front of a pair of glasses, and that's "glare" to them. No need to try to confuse them by tossing out useless (to them) semantics about something they already perceive and are (we generally assume) seeking to reduce.

Sounds like distracting glare to me.

[MikeAurelius]

Oh god, not the glare debate again!

And calling the frame a POF (patient's own frame), wouldn't be better to call it a POS (you know what it means) if it really is one?

[Java99]

Then smugly sell them a new frame put the lenses in it and dance all the way to the bank

BTW why would anyone sell a "poor quality" A/R? All A/R is a direct reflection of your business. So why would you let poor quality represent you and what you have worked to achieve?

My thoughts exactly. We don't sell house/ group A arc coatings even if they ask.

[edk68]

Sorry guys, I agree with the original post. There are different grades of AR for a reason. If you don't offer the lower grades when necessary even if people ask for them, (which by the way are not that bad to start with) you are just looking for a spiff or a big sale. Not everyone needs a Sapphire coat or the like, especially in a beat up old frame. Its nonsense to think a big money AR is somehow going to endear the customer to the fact that you sell quality. They will scratch a big money AR just like a mid level AR and neither reflects on you or your business.
If that is your stance, then I hope you are prepared to have a car salesman only show you Bentleys and Mercedes, even though you'd be just dandy with a Kia or a Chevy. Just think of all the times you are the customer in an industry you know nothing about and how you would like it if this was done to you.

[anthonyf1509]

The only thing I've taken from this thread, is there seems to be so many worried about what the patient is being charged for.
Coincidentally, a lot of other threads have numerous posts on opticians and not enough pay.
Why so concerned with money?
If its something Unethical, sure, you'd have a right to be mad. But the tone of the OP sounds more like anger towards their retail cost of AR.

If you feel they shouldn't have AR, ask them first. If you think they should, or they do want it, don't cry about $$ if you're automatically downgrading them on your own.

Just sayin'

[nicksims]

Waaaayyyy too much of a connection between choice of a/r coating and a POF/POS. Give the patient the appropriate lens with the appropriate coating. As for the frame, if it is going to break, then handle that situation. Just because I sold somebody a high-end coat in a used frame doesn't mean we're taking advantage of the patient or doing something dastardly (I write with an evil laugh and a twisting of the mustache). Besides, if my patient comes in with his expensive lenses in his broken frame, I don't care if he just picked them up yesterday- I replace them under his warranty. Easy, no hard feelings, we are all happy. I have plenty of patients who bought a new frame who also destroyed the frame and/or lenses.

If your fellow optician is selling lenses to someone in a frame that is falling apart, address that issue. The lens choice is NOT the problem. I agree with your engine analogy, but the engine isn't the issue, it's the rusted frame.