I personally wear Maui Jim Sunglasses in Rx. I love their styles and I love their lenses
THE PEOPLE THAT RUN THE COMPANY ARE ANOTHER MATTER. At first I thought it was just me store, but turns out that I am not the only person that has run afoul of MJ. Extremely arrogant and rude. Their sales people want to decide what YOU should carry and how many.
By all means, carry Maui Jim.....just be ready for the eventual headache......
"Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde"
I've had to fight with Maui Jim more then I would have liked to in the last few years. Seems like they don't want to do any kind of warranty work for RX jobs, or defective frames for me. Some temple covers have rubbed the AR off the back of the lenses when put in the case on a RX job and they would not warranty and reframestyle. I always check to see if they rub when we get a new model in, and if they do I just send them back now before a problem arises. Seems like they are getting more strict on you having a higher number of frames in stock. They are RX nazis that wont budge on .25 .50 .75 a diopter, but I can deal with that. Then if you have a Costco close to your store good luck competing with their close out prices. MSRP on packages is pretty dam high but they do deliver and quickly. Its a love hate relationship for me and MJ. Just glad they were not scooped up by LUX for the time being.
Last issue I had was a RX complete job. They did not have the frame in stock and said they didn't know when it would be in stock. I asked if I could send in my frame since it was not in stock. YES BUT IT WOULD BE AT A HIGHER PRICING. To me that is really crappy customer service, and they want me to pay more for a product THEY do not have in stock. They told me to just reframe style the Patient. The same patient that just spent 500 on a pair of their glasses, and the patient was no longer in my office.
The new site they have is nice WHEN IT IS WORKING.
I REALLY want to try out Reptile suns.
Last edited by OPTICALTROLL; 07-22-2013 at 10:05 AM.
Definitely! It takes our rep forever just to return a phone call, let alone stop into the office!Originally Posted by Plausible
Maybe they are better off being purchased by Luxottica!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
It didn't do Oakley any good. I would not like to see that happen even if they are not perfect.
Well without a doubt the rep with any company can make or break your opinion of any of them. As I said in my other post, I had great service and a great relation with my previous MJ rep. The current one.........ummmmm judge is still out on her. But I can say that I have seen her only 1/2 as much as the last one. She has yet to look closely at our inventory to see what has been discontinued and needs to be returned and replaced with new styles. But I'm not feeling very fond of her at the moment. Gut feeling tells me her heart is not really into it. This is where negative feelings toward a company can start slipping in. None the less my service from their corporate office has always been great.
I have a great practice with a great sun center. We sell plenty of Luxottica product, but the Oakley rep has never set foot in our practice. We have called and e-mailed, but get no response. So, we sell Columbia, Nike, Ray-Ban, Smith, and a few others. When patients ask if we carry Oakley, I just tell them that for the product and service, Oakley is way overpriced. If they want to buy an "O" on the temple for an extra $75, they can head on over to the nearest LC. Then I sell them something by Smith Optics that has better optics and costs less. Love my Luxottica rep, and we do plenty of business for her, but I guess the Oakley rep is happier with the doc-in-a-box.
It took me 6 years to become a Oakley office and I love it. Our rep is in every 3 or 4 months but responds well to email questions/problems, we order our own stock. We try to use the KISS method with Luxottica, Oakley, Nike, Revolution b/c they don't go out of their way to help. Why don't people use an outside lab for MJ rx work. We currently use Interstate Optical for all sports Rx I just don't tell the frame manufact. Also Interstate Optical warranties the frame for us if we can't get credit from the company.
Chiming back in here. So we have our minimum in place for a reason. We have a lot of product to offer with 4 distinct categories in sun and 3 in Rx. We have an assortment that allows the Oakley consumer to choose froma wide range of products to suit whatever visual need they have. We are blessed to have a very loyal following and we work hard to insure their needs are met whether it is sport specific, active, iconic or lifestyle. If you are not getting a response from a rep it may be that they did not get the lead. Please don't assume it's that they don't care or that your business is not important to us. While Lux is our parent company we run different programs than they do in terms of incentives, minimums and account expectations. We do have dated billing if we are currently running an incentive. I can see that some of you are very frustrated. Feel free to reach out to me with your practice name, city and state and contact info and I will attempt to connect you with the proper person
If you haven,t looked at Reptile polarized sunglasses you're missing an excellent product. Owned by an independent who happened to be my Armani rep say 20 years ago.
Last edited by cwinma; 08-08-2013 at 07:09 PM.
That's funny because when Oakley came out with the ophthalmic line they encouraged us to order anything to just try it. Not to mention all the LC stores I have walked in have less than the required buy in for independents. I've been into plenty of stores and seen much less than 70 pieces in their stores and yes they carried suns, womans, and mens ophthalmics. Not to mention how anyone can go online, and purchase a Oakley frame from numerous vendors at even below msrp. From the phone call it was pretty clear our business wasn't important, and the rep didn't want to be bothered with less than 70 frames. Business must be good! I asked about dated billing and NO IT WAS NOT AVAILABLE AND HE WAS EXTREMELY BLUNT ABOUT IT. He did offer ONE free frame with the 70 pieces(with smirk in his voice) and that was so tempting. I talked to his boss and she was definitely more friendly, and courteous. However she still emphasized the 70 piece buy in to have access to the entire line. I have heard from all the LUX reps that many other opticals in the area have had the same experience as I have. Unfortunately the LUX reps are the ones that will lose out as we rid ourselves of LUX lines. I have been in this business for over ten years now, and I have never heard of anything as absurd as a 70 piece buy in for one line. There are plenty of lines with a large collection of frames and none require this insane buy in.
optical@diagnosticeyecenter.com Hou, TX
Good people and I can't wait to get their product in our office.
Sunglasses magazine just posted this pic of a new style. Looks like any other Lux product now
Those look positively dreadful!
Well that makes me happy I can offer Oakley frames with just a different logo on it. They look like :poop:
Still keeping it classy I see.
Like a sir.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. There is a method to our madness and a story we are telling collection wise but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you don't want to hear itThat's funny because when Oakley came out with the ophthalmic line they encouraged us to order anything to just try it. Not to mention all the LC stores I have walked in have less than the required buy in for independents. I've been into plenty of stores and seen much less than 70 pieces in their stores and yes they carried suns, womans, and mens ophthalmics. Not to mention how anyone can go online, and purchase a Oakley frame from numerous vendors at even below msrp. From the phone call it was pretty clear our business wasn't important, and the rep didn't want to be bothered with less than 70 frames. Business must be good! I asked about dated billing and NO IT WAS NOT AVAILABLE AND HE WAS EXTREMELY BLUNT ABOUT IT. He did offer ONE free frame with the 70 pieces(with smirk in his voice) and that was so tempting. I talked to his boss and she was definitely more friendly, and courteous. However she still emphasized the 70 piece buy in to have access to the entire line. I have heard from all the LUX reps that many other opticals in the area have had the same experience as I have. Unfortunately the LUX reps are the ones that will lose out as we rid ourselves of LUX lines. I have been in this business for over ten years now, and I have never heard of anything as absurd as a 70 piece buy in for one line. There are plenty of lines with a large collection of frames and none require this insane buy in.
Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others. -H. Jackson Brown Jr.
If the only tool you have is a hammer you will approach every problem as though it were a nail
Oakley doesn't do terms for anyone, don't take it personally. Big buy ins are part of the deal for everyone too. If you think that's bad, try carrying Cartier or Chanel or LaFont or many others with bigger requirements. It's about brand protection and mutual success. I'm not saying that their way is the best way, but we are free to take it or leave it.That's funny because when Oakley came out with the ophthalmic line they encouraged us to order anything to just try it. Not to mention all the LC stores I have walked in have less than the required buy in for independents. I've been into plenty of stores and seen much less than 70 pieces in their stores and yes they carried suns, womans, and mens ophthalmics. Not to mention how anyone can go online, and purchase a Oakley frame from numerous vendors at even below msrp. From the phone call it was pretty clear our business wasn't important, and the rep didn't want to be bothered with less than 70 frames. Business must be good! I asked about dated billing and NO IT WAS NOT AVAILABLE AND HE WAS EXTREMELY BLUNT ABOUT IT. He did offer ONE free frame with the 70 pieces(with smirk in his voice) and that was so tempting. I talked to his boss and she was definitely more friendly, and courteous. However she still emphasized the 70 piece buy in to have access to the entire line. I have heard from all the LUX reps that many other opticals in the area have had the same experience as I have. Unfortunately the LUX reps are the ones that will lose out as we rid ourselves of LUX lines. I have been in this business for over ten years now, and I have never heard of anything as absurd as a 70 piece buy in for one line. There are plenty of lines with a large collection of frames and none require this insane buy in.
I trust you're not putting Oakley in the same category as the above noted?!
No, not the same category. But similar name recognition status.
The office I work in just got Oakley about 6 weeks ago. It is now 100 piece buy in! Used to be 60. Yes, 100! I'm up to my eyeballs in Oakley. We've done really well so far with the ophthalmics, but not so much with the suns. To Rx them seems to be prohibitively expensive for our clientele. If it was up to me, I'd have no Lux products at all. Unfortunately, it's not up to me.
Caroline, L.O.
If you suffer from severe nonlinear waterfowl issues, you don't have your ducks in a row.
The 70 piece buy in makes sense. If you don't have at least 70 pieces for consumers to try on, they might not be comfortable ordering it directly online.
Come on folks! Do you want to be a "partner" or not?
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Lets be honest here for a few minutes people.
I know, I know......being honest for most on here is like me giving up ale...AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.
But...........
If you are surprised by the shenanigans with buying, displaying, reordering, and hopefully selling OAKLY (Maui Jim, Bolle, Costa, Ray Ban, Your Mama, etc)..............you are a clueless business person, an inept "optician", and basically a MORON.
The majority of you DOPES who buy into the the hype and go "ALL IN'', are dead in the water CHUMPS!
Yeah....I said it................CHUMPS!
How does it feel to become the local zip code showroom for your investment? Man....you have made it extremely easy for every deadbeat, hippie, 20-something limp wristed Momma's boy, Kelly Clarkson loving female, 30-ish loser living in your divorced mom's basement, Soccer Mom, wanna be Dad, Bald headed 50-something, KOOL KIDD WANNABEEEEE, time wasting, bottom feeding dreg, to try on and decide which model they like best so that they can buy online at much less than the "MSRP" and "TERMS" that you agreed and signed your life away to!
You have become the local "TRY-& BUY elsewhere"! CONGRATS!
I admit that there are a very select few, very savvy business people on here who make this hangman's noose work for them and they have my admiration...they really do.
But lets face it, most of you are optical peons with little or no education, ZERO retailing knowledge and even less buying and selling savvy to even have a clue to understand what you don't know and the extreme apathy to change it!
Rock on people.....ROCK ON!
Last edited by Fezz; 07-27-2013 at 04:49 PM.
Did you forget your happy pill today? I can send you some of mine if you are out.
I do hate when you write the truth and I have to agree with most of what you wrote. I do not like being a showroom for the internet but it is how we get most of our new customers so we must embrace the changing times or die on the vine.
By the way if you do not make enough $ on every job it will only get worse with volume. There is no way to make a living if you only sell Oakley product!! That should say it all for any business person.
The majority of your sales had better be product that allows for margins and it cannot be sourced on 100 web pages.
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