What I don't get is ... when you could smell their most innermost secrets from across the room. Everyone smells it, everyone knows its them but they are completely obliviously. After the examination (we pray for the Doctor), everyone runs off to take breaks, call patients, do filing, and other b.s that they really don't have to do, all the customers that were there are done and gone ... and you're the one that has to save the day.
I've been told that my face shows tale tell signs of exactly how I feel or would say. Now ... I'll leave it to your imagination.
Customer comes in. She has been in here multiple times trying to decide on what she wants to get for eyeglasses but is very indecisive. Turns to me and asked:
"I know this is a stupid question, but do you guys lend out frames to patients to try on at home for a night or two?"
My Response: "No."
What I should have said: "Sure! As long as you pay the pretty amount written on the tag, you can go home and try them out as long as you wish!"
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity
Actually a lot of us will!
Take a credit card # and tell them you unleash the leg-breaker if they don't come back in "x" days. With a smile of course!!!
I had a woman do this to me, and i said absolutely we will but we need to have a credit card on file and we will charge it the full retail amount if they aren't returned in 14 days.
she says: "well i don't make i ta habit to just have my credit card floating around that makes me a little nervous"
I said: "right but it also makes us a little nervous having a $200 frame leaving the office with no way to ever get payment for it"
haha people are NUTS
"what i need is a strong drink and a peer group." ... Douglas Adams - Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy
I have let people take frames home on several occasions. Just put in their credit card and when they return them just credit it. 9 times out of 10 you will be crediting every frame they took home, because no one at home will like them.
we let our 'regulars' take them home all the time
one regular actually kept them for a month...when i made them and she returned a few days later to pick them up, she actually said these are not the frames i picked out!!!
it is the nature of our business i guess..this is the bushiness we have chosen michael(hymen roth quote)
How much is your eye test? Is it for both eyes?
Do you sell generic Ray Bans? You know the cheaper ones?
I will read this thread anytime I need to gather my sanity! Great stories, everyone. Glad I joined the forum. :D
I think my all-time favorite is when a patient told me she had "a Stigmata" in her eye... my coworker blurted out, "the signs of Christ on the cross?!"
I began my illustrious career 20 years ago in a small town, working in a optical shop.
We ordered a pair of multifocals for an elderly man, he wanted these fitted in his own frame. When the lenses arrived, the man came in to drop off his frame. He asked me to show him the uncut round lenses, so I did. He took one in his hand and placed it in front of his right eye and said; " I can`t see a damned thing!''
He ran out of the store before I could explain to him that he had placed the wrong lens in front of his eye and that a PAL has to be positioned perfectly. He almost broke the lens when he slammed it on the counter.
We never saw him again.
Do you carry the Miralax frames? I have been asked this many times and I still find it funny.
"So, since your putting new lenses in these old frames I can use your BOGO promotion to put lenses in another set I have at home?"
No Ma'am, you have to purchase a whole set, Frames and Lenses.
"I did buy these frames."
Here Ma'am, you have to buy them here.
"I did buy them here" (What she wont admit is that those frames are 8 years old...)
I'm sorry Ma'am, that's not how our promotion works. I'm not going to give you a free set of lenses unless you purchase a complete set as per the terms.
"That's False advertising! That's illegal! I'm going to call Davis (Insurance) and tell them the illegal things your doing here!"
To note, our ad does say "Complete set" and I'm really confused why she would call Davis Vision seeing as she doesn't even have insurance and they have no bearing on my office at all...
~Dustin B. AboC
"Laugh, or you will go crazy."
I've had this conversation multiple times in the past few weeks, must be a full moon!
Me: "So your prescription is written as a bi-focal, were you thinking with a line? without a line?"
Patient: "well I don't need them to see, I just need them to read."
ummmmm ....
"what i need is a strong drink and a peer group." ... Douglas Adams - Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy
Keep in mind that what transpired here was the last patient of a busy day.
The patient is looking for new glasses, and is very cheap. He was looking to stay within the allowances allowed by insurance or keep copays low. Complaining to me about the copays like I can fix that.
I was explaining to him about going with a full frame so he doesn't have to pay for a poly upgrade with VSP.
He as "why poly in a semi rimless."
told him its a tougher material, going to be more impact resistant in that style of frame.
He replied. "wouldn't I want that, what if I was driving and something came through my windshield?"
Now being a professional I always make the patient feel as comfortable as possible. never tell them they are wrong and such.
all I could say was "I have never been asked or even thought of that"
But I feel from his reaction that the look on my face said something entirely different.
I am also younger, but I am also their only optician to work with besides one of the owners that is not often in the shop. The frame selection process is my favorite part of the job, but it's hard when an older woman shoots down everything you pick out for her because "Well, you're just young and everything looks good on you." Nevermind that I'm giving her frames for HER to try on and leaving myself completely out of the equation!
Also, it's especially difficult when people come in asking for products they know nothing about. "Do you carry [X Brand/ X type] lenses?" Well, yes, I can put you in that lens if your prescription calls for it… Some people read things online or hear technical terms, and simply repeat them without knowing what the heck they're talking about.
UGH!!! I've had returns happen JUST because the husband didn't like them. C'MON!! Maybe I'm just a woman of modern morals, but if I spent over an hour looking for a beautiful pair of frames, paid for them, waited 2 weeks to have them finished, and my husband didn't like them… I would simply remind him how lucky he is to not have to wear them!
So frustrating.
Boy am I glad we don't accept BS reasons like that for returning specs. If they don't work we sort it. If you change your mind and want a different frame with new lenses, you can buy them.
At least you are a woman. As a man, I get written off pretty fast by a lot of the older women. And men for that matter. They will go ask the receptionists what they think of frames. Usually the receptionist gives them the same answer I would have. Whatever. People have their little stereotypes. When someone picks an ugly or poorly fitting frame and disregards my advice, I have to remind myself that hey, I got that danged frame off the board! Silver lining.
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