Interesting piece. Thank you.
Interesting piece. Thank you.
Apparently you were not around during the Carter administration (and I use that term loosely.) Inflation was so freaking bad that the Feds required all businesses and professions to post their prices and fees. We were also prohibited from raising prices beyond certain guidelines.Originally Posted by Ladyoptician
Just thinking about it is causing dyspepsia. Aaarghh. I am going to take some medicine and maybe the thought of those horrible days will go away. Fortunately everything worked out OK and Ronald Regan saved the day.
I'll bet that this NPR moonbat wishes the return to the good old Carter days. What really upsets me is that my tax dollars pay this clowns salary.
Has anyone else heard Clark Howard's name mentioned in this internet game thing?? I've had 4 patients in a 2 day period demand their pd because Clark told them it was part of the rx. and legally we have to give it to them. Who else can jump on the cheap glasses band wagon?
In some states it IS part of the Rx.
AA
So far I am appreciating the lively and thorough discussion regarding internet glasses and the patients who purchase them. There is one thing I would like to remind everyone of, including myself. We work for doctors. The doctors write a prescription for the patient and we are asked to fill it. We cannot make a substitution that will hinder the patients use of the product. It is our responsibility to ensure that what we fill that prescription with is appropriate. We must consider how the intended product is going to be used and what obstacles the pt. may encounter in it's use. Things such as face shape, height, posture, occupation, hobbies, coloring of hair, eyes and skin, and so much more all play a factor in what combination of products is going to work best for a patient. Just as a pharmacist (hopefully) checks for drug interactions, so we check for how their new pair of glasses is going to interact with their lifestyle. Being an Optician, or Ophthalmic assistant is a very personal business as well as medical. Glasses are not taxed because they are prescription items.
It is for these reasons we feel so threatened and angry when a patient compares us to a greedy salesclerk. It simply is not who we are. We are intelligent individuals who take the information presented to us by the patient and the doctor and take the time to sift through the myriad of options in our "menu" to make a recomendation to the patient. We take the time to do this, so they don't have to. That is where the value lies. Not only do we do this at the intitial selection process, but we stand by our product and will take the time to determine what is wrong and how to fix it when there is a problem. No internet retailer is going to do that. Much less do it without requiring the patient to pay for an entire set of new lenses. And have I mentioned anything yet regarding insurance? Most of us also try to make a reasonable determination of benefits as well. I think getting a pair of prescription lenses from an independent who is willing to go to such lengths is quite the steal.
All true. How long can you hang on? Pretty much the end as we know it. Face up folks and look to what you are gonna do.
Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers?
All true. How long can you hang on? Pretty much the end as we know it. Face up folks and look to what you are gonna do.
From Wikipedia;
The fable is also known by the name of other characters such as Chicken Licken or Chicken Little (USA), and by the phrase The sky is falling that occurs there. It is an old cumulative tale about a chicken (or a hare in an early version) who believes the world is coming to an end. The phrase "The sky is falling" has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent....
The Adaptar is a "Serviceable" lens? My old analog television sitting in the basement is probably "serviceable" but my LCD flatscreen kicks it’s ***. My old 1992 suitcase style cell phone may be "serviceable" but I can’t imagine using that over my Blackberry. I’m sure there will be someone out there that still uses the Adaptar but I haven’t seen one of those since the mid-90’s. And I wonder what generation of transitions that is too.
I look at it this way, if/when the world doesn’t need opticians anymore I’ll find another way to eek out a living but I can take comfort knowing that anyone who needs eyewear in my family or circle of influence is going to have a certified optician to care for their needs. I think a common misconception amongst the general public is that their eye doc is trained as an optician and can do most of the things we can but my experience has been just the opposite. They either can’t do it or don’t have the time to do it.
One last note, I’ve seen a test run of a "menu" type list when I worked for Lenscrafters way back when and it was deep sixed because what they found was that it was confusing, i.e. frustrating and a frustrated customer is one that feels dumb. They didn’t like that. If that's ever re-implemented it'll need a lot of thought and work.
Last edited by eyeguy21; 09-01-2010 at 10:19 AM.
"Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it." - Benjamin Franklin.
In the old proverb it was the sky. In the real world, the sky does fall. The trouble is when it does, there is nothing you can do about it. In the case of competeing with the on liners, there is somethings you can do, you just got to figure what is best for your individual situation. I visited an old optician friend yesterday that said he was thinking of going on line himself. It's worth some consideration.
How much of the *huge* 2% of the total online market does your friend think he will take away from the multi-million dollar on-liners? There's better use for garage space, like storing broken furniture, than to try and start an on-line eyewear company.
Tell your friend that I'll bet him a shiny new Cazal frame that he'll make more money standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona selling hot dogs.
I used to really like Daniel Pinkwater. Alan Mendelsohn: the Boy from Mars was a really important book for me growing up. How sad to learn what an ignorant douchebag he is.
2% sure sounds good to me. I will send him the link to this thread. He is an optiboarder, maybe he will chose to respond. On the other hand, if we all set up online links, i could see how that may make a positive difference. Another question I ponder from time to time is what % of optiboarders do other business on line.
I figure that of the existing on-line operations, a new start up is going to get perhaps 1% of the 2% online business.
I think that if any optician wanted to set up an on-line business to service his existing customer base, he'd be miles ahead of the curve and might pick up some new customers because of it. Heck, even a website showing the frames that you have available is far better than nothing. With the way that Google links people to local businesses, this is something that you can build on.
I don't see a problem with an existing patient picking out a pair from your on-line display, ordering his/her script, then coming into your office to fit and pickup. Make them pay up front of course.
I for one, took a hard look at this proposition, and thought the same thing.
Decided that selling in this manner was unreconcilable with my current dispensing standards and prices.
B
That's why you put the pricing part behind a customer access code so that only your customer base can see your prices.
I'm sure that was just what Essilor and FramesDirect were thinking when they launched MyOnlineOptical.
I find it interseting that a "professional" writer doesn't know how to spell ophthalmologist (he spelled it without the initial h), types "locally-owned" (a hyphen is not proper when the first word ends in ly), and begins his thoughts with "firstly, secondly," etc. These words are adverbs and despite the fact that many people do, they should not be used that way. He should write "first, second," and so on. You would think a professional would know more about his craft - at least as much as he purports to know about ours.
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