DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
I hope this isn't hijacking the thread, but as I indicated I am currently in the mindset to reduce waiting times.
I hear these great stories about 1-3 days turn-around time. Here is what happens in our store:
Patient places order at 4pm. To late for a stock lens to ship. I get a call the next day saying the lens is not in stock - I'll be 2 days. So 3 days before I get it plus the 1st day that the order didn't get placed equals 4 days and then hopefully I get the package before 3pm so I can edge it that day. Total: 4-5 days
All but one of my labs closes at 5pm. After 2pm it's too late for the lab to order the lens if it isn't in stock. 2 days before the lab gets the lens to even start surfacing. 1 day surfacing, 2 days in AR, 1 day shipping = 6 days with no allowance for edging or errors.
And all the errors that start the clock over.
You guys know all this better than I do, but 2 day turnaround just isn't my experience unless it is a stock lens.
I'm gonna start a new thread.:D
not our experience either and we submit our uncuts through Vision Web. We're running right at 3 to 5 days. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise. We have our own finish lab, but 5 to 7 working keeps me out of trouble 95% of the time.
Which labs have these express turn arounds?? Help a poor guy out! Thanks in advance!
:cheers:
Days where my gratitude exceed my expectations are very good days!
Is this really all it took?
I've learned a lot off this board about optics, lab management, running a business and improving practice profitability. And yeah, people step on other's toes sometimes. It's called life.
Get in the ring and stick up for yourself, or at least let it roll off your back. There's far too much good info and opinions out there on this board.
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At my office we tell patients 7-14 working days. usually we get the job back with in 2-5 days, and so when you call the patient and tell them that their glasses are back after only 5 days after ordering they are happy that their glasses are back "early"!
I only dispense on tuesdays and thursdays though because those are the two days I dont have a doctor here (he is in surgery) mondays, wednesdays and fridays are my busiest days so it is too busy to dispense and write up orders. patients dont seem to mind or for the most part even notice!
Probably 90% of what I sell has AR so lab jobs I usually say "one to two weeks, sometimes a little faster, sometimes it might take a little longer."
Non insurance jobs that use stock lenses I usually say 3 or 4 working days but it depends. If we have the lenses in stock and they need them fast we do them same day or next day.
Davis jobs I say about two to three weeks. My BIL's glasses took 4 weeks from Davis and it was a Davis frame and regular bifocals with no AR.
We have an out of state lab, and offer a standard 1 1/2 - 2 week turnaround, and an express 1-2 day service. I never promise a customer their glasses by a certain date, however, because sometimes you never know what's going to happen, and it's always the one person you promise 'they'll have them by the 17th!' that ends up waiting until the 22nd. We recieve shipments daily, including Saturdays, and promptly check the glasses for lab errors & call the patients. And if we're told by our lab that there is going to be a delay for some reason, we let the patient know immediatly.
It has been my experience that if you tell a patient it will be ready in 5 to 99 working days for their glasses, all the patient hears is 5 days. Therefore, if today is thursday and its 4:45pm, in the patient's mind their glasses will be ready at 8:00am Monday morning.
I avoid using the terms "working" or "business" days. That is where my 10 days to 2 weeks comes in. Even then, I get patients that will call after 3 days to ask why their glasses aren't ready.
I have patients that give us 4 or 5 phone numbers to call when the glasses are ready in the order they want us to call. It never fails, they will call 3 or 4 days later saying, "I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss your call.":hammer::shiner: :hammer:
the one that calls back from all 5 numbers saying, "someone called me from this number," because they are too lazy to check their messages!
:hammer::shiner::hammer:
Days where my gratitude exceed my expectations are very good days!
My Dad was an optician 30 years ago and he taught me 3 rules that still pop up in my head today.
1. Always work over the tray so that you don't lose the screw
2. Don't p^^^ off the lab guys, they make you or break you
3. Under promise and over deliver
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Our "turn around time" is as quick as we can get it done. Always has been always will be.
Chip
We once had an coated lens with an unusual power come in the next day instead of the week we expected. The woman complained we made them up too quick, and couldn't have done a proper job.
that is one of the only reasons LC model doesn't always work, because patients can be skeptical of labs having the ability to make their rx's correctly in"about an hour." We hear it often here, even though we have a finishing lab and we can knock out stock lenses in "about 15 minutes" lol
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