Until proven otherwise in a court of skeptical ECPs, this thing is presumed guilty of being E.
This thread seem to have exited some of the OB posters and we are now on post No 56.
Does it really make a difference if Uncut Express belongs to E or not ? If prices are better for decent quality products made, they will sell a lot of prescriptions, maybe even made in the closest local lab so they do not have to send it across the country at their cost.
Pretty smart system if it is so.
Do not forget that the USA and Canada are the testing grounds for Essilors world wide domination of the optical retail trade. If the "Uncut Express" should belong to the "E Kingdom" they will succeed anyhow as you can not beat them, as there is no common interest, nor active agreements among different optical retail operations.
Does it really make a difference if Uncut Express belongs to E or not ?
Yes it does to me Chris. Also they have not given a physical address or posted who owns them when asked.
I also like to know who I'm dealing with supplier-wise.....don't you?
Regards,
Golfnorth
Chris is right. If we boycott Big E then we should also boycott all of the frame suppliers who are listed on CC or the other websites. Why not take it further and boycott all of the lens companies that are making money selling to the online sellers.
If ECP's are going to compete , the playing field needs to be levelled. Regulatory boards have to open their eyes and change the rules . The reg bodies have to allow ECP's to embrace the interent and do the same as the competion. What is wrong with an ECP selling contact lense online to his clients and mailing them to the client. Why can an ECP not make a pair of sv vison Rx eyeglasses based on an outside Rx. If the Rx is current, the PD is there....why not.
If we stay in the present mode we will see our sale prices dropping, our client flow decreasing and many ECP's closing. The future of optics need to have and use the internet to survive.
How long will it be until Big E breaks the regulatory groups and opens up a free-for-all with their products. Then we will be in trouble.
...............yes Golfnorth you are right. I would like to know with whom I am dealing supplier wise, but in my case it is huge corporations in the chemical fields who don't give a hoot who I am. Below a $ 500.00 order they won't even talk to me and the delivery charge is $ 75.00 even that my business is 2 km away from them.
In that type of business it is no more personalized for many years and what happens in the optical has happened already years ago.
The field is now dominated by a few big ones.
It is just to say that once these giants have a firm hand in the ins and outs of the market they control they will tighten the vices and you either play along or not, or they will just not work with you and can do it.
It has happened the same way...........in this field they undercut the smaller suppliers of which most did not survive.
Coupe .................I would make a bet that nobody will or can make an effective boycott of big E these days. They have branched out into every field in the optical business from manufacturing machinery to lenses and frames and now into the heavy duty retail business selling millions of pairs of Rx glasses.
You will have to drop sales prices soon. Start doing your own small lab business again. Your regulators have all wet pants from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Mexican border to the Arctic and are not sure which way to go.. The conventional optical retail has embraced all the new technologies that were totally out of your hands, but pushing them but brought you good profits, and you where happy with that, not seeing what was lurking in the background. like an optical undertaker with his shovels ready.
Your last sentence also makes good sense.
OptiBoard has been a superb archive over the last many years and I hope it will stay alive for along time to come. The internet has drastically pushed our world ahead in technology and our way of living. There is a lot more coming in the near future.
Would you like the customer/patient to call your store and demand to know who owns it?
Hmmmmm.....:)
The road to guarantee long term success for independents is real simple...let's all form a 'lens & lab services cooperative' company. We need a minimum of 10 independent practices to make it feasible. Practices can be either Optometric or Optician based.
What's a cooperative? It's when a group of like minded individuals that band together for a common need - in this case sourcing/supplying quality lenses for self consumption at a great price due to combined high volume. And since it's a registered not for profit corporation as per Revenue Canada guidelines and taxation laws, each member has the option to either be a shareholder member where year end profits are returned to you based on your annual usage, or just be a member where you will get a fantastic price but no year end profits or voting rights.
All shareholders are equal (capital investment & voting rights) and must be on the board of directors to ensure common interests are fair and met. There are two very large cooperatives within Canada right now, but they have lost their focus to their members and now run it like a large corporation with all the high salaries and politics that go along with it eroding all of the profit which should be returned to its shareholders but isn't.
I already have the supply chain established, so if anyone is interested please PM me. Your business must reside in Canada to be eligible.
Lenny.....Uncut Express sent me an email to my personal email address soliciting business. Since I don't give out my email indiscriminately I asked where they obtained it. Also since they don't seem to have a bricks and mortar address I asked (not demanded) who the owners were as I like to know who I'm doing business with. Under the circumstances perfectly legitimate questions IMHO. There would be no reason not to tell a prospective customer who phones your dispensary who the owner is. To see who owns my store people just have to look at my sign as my name is on it proudly and prominently.
Regards,
Golfnorth
new news; This company owns www.glassifyme.com and sells online to the public.
registered in Scottsdale Arizona/ tel# 480-624-2599 / AZ Qwest Corporation / owners name uses a service to hide there identity. / owner address 14747 N Northside Blvd /111 PMB 309 / IP address 104.255.196.183 united states / city Ann Arbor MI
Not surprising really. A major issue with this company is that they disclose their ECP pricing directly to the public. Other lens suppliers just don't do that and respect the ECP.
I recently tapped into something new with prices even better them. Quality and turn around time has been stellar so far. I've got 3 stores and have cut my costs down drastically. If anyone is interested, shoot me a PM and I will'd be willing to share the info via PM.
Lab Insight , I sent you a PM.
Not surprising really.
Last edited by haliopt; 06-07-2016 at 07:58 AM.
14 days for a poly trans a/r. SV. great price, bad service. emailed them twice. No reply.
Last edited by haliopt; 08-10-2017 at 09:35 PM.
Anybody that can work the internet, has the possibility to check lens and frame prices from the online sellers and compare with ECPs.
When will the qualified professional optician catch on that the resold materials like frames and lenses cost somehow the same the world over at the base.
What makes the difference to the buyer is the knowledgeable time he or she is using up, making a purchase from a professional optical retailer.
So why can a well qualified optician not sell at a basic price and charge for his or her highly qualified professional time.
I strongly believe that is a good way way to counter the steadily growing online sales.
Your are totally right.......................................
.................and so were the last 4 US Presidents by supporting some countries in the far east, to do research into atom bomb warfare.
With the biggest merger in the optical industry ever, happening towards the end of this year, the speed to reach that critical mass will be dramatically increased.
It is always wiser to look ahead, than wait until the event actually happens.
Has anyone tried to order a PAL from them to see if there are any... memorable markings on them? The prices truly are pretty good, but I too am leery on the whole Paypal based business. Maybe I'm just used to traditional suppliers.
Done, my first response/post on this forum after lurking for years.
-Poly is the best substrate for coatings.
-Poly is extremely scratch resistant.
-Poly is extremely impact resistant.
-Poly is unparalleled in clarity.
-Poly is much lighter than traditional crown glass.
Like poly, you can trust me about 40% of the time.
You just made that suggestion at the wrong end of my business career. I would rather pull my money out and enjoy it, than start another one.
I have tasted the optical business from the retail to the wholesale lab, the successful wholesale of optical frames and the manufacturing of optical products.
So far I have been right in predicting what is coming sooner than later.
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