Warby Parker pays for PD's and Adjustments

[drk]

The prudent optician would take advantage of these situations, educate the misinformed consumer about these on line entities, explain the differences between the products, along with the level of care that you provide. Charge what you feel is fair; provided the adjustments you make will hold. Or send them to a WP B&M.

I have to disagree.

I think we IGNORE online, and ridicule it if/when someone brings it up. (Ridicule is..the...worst.)

I'm not spending one second giving them cred by speaking of them.

If someone wants to go "online" with their SpRx and they are ignorant enough to mention it to me, I ignore it. If they specifically ask my opinion of it, I tell them it's a bad joke. If they ask for P.Ds or whatever I refuse and tell them that's the responsibility of the optician that makes the glasses. If they come back with problems, I tell them we don't trouble shoot someone else's glasses, and we'd be happy to make a pair for them ourselves.

So easy.

[Chris Ryser]

If they specifically ask my opinion of it, I tell them it's a bad joke. If they ask for P.Ds or whatever I refuse and tell them that's the responsibility of the optician that makes the glasses. If they come back with problems, I tell them we don't trouble shoot someone else's glasses, and we'd be happy to make a pair for them ourselves.

So easy.

How can it be a bad joke if the on-line optical industry sold ca 27 million pairs of glasses ? .....and probably more this year.

How can you blame the consumer of going for it, by bundling everything including services into your selling price while the on-liners only advertise their lab prices plus the frame.

I just paid $ 180.00 to have a switch replaced in my air conditioner, of which a $ 100.00 was for the service call and $ 80.00 for the switch. I can not get that on-line.

However I ordered a medical Rx for my Nitro Spray, on-line for $ 39.95, where the pharmacies here in SW Florida wanted between $ 300.00 and $ 350.00. (back home in Montreal it costs me between $6.00 and $12.00 in a pharmacy).

Above examples are that a service provider can still charge a fair price, by charging the items separately, while just passing on goods with a markup included, will loose out to the on-line advertisers.

Office Max (belongs to Walmart) bought Office Depot a couple of weeks ago and now is closing the Office Max stores because of the fierce competition of o-line commerce.

If we do not change our attitude many optical retailers will be gone in a few years with the exception of the high end and top class optician artisans as the survivors.

[optical24/7]

How can it be a bad joke if the on-line optical industry sold ca 27 million pairs of glasses ? .....and probably more this year.

Chris, I asked you in the other thread about 27M sold here online and you didn't answer;

How can they have sold 27M pair when the total sold here in 2012 was 69M? Are you saying they comprise almost 1/2 of the market? Last I heard, online was 2-3% of the market.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/2...tates-by-type/

[drk]

consumer...
...medical Rx

...retailers
...optician

The "pull quotes" from your post.

1. I don't have "consumers".
2. I provide medical Rxs for medical problems (ametropias)
3. I am not a "retailer".
4. I am an "optician" (actually optometrist).

[drk]

How can they have sold 27M pair when the total sold here in 2012 was 69M?

That's including remakes.

[Gizzo]

In the article the 'columnist' admits to the error in self-design re. lens material and seg width. Perhaps an optician would be of assistance..?

I run across this published article :

Why the eyewear industry is an incredible rip-off

I recently wentshopping for no-line progressive bifocals in small oval metal frames. Namebrands mean nothing to me. Price does. My high astigmatism and need forbifocals disqualify me from those buy-one-get-one-free deals, which almostalways involve only single-vision specs.
In store after store, megachains and optical boutiquesalike, small oval metal frames fitted with lenses matching my prescriptionstarted at $300. One popular shop quoted me $582 for the lenses alone.
I bought a pair of no-line progressive bifocals in small ovalmetal frames for $44 online. I’m wearing them right now.

Continue reading it is a long story:
------------------>
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/w...dible-rip-off/

[Dirk]

The "pull quotes" from your post.

1. I don't have "consumers".
2. I provide medical Rxs for medical problems (ametropias)
3. I am not a "retailer".
4. I am an "optician" (actually optometrist).

Your patients are consumers, you provide them with services and products that they need. Consumers compare prices, service and the quality of their purchases, regardless if it`s an eye exam, glasses, a car or a mortgage.
Healthcare (or eyecare) is just another market, and wether you like it or not, it will become more subject to market rules. It is already in my country, medical specialists are competing to attract patients/consumers. The state has privatised our healthcare system in order to encourage competition and hopefully improve the quality and lower the cost.
I understand that you don`t see youself as a retailer, but it may be the best way to face the future.

[Chris Ryser]

Chris, I asked you in the other thread about 27M sold here online and you didn't answer;

Sorry about that..............I took that from a press release by Coastal, shortly before they sold out to Essilor.

Also I follow their website rankings for the many years on a periodic basis, and know how much better they are visited than any other websites in the optical field.

[Chris Ryser]

Your patients are consumers, you provide them with services and products that they need. Consumers compare prices, service and the quality of their purchases, regardless if it`s an eye exam, glasses, a car or a mortgage.
Healthcare (or eyecare) is just another market, and whether you like it or not, it will become more subject to market rules. It is already in my country, medical specialists are competing to attract patients/consumers. The state has privatized our healthcare system in order to encourage competition and hopefully improve the quality and lower the cost.

I understand that you don`t see yourself as a retailer, but it may be the best way to face the future.

Good advise.......................

On this continent the optical trade is regulated in some of the States in the USA and the Provinces in Canada.

A large part is not in the USA and in Canada "British Columbia" got deregulated by their Government and has become a free for all.

The economy is not the best in North America and commercial activities are shifting to the web continuously more and more.

Essilor and Luxottica together have become the largest retailers in the optical field in North America either on the web and in actual B&M stores.

[drk]

Your patients are consumers, you provide them with services and products that they need. Consumers compare prices, service and the quality of their purchases, regardless if it`s an eye exam, glasses, a car or a mortgage.
Healthcare (or eyecare) is just another market, and wether you like it or not, it will become more subject to market rules. It is already in my country, medical specialists are competing to attract patients/consumers. The state has privatised our healthcare system in order to encourage competition and hopefully improve the quality and lower the cost.
I understand that you don`t see youself as a retailer, but it may be the best way to face the future.

I've thought it through and have come to the opposite conclusion.

[Addie Johnson]

My shop offers our own designs only, but we also accept patient's own frames as well. They MUST sign a waiver!! I've had only one breakage, in which case, we replaced it with one of our own frames. The patient made one side comment when selecting his complimentary frame ("Hopefully you don't f*** this one up too."), but no one can say we didn't tell him so.

By keeping options/services open to patients, whether or not they got their frames from us, they are more likely to tell their friends about our customer service, therefore creating more return and generating sales. No need to stoop to dishonesty… I always work into conversations the fact that quality service is something you can't get online (equating it with the hassles of buying clothes/other goods online) and people are typically really responsive to that.

I don't mean to sound passive about online sales taking away from our store fronts and small businesses that we work hard to maintain, but to maintain integrity and honesty as a business will always get through to the right clientele.

[COMEINPEACE]

With the 'lab defect' thread...could you imagine what the retail end is getting?
i guess with the money they save, a scratch or a little crazing is still worth it??

just adjusted a 39mm eye sized frame for a walk in
aprox +6.00 ou....they were cut from a 80mm stock lens...
i asked them where they were purchased(because i wanted to know if any of my local competitors could sleep at night dispensing these to a child)
they were purchased on line
13-14mm edge thk

[Tallboy]

With the 'lab defect' thread...could you imagine what the retail end is getting?
i guess with the money they save, a scratch or a little crazing is still worth it??

just adjusted a 39mm eye sized frame for a walk in
aprox +6.00 ou....they were cut from a 80mm stock lens...
i asked them where they were purchased(because i wanted to know if any of my local competitors could sleep at night dispensing these to a child)
they were purchased on line
13-14mm edge thk

Thats terrible.

[Paul Smith LDO]

With the 'lab defect' thread...could you imagine what the retail end is getting?
i guess with the money they save, a scratch or a little crazing is still worth it??

just adjusted a 39mm eye sized frame for a walk in
aprox +6.00 ou....they were cut from a 80mm stock lens...
i asked them where they were purchased(because i wanted to know if any of my local competitors could sleep at night dispensing these to a child)
they were purchased on line
13-14mm edge thk

Yes, but the lenses come with a book on astronomy and an authentic Chinese replica of a Galilean telescope.

[Dirk]

With the 'lab defect' thread...could you imagine what the retail end is getting?
i guess with the money they save, a scratch or a little crazing is still worth it??

just adjusted a 39mm eye sized frame for a walk in
aprox +6.00 ou....they were cut from a 80mm stock lens...
i asked them where they were purchased(because i wanted to know if any of my local competitors could sleep at night dispensing these to a child)
they were purchased on line
13-14mm edge thk

That is just sad. That is what happens when people think that acces to knowledge is the same as knowing how to use that knowledge. You can not order a custom made product online and expect a custom made fit. You need personal professional attention for that.

[Jason H]

Pretty unarguable Dirk.

[Uncle Fester]

just adjusted a 39mm eye sized frame for a walk in
aprox +6.00 ou....they were cut from a 80mm stock lens...
i asked them where they were purchased(because i wanted to know if any of my local competitors could sleep at night dispensing these to a child)
they were purchased on line
13-14mm edge thk

The site that made them will sooner rather than later be out of business. The better sites are or will quickly adjust so this lens is not used. I imagine if they used a stock 60 blank the consumer would be happy.

Que the theme from Jaws...

Did you charge for your services?

[COMEINPEACE]

NO of course i did not charge and it was a pretty detailed alignment
i felt badly for the child and uneducated consumer
i was even thinking of pulling out 55mmstock and recutting them-
would have taken 3 minutes...my good deed for the day

[drk]

Crap that you'd expect from eye care in Cameroon.

[COMEINPEACE]

this job was super ugly...you would have thought about it also, if you saw how cute and sweet the kid was

[Mrmessi]

E-commerce is here to stay whether you like it or not, online eyewear retailers are making a killing, the business model is just ripe at the moment.

[drk]

Yes, but health care is not your typical "commerce".

[Tallboy]

I mean why should people pay for dentures in their Dentists office? I should be able to make my own molds at home and then order them and go to my dentist to have them fit, right?

I'm sure its not THAT hard to put the goopy stuff in a mouthpiece and then hold it.

[edKENdance]

I mean why should people pay for dentures in their Dentists office? I should be able to make my own molds at home and then order them and go to my dentist to have them fit, right?

I'm sure its not THAT hard to put the goopy stuff in a mouthpiece and then hold it.

There are an alarming number of videos online about making and fixing your own teeth.

[Tallboy]

There are an alarming number of videos online about making and fixing your own teeth.

Here I thought it was safe to be sarcastic...