"I'm a loyal customer of Lenscrafters"

[drk]

I had a 54 yo low myope VSP patient new to the area who was wearing Persol ophthalmic frames SVDO and SVNO (why?) and we updated his lenses with 1.5 AR-coated for both pair. Good.

But he wanted new sun, so we brought in a particular wrappy aviator RayBan sunglass to Rx SVDO. BUT NO! He wants "genuine Rayban Rx lenses" and won't consider Shamir Attitude III. He is told "there's nothing at all special about Rayban Rx lenses and the lenses we use are from the same company and probably exceed the quality of Rayban-branded lenses". But nope. He mentions he's a "loyal customer of Lenscrafters" (???) and wants those lenses and will get his sunglasses elsewhere.

What an idjit. Smarter than we are, I guess.

Branding is a way to make people cult members.

[CME4SPECS]

Why didn't you just have the Ray Ban logo put on them? I'll bet that's all they wanted.

[drk]

I'm fresh out...

[Uncle Fester]

I wonder if there's a new district manager for LC?

Hmm... on second thought he's be much too old...

Watch your yelp comments;)

[Elvis Is Alive]

"genuine Rayban RX lens" = nothing more than Essilor lab produced with logo slapped on..

[iD]

any essilor lab should be able to do the ray-ban logo on the lenses. I know that's not the point but it beats going back and forth with him. I had a patient who bought ray-ban aviators and got her rx in them and when she came to pick them up she was like "whats this? where's the logo? I can't wear these. They look like knock-offs. I'm going to be made fun of by my friends where flea market glasses."

[NAICITPO]

"genuine Rayban RX lens" = nothing more than Essilor lab produced with logo slapped on..

I know the lenses aren't done at the local essilor labs, they are sent back to a specialty rayban lab. We actually had a rep come in and try and convince us to sell more Rayban branded sun lenses. When I asked what the difference was she had told us that it's a lab that only does the Rayban lenses with authentic Rayban frames, so they specialize in it. Like they know which base curves to use and know how to mount it better?? It wasn't really clear how that was better. There's nothing really particular about Rayban frames other than sometimes a lab breaks the glass demo lenses because they suck to get out. Of course they get the RB logo, but you could order the same product from your local essilor lab. A digital wrap lens, tinted or polarized with Crizal sun shield. Needless to say I haven't sold very many of them.

[Elvis Is Alive]

Maybe things are different now but I was told a few years ago that RB rx lenses were produced at the Lux lab in Dallas.

[iD]

Maybe things are different now but I was told a few years ago that RB rx lenses were produced at the Lux lab in Dallas.

Omega?

[optical24/7]

Omega?

In 79 I was escorted off their premises, and “banned “ from re-entry…(Long story…)

[Fezz]

in 79 i was escorted off their premises, and “banned “ from re-entry…(long story…)

*m*a*n*i*a*c*

[drk]

I just called my (essilor) lab re: "how 'bout a Rayban logo" but they aren't allowed.

HOWEVER...they can send the job to "THE Rayban lab" for us.

[DanLiv]

HOWEVER...they can send the job to "THE Rayban lab" for us.

For "THE Rayban price" I'm sure.

[iD]

In 79 I was escorted off their premises, and “banned “ from re-entry…(Long story…)

I'm listening...

[NAICITPO]

I'm listening...

+1, sounds like a good story!

[CME4SPECS]

For "THE Rayban price" I'm sure.

A Lenscrafter loyal is no doubt accustomed to high prices!

[IIxIPariahIxII]

When I would help out an LC lab in the area way back when I was still working for Lux, we did the Ray Ban monogramming in house.....they're just Varilux progressives and Essilor SV lenses, that's it. You pay the extra money for the monogram and have access to the Ray Ban exclusive mirrors. Or did last time I looked. I literally never do Ray Ban RX, and patients appreciate being honest about what they're getting for the price.

[optical24/7]

+1, sounds like a good story!

I guess I can’t leave a comment like that without an explanation. And this thread seems to have ran it’s course, so I don’t feel I’m hijacking it….


In ‘79 I left Southwestern Optical in Dallas ( a huge lab, 1st to use conveyor belts to truck jobs trough each station) to be a manager at a lab called Certified Optical. Certified, soon after, went Union for the workers, so they could pursue big Union contracts ( Unions at the time only did business with other Union companies). The lab was opening opticals all across the lower U.S. near large Union ran companies. We kept some of the independent business the lab was already doing, but our shift and focus was on our own locations.

Prior to the employee vote to go Union, we had a rabble rouser that got 8 employees to walk out with him. ( pi$$ed about something upper management was doing, I don’t remember why exactly). Work flow was greatly affected. I lost 5 surfacing personnel and 4 finish workers. It was a nightmare..

Then I had a guy come in, apply for a surfacing position. He had just left Omega Optical, the super sized optical lab Bill Benedict had opened not that long prior to that. (way before Big E bought him out). I asked him if he knew anybody that may want to come work at Certified. He said he knew some good workers, but didn’t know phone #’s or anything more than they worked at Omega too. So, I had him hop in my truck and we drove over to Omega.

We went to the back of the lab (huge building) where employees entered and exited to their cars out a back door. We got there before the shift was over. I had a list of positions I needed to fill. We stood by the back door, and as employees came out, I had this guy comment on them, “ That guys a generator man, he’s pretty good”, “ That guy runs edgers, but he’s a pain in the a**”…

So, when a good prospect came out, I’d walk up, introduce myself and start a conversation. “ So what are they paying you here?”
“ I’m making $5 an hour”
” How’d ya like to make $8.50 an hour and have a heck of a lot more fun doing it?”

I picked up 4 new employees. I thought I’d come back the next day and pick up some more.

As soon as we got out of my truck the next day, apparently, uppers at Omega found out what I was up to. A security guard, bigger than me, stepped up and asked what we were doing there. I said I was just visiting friends. In no uncertain terms, he let me know I wasn’t welcome there and he’d call the cops, that I was trespassing if I wasn’t out of there in 5 seconds..

Turns out, my new employees knew others at Omega, told them about our pay and I filled the rest of the positions within the week.

Certified was the most fun place I ever worked. There wasn’t an employee older than 25. We blasted rock music through the lab all day. At the end of the day, someone made a beer run. We’d drink in the parking lot, usually bottled Michelob, and throw the empties up on top of the flat roof of the lab building. A big storm come through one day, blew a cr@p load of bottles off the roof into the parking lot, glass everywhere…And when the air conditioner went out, the repair man put his ladder up and climbed up. As soon as his head cleared the top, he yelled out, “ Oh my God!”
Me and another manager was out there on the ground, “ What? What’s wrong?”
” Somebody had one hell of a party up here! There’s beer bottles everywhere!!l
We were like, “Your kiddin’ me! “, Trying our hardest not to laugh our rears off! You could hear him shuffling through dozens and dozens of bottle, just repeating “ My God! My God”!

I could write a trilogy, or a really long book about my time there..The weekly “Managers meeting” at a bar (during work hours), the parties at the lab and at each of our homes, the affairs…It was a one of a kind place…

[Uncle Fester]

Great story!

Reminds me of my state run at the time, licensing test in 1977. It was held in Worcester MA. We were a very small (class of 19?) group who graduated from OSF with an "approved" to take the test, but not accredited, Optical Science and Dispensing" degree. The accredited degree came a couple of years later after the founders sold to Newbury Junior College.

The parking lot next to the building was also used by an Evangelical Church holding a revival in the Worcester Centrum.

Thinking ahead and knowing we were going our separate ways I brought a cooler of Michelob's, as a matter of fact, on ice.

A nice gentleman approached saying we could come with him if we wanted to have our souls saved.

I said "And where's the fun in heaven?"

[EyeManDan]

I said "And where's the fun in heaven?"

[/QUOTE]

Not to take a religious turn, be he did turn the water into wine.

[NAICITPO]

Found the notes from the meeting with Essilor about RB Authentic.

Going through the first page:

Integration- The software is somehow better from RB with RB lenses, not detailed out.

All are Aspheric, and so are all eyezen lenses that you can order from any Essilor lab.

All are prism-thinned with "specific parameters and precision", again so are all eyzen lenses from any Essilor lab.

They choose the ideal parameters, how does Essilux not give the ideal parameters for their frames to all Essilor labs?? If they didn't that would worry me more than anything.

Specific base pair matching of lens to frame. Again I do not understand how any lab software wouldn't do this.

2nd page:

RB stamp and same as "plano" aesthetic is true

Increased profitability, also true because the price is more

Design and geometry customized to shape of frame, I don't understand how that can be true. Are they using special lab software that at the "Rayban lab" that normal Essilor labs doesn't have access to?

Systemic Crizal and Essential blue, no different than what we would order if they wanted these products with an individual lens selection.

Aberrations reduced by 10%... again if we put the customer into a digital lens that would have the same effect.

Personalized and customized Ray Ban Authentic Eyewear (w/certificate of Authenticity), Well you got me there!

Essilor Blue brands... ie Eyezen which you can order from any essilor lab.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

And this is why I don't sell many RB Authentic lenses.

[NAICITPO]

It's like Rayban executives sat around in a room and thought:

Executive 1: how can we increase sales? Oakley sells a lot of lenses, and so does Maui Jim, we should start selling "authentic" lenses!

Executive 2: Great, what's going to be authentic about them???

Executive 1: Hmmm.... What could we do? We could design a brand new product and spend a lot of money on R&D and come up with something truly unique?

Executive 3: Sounds like too much work. Let's just borrow Essilor lenses, charge more, slap a Rayban logo on it and give them a certificate of authenticity!

Executive 2: You had me at charge more!



I don't want people to think I hate the evil empire. This is coming from someone who owns no less than 10 RB frames, and Essilor is my brand of choice by a large margin.

[drk]

Good work.

It's hard to not be cynical. But we're also not idiots.