Hacker News Reader

Comment by maratd | Hacker News Reader

Ok, here's a slightly different story with an online vendor. I bought a pair of prescription sunglasses online. I paid extra to have a thin lens. $250 order from a reputable merchant.

I received a pair of glasses with the lens half an inch thick. This is not an exaggeration. It was literally that thick. Return and refund? Sorry, no, when you place the order you agree that you are NOT entitled to a refund under any circumstances, merely a replacement.

After a bit of back and forth, I sent the pair back and they blamed it on the design of the frame. Ok. I told them to pick a frame where I would get a normal sized lens. So they sent me the new pair, this time it was slightly thinner, but not by much. Now there's a racket. Wasted $250 on a pair of clown glasses with no recourse.

I got a pair at my local Pearle Vision for the same price and the lens was perfectly normal and thin. Never again.

View on HN

Do you mind if I ask where you spent $250 online for prescription sunglasses? Did that price include designer frames?

I got two pairs of prescription sunglasses from firmoo [1] for about $25 during a promotion. I am currently considering buying a new pair from a different merchant at a regular price of $30-$40 depending on frames, perhaps double that if I spring for polarizing lenses.

Dropping $250 for prescription sunglasses seems extremely expensive, unless you chose and value branded designer frames.

[1] http://firmoo.com/

I just tried ordering a pair of eyeglasses from Firmoo myself. The pair of frames (with the default 1.50-index lenses) was $39. Adding on the Ultra Thin (1.67), UV and fingerprint-resistant coatings brought it up to a whopping $106.90 (better lenses cost an additional $67.90).

A comparable pair at SelectSpecs [1] cost $54.33, of which $40.75 was for the 1.67 index option.

Seems like eyeglass stores make the bulk of their revenues (unsurprisingly) from lens customisations these days.

[1] http://selectspecs.com

> Do you mind if I ask where you spent $250 online for prescription sunglasses?

OpticsPlanet.com

> Did that price include designer frames?

Yes. Ray-ban.

> unless you chose and value branded designer frames.

Bingo.

You ordered online and that means you probably paid with a credit card. That means you always have recourse. You could have disputed the charges. Even before you dispute, you could tell the merchant you are likely to dispute. The merchant might refund the money if you'd likely win so they don't get hit with the ramifications of a dispute.

> You ordered online and that means you probably paid with a credit card. That means you always have recourse.

No, you don't always have recourse. If you entered into an agreement with the merchant that the transaction is non-refundable, then no, you don't.

And you can't order glasses with them unless you do.

I'm not claiming that I didn't get anything. Just that I didn't like what I got. And they, of course, will claim that they can't resell what they made for me since it has my prescription in it.

> You could have disputed the charges.

I did.

> Even before you dispute, you could tell the merchant you are likely to dispute.

I did. I didn't go into the details, but there was a bit of drama before they even agreed to a second pair.

That's surprising. I wonder if certain cards are more consumer friendly than others because I've had a positive response when I needed to dispute charges. I've heard that debit adds don't give the same protection as credit cards. Maybe protection is different from card to card too.

edit: typo

I think the issue was the lens and not the frame.

You could have taken that frame that you liked and went to a local merchant to purchase new lenses for. That's what I would do even if I purchased the frames online, I'd get the prescription lens done elsewhere.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com