What???

Today, my DH drives me to the local factory outlet shop for eyeglasses. We spent about 30 minutes going through the current stock, until we hit upon the perfect frames for me. Excited at the prospect of finally having some pretty eyeglasses that stay up on my nose, not to mention, are the right prescription so that I can see properly, I went up to the front to place my order.

Wouldn't you know, that's when things hit a snafu? First, I wait in line for a good 5 minutes, despite the fact that there are 5 people working the counter and only one person ahead of me. Then, once it is my turn, the woman takes my information and the soft selling of more expensive options begins. I decline, but I am already prepared for the soft selling. She calls over a young man to read my PD, since you'll recall that the OD neglected to include that in the prescription. No problem. He measures it and waits for the lady to return (she has in the interim gone off to handle another customer) and mark it down on my account card. I wait. And wait. Finally, a second young man comes over and asks if he can help me, then calls out to an older gentleman that I need a second PD reading. I try to explain that No, I am only waiting for Lady to return and mark it on my card. Older Gentleman asks to see my prescription. In classic fashion, he says, Who wrote this? When I pointed out the OD's name and address at the top of the script, he protested that the script was illegible (did I previously mention that on the script the OD had marked down some numbers and then heavily circled them out before writing down the correct numbers?).

I decided that enough was enough. I hadn't wasted any one's time, because I had genuinely intended to buy from these people. But I realized it was just going to be yet another uphill battle in my saga of the 2008 Eyewear Purchase. So I reached over the counter, took my account card and my script, marked down the PD and the dimensions of the selected frames, returned the frames to the showcase and left. I figured that it was the guy's loss; if he wanted to be difficult, then I would just take the information I had learned and put it to my own good use.

This evening, I found very similar frames online. With lenses, AR coating (which cost an additional $20 at the shop this afternoon), and shipping, not only will I receive the glasses sooner than if I filled my order in the shop, but I payed $40 less. I guess customer service really is crucial after all, eh?

The bottom line? When a yekki is feed up, get out of the way!