some days it's the little things
Jun. 12th, 2003 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
topazLike my glasses.
I got these frames at LensCrafters three and a half years ago. They're the second pair I've ever owned. They've held up pretty well under a fair amount of abuse, but they've been wobbly for a while.
Last Friday night the left earpiece broke off. A local optometrist has adjusted and repaired these frames a couple of times, and made it clear to me that there was only so much more abuse that they could take. I knew that this was the death knell. That earpiece was kaput, and I knew I wouldn't be able to find a replacement frame to fit the lenses. I'd have to get new lenses and new frames.
This would be a bummer in any event, but it is doubly so now that I no longer have a steady paycheck coming in. We recently crunched the numbers and determined that we can choose three out of four: (a) paying rent and utilities; (b) preschool for Morgan; (c) health insurance; (d) eating. "New glasses because Tim's a klutz" isn't even on the menu.
Still, what are you gonna do? I called LensCrafters and explained the problem. They keep sales records for only two years (as I suspected) and frames older than three years have almost certainly been discontinued (as I suspected). But, they said, if I wanted, I could come in anyway and they'd see what they could do.
We went in the next day and I showed the glasses to a technician, who made appropriately sympathetic noises. No, they probably didn't have any replacements in stock, but it's a slow afternoon anyway, so why don't we send someone in back to see what's there?
I stood around for a few minutes looking at replacement frames, trying to figure out what I could afford to wear without looking like Mortimer Snerd, and let me tell you, I could not have been more surprised when they reappeared with a repaired frame. The tech was actually apologizing because the replacement earpiece was the wrong color! "Are you kidding?" I said.
So, instead of spending $100-$300 on a new pair of glasses, I walked out of there with a repaired set that didn't cost me a cent. This is the part that amuses me most of all: the faceless, anonymous corporate megachain beat out the local mom-and-pop optometrist for customer service. Oof!
I got these frames at LensCrafters three and a half years ago. They're the second pair I've ever owned. They've held up pretty well under a fair amount of abuse, but they've been wobbly for a while.
Last Friday night the left earpiece broke off. A local optometrist has adjusted and repaired these frames a couple of times, and made it clear to me that there was only so much more abuse that they could take. I knew that this was the death knell. That earpiece was kaput, and I knew I wouldn't be able to find a replacement frame to fit the lenses. I'd have to get new lenses and new frames.
This would be a bummer in any event, but it is doubly so now that I no longer have a steady paycheck coming in. We recently crunched the numbers and determined that we can choose three out of four: (a) paying rent and utilities; (b) preschool for Morgan; (c) health insurance; (d) eating. "New glasses because Tim's a klutz" isn't even on the menu.
Still, what are you gonna do? I called LensCrafters and explained the problem. They keep sales records for only two years (as I suspected) and frames older than three years have almost certainly been discontinued (as I suspected). But, they said, if I wanted, I could come in anyway and they'd see what they could do.
We went in the next day and I showed the glasses to a technician, who made appropriately sympathetic noises. No, they probably didn't have any replacements in stock, but it's a slow afternoon anyway, so why don't we send someone in back to see what's there?
I stood around for a few minutes looking at replacement frames, trying to figure out what I could afford to wear without looking like Mortimer Snerd, and let me tell you, I could not have been more surprised when they reappeared with a repaired frame. The tech was actually apologizing because the replacement earpiece was the wrong color! "Are you kidding?" I said.
So, instead of spending $100-$300 on a new pair of glasses, I walked out of there with a repaired set that didn't cost me a cent. This is the part that amuses me most of all: the faceless, anonymous corporate megachain beat out the local mom-and-pop optometrist for customer service. Oof!
