13th November, 2007
Stop Stealing Your Customers Blind!
Of course, you and I both know you are not stealing from your customers. Some would have people believing differently.
“As a retired Minneapolis optician I can tell you first hand that we bought our lenses in bulk and most single vision lenses cost less than $2.00 a pair, Bifocals and progressives cost us as much as $6.00 a pair. Frames ..Name brand, up to $10.00, same quality generics cost us much less. Online is the way I buy all of my eyewear, New glasses in under two weeks!”
The above is one of the quotes Ira Mitchell uses to substantiate his crusade against optical retailers and educate his readers on the virtues of buying eyewear online.
It all started a year ago with a bad experience at, well, you guessed it, LensCrafters, a subsequent decision to take a chance on purchasing eyewear online, and the post entitled Eyeglass Stores Are for Suckers. His blog post led to a considerable amount of internet buzz including a SmartMoney article as well as a number of other articles and blog mentions.
Because of the response generated, Ira decided to build an entire website dedicated to “shattering the eyeglasses scam.” On his website, readers can share their eyewear purchase experiences, review online retailers, and even store their own prescriptions.
I applaud Ira for his initiative, his willingness to help others save money, and his desire to right a perceived wrong. I would even go as far as to say he provides some very useful information for folks looking to buy their eyewear online. The most unfortunate thing about Ira’s struggle against The Optical Man is not the number of eyewear consumers he is sending to the internet away from independent brick and mortar establishments. Markets change and well-run business adapt. No, the saddest thing is Ira’s 15 minutes of fame has come at the expense of an entire industry of honest, hard-working opticians and optometrists doing what they can to ensure their businesses survive in the face of many other challenges threatening their livelihoods. Ira notoriety has come only because he is telling people they have been scammed, cheated, and taken advantage of all these years; not because he is showing them how they can save money. He has perpetuated the crooked optical myth by characterizing optical retailers as dishonest, fat-cats living the high life at the expense of the unwashed masses struggling to get by and having to choose between food and prescription drugs.
We know otherwise, unfortunately the unwashed masses don’t.
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Posted at 2:24 am |
