I purchased a pair of glasses from Lenscrafters 1 year and 3 days ago. The bow (side peice) broke, so I went to buy another.
I was told:
1. Lenscrafters does not stock bows for frames, nor will they order them. If this part breaks out of warrantee, the customer is expected to purchase an entire new set of frames.
2. They are aware that some other optical shops deal with replacing parts, but Lenscrafters does not.
3. The clerk looked at my record and stated "It's only out of warrantee 2 days, so we'll take care of you anyhow"... And then told me she would sell me a new pair of frames or complete glasses for 50% of full retail. This prices represents a very modest discount over the AAA discount, and still represents a profitable sale to Lenscrafters - so it was not as if they were really doing me a favor.
Although I do not expect warrantees to be extended beyond the stated term, I found the "well take of you anyhow" (implying an extension) followed by quoting of a modest discount to be a tactic unworthy of a professional operation.
4. The clerk had the attitude that it was completely reasonable to tell a customer that they would not stock or order parts on a product, because they covered the first year with a full warrantee against breakage. It was as if I was being unreasonable expecting to maintain the glasses to obtain a service life greater than one year.
I was "stuck" because these were "house brand" frames I could not expect find elswhere.
I bought a new set of glasses from a small optical shop which had a brand I can find at many shops, and there are even web based vendors selling parts so this will not happen again.
I am not alleging unlawful conduct on the part of Lenscrafters - just bad business. They are very slick with a nice store, polite staff, as many "sales and specials" as your typical "nothing under 50% off jewelery store" - but when it comes down to it, they apparantly consider stocking parts to work against their desire to "replace rather than repair."
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