I had been a long time customer. No longer; I'm done with LensCrafters. Here's why:
About three years ago I purchased progressive lenses from LensCrafters that turned out to be plainly defective - within several months of purchase smudges developed that interfered with my ability to use them for their intended purpose. The smudges were in the lenses themselves and could not be removed by cleaning.
I brought them back to the store. The salesperson advised that she could not help me because of the terms of the LensCrafters warranty (which, however, is inapplicable to a problem caused by a consumer product defect).
I persisted. I pointed out the obvious defect, and they had no way to refute it. So they replaced the lenses. However, they did so reluctantly, and would not have done so had I not stood firm after they first said no. I left with a bad taste in my mouth, but reckoned that at least I got the defective lenses replaced.
Sadly, we weren't done. Turns out LensCrafters replaced one set of defective lenses with yet another! Within a few months, the smudges developed again!
The second time I went back to LensCrafters they refused to replace the defective lenses.
LensCrafters still had no explanation for why smudges would develop so soon after the lenses were made. They suggested that I was not cleaning them properly. They could not say what it was I was doing wrong, and had no comment when I showed them a pair of reading glasses that I purchased from LensCrafters at the same time as the defective lenses that did not develop the smudges even though I'd cleaned them in the same way as the defective lenses. (I've been wearing eyeglasses for decades. I know how to clean my eyeglasses, for goodness sake, and have never had a problem like this with lenses going bad after just a few months.)
Bottom line: LensCrafters sold me lenses that were plainly defective, and then refused to stand behind their product.
Based upon the rather odd reaction from the salespeople both times I returned the defective LensCrafters lenses, it is difficult to see how the company was not aware of the problem when they replaced my lenses.
The above is enough to make me never want to do business with LensCrafters again. But there is even more to this sad tale.
When I went back to LensCrafters to return the second pair of defective lenses, I also brought back a pair of broken Brooks Brothers frames that had different lenses that I used only for reading. They broke because I slept on them, my fault this time! But the lenses were fine (these were the lenses that I showed LensCrafters when they suggested that I caused the problem with the defective lenses; see above). So I wanted to replace the frames and reuse the lenses.
The salesperson's immediate reaction? "I don't think these frames are available any longer." She spent a few minutes checking something on a computer and reconfirmed that replacement frames are no longer available. I'd have to buy new frames.
I left the store. No way I'd pay another penny to buy anything from this company.
The kicker? I needed a new place to get my eyeglasses. So I went to a local optometrist for my eye exam and to inquire about the lense problem and about replacement frames for my reading glasses. Result?
The local optometrist is making me new progressive lenses for my current frames to replace the ones from LensCrafters that were smudged. (He confirmed that, indeed, the lenses were defective; lenses don't smudge like that unless there is something wrong with them.)
And the Brooks Brothers frames that LensCrafters said are no longer available? They are available. The local optometrist tracked them down. They are going to put my old reading lenses into new frames and save me the cost of purchasing new frames.
My recent experience with LensCrafters was the single worst I've had in recent memory with a retail business. They refused to stand behind what they sold to me; they suggested that I was responsible for their defective product; and they provided half-hearted (I'm trying to be kind) "service" when they advised that replacement frames were unavailable when that turned out not to be the case. read more