Dear Shopko Optical:

You have done me wrong. Twice.

When I was a kid, my parents loyally marched us to Shopko for our new glasses, and eventually, as a young teenager, my contact lenses.

My first pair of contacts were gas-permeable lenses, and I loved them! Until I was informed approximately one year after getting them, that contacts weren’t supposed to suction-cup themselves to my eyeballs.

This bit of news was shared with me by the eye technician, who immediately had the new optometrist look at my eyes for “possible permanent damage.” A little bit of permanent scarring, due to a “bad fit,” and a lecture about how I should have known that it was a bad thing (at 15-years-old when these were my first contact lenses!), but I was okay.

The previous optometrist that had pronounced my lenses a good fit, initially – umm, yeah, we were informed he had left Shopko and his coworkers felt it was a good thing. Apparently there were many patient complaints about him.

I’m not blaming you, Shopko, as bad employees happen. It doesn’t matter what field of work you are in. We just weren’t impressed with how we were treated in that scenario, so I switched to soft lenses (it was advised, since my eyes needed to heal), and we switched providers.

More than 15 years has passed since that experience, and many of my family and friends have used your services, and been pleased.

I even came back once, a few years ago, just for an exam and contacts, as I heard you had a great optometrist at one location. She was wonderful, and I followed her when she switched practices.

Once again, I had the opportunity to use your services in December 2007. My husband and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t had a recent exam and we had flexible benefit dollars we needed to use. My regular optometrist/clinic was booked solid, so I called.

You squeezed me in the next day, and I was grateful. The optometrist and staff were friendly, helpful and I quickly found a pair of cute frames while I was ordering my contacts. As a practice, I don’t wear glasses much, but the frames were trendy, priced right and I had some money left in my flexible benefit account.

I ordered the glasses.

My contacts came in very quickly – thank you! The glasses arrived a week later (12/26/2007), and I was so excited that I decided to wear them home.

My vision seemed blurry, but I chalked it up to a new prescription and kicked myself for not ordering the anti-glare coating. When I got home, I really realized there was an issue, as the blurriness just wouldn’t improve.

I took the new glasses off to wipe them off for the umpteenth time, when I saw them. Scratches. Lots and lots of little scratches. They ran vertically down the center of both lenses, in such a uniform pattern, it almost looked like someone had taken a wire brush across both lenses.

The next day, I brought them back to the optical center. The technician was very apologetic and explained that it was a “bad batch of lenses.” She was amazed they had even made it into my hands.

I asked how often it happens, and she replied, “Not that much. Maybe once every couple of years.”

But then, she went on to mention that I would most likely be the first of many to return my glasses, as a bad batch will affect all of the lenses made on that day.

When I left, I actually felt bad for you, Shopko, knowing your kind folks would be dealing with customer complaints all day. And, since I have a lot of experience in customer service, I know how difficult it is to handle complaints.

The only thing I asked when I turned over my glasses, was that they hurry with the replacements, as I had an event I wanted to take them to on the weekend of Saturday, January 5, and I would be out of town from Thursday, January 3, onward. The technician promised to do her best to have them rushed, since this was a remake, due to the errors on their end.

Plus, since the lenses had to be remade, I spent the money and had them Teflon-coated (which includes the anti-glare). I had noticed the difference in uncoated lenses in that brief period, since my previous glasses had been coated. Yuck.

All was quiet the following week, so I finally called. The lenses were never rushed. They didn’t come in until that Saturday, January 5, and since I was out of the area, I was out of luck. Customer service and the eye manager were apologetic, and I understood, but I was bummed.

I picked up my glasses the following week (the week of January 7). I was once again excited, and they weren’t blurry when I put them on, so I went on my merry way.

The next evening, I noticed there was a smudge or something to the left bottom of the lenses, which was annoying me. I didn’t get a chance to really look at it well until the next day, when it was daylight. Scratches. Again.

But this time, they weren’t as bad and were different. They swirled in various spots on both lenses, but were out of my direct line of vision. The one just happens to catch the light in just the wrong way more frequently than the others, as it was more pronounced.

As that was a crazily busy week (due to weather issues, work projects/meetings, etc.), I knew I wouldn’t have time to get back to Shopko right away, and, I’ll admit, I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of giving up my glasses yet again, when they were usable, just not satisfactorily done.

I took them back the following week, though (I believe on January 16 or 17), and was thrilled when they informed me they could just reorder the lenses alone, and I could keep the current ones – no giving up the glasses this time (one of the benefits of Teflon lenses, I guess).

The technician agreed with me that the lenses were scratched, and once again, apologized, explaining that it appeared to be a “faulty batch of lenses.”

I asked what the chances were that I would be part of a bad batch yet again, and she said that since I switched to the Teflon lenses, they came out of a different factory this time. Then, because she could understand my frustration, she promised me she would inspect the next pair, personally.

So, I waited. And waited. And waited.

I finally called Shopko the last week in January, figuring I had been forgotten (it had been two weeks, give or take a day). They looked up my records, apologized, and explained that one pair of lenses didn’t pass inspection, so the second pair were being made and should be shipped out soon. (Let’s count together – that is three sets of “faulty lenses” at this point.)

I just said, “You have got to be kidding me.” But, she was nice, I try not to take things out on the messenger and just dropped it.

I was notified of the arrival of the new lenses around February 8, I believe. Since I was nowhere near the Shopko until the following week, I stopped in to have them put into my frames the week of Valentine’s Day.

Imagine my surprise (yes, I say this with sarcasm at this point) when I realized the new lenses had scratches running down the center of the lenses. Not as bad as the first pair, but definitely visible almost instantly, and almost identical in appearance to that first pair, as far as position and pattern on the lenses.

I pointed them out to the technician immediately and just said, “Please put the other lenses back in for now. Those are at least usable.”

Many apologies were made to me by the technician, and I heard the term, “bad batch of lenses,” once again. The technician disappeared in the back for a little bit and came back to me promising that her manager would be inspecting the next pair of lenses as soon as they came in.

So here I am, awaiting the fifth set of lenses for my glasses. Isn’t it amazing that one customer can somehow end up with five “bad batches of lenses,” when it supposedly only happens only “once every couple of years?”

I called customer service again, this past Monday, after stewing on my frustration for a week. I expressed my appreciation for the friendliness of the staff and just explained that it was now two months since my vision exam, and that I’m incredibly frustrated. I was nice. I was friendly, but I was clearly frustrated. She promised me someone would call me back.

That was Monday. Today is Wednesday. No phone call.

Shopko – What can you do to make this right for me?

Signed,
A confused and upset customer

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Updated to add: Shopko has called. My next set of lenses are in. No, I did not ask if they came “pre-scratched.”

Another update: The manager has called, now, too. She would like me to come in while she is there, so she can do the lens replacement, as she is wondering if the lenses are getting scratched during that process. She mentioned a discount on the lenses, which I explained I had paid for back in December. I’m not sure what to think or what will happen.

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