Back not too long ago at the end of 2025 I got some new reading glasses, you can read the story here if you want and there's a link explaining why I had to buy new ones in the first place as well. I've been pretty happy with the lightweight Oakley frames I selected until they malfunctioned recently.
The little pin that holds the arm in started working its way out and that left me with a wobbly arm on the right side - not acceptable especially considering the cost of them. So I took them in to get them tightened up and that's where the problem got worse; they cannot be tightened up. The pin is not a screw, it's a 'push-in' pin and cannot be tightened in any way. I was not pleased.
I threw a fucken tantrum, tore up the optometrist's store and they called the cops...I spent the night in jail because I beat up three cops and I will have to go to court; I'll probably be incarcerated for 3-5 years for cop bashing.
Ok, none of that happened at all, not even close.
Fortunately, I've used this particular optometrist for a long time, and specifically the woman there who was serving me, and she said something like, "leave it with me, I'll see what I can do." I had every confidence that this issue would be sorted.
True to form, she came through for me.
I got a call a couple days later telling me to come in and pick out some different ones and they'd make up my prescription lenses and replace them into my new frames...all for zero cost to me. Considering I chose a legit pair of Ray Bans frames at even more cost than the Oakleys I was happy with the result. (I also made sure they could be tightened)
What really annoyed me was the fact Oakley made a frame with arms that couldn't be tightened if they loosened off. Who even does that! I've worn Oakley sunglasses for over twenty years and their reading glasses frames for five years and have never had an issue but this little malfunction I've had has made me feel somewhat annoyed with the brand. I'm also annoyed at myself for choosing the blue frames in the first place, cool frames but I should have checked they were able to be tightened - Lesson learned.
Have you ever bought something that didn't last and if so what happened and why, did you get a replacement or were you left out of pocket? Tell me in the comments if you want to.
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That's a standup optometrist who knows how to take care of long time clients. Is Oakley cutting corners like most of the world these days? A couple of years ago I worked at an optometrist office on the space force base over on the coast. I haven't heard of pins instead of screws. I wonder if that's some recent invention. If so, maybe they should go back to screws 😂.
A pretty sad indictment of the way things are going right? So much corner-cutting as far as quality goes however the good part is how it was handled as you say.
A couple years ago I bought a Joseph Joseph shower squeegee, it was less than £10, expensive when you can get one from IKEA for a fraction of that price. But it was still a small amount, and Joseph Joseph does stylish household stuff. A year in, the scrapper started to detach from the handle. I could have binned it, but Joseph Joseph was supposed to be a good brand. I messaged them and they told me to go back to the store where I bought it. The store needed the receipt, but who keeps receipts for small value consumables? I went back to Joseph Joseph again, but they still didn't budge.
This is where social media is handy. I sent them a message on FB, and was going to name and shame them on other platforms. Then I found someone else had exactly the same problem a few months earlier, and Joseph Joseph agreed to replace his squeegee. I screen capped that message, and sent it Joseph Joseph. They were still a bit snotty about it but said they'll look into it. A few weeks later they sent me a free replacement.
Shaming, or threatening to shame, is an effective tool these days due to social media. I guess one of the upsides to it, or downsides, depending on which side of the fence one sits.
A while ago, I bought my mother some sunglasses at an optician's that was recommended to me, because I didn't know any others here. It was a well-known optician's with many branches. The glasses turned out badly; they constantly need adjusting, which they do for free, but the last time they told her they could break and they wouldn't take responsibility. I didn't like that optician's at all, so I switched to one that isn't very visible or well-known, but is run by an ophthalmologist. The result is spectacular, with impeccable service.
How terrible is the quality of things these days...and people just accepted it. Not good.
I assure you that I will not go to that optician's anymore, but the person who recommended it to me continues to go there and accept that.
There wasn't something to prevent it from working its way out?! D: seems like a bit of an oversight given that's a near guarantee if you wear glasses often!
I'm sure that happened in your head or the alternate timeline where you aren't cool XD
Yay for the optometrist!
Nope, just the pin...so stupid.
As for the tantrum...I took a few moments to play it out in my mind which made me smile a little, and then I proceeded to be a good boy. 😇
Nothing's made to last these days. My brother bought a new suitcase for our recent trip. When it came off the carousel in Mexico, it was minus one wheel. When it arrived in Atlanta, on the return trip, it was minus two wheels.
Another sign of the descent into the abyss that humans seem intent upon.
Unfun fact: a huge percent of glasses frames are made by a megacorporation conglomerate that has vacuumed up name brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica#Criticism
And now it seems they're ripping off their loyal customers by selling shite.
My glasses have been held together for years now with wire looped through the screw holes for the arms and twisted to keep it snug. It works.
I think @generikat said she was supposed to see an optometrist when she lived in Alaska, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
Yeah, I saw a documentary on that. They retool the line between runs for the different brands, all out of the same place.
My best friend owns 3 optician's shops here in the Netherlands, from which one is high end.
The margin they make on the designs is just insane. 20x margin is completly normal. On the glass itself it get really crazy, even the most complex glass is less than $15 for them.
Yeah, I can imagine this.thw margin on things is skyrocketing as the quality drops.
well definitely not nice for a pair of glasses to have that problem, it ended as a good deal in the end though! if that happened here, first think i'd say "porco dio", second thing the store would tell me 'we can't do anything sorry!' so i'd have to spend money again or keep them as they were...
recently i bought a pair of shoes for my son at a fair, price on discount, of a decent firm, they lasted 10 days, i threw an other 'porco dio' and couldn't do anythign else as it was a moving fair lol couldn't go whine there
The quality of everything seems to be declining from clothes, cars, food, skills, customer service and so on. It's bloody ridiculous.
Oh boy but the prices ain't declining!
That's for sure!
That is pretty crazy. I have a cheap pair of reading glasses that I keep on my nightstand and even those have screws that you can tighten when they start to get loose.
It's nuts. I guess I should have checked but the pins are so small the naked eye couldn't see what the head was... especially my naked eye without my glasses on.
Haha, yeah, that is a good point! You would think with Oakley though they would be better than that.
Yep, I was quite disappointed.
Products aren't produced as well as they used to. If you make products that last long, it will take long before your customer needs to buy a new one.
Indeed, same old story.
Good that you got them sorted without time behind bars.
I tend to be a bit rough on my glasses. Some reason I can find a way to bang them up doing the simplest of tasks.
I know right? I'm not the jail sort to be honest. 😊