Specsavers sell used frames

starrystarry

I bought new glasses recently from Specsavers, picked them up yesterday. I went back into the store today because one of the pairs looked very different to how they looked last week and I thought they might have made them up in a different colour to the ones I chose.

I was told that they are 100% certain that my glasses are the same colour as the ones I tried on last week. The reason they know this is because my glasses are the ones I tried on last week. They are the display frame that was in the shop.

Now this surprised me. Perhaps I'm a bit naive but I assumed that when I hand over a not insubstantial amount of money for new glasses that I would actually get new glasses. Not a display frame that has been tried on by dozens of people, dropped, trodden on etc. I saw someone tread on a pair last weekend when I was in there. And there were kids playing about with them as well. Some of the frames I tried on were bent out of shape, probably by people trying to make them fit better, or ramming them back into the display racks.

The Specsavers lady I spoke to today said it's standard practice. When someone chooses a frame, they make up the actual frame that they chose. I'd assumed they would get a new frame from stock (or order one) and the display model would go back out on the floor.

I said I'll think twice about using Specsavers again in the future if that's the case. But I wonder, is this standard across the industry? Am I being unreasonable in expecting to get a brand new frame?

RichardD1970

Standard practice in all the opticians I have ever been in.

adandem

Isn't it just the same as buying clothing etc? How do you know how many people have tried them on? The glasses have been tried on, not 'used'.

BrassicWoman

I think your experience is normal and you are being picky. It's not like glasses are made of absorbant material!

starrystarry

Thanks for the opinions folks. I don't think it is the same as buying clothes, where you choose an item and take it away there and then. With glasses you're ordering a pair to be made up for you. I don't think its too much to expect that they take a new pair from stock rather than give you a pair that may have been out on display for weeks or months. But maybe I am being picky. Thanks again for your opinions.

PasturesNew

I think the OP is right. It's not like clothes where you choose whether to buy what's in your hand/on the hanger.

If they're ex-display then they should be labelled as such and offered at a discount.

OP's been robbed!

happycomper22

I agree with OP I would have also assumed that the glasses would have been made up with a new frame. Especially considering the cost of frames! So does this mean you would never get a brand new frame if they always make up your glasses from the display set?

starrystarry

happycomper22 wrote: »

So does this mean you would never get a brand new frame if they always make up your glasses from the display set?

It would appear so, the lady I spoke to said they always make them up from the display frame. Then presumably they put a new pair out on display. Which seems daft to me. Why not have one pair that is a permanent display frame and give the customer the new one?

BrassicWoman

because the styles change rapidly? 200 shops x 200 frames per season = 4k useless frames a year x twice a year. It's just not economic.

starrystarry

BrassicWoman wrote: »

because the styles change rapidly? 200 shops x 200 frames per season = 4k useless frames a year x twice a year. It's just not economic.

I don't think that's any different to any other business that has stuff out on display for people to try out. They have display models and when they're no longer current they sell them off at a reduced price. There's a reason they sell them at a reduced price. Because folk don't want to pay full price for something that other people have been poking, prodding, stretching, dropping, pushing buttons on etc.

Flossie.

I have to admit, whenever I have picked out a frame for my reading glasses, I always assume that the pair I have picked (off the racks,) is the one that I get. I thought that was the same in all the opticians.

Have you had glasses before starrystarry? What usually happens?

I agree that most 'display' stuff is not given to you when you buy one (eg a telly or washing machine or cooker etc,) but with glasses, it's always the one off the display rack. (At least I think so.)