Optical charges

mikb

Thrugelmir said:

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

The order was placed online though not inshop. What the local optician said is irrelevant. 

Was the website clear as to the fitting charge being additional to the cost of the lenses? 

I read the mention of online as being used to imply that after the eye test, the OP was not going to purchase lenses OR frames in-store, as they are too expensive. They then were persuaded to continue in-store, by extending this discount offer, rather than lose the business completely.

HeinzVarieties

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

Did they say how much they were going to cost?

It doesn't really matter what the breakdown of the price was, what matters is how much they cost.

What's the difference between "That'll be £80 please" and "You'll only pay for the lenses, that'll be £80 please"?

lisyloo

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

Did they say how much they were going to cost?

It doesn't really matter what the breakdown of the price was, what matters is how much they cost.

What's the difference between "That'll be £80 please" and "You'll only pay for the lenses, that'll be £80 please"?

The content of the bill wouldn’t matter if the price was specified up front.
from what I can see the price wasn’t specified only the items to be paid for - and yes I do think it’s reasonable to take that literally (although clearly we don’t have a transcript).

I’m glad the OP is getting a range of views :-)

if it was me I would query it politely and might say I felt I’d been misled depending on how the conversation panned out.

HeinzVarieties

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

Did they say how much they were going to cost?

It doesn't really matter what the breakdown of the price was, what matters is how much they cost.

What's the difference between "That'll be £80 please" and "You'll only pay for the lenses, that'll be £80 please"?

The content of the bill wouldn’t matter if the price was specified up front.
from what I can see the price wasn’t specified only the items to be paid for - and yes I do think it’s reasonable to take that literally (although clearly we don’t have a transcript).

I’m glad the OP is getting a range of views :-)

if it was me I would query it politely and might say I felt I’d been misled depending on how the conversation panned out.

Realistically if they were going to fit them, it was obvious that there was going to be a cost to that. I don't fundamentally see the difference between paying £65 for the lenses and £15 for fitting them vs £80 for "just the lenses" with free* fitting.  Is this any different to "Buy One Get One Free" which clearly isn't "Buy One Get One Free", it's half price when you buy two.  One of them isn't "free."

If (and it's a big if) there was any realistic prospect of you DIY'ing it I could see the argument but 99.999&% of the population is not going to be able to do this so it's largely moot.

*not free

visidigi

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

Every customer would say this if they thought it would make it cheaper. Not right, but that's the way the world works.

If the receipt had the same total without a breakdown this thread wouldn't exist. If the conversation asked for lenses and they had delivered lenses without fitment then the sales person would just say 'you bought lenses'.

At the end of the day, for the amounts charged, leaving sentiment out of it and looking at rights there really isn't an issue here for me...

lisyloo

The lesson is clear.
if something is important to you then get it specified in detail up front.

sheramber

The optician said you would only pay for the lenses. Did you make it clear that you would be providing frames for them to be fitted into?

You did not get a final price for the job but went ahead without it.

 

kirtondm

I am baffled surely they gave you the price before you agreed to the job? If you agreed the price for the job it makes no difference how they have allocated. You can see from the receipt that most has been allocated to professional fees anyway to minimise VAT.

You have a point if you agreed to go ahead with the job without being told the price of being told the price was lower

sheramber

Thrugelmir said:

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

The order was placed online though not inshop. What the local optician said is irrelevant. 

Was the website clear as to the fitting charge being additional to the cost of the lenses? 

I read it as the glasses  ( frames) were ordered online- no mention of the lenses being ordered on line. The OP would have to attend the opticians for an eye test to determine the lenses needed.

lisyloo

sheramber said:

IThrugelmir said:

lisyloo said:

HeinzVarieties said:

lisyloo said:

visidigi said:

The charge is for fitment of the lenses. Pretty standard when asking for reglazing with a new prescription

I agree, but do they not have a responsibility for clear pricing to financially constrained customers?
saying you “only” paying for the lenses is misleading.
ultimately it’s now down to asking nicely whilst implying they weren’t entirely clear.

Only if you're being extremely literal.  Most people would assume that you weren't literally paying for the lenses only as you're obviously at least paying for someone to craft them, test them and ship them to your opticians.

I suspect that if the itemised receipt didn't mention the fitting you'd have happily paid it.  Hat might be a better way of looking at it tgan looking at every single expense individually.

Agree with that, but if you explain to a professional that you’re hard up is it not reasonable to expect them to be clear about the costs? 

The order was placed online though not inshop. What the local optician said is irrelevant. 

Was the website clear as to the fitting charge being additional to the cost of the lenses? 

I read it as the glasses  ( frames) were ordered online- no mention of the lenses being ordered on line. The OP would have to attend the opticians for an eye test to determine the lenses needed.

Yes agree looks like frames ordered online.
lenses in store.
they have said pay only for lenses (not frames) then added fitting charge.
So it was unclear and neither party sought or gave exact clarity.

Anyone wanting exact clarity on pricing should seek it.