Use the Better Business Bureau

Posted by Ira at Tuesday, November 28, 2006

I've added an interesting piece of information to the retailer information links (which will ALWAYS appear near the top right of every page here) -- their Better Business Bureau ratings. I'll continue to monitor them periodically, so you don't have to.

Additionally, if you come across a retailer I've missed, let me know and I'll add them. Don't forget to share any experiences you've had so that others can benefit from your experience.

With eyeglasses and any purchases, it's a good idea to do a simple check at the BBB (http://search.bbb.org/). It's fast, easy and can save you the trouble of a huge headache.

9 comments:

At May 17, 2008 at 1:46 AM Anonymous said...: I was scared to buy glasses online! I have read terrible reviews for most all of the online sites! Bestbuyeyeglasses.com had the least negatives!

I found glasses at Lens Crafters for $179.00, fell in love with them, but not the price. Found them for $74.00 at bestbuyeyeglasses.com!!!

It only took 10 days to get them, they were perfect, lenses and all! They didn't even need to be adjusted! I was so excited!

I would highly reccomend them!
At September 12, 2008 at 8:28 AM Anonymous said...: BBBOnLine is the Better Business Bureau program to identify trustworthy web sites in the US and CA. people are extremely dissatisfied with the company. There are so many negative reports abot the company. I learned about this on this great site www.pissedconsumer.com. There are also many consumer feedbacks about the company there. And they are far from being positive.
At January 31, 2009 at 6:51 AM Anonymous said...: This company is a total fraud and there are hundreds of complaints elsewhere online from customers they have taken advantage of. Bestbuyeyeglasses.com sells fake eyeglasses and sunglasses made in china. They are terrible quality replicas and take forever to ship your order. On top of all this they have the worst customer service we have ever experienced.
At March 7, 2010 at 7:28 PM Anonymous said...: I purchased a Burberry frame priced at 169.99 USD, and paid 16.95 USD for shipping to Canada with UPS Ground Service as stated on the company's website.

When I received the product I had to pay additional 50 CAD to UPS, 8.50 CAD were for the standard Goods and Service Tax (GST) and the remaining 41CAD !!!! were for brokerage fees to UPS in addition to the shipping fees already paid to BestBuyEyeGlasses. The Canadian Border Services Agency does not charge duty of prescription eyeglass frames.

I called BestBuyEyeGlasses.com to inquire about the additional brokerage fee charged by UPS and questioned them if they were aware about the extra fees I had to pay. The customer service representative first tried to convince me that it was duty and taxes, I stated that on the UPS invoice it clearly states that it is a brokerage fee. I had already spoken to UPS and the Canada Border Services Agency and had a good understanding regarding the fees. UPS had also informed me that by choosing UPS ground service, BestBuyEyeGlasses acquired unnecessary brokerage fees on my behalf and should have sent the product by air instead.

To make a long story short, the three customer service representatives from BestBuyEyeGlasses (and their manager) were unhelpful and uninformed. The manager informed me that they were aware about the brokerage fee and therefore has a statement on the web page indicating that the purchase could be subject to brokerage fees. Interestingly enough they did not consider important to state the amount of the brokerage fee on their web site and choose the most expensive mode of shipping.

I requested to speak to the owner of the company, but the customer service representative told me that she did not know who the owner was.

BestBuyEyeGlasses also omitted to sign the Certificate of Authenticity and the Certificate of Guarantee, which invalidates the 24-month warranty on the frame. This also raises questions about the authenticity of the product that I received.

In summary I would not recommend this company to anyone purchasing prescription frames from Canada.
At March 7, 2010 at 7:30 PM Anonymous said...: Excessive Shipping Charges and Poor Customer Services

I purchased a Burberry frame priced at 169.99 USD, and paid 16.95 USD for shipping to Canada with UPS Ground Service as stated on the company's website.

When I received the product I had to pay additional 50 CAD to UPS, 8.50 CAD were for the standard Goods and Service Tax (GST) and the remaining 41CAD !!!! were for brokerage fees to UPS in addition to the shipping fees already paid to BestBuyEyeGlasses. The Canadian Border Services Agency does not charge duty of prescription eyeglass frames.

I called BestBuyEyeGlasses.com to inquire about the additional brokerage fee charged by UPS and questioned them if they were aware about the extra fees I had to pay. The customer service representative first tried to convince me that it was duty and taxes, I stated that on the UPS invoice it clearly states that it is a brokerage fee. I had already spoken to UPS and the Canada Border Services Agency and had a good understanding regarding the fees. UPS had also informed me that by choosing UPS ground service, BestBuyEyeGlasses acquired unnecessary brokerage fees on my behalf and should have sent the product by air instead.

To make a long story short, the three customer service representatives from BestBuyEyeGlasses (and their manager) were unhelpful and uninformed. The manager informed me that they were aware about the brokerage fee and therefore has a statement on the web page indicating that the purchase could be subject to brokerage fees. Interestingly enough they did not consider important to state the amount of the brokerage fee on their web site and choose the most expensive mode of shipping.

I requested to speak to the owner of the company, but the customer service representative told me that she did not know who the owner was.

BestBuyEyeGlasses also omitted to sign the Certificate of Authenticity and the Certificate of Guarantee, which invalidates the 24-month warranty on the frame. This also raises questions about the authenticity of the product that I received.

In summary I would not recommend this company to anyone purchasing prescription frames from Canada.
At June 17, 2010 at 9:22 PM Anonymous said...: DO NOT shop at bestbuyeyeglasses.com Their service is horrible! I got a pair of Ray Bans Aviator 52, which were too small, so I exchanged for 58. The first time they sent me a pair of defective glasses with scratches all over the frames, so I sent them back for a new pair. Unfortunately, second time around was still the same. Scratches still all over the frames, which convinced me they just didn't care about their customers. I haven't contacted them yet about the 2nd exchange, but I so frustrated with them because the representative, Heather, promised and ensured me that she would check carefully and ensure a "new" pair was sent to me. "New" was right, but it was a "new" used pair. I am not even sure if it's worth the time to be on the phone with them anymore. As an fyi, the customer service don't open on weekends and operates short hours, so it takes a lot of patience and time to deal with them. I ordered the original pair since early May and I am still struggling to get a pair of nice Ray Bans with the money that I am paying. The worst part is that I am not even sure if they are real Ray Bans as there were no laser sticker on the len just like the first time when the 2nd replacement arrived. STAY AWAY from them!
At June 17, 2010 at 9:22 PM Anonymous said...: DO NOT shop at bestbuyeyeglasses.com Their service is horrible! I got a pair of Ray Bans Aviator 52, which were too small, so I exchanged for 58. The first time they sent me a pair of defective glasses with scratches all over the frames, so I sent them back for a new pair. Unfortunately, second time around was still the same. Scratches still all over the frames, which convinced me they just didn't care about their customers. I haven't contacted them yet about the 2nd exchange, but I so frustrated with them because the representative, Heather, promised and ensured me that she would check carefully and ensure a "new" pair was sent to me. "New" was right, but it was a "new" used pair. I am not even sure if it's worth the time to be on the phone with them anymore. As an fyi, the customer service don't open on weekends and operates short hours, so it takes a lot of patience and time to deal with them. I ordered the original pair since early May and I am still struggling to get a pair of nice Ray Bans with the money that I am paying. The worst part is that I am not even sure if they are real Ray Bans as there were no laser sticker on the len just like the first time when the 2nd replacement arrived. STAY AWAY from them!
At September 4, 2010 at 1:42 AM Doug Fuller said...: I bought a pair of Persols.. they arrived exactly as I ordered them, they arrived within 5 days of my order, in mint condition and are the real thing ( I am replacing a much older pair of the same model.. these are the same glasses). I had no problem whatsoever, customer service was prompt, and the prices are great. I have no idea what the negative reviews are about.
At May 19, 2011 at 1:21 PM John said...: I decided to take the plunge and buy a pair of Persol 649's from BestBuyEyeglasses.com (b/c ezcontacts.com, which had them for $40 less, were backordered).

After looking around online for a while I found this website. I called their local customer service (even though I am in CO) and a girl answered after the first couple rings. I asked her if the pair and size I wanted were in stock. She put me on hold for a moment and came back saying that they had them in stock and they would ship in one or two days.

I had come across some review sites that had mixed reviews from them, but overall, the good outweighed the bad. Since I have a trip to go on and I wanted to get them before I left, I pulled out my VISA and purchased them and chose 2 day shipping for 16.99.

*If you sign up for email alerts from them before you buy you get a $10 off code and you can always unsubscribe after...

So, I had taken the leap and was very happy to see a tracking number show up in my inbox within a few hours of purchasing.

Well, of course, as it would be, I came across a review site that I had managed to overlook in my research of this company. This site had all angry people claiming that the sunglasses they had purchased from BestBuyEyeglasses.com were fakes; that this company was just a giant scam.

This freaked me out. I kept reading the reviews and rereading the ones that had been good... I went back to the BesBuyEyeglasses.com site and started to think that the "100% Authentic" sticker they have slapped across all of their sunglasses was a little suspicious. And, how they claimed the Persol 649's were retailing for $480 (maybe in a boutique, they go for $360 for polarized everywhere else).

Anyhow, I was preparing myself to receive fake sunglasses and have to go through the trouble of claiming the fraud to the credit card company, which I had to do once before several years back and was not a pleasant way to spend many hours over a 2 week period.

WELL, the glasses arrived yesterday, on time, and I just have to say, unless BestBuyEyeglasses.com has imitation Persol's that come w/ a factory box, factory case, paperwork, cleaning cloth, all the right printing on the temples, the "Persol P" laser inscribed on the right lens AND the little silver "Persol" insignia on the inside ends of both of the arms, they are totally, completely, 100% REAL.

I'm not sure what all the bad comments are about... It is obvious in a business like this, where things sold online that are normally tried on first and physically seen, that there can be some discrepancies, but claims of fake glasses is worrisome...

The only advice I can give if someone decides to go with this company is to double and triple check your order before clicking the pay button... For some reason their shopping cart switched things... I picked the Persol's in the color I wanted and when I reviewed the order it had been switched to another color... User error? It happened twice so not sure about that...

I hope this helps anyone trying to get a pair of good glasses for less then exorbitant retail... With all the scams online the most important thing is to buy w/ a credit card that will give you your money back if you do end up getting screwed...