No topic has contributed more forum posts than those of pupillary distance and how angry some optical folks get when asked to provide it (the police were called -- BY THE OPTOMETRIST -- in one of the stories).

It dawned on me today as I read the seemingly thousandth forum post on the subject of PD, that if online glasses were truly inferior to their severely overpriced mall-store cousins, it would be in LensCrafters' best interest to gladly provide PD measurements to any and all who asked.

Upon delivery, if these online eyeglasses were so bad, people would surely flock back to the mall to pay the $400 "bad-eyesight tax", thanking the lab-coated cashier all the while for taking their money.

LensCrafters isn't doing this because they know that their 1000% mark-ups are in serious danger of evaporating (even further) once the toothpaste is fully out of the tube. Look at the recent Q1 2009 profit numbers for Luxottica (#1) and Saffilo (#2):

Luxottica: First quarter profits fall 36%

Safilo: First quarter net-profit falls 87%, net sales drop 11.7%.