Yep, another customer service Rant.

Standard Optical Bountiful

is by far the worst customer service experience I have had in a long time.  If you are looking for an

eye doctor in bountiful, utah

let me suggest you go anywhere but here. There are plenty of places for a good

eye exam in Bountiful

but in my opinion the Standard Optical Bountiful is a poor choice.

First, it took 3 tries and 3 visits to the Bountiful Standard Optical to get my prescription right.  I first visited the store after my complex migraine that had altered my vision (and consciousness) for several hours.  My eyes didn’t feel as clear as they had been, so I thought I should go in for an eye exam in Bountiful, and I chose Standard Optical.  The Bountiful optometrist for Standard Optical reduced my prescription, and he even had a solution to my persistent migraine-  Apparently Bountiful eye doctor eats fresh fruit and exercises regularly and never has headaches.  Thanks doc.  I am sure that’s all I need.  Somehow that slipped by the 15 real doctors I had seen in the previous two weeks.

So finally the contact prescription is right, and I order some contacts (another trip into the Bountiful Standard Optical store…. grrr…).  A carton with 8 boxes arrives, and I start wearing them.  2 months later, I realize that half of the unopened boxes of contacts are the wrong prescription.  So I call back.  “Only the manager of Standard Optical Bountiful Jill can do returns, and she is out for the next 4 days”.  I called another Standard Optical to talk to their manager, and he ordered the correct contact lenses for me.

Another week passes, and it turns out: 1) they waited until Jill was back in to place the order, they just lied and told me they were on order before that, and 2) that Jill ordered the wrong contacts for me.  Different than my original order, but still wrong.

So I call again, and again, the all-powerful manager is out. I told the young man at Standard Optical Bountiful that I wanted a refund, and he said only the manager of the bountiful eye exam retailer can do that.  The next day Jill calls me and tells me that the distribution company shipped the wrong contacts.  (Later I found out that wasn’t true- she admitted to another person that she had made the mistake)

I told here I wanted a refund.  She said that was against their policy.  I told her that her answer was against MY policy.  We went back and forth like this for a while.  Finally I get her bosses names and call the main corporate number, where I hit another gate keeper.  Apparently Jill’s boss Janine does not have a phone number.  The head of customer service is Andrea, she doesn’t have a phone either.  This helpful gatekeeper says all she can do is send an email to them and tell them about the issue. (”But how will they call me back if neither of them have phones?”)

So more time passes and finally Andrea calls me back.  “No Refunds”.  She was willing to send me ADDITIONAL contacts for free, but that didn’t seem right to me.  I wanted my money back.  But alas, there was a policy.  And since we all know that policies are like gold, there was nothing she could do.

Now I get to talk to Janine.  She tows the party line and won’t budge on refunds.  But she tells me “You have given us enough tries, if the order that was shipped to you today isn’t right, then that’s it.”

“That’s what?” I ask, “If it is wrong I get a refund?”  (see? maybe there is a hole in the policy)

“No, with me involved I can guarantee that the order will be correct”

“I doubt that.”

“I can understand your doubt” she says.

But still, no refund offered.  In fact, she tells me that their no refund policy ensures they give great customer service.  “We want to be sure we get it right, so we never issue refunds.  That way we are certain the customer is satisfied”

“I am only going to be satisfied with a refund.  In fact, I think that policy has nothing to do with customer service, and everything to do with hanging on to every dollar you can.  So by your own definition, that policy has failed you.”

So I decided to return all the contacts I have, including those that are arriving later this week.  I will be sending them with signature confirmation.  Then I will be attaching that to my Visa Charge Dispute form, and submitting that to Visa.  Of course, the last step in this plan is to submit a review on local business review boards, and create a blog post that is so SEO friendly that whenever anyone searches for Standard Optical in Bountiful, or bountiful eye exam, or bountiful eye doctor, I will be sure to come up.

The preceding constitutes my opinion.