Day: December 10, 2012

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Ordering Glasses Online From Zenni Optical, Part One

After much hemming and hawing, I finally placed an order for glasses from Zenni Optical.

This post is going to talk about the ordering process. I have no idea yet if the time and money I spent on Zenni’s website will pay off or not. However, testimonials tell me that I am about to get my money’s worth and then some. We shall see!

Ordering glasses on Zenni started with a fresh prescription. I created an account and entered my prescription details into it so that I wouldn’t have to reenter the information several times and possibly get it wrong.

One measurement that is needed but is not on the prescription is pupillary distance, or PD. My friend had the ruler and know-how to measure that for me. This number ensures that your lenses are correctly centred.

The next thing I did was measure my current pair to give myself an idea of the size I would need my new glasses to be. Important measurements are the width of the nose bridge, the width of the frames, the width of the lenses, the length of the temple, and the height of the lenses.

Finally, I took the time to get a good portrait of myself to upload to the site so that I could virtually try on the glasses.

Then, I started shopping! There are several parameters for narrowing down the search, such as price, PD, gender, type of glasses, and type of prescription. The one I wish was a little more precise is the frame size. After a bit of trial and error, I determined that I needed to look at medium to just slightly larger than medium frames, but it would have been nice to be able to input a range.

I’ve been wearing glasses for 23 years and have an idea of the types of shapes, materials, and colours that look best on me. So I started looking for two sensible pairs with metal frames, spring hinges, and oval or rectangular lenses. I started off with a $24.95 pair until I found a couple of $6.95 pairs that looked just as good. In fact, one of the cheaper pairs looks exactly like the pair I currently have on (which I paid several hundred dollars for, and that’s just for the frame).

The processing and shipping time can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. I don’t know when I’ll next be in an area where I can hang out for a bit waiting on glasses. So I decided that I might as well make this order count, especially since shipping is a flat fee of $4.95 regardless of the size of the order, and there is currently a 10% off coupon! Therefore, I kept shopping!

Once I had some classic (read: boring) frames, I decided that I wanted to try some novelty ones. I finally settled on a pair of pink frames and a similar one in green.

Finally, my current prescription sunglasses are horribly scarred. I’ve always wanted a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses, so I found a frame I liked and, following my friend’s instructions, looked for the tinting option on the order form.

For each pair, I added the anti-reflective (A/R) coating at $4.95 per pair. I was tempted to try the premium oleophobic coating (A/R, water repellent, smudge resistant), but reviews were not good for that option.

When all the frames, options, and shipping were added up and my 10% discount was calculated, my order came to a whopping $71.05. That’s for five pairs of glasses including prescription sunglasses! Walmart wanted to charge me that for lenses set in a truly crappy frame! Do note that I have single vision lenses, not bifocals or progressives.

Two things irked me about the order process. The first is that you cannot edit your order. So when I wanted to remove the fancy coating from one pair, I had to redo the entire order for that one. That wasn’t too painful because you can import your saved prescription, but it would still be nice to be able to change settings.

The second thing that I do not like is that they are not set up to take PayPal. I know the site is reputable, so I was okay with paying with a credit card, but I prefer to use PayPal for online purchases.

I placed my order yesterday, Sunday. First thing this morning (literally, it was 1:28AM my time), I got an email from them saying there was a problem with my order. It appeared to be for one person, but there was a pair out of the five that had a different PD. Which number was correct?

Well, I had started shopping with an estimated PD, updated my prescription with the correct number, but had forgotten to redo one of my orders! I’m so glad that they caught that! This tells me that whomever is processing orders at Zenni is not an automaton.

I was asked to reply to the email, so I did, and I got an email later today confirming that all five pairs will have the correct PD number I gave them and that they had started work on my order!

Now, to see if glasses from Zenni live up to all the hype…

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Update On My Final Insurance Claim

On November 18th, I submitted a claim to Intact Insurance for the GST on the purchase of my truck and the difference in cost for my tow setup from what I had been previously paid.

A week later, I had not received confirmation that my adjuster got the email, so I called. She wasn’t available and there was no note on my file that the claim had been received.

On December 3rd (two weeks after I made the claim), I emailed my adjuster again. She confirmed that she had the file and it was being reviewed by the appraiser. Good enough.

First thing this morning (three weeks after I made the claim), I again emailed my adjuster to ask for a follow-up. She emailed me first thing in the morning in her time zone to let me know the cheques were in the mail.

What? Just like that?! She didn’t tell me the amounts, but, surely, I would have heard something if the full claim wasn’t being paid out; right? Regardless, they could be sending me a payout for less than I claimed and I would take it. I am just DONE with this accident and ready to move on.

I didn’t share the cost of the tow conversion when I had it done. Well, the grand total was $4,444.95. This includes all parts, rewiring the motorhome electric outlet, grinding the tow bar to fit in the hitch, passing the brake cable, the tax, the shipping and brokerage fees, and all the labour.

Intact had originally allowed me $2,200 for the tow conversion. I knew at the time that that amount wouldn’t come close to covering the actual costs. Here’s what I had to say about that in my final claim:

When I originally filed my claim for the tow system, I stated that it could cost up to $5,000 to get a new vehicle ready for towing and was able to provide evidence that a ‘family rate’, the cost for the installation of the baseplate alone was almost $2,000 (the tow bar came with the motorhome).

I was allowed $2,200, an amount I only agreed to if I could be reimbursed the difference. The estimator got this number by making one phone call to one shop in his area. Then, and still now, I do not believe that amount included the tow bar and all the other little adjustments that come with setting up a vehicle for towing. Moreover, his estimate was based on 5% sales tax when it was known that I would be getting my replacements in Quebec, which has 9.95% sales tax.

Since the estimator only called one place, so did I, choosing the most convenient and reputable place to have the work done.

The installation of the baseplate and electrical wiring on the tow vehicle was $1,600, plus tax. This amount is so close to the amount allotted me that it serves as evidence that the amount allotted did not include the tow bar nor other required adjustments. This amount is also very close to the amount I paid in 2008 to have my baseplate installed, serving as yet more evidence that the estimator’s number was way off.

I’m sure he will remember our discussion about this and how certain I was that the amount he offered was grossly inadequate. The extra costs come from electrical wiring that had to be added to my towed vehicle to make it match the setup on my old car so that the battery would remain charged while towing, fixing the electrical outlet on the motorhome, and grinding the tow bar to fit the hitch (hitches have apparently changed in the last few years and nothing on the market today would have fit as is in the receiver).

I paid this extra money out of pocket without knowing for certain that I would be reimbursed because I had no choice. I had to spend this money to get hooked up so I could get underway again. I even did some of running of the electrical cabling myself to save a few hours in the shop.

I also gave them some information on why I chose the tow set up I did and why the shop supplied some parts and I supplied the rest.

I finished the claim with this:

Before I was hit by the third party, I had a technically and legally sound rig with good quality heavy duty components suited to my lifestyle. The above expenses were all necessary to return me to the same state and make me whole. I trust that Intact insurance will honour its promise to reimburse me the difference between the allotted and real cost of setting up my new vehicle for towing.

It looks like they have. Reader Gary, get that champagne on ice! I’m just waiting for confirmation from my mother that the cheque has arrived to Google how to open my bottle! 🙂