The customer service lessons I am pointing out are all basic lessons. As the service provider,

1. Follow up with the customer when there is a problem – unforeseen or NOT
2. When the customer is unhappy about one thing, and something else unforeseen goes wrong, do something, anything to make them feel better. In the post I suggested a gift card, even a hand written paper note would be nice
3. Don’t tell the customer it is their fault when the product is not right
4. Assure the customer the problem will be fixed
5. Refer the customer elsewhere if you can’t provide the service

That’s all.

Stay tuned for Part 2 ….

typo.

1) few eye doctors know what they are doing

or (much more likely)

2) this is harder than it appears

There is a reason why one must have a doctorate in order to Rx glasses in the U.S. Its not all that easy, especially in prism Rx’s. Many of your comments are common ones among people who have had difficulty with a new prescription. “I have worn glasses for 30 years and have never had to get used to them BEFORE”. No offense meant here, but… so what? That doesn’t mean anything. Age plays a factor…the older you get, the less depth of focus/depth of field a person has, and the harder it is to accept a change. Many things play factors. Just b/c you’ve never had trouble with any Rx in the past doesn’t mean you never will.

As I read this story from the other side, IMO one of this was malpractice or or even “bad business”. Okay granted they could have called you when there was breakage. But backorders and breakage are standard events, and usually totally out of the doctor’s control. IMO that doesn’t warrant you or any other patient being “BURNED UP” for 6 months. You were just inconvenienced, not damaged in any way. The way I see it they made a genuine attempt at multiple fixes for you. Its not liek they just blew you off.

And sometimes…its rare…but every eye doc has to o an occasion tell a patient “this is as good as it gets”. Sometimes it is. If you don;t like that answer, find somewhere else to go. I tell patients all the time…”a second opinion is never, ever a bad idea.” The problem with a second opinion is that usually the patient has to pay for it, which they don’t like doing.

I don’t know. I feel a little bad for you and I don;t want anyone to have a hard time, but it happens. Even when nobody does anything wrong sometimes the patient is still not happy. I can see both sides of this…

You need to try and see the other side. Labs make mistakes. Stuff breaks. Sometimes things are on backorder. Insurance companies are a pain to deal with and don;t pay very well. Patients think they have the right to instant service, etc etc etc. This is not that big of a deal.