Friday, June 28, 2013

My Warby Parker Experience


A couple of months ago, I shared that I was ordering eyeglasses online from Warby Parker, and I was sooo excited to get them. I fully intended to post about my cool new specs, but that whole plan got derailed for reasons that I'll reveal below. But, I thought that I would go ahead and post my experience now for those who are contemplating purchasing their own Warby Parkers.

My Experience:
As I mentioned in earlier posts, WP has a great Home Try-On Program. I was able to try on various pairs of eyeglasses free of charge. Although WP has many styles from which to choose, each style is only made in one size. So, the HTO really allows you to see if a particular frame will work for you. I actually did the HTO program twice before I found the right pair for me.

Once I decided on my pair and finally got a new eye exam, I ordered a pair of Nedwin frames with high-index lenses and anti-reflective/non-scratch coatings for $125 (shipping included). If you've ever ordered high-index lenses, you know what a great deal this is. Although WP said it could take up to 10 business days for the order to be filled, my glasses arrived within a week. I ordered them late on a Friday night and they arrived the next Friday afternoon. I was so pleased with how quickly they arrived! I was ready to be able to see again -- my current glasses were so incredibly scratched that it was difficult to see.

Anxiously, I pulled them out of the sturdy WP case and put them on AND...was disappointed. Something was seriously not right. I've been wearing glasses since I was in third grade and putting on a new pair of glasses has always been exciting. My vision becomes crystal clear once the glasses are on my face. This did not happen with my WP glasses. One eye appeared to be corrected, but the other was wrong...like, very wrong. I was so disappointed!

WP has a 30-day money back guarantee, so I wasn't freaked out that I had wasted $125. I knew that they would fix the problem or I could get my money back. I just had to figure out exactly what the problem was. Since it was a new prescription, I wanted to make sure that the error was on the WP side and not my eye doctor's. So, I had to make an appointment with the doc to have it all checked out. It was about 2 weeks until I could get an appointment. Sure enough, the right lens was incorrect. I have astigmatism and the right lens was made without the astigmatism correction.

So, I called WP Customer Service to take care of the situation. The customer service representative on the phone was wonderful. She was very apologetic and within 5 minutes we had the situation sorted. She emailed me a pre-paid label to return the faulty pair and placed a rush order on a new pair of glasses for me. Within a week, I had a new pair of glasses that thankfully worked.

Would I do it again?
Obviously, I was disappointed that the order had a few problems. I was expecting glasses that worked in a week, and I essentially had to wait a month. But ultimately, I am happy with the glasses that I got and with the price that I paid. Would I order from them again? Yes, I would if I wasn't in a time-crunch for new glasses. Although I'm assuming that my experience was just a fluke, it would be a serious bummer if I needed glasses ASAP and had to go through that whole rigamarole again.


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