Shouldn't have gone to Specsavers!

http://www.blipfoto.com/view.php?id=881124

The link for the picture of my broken glasses is above.

I've be tweeting Angry Tweets all afternoon and have uploaded the above to Blipfoto, I need to write down what happened today and leave the emotion out of it. I won't be slagging anyone off, however I will be using names of all involved.

I went into town with a list of little post Christmas things to do 'sans' family. One of those jobs was to get my Black Jaspers adjusted because over time they have become a little loose to wear. So I went into Specsavers in Colchester and Arron (young lad, wearing glasses and a Mr Men T shirt) greeted me. I told him I needed my glasses adjusted so he took me over to sit down. Colin (Hope) manager and franchise owner of the branch came over and shook my hand and said 'welcome to our new shop' I've been a customer of Specsavers Colchester for well over 15 years so Colin and I know each other a little.

Colin and I had a little small talk whilst Arron checked my glasses and then got up to go over to a machine to heat up the frames. Colin was stood next to him. Colin saw that Arron had broken the frame and after a brief discussion he offered by way of compensation 50% off a new pair.

Call me 'churlish' if you like but I thought that I would be offered full repair or a full replacement 'no questions asked' because a member of Specsavers staff had broken my glasses. Colin made it quite clear that the deal he was offering was actually quite a good deal because my glasses were more than 2 years old and actually he was being very generous. I am a daily contact lens wearer and these glasses are worn a few hours in the evening so not 'old' and 'out of warranty' as he suggested. Whilst I understand that Arron did not deliberately set out to  break my glasses I find it hard to accept that I need to 'buy' a new pair because Specsavers broke them.

Colin then mentioned that Arron should have given me the 'Specsavers will adjust at your own risk' warning before touching my glasses. I've been a glasses wearer for 30 years and I've never heard an optician say this to me.  By Arron's own admission and agreed by Colin, Arron didn't issue the 'warning' before attempting to adjust my glasses.

I left the branch when we were no longer making any progress with the argument and I visited DandA and also Vision Express. Both of them said that if it had happened in their stores they would have either repaired or replaced, but certainly not offered to 'sell' me another pair. I went back to Specsavers to speak to Colin Hope again about this. He was still holding his ground on the 50% discount on a new pair and stated that the other 2 opticians were liars. (bit unprofessional)

So this is where we are. I went into Specsavers to get my glasses adjusted. They broke them and I have to buy a new pair from them at my cost. The 'compensation' offered of 50% off a new pair is no different to the advertised 2 for 1 offer so how is that actually compensation?

The Specsavers website has no section about complaints or customer service issues. All it has is a 'Contact Your Branch'. This is a problem when the branch is the problem. I have requested a 'contact' from the website so hopefully in the next 48 hours someone apart from the owner of the Colchester Specsavers will get in touch.

This is far from over.