Be on your alert the next time you pass by a spectacles shop.
Protect your glasses from being snatched away - and disappearing into the shop on pretext of cleaning, repair or whatsoever.
For once you are inside the shop to reclaim your property, you will be subjected to a barrage of hard sell that literally forces you into making purchase.
Reports of such blatant undesirable sale tactic, though not a common practice in the spectacles trade, continued to be received by the Consumer Council from time to time.
Highlighted in this issue of CHOICE was a typical case in which the complainant had his glasses "hijacked" from him purportedly for cleaning.
While waiting in the shop for his glasses to be returned, he was offered a pair priced at $390. To appease the sale staff, he said he would give it his consideration.
Thereupon, the staff swiftly issued an invoice for the purchase, claiming that they already had checked the prescriptions of the lenses from his spectacles. Reluctantly he paid the sum of $390, and was told to wait for an hour for his new glasses.
As he was prepared to leave the shop to return later, it was then revealed to him that the amount of $390 covered only the spectacles frame, and that the actual price including the lenses was more than $1,000.
The complainant was shocked and asked to cancel the purchase. But, this was refused as allegedly his glasses were already in production.
After much negotiation, the complainant paid an additional $590 for the lenses, bringing the cost to a total of $980.
Consumers in similar situation in future are advised to insist on the return of their glasses. Should the shop resort to delaying tactics, report to the Police for assistance, and check if the glasses have been damaged.
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