Today is our last full day in Gananoque before we return home tomorrow. And because of the weather, this is the day that we have targeted for cycling. The plan was to take the Waterfront Trail which starts at the eastern city limits of Gananoque and goes east for almost 160KM until you hit Cornwall. We were not going go that far. Instead we were going to go from Seaway Manor and cycle 40 KM east and then turn around and come back. The goal was to get 80 KM into my wife’s legs and then train around that in advance of the PWC Epic Tour 80 KM event so that she knows what 80 KM feels like. There was no time that I had in mind to complete this ride. But if she completed it in 4 hours or less, that would be impressive to me given that she’s only seriously been cycling for a year.
So just after breakfast, I prepared our bikes for the ride:
So you likely recognize my high tech road bike on the left. but you’ve never seen my wife’s Cannondale Synapse road bike which has the same Garmin Edge 520 computer and all the sensors that I have to measure speed, cadence and heart rate. Now we have lights for safety purposes and those along with the computer need to be charged and ready to go. Thus I brought along my six port USB charger and USB cables to ensure that they were ready to go. Once everything was prepared, we headed out just after 10AM. The 40KM outbound was easy as we had a tailwind working for us. It took a total of 90 minutes But the return trip was grueling as that tailwind became either a headwind or a head/cross wind. That took over two hours. Here’s what fitness app Strava recorded.
The goal was to get the distance in my wife’s legs. But this wiped her out so after I put the bikes away and served up some water to her. Not long after she took a nap. I took that opportunity to back up my MacBook Pro which I brought with me. I was using a external SSD built with a Samsung 840 EVO to ensure speedy backups. Because if you’re not backing up your computer, even on vacation, you risk losing your data because of theft, software, or hardware failure. And that would suck.
At about 4PM we headed to this place:
The Gananoque Brewing Company is an interesting place based on these pictures:
My wife and I shared a flight of four beers before I settled on their IPA. My wife bought a beer glass and three cans of their Pilsner. From there we went next door to a place called Laverne’s which had great food and an interesting decor with faux newspaper on the walls:
I had another local beer:
While my wife had some soda made in Picton ON:
According to her, these were great. So much so that the next day she bought some. From there we headed across the street to a farmers market that was set up next to the town hall:
My wife picked up a scone and wandered through the different tents to see what was available as there was a wide variety of food for sale.
Then we walked back to the bed and breakfast and I got some shots of King St. which is the main drag:
Seeing a this was our last night in Gananoque, we were trying to soak the place in as it was a nice place to visit. We’d come back here for sure.
Tomorrow we head back to Toronto. Tune in to see our final thoughts.
How Oakley, Lens Crafters, & Luxottica Managed To Lose Two Customers & Few Thousand Dollars Of Business Due To A Poor Customer Experience
Posted in Commentary on August 4, 2018 by itnerdI’ve used Oakey sunglasses for years for cross country skiing and cycling. Why? Because they’ve been proven to work in places like the Tour De France by the worlds top athletes for example. But a poor customer experience with them along with Lens Crafters and Luxottica has resulted in both my wife and I not only dumping their products, but also telling the world about it.
My wife does CrossFit and she needs eyeglasses that will survive the rigors of doing CrossFit. So just under a year ago I recommend a pair of Oakley eyeglasses. They’ve worked well for her until three weeks ago when this happened:
If you look at the right arm of the eyeglasses, there’s a plastic piece that not only holds the eyeglasses on your head, but makes them comfortable. You’ll also notice on the left side that said piece is missing. It pretty much fell apart likely due to sweat. The right side is going to do the same thing sooner or later as it’s only in marginally better shape. Thus they both need to be replaced. This is where the pain begins. My wife took them back to the Lens Crafters store that she bought them from. At first they thought they had the pats that she needed in stock. But when they discovered that didn’t they suggested that we drive to different Lens Crafters stores and see if they could help her.
#Fail number 1: A customer should never, ever have to do their own legwork to find something. The retailer should do the legwork.
So my wife pushed back and asked if she could phone other Lens Crafters stores and see if they had them in stock. The person that she was dealing with had to get permission from her manager to do so.
#Fail number 2: Lens Crafters clearly doesn’t give their staff the autonomy and authority to do the right thing for customers. When customers see that, it really leaves a negative taste in their mouth. A store that wants to provide quality customer service should let their people do what’s right for customers to a point without having to seek permission from a manager.
So the person that she was dealing with made a few phone calls once she got permission from her manager and came up empty. That’s when she suggested that we go to Oakley. So on the spot we phoned Oakley. I live tweeted what happened next:
So after waiting 35 minutes she was told the part was on backorder. But it was on her to call back to see if it was in stock. That my friends is shambolic customer service as ties into #Fail number one. I think I know the reason why for that and its the fact that both Oakley and Lens Crafters are owned by Luxottica. And clearly they have the same customer service playbook. Which is to make the customer do their own legwork.
#EpicFail
But it gets worse. Oakley also told her to try filling out the online warranty form from Luxottica and submit the photos that they are looking for and see if they can help. So seeing as I had my MacBook Pro with me along with my iPhone 7 Plus, we did that on the spot. That was three weeks ago and we have heard nothing at all despite the fact that the form says that she should hear from someone in 7 to 10 business days and she got an email saying the same thing.
#EpicFail
Back to Lens Crafters, we continued to push them to do something as we bought the glasses there and my wife had a warranty with them which means they have to stand behind what they sell. Only then did they say that they would try and order the parts from Oakley and it may take a month. Note that they did not say that they will order the parts. Only that they would try and order the parts. That my friends is pathetic as it illustrates that Lens Crafters only wants your money and doesn’t care about after sales service. Also, I’m really not holding my breath that they will come through on this front but Lens Crafters is free to prove us wrong.
On top of that, I have tried tweeting to Oakley, Luxottica and Lens Crafters to see if I could get them to assist. Not one of these companies responded to me. I checked their respective timelines and they seem to be selectively responding to people. Which in the age of social media is a #EpicFail because once people figures out that’s this is what a company does, they will take a customer who is frustrated and make them even more frustrated. That is currently us. But my wife and I have taken a different path in terms of dealing with this rather than just be frustrated.
First, my wife needs a new pair of glasses as her Oakely eyeglasses are very uncomfortable to wear. So in the next day or two we will be shopping for a replacement pair of glasses. But they will not come from Oakley, nor will we buy them from Lens Crafters. And we will ensure that they don’t come from a brand that is owned by Luxottica as not one of these companies deserve our money. Second, I am in the market for new sunglasses that I can use for cross country skiing and cycling. Prior to this incident I had been considering a few Oakley models. But instead, I will consider models from Rudy Project who aren’t owned by Luxottica and are used by top cyclists and cross country skiers. Thus I know that they will work for the sorts of things that I do. Between the two of us, we estimate that this will cost Luxottica about $3000 as we spend what we need to get quality eyewear. Now that’s a drop in the bucket compared to what they make, but it does send a message that poor customer service has a cost.
Besides those actions, I am writing about this incident because this blog is viewed by several thousand people a day. So if I put it out there that people who want eye wear from companies that care should avoid dealing with Oakley, Lens Crafters and Luxottica as a whole, it’s going to get quite a few eyeballs and some may think twice and take their money elsewhere. After all, nothing hurts a company more than bad press. Now I don’t seriously expect a response to this from any of the companies. But if they do choose to respond, I would love to know why your customer service is this shambolic and why people should give you their money knowing that. Because right now, I am of the opinion that nobody should give any of these three companies and associated brands their hard earned money.
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