I've had very good luck ordering from Zenni and Coastal. It is perhaps a bit harder to find a frame style you like, but once you have a frame of reference for say width measurements it's not so bad.
They're especially good for cheap prescription sun glasses. I bought a whole stack of them years ago I'm still working through. If I go to the river or where ever and something happens to them I'm out $25 instead of $250.
It also helped that the last time I went to a local shop it proved to be a ridiculous experience. I ordered a pair of clear acrylic frames, and for whatever reason when they came in the sales clerk got bored and thought it'd be interesting to use highlighter on the insides of the frame to see what it looked like. But then it wouldn't come off so she just kinda tried to play it off like nothing happened when I picked them up. It was completely absurd. I had to wait another month for them to reorder.
So yeah, eyeglasses are now one of those categories of local businesses where I've learned they're basically all scams.
Related: it's getting hard to find a cleaner that does alterations in house vs mailing them off to a service. Last couple times I've had to do that it turns into a 4 to 6 week long game of "where did your clothing disappear to and will the store find it this time or tell you to come back in a week yet again."
Why is it so many of these simple services increasingly feel like total scams in the US?
> Why is it so many of these simple services increasingly feel like total scams in the US?
Because 'quiet franchising' is a huge money maker for those selling the franchises.
For alterations you need to look for someone who does full custom clothing in-house; cleaning services almost all now ship even the cleaning to some central location.
I was able to find an actual cobbler nearby; they're still out there but it can be hard to find.
Yeah, the guy in my neighborhood is a full tailor, which is why I was surprised he sent my jeans out. Guy has a bit of an ego too cuz he used to do Johny Carson's suits back in the day or something. But anyhow, getting some jeans taken up shouldn't turn into a 6 week adventure.
Eyebuydirect is a Luxottica subsidiary. Coastal became Clearly became a Luxottica subsidiary. I think Zenni is independent for now (couldn't find any evidence to the contrary).
They're especially good for cheap prescription sun glasses. I bought a whole stack of them years ago I'm still working through. If I go to the river or where ever and something happens to them I'm out $25 instead of $250.
It also helped that the last time I went to a local shop it proved to be a ridiculous experience. I ordered a pair of clear acrylic frames, and for whatever reason when they came in the sales clerk got bored and thought it'd be interesting to use highlighter on the insides of the frame to see what it looked like. But then it wouldn't come off so she just kinda tried to play it off like nothing happened when I picked them up. It was completely absurd. I had to wait another month for them to reorder.
So yeah, eyeglasses are now one of those categories of local businesses where I've learned they're basically all scams.
Related: it's getting hard to find a cleaner that does alterations in house vs mailing them off to a service. Last couple times I've had to do that it turns into a 4 to 6 week long game of "where did your clothing disappear to and will the store find it this time or tell you to come back in a week yet again."
Why is it so many of these simple services increasingly feel like total scams in the US?