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Want to Know What Popular Industry Trends ECPs Find Annoying?

BUZZ SESSION: Well, we asked and, boy, did you guys come through…

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QUESTION

What is something popular now in our industry that annoys you?

  • Warby Parker ads. We sell higher end product and it bothers me when patients are told all frames are cheap to make. — Susan Spencer, Council Eye Care Inc, Williamsville, NY
  • Mask wearing, sanitizing frames, constant cleaning. It’s necessary, of course, just annoying as hell. — Colleen Galanti, Pascarella Eye Care & Contact Lenses, Newtown, PA
  • “Maximizing vision plans.” Save yourself the headache and just dump them. — Jenna Gilbertson, McCulley Optix Gallery, Fargo, ND
  • Using too much slang. “I want a discount” without a reason. — BJ Chambers, Carrera Optical, McQueeney, TX
  • Online ordering of glasses. Really, how much fun can that be? Come in, try on frames and have someone style you. Our opticians are very good at what they do, and our patients benefit every day when they look in the mirror wearing a perfectly-styled frame! — Deb Jaeger, Eye Center of the Dakotas, Bismarck, ND
  • Blue light hype. — Paula Hornbeck, Eye Candy & Eye Candy Kids, Delafield, WI
  • Anti-fog products due to mask wearing. — Mitchell Kaufman, Marine Park Family Vision, Brooklyn, NY
  • The marketing schemes surrounding blue light filter lenses. Ugh. — Nikki Griffin, EyeStyles Optical and Boutique, Oakdale, MN
  • Over the counter reading glasses … do you not have cylinder?! Hint: You do. — Kris Kittell, Encinitas Vision, San Diego, CA
  • Anti-Lux hate bashing. One person began small and was able to build a huge business, revive dying brands, and employ hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. There is a lot to celebrate, whether or not you like them or their brands. Every optical large and small have benefitted from their marketing, ingenuity, and drive for technology and innovation. — Chris Dudley, Lake Eye/Precision Optical, Wildwood, FL
  • Online contact lens sales and EssilorLuxottica. — Blake Hutto, OD, Family Vision Care, Alma, GA
  • Eyewear that is popular with low quality lenses. — Sherry Morgan, Logan Eye Care, Lake Mary, FL
  • Masks. — David Saxton, Kern Optical, Gulfport, MS
  • The contact lens law. We have enough paperwork to deal with. — Frances Ann Layton, Eye Associates of South Georgia, Valdosta, GA
  • Online sales. — Kristina Jordan, The Eye Site, Mishawaka, IN
  • Online purchases of Rxs and contacts. It’s so non-personal and there is no real way to follow up on success that way. — Ken Weiner, OD, Livingston, NJ
  • That most of the popular name brands are owned by Luxottica. — Sarah Montes, Hockemeyer Family Eye Care, New Haven, IN
  • Lab pricing, why can’t they just set it? — Bethany Cassar, Complete Eye Health, Holland, MI
  • Online ordering. Hurts our industry and makes it look simple, when our profession is complicated and detailed. — William Chancellor, Eye Can See Eyewear, McDonough, GA
  • Clear glasses. I’m so over it. They wash people out and look like safety glasses! — Tiffany Firer, Lifetime Eyecare, Jenison, MI
  • People not qualified to make coffee, calling themselves everything, including optician, working in optometry practices and advising patients on their best choices. Corporate and optometry complain about online and mail order, but drive customers to them by using these incompetent people because they don’t have to pay them. They’re their own worst enemies. — Dave Goodrich, Goodrich Optical, Lansing, MI
  • Optos. Seriously, guys, I know it’s great but it does NOT replace a dilated eye exam. Stop telling your patients that it does! — Jen Heller, Pend Oreille Vision Care, Sandpoint, ID
  • Online purchasing. — Gayle Bergthold, Bee Cave Vision Center, Bee Cave, TX
  • Warby Parker lying on their radio ads about how optical has been run for years by one company. — Rick Rickgauer, Vision Associates, Girard, PA
  • “Never tell a patient no.” That’s great for people who write the articles; not so much for those of us that deal with patients with ridiculous demands. — Angel Miller, Cynthiana Vision Center, Cynthiana, KY
  • Cheap online glasses. — Ann-Marie Weaver, Optimal Eye Care, Lewis Center, OH
  • Trying to return eyewear ater several months just because someone tells them they don’t like the frame they purchased. — Scott Keating, OD, Vision Trends, Dover, OH
  • Myopia control. — Texas L. Smith, OD, Dr. Texas L. Smith & Associates, Citrus Heights, CA
  • So many consultants all promising the same things. — Richard Frankel, OD, Atlantic Cape Eyecare, Wildwood, NJ
  • Large thin metal frames. Reminds me of the late ‘70s early ‘80s. — Scott Felten, Fox Valley Family Eye Care, Little Chute, WI
  • Anti-fog products! After a few minutes, the fog clears if you wear your mask correctly. — Elizabeth Knaus, A to Z Eye Care, Arcata, CA
  • Doctor changes at no charge to the patient. I don’t have a doctor in my office and I didn’t make the mistake, my time should be worth something. If you go to your physician and he prescribes a drug that doesn’t do the trick, your pharmacy doesn’t give you the next drug no charge. — Jennifer Leuzzi, Mill Creek Optical, Dansville, NY
  • None I can think of. I guess I do not like when offices seem to compete with each other like competitors and not colleagues. — Zachary Dirks, OD, St. Peter and Belle Plaine Eyecare Centers, Saint Peter, MN
  • Emails from Pentavision. It’s like whack-a-mole. How many times can I unsubscribe? Finally had to create a filter, straight to trash. — Andrew Romeril, OD, Torrey Highlands Optometry, San Diego, CA
  • Online refractions/contact lenses. — Stuart Kaplan, Tyson Eye, Cape Coral, FL
  • Licensed ‘designer’ brands. They’re not high end just because they have a name stamped on the side. Chances are they’re using the same components and acetate you’re getting from a significantly cheaper frame. — Travis LeFevre, Krystal Vision, Logan, UT
  • Online purchases. — Dorothy Reynolds, Eyes on Fairfield, Fairfield CT
  • Ray-Ban! — Dave Schultz, OD, Urban Optics, San Luis Obispo, CA
  • After much thought, nothing annoys me. Everyone is just trying to do their thing. — Ron Catterson, Clear View Optix, The Villages, FL
  • Doctors posting pictures of how proud they are to have received the vaccination. What happened to HIPAA and protecting medical information? — Marc Ullman, OD, Academy Vision, Pine Beach, NJ
  • 25-year-old girls in 60 eye aviators. — Steve Burek, Metro Eye, Milwaukee, WI
  • All these buying groups buying up private practice. — Jeff Grosekemper, Casa De Oro Eyecare, Spring Valley, CA
  • Complaints of masks fogging up their glasses like they are the first one to have ever experienced it. — Lindsey Pulford, Insights Eyecare, Manhattan KS
  • “You need blue-blocking lenses.” — Aaron Baker, McKinney Eyeworks, McKinney, TX
  • Patients using COVID as an excuse not to get a new CL fitting, when their original Rx expired last year. — Joyce Paton, Village Eye Care, Raleigh, NC
  • Telemedicine. — Sandy Freise, The Optical Shop, St Charles, MO
  • So-called online eye exams. — Robert M Easton Jr. OD, FAAO, Oakland Park, FL
  • Knock off blue light lenses. — Edna Cooley, Shelby Macomb Vision Associates, Shelby Township, MI
  • Cold calls to my office. — Adam Ramsey, OD, Socialite Vision, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
  • Online glasses. Living in a world where birth control and most acne meds are only available through a pharmacy but you can purchase eyeglasses online is crazy! Guess it shows the power of big pharma and the lack of unity in the optical field. — Amie Robinson, Spring Hill Eyecare, Spring Hill, TN
  • Blue light, because the practitioners can’t agree whether its valid or not, so there are huge differences in quality of product. — Billy Isgett, Eyecare of Florence, Florence, SC
  • Zenni’s $6 online glasses. — Diana Canto Sims, Buena Vista Optical, Chicago, IL
  • Taking vision plans. — Kandi Moller, OD, Eye Candy Optical, Gig Harbor, WA
  • Younger opticians complaining on Facebook. — Chris Clark, Advanced Eye Care, Panama City, FL
  • Lack of referrals to other ODs who have a “specialty.” — Megan Lott, OD, Belle Vue Specialty Eye Care, Hattiesburg, MS
  • Super thick acetate temples! Adjustment nightmare. — David Greening, Astorino Eye Center, Newport Beach, CA
  • Generic styles that the manufacturers slap a logo and name on. — Barbara Bloom, OD, Weber Vision Care, Harrisburg, PA
  • Opticians presenting endless lens, material, and treatment options to their clients. It just confuses them. Simplify the process. I hate nickel and diming the customer while making them feel dumber for not knowing terminology that is unique to our profession. — Steve Nelson, Eye Candy Optical, Westlake, OH

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