Frames Direct

Full review
If I can save one person the disappointment of dealing with this company, my time in writing this review will be well-spent. This incident occurred two years ago, so some particulars of the site may have changed, but I would not deal with them again no matter how tempting the savings. I wanted to order two eyeglass frames in different styles, one for regular glasses and one for sunglasses. I shopped in the local stores and found two things I liked. Then I did some comparison shopping on the internet and found the FramesDirect.com site. The selection was extensive, and the prices were significantly lower than local stores, so I set about ordering the two frames. At checkout, the site did not have a shopping cart, so each frame had to be ordered separately. There was, however, a space for comments, so I wrote a comment asking if I could combine the two orders to save on shipping, which was $8.95 each. Within a short time, I received a phone call from the company verifying that I wanted two frames shipped together. Several days later, I received two identical frames in one box, rather than one each of two styles. I called and received a return authorization for one of them, and they agreed to issue a charge credit and to send the second style without a shipping charge. I shipped the duplicate back at my expense. Up to this point, I was willing to forgive the error and be satisfied. Then the second frame arrived, and it was defective -- the two nosepieces were not level, and the frame sat askew on my face. Since each of my eyes has a different prescription, and I also have bifocals, this was not satisfactory, and I did not see that it could be corrected short of replacing the frame. I called the company, received a return authorization, and shipped it back at my expense. At some point, I was told that the style had been discontinued and they could not send a replacement. When my credit card statement arrived, it included a credit, but a 20% restocking fee had been deducted. I called the company and asked for the person who had helped me before. She agreed that the frame was defective and said I would get credit for the remainder. When the credit did not show up, I called several times without satisfaction. I was told that the person who helped me did not work there any more and call back later. When I called back, I was referred to the "Doctor" who told me politely, but definitely, that the frame was not defective and that it was not "fair" to their other customers to allow such returns without charging the restocking fee. I finally realized that I was getting nowhere and hung up.