I see London! I see France! IC! Berlin?
Back in June I had a routine eye exam, with an eventual goal of getting new frames (which is something I do basically every 3 years or so) and of course updated lenses.
My previous two frames have both been Oakleys (first the O2 – far left, and the current Jackknife 4.0 – near left), and I’ve been very satisfied with them, but I wanted something a bit new.
I was interested in the IC! Berlin product line I had seen in “Speed Racer” (Benno Furmann’s character “Inspector Detector” wears IC! Berlin Arnaud frames). I even visited Optical Shop of Aspen (the local authorized retailer) for a fitting. The retail estimate was $994, with the frames listing at $420. Yikes!
Prior to visiting the store, I had looked online for eyeglass providers providing discounts for web orders. I found a purveyor of eyeglasses online (www.glassesbyadam.com) that carried the IC! Berlin line, and placed the order. Great customer service from Glasses by Adam, which is the online storefront for Adam Simmonds, Optometrist, in Regent’s Park, London, UK. Once I entered the details of my prescription, the estimate was $602, priority shipping to the States included. A savings of close to $400 bucks. Nice.
I had also done research, and the FAQ’s were thorough and their return policy was well stated. I placed the order June 30th for the IC! Berlin Dorian frame in “chocolate”. That day, a chipper woman named Cat contacted my local optometrist to confirm the prescription (I’m inferring her “chipper-ness” to the tone of her communiques). There was a 3-4 day delay as they needed to get the frames in my color from Germany, and it was shipped on July 7th.
Now, the villain in this story is actually the US Postal Service, who, truth be told, delivered the package safely and in a reasonable time. According to Adam’s FAQ’s, the parcel should have come “priority” and required a signature, but the softpack envelope was merely jammed into my mailbox (without damage, of course). The stickler was that Glasses by Adam shipped them on July 7th, they were entered into the system of the Royal Mail (and assigned an international tracking number) in the wee hours of July 8th. The package was then a ghost for the next week.
Having not heard anything for a week, I checked the tracking info with the USPS. The tracking number only said that it was anticipating arrival from the UK. I pinged Adam himself, and he said they should be arriving by the 15th at the latest.
On the 15th, I actually called the USPS, and they didn’t have a tracking update, and had no information.
The next day, on the 16th, the status had “magically” been updated to indicate “Your item arrived in the United States in ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS) at 4:21 PM on July 12, 2009″. Nice notification 4 days later. The magic of computers. But still there was no word on their arrival from New York, until the mail arrived Friday the 17th, with the glasses bundled in with a new Pottery Barn catalog. Then I get alert email about an hour later that the package had been delivered. Nice job. Glad that wasn’t an organ for transplant.
I didn’t do unboxing photos, but the package included a note, a separate receipt, wipe cloth, and the envelopes for the lens blanks verifying their construction, all from Adam Simmonds. Additionally, the IC! Berlin case, instructions for temple adjustment, warranty, and an IC! Berlin-branded wipe cloth as well.
As a further endorsement of Adam Simmonds’ work, my local optometrist complimented the handiwork when I came in later to have them fitted, and he indicated that “This is excellent. Those European’s do really nice work.”
Glasses by Adam carries many (but not all) models of IC! Berlin, Oliver Peoples, Paul Smith, Tom Ford, and several other brands – both men’s and women’s, and sunglasses too! (Single-vision lenses only online, no bi-focals).
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