Unreasonable terms for online order??

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Are they being unreasonable?

I ordered some frames from an online optician to try on at home. I returned them and now the company claims that I have damaged them, and is charging me for two of them. I strongly dispute this, as I only briefly tried them on at home and promptly returned them, but that aside, they are charging me the full price INCLUDING PRESCRIPTION LENSES (which they re not going to supply) for these frames. Not just for the damaged frames, they are charging the full price of a pair of glasses including prescription lenses. Needless to say I would not have ordered this trial service had I known.

My concern is that they actually don't make you aware of what you are risking when you order this trial service. They encourage you to take the frames out and about to get people's opinions etc so it all sounded very easy and straightforward, and they don't mention what they charge for damage as there is no mention of this at any stage of ordering, or in the emails following the order, nor was there a tick box for T&Cs at checkout. You have to fine the T&Cs in the footer and go through a lot of fine print before you find it.

So are they being unreasonable charging this much for the damage?

...and finally, they are giving me exactly one day to pay their invoice before the matter gets handed over to a collection agency.

What is the reason they give for charging for the lenses too? Bizarre

I think (but I'm not sure) that if it was something damaged in a shop you'd pay cost price not retail so I'd assume that online sales would be the same.
You have two issues. Firstly, do you accept responsibility for the damage. Secondly, how much you need to pay.
If you didn't damage them then maybe check with trading standards or the consumer act

Atintrolley yes, first thing on my list tomorrow morning.

Thanks all for the sanity check. I'd hate to be unreasonable but this is all just very odd to me!

Did you pay by credit card (might have some consumer protection) but in any case do they have your card details and might they try and make the full charge on your card? If so get your card stopped.

Do not accept liability. Say they were undamaged. That you dispute the damage and the charges and that you want a full refund/ refuse to pay the invoice. Highlight your rights under various consumer rights legislation, can't remember the replacement for distance selling but suspect it applies here.

This sounds a bit like a scam.

Tell trading standards.

Makes you wonder how many they've tried to scam £195 from ...

I've heard that this is a common practice by car-hire firms, especially those based near airports where customers might be tired and/or having to rush to catch their plane.

There will be a tiny little cosmetic mark somewhere inconspicuous or even hidden, that you won't notice or think to check when you receive it. Of course, they know about it and will 'note it', citing it as a reason to charge you to 'fix' it, even though it often doesn't need fixing (such as a scratch or scuff under the bumper that you can only see if you lie under the car). They will charge you and countless others to fix it, but never actually get it fixed. Why ever would they - no point in killing their golden goose.

You’re not telling me they’re sending out glasses and then actually expecting to sell them also? What complete wankers. You don’t go in to an opticians and have gazillions or pairs and pick up a pair and walk to the till you have display pairs to try on. I’m sure if you looked at those you would find scratches and marks as people try them on. It sounds like a con - even more so with the charge for the lens. I’d love to see their rationale for that!!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll that's exactly what my husband said, the whole thing reminded him of airport car rentals and their business methods.

Just an update to say that I wrote back to dispute the claim but haven't heard anything back yet, to be continued

Surely distance selling regulations mean that you have a 14-day cooling off period anyway? Unless there’s some exemption for made to order items. Worth checking out with eg. CAB.

Name and shame and we can all tweet them.

How are you getting on?

Update: still haven’t heard back from them. Not sure what to make of it. I will give it a few more days and then ask them to confirm that they are not going to pursue this further I think?

So they are dropping it. I emailed back to ask them to respond in writing as it had been a week since I disputed the claim and they replied saying they are not pursuing this any further.

For anyone else considering a try at home service, please be aware that you may be risking a substantial amount - in this case it could have been up to £495 for the amount of frames they let you borrow. Read the t&cs as they may not display this outside of the fine print, and make sure you understand what they mean by ‘damage’ and how and when you need to tell them about any issues.