Two canceled orders, no real explanation, no help — Oakley lost an 18-year customer
I have worn the same pair of Oakleys for approximately 18 years. The first time I finally needed to replace them, Oakley SI turned it into an absolute waste of time.
I placed my first prescription order on August 9 for $572.50. Their website accepted the frame, lenses, prescription information, payment information, and completed order. Oakley later canceled it with a vague statement that they were “unable to support” my prescription in the frame and lenses selected.
That is not an actual explanation.
They did not tell me which part of my prescription was unsupported. They did not say whether the problem was the frame, lens material, prescription strength, cylinder, axis, pupillary distance, or another option. They did not tell me what prescription limits applied to that frame, and they did not recommend a single compatible alternative.
I then made the mistake of giving Oakley a second chance.
I placed another prescription order on August 16 for $482.25, this time for the Wire Tap 2.0. Because of what happened with the first order, I emailed Oakley before they canceled it. The subject line was literally “SECOND ORDER DO NOT CANCEL.”
I explained that I had worn Oakleys for 18 years, that my first order had already been canceled without a useful explanation, and that I needed someone to review the second order and tell me whether there was a problem.
Nobody provided any meaningful help.
Oakley canceled the second order anyway.
When customer service eventually responded, it was nothing more than another canned apology repeating that they could not support my prescription in the selected frame and lenses. They explained that the payment authorization would be reversed and any insurance benefits would be released, but still did not answer the actual question: What specifically was incompatible, and what frame could I order instead?
Reversing an authorization after refusing to fill an order is not customer service. It is the bare minimum.
Their cancellation email actually tells customers to contact a Customer Service Specialist for help placing another order. I did exactly that. The “specialist” did not identify the problem, did not recommend another product, did not modify the order, and did not prevent the second cancellation.
So what exactly is the customer supposed to do? Keep blindly placing $500 prescription orders until one randomly survives Oakley’s internal review?
This should never happen twice. If Oakley’s website allows customers to enter their prescription and select frames and lenses, the system should identify an incompatible combination before checkout. If that cannot be automated, an actual person should contact the customer and offer compatible alternatives before canceling the order.
Instead, Oakley accepted two orders totaling more than $1,000, processed the payment or insurance authorizations, wasted my time twice, ignored my warning about the second order, canceled both orders, and never gave me enough information to place an order that would actually be accepted.
Then they had the nerve to call me a “valued customer” in an automated cancellation email.
A valued customer would have received an actual explanation. A valued customer would have been offered another frame. A valued customer would not have been told to go back to the same broken website and start guessing again.
Oakley had 18 years of brand loyalty from me and destroyed it over two orders. I will not place a third order, and I will never purchase another Oakley product.
Two canceled orders. No specific reason. No compatible alternative. No useful customer service. No third chance.
Buy prescription glasses from a company that can tell you whether it can make them before accepting the order.