Jun 23 2008
Shopping time
My learning time. Johnson & Johnson makes the Acuvue. But there are many outlets selling it, price varies per box that contains 6 lens. So I called up the first off the google. 800-Contacts sells $42.99 per box or $303.92 for 8 boxes (after mail-in rebate). When I called, the price dropped to $218.33 for 8 boxes. I suddenly thought about insurance. So the guy on the end assured me, ‘don’t worry, call us back when you’re ready.” They pledge to beat any online price by 2%.
My vision insurance provides 10% discount on disposalble lens when you shop at the in-network stores. As I was waiting on the phone, I checked few more online stores. Vision Direct sells $38.99 per box, Lens $37.95. It seems the first one is still the cheapest. So I called back the 800-Contacts. Guess, what? The lady said it’s $263.58 for 8 boxes. Why the jump? She speculated that the previous salesman must have provide the Acuvue Advance, which is cheaper. Really? Acuvue Advance sells for about $18 or so. There is very slime chance that the first guy would have mistaken the two.
Here is what I’m wondering, don’t they - the online sellers - know the handful outlets out there and how much the other guys on the block are selling? They seemed to like making a show out of doing it, asking “May I place you on hold while I check the website/price?” Hey, I’m not buying a car or a house, please just give me a straight answer. .. Ok, I ended up buying 4 boxes from them for $118, 6 months supply - the salesman told me yes, you can buy from Internet, but I won’t get the discount. I’ll hate to think that with all the Internet might, what it could and should do, we still buying stuff by calling! Or I should pad the company on the back for hiring bunch of humans doing what exactly the Internet could, without paying salary/fringe benefit ..?