Props to Costco’s Customer Service

I’ve been wearing RayBan’s since they were owned and made by Bausch & Lomb. In the past they’ve been great sunglasses and lasted a long time. Last June I’d been without any for a few months and was excited to find Costco selling a pair that I liked. My birthday was coming up, so I checked with Jill and forked over the cash. For just over a year now, I have been very pleased with them.

The other day Jill asked what was on the bottom of the lenses. Looking closely, and even running my fingernail over the area slightly, revealed that the outer coating on the lenses was bubbling up. I’d taken great care of them, mostly being on my face or in the visor of the car. I hadn’t taken them in water or done much at all, that might cause a reaction. So I took them back to Costco yesterday. Though it had been over a year (by a few weeks), Costco took them back and gave me a full refund.

It made me glad I’m a Costco member, and supportive of their business model. Luxotica (current owners/makers of the RayBan brand) on the other hand, lost some of my respect and probably future business. The only other brand-name sunglasses I’ve owned were Oakley, and they held up quite well too. So I checked Woot which had a “deal” on some Oakley Gascan sunglasses (pictured). It wasn’t much of a deal, only about $10 off their price elsewhere. But it saved me a lot of time searching around and trying to decide what to buy. I can waste a lot of time doing that sort of thing. They were about the same price as the RayBan’s I’d returned. I ordered those, and hopefully, they’ll last for years, like my previous pair of Oakley’s did.

The point is, that’s how we want our customers to feel: supportive of our business and model. And so should all small business owners. If your customers don’t tend to like and support your business and business model, maybe it’s time to shake things up?