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Thursday, January 1, 2009

Finding product reviews online

Nine times out of ten I will use an unbiased product review to determine whether or not I'll purchase a product. Manufacturers of products provide plenty of reviews of their own, but of course these reviews focus only on the positive, and ignore or simply gloss over the negative aspects and elements.

How do you go about shopping? Do you read reviews, or simply take the plunge and hope for the best?

Vision Direct

In my experience, shopping with Vision Direct is a real hit-or-miss kind of thing. The first time I ordered contacts from them, I paid for the three day shipping. Two weeks later, after calling and ripping the useless phone center representative a new one, my contacts finally arrived. The excuse for the delay? Supposedly, my contacts were on backorder. Okay, fair enough, but shouldn't the website have stated that when I ordered them? And shouldn't I have been notified shortly after I ordered that there would be a delay?

The second time I ordered contacts from Vision Direct, they arrived in four days. That time, I paid for the standard 7-10 day shipping.

This last time around I ordered contacts and paid for overnight shipping. Four days later I'm notified via email that my order has been canceled, due to an issue with my prescription.

Like I said, Vision Direct is a hit or miss type of company. Buyer beware -- shop elsewhere if you need your contacts immediately!