Club Monaco Will Not Let Anyone Discover The Truth Behind Its Eyeglasses
Beaverly saw some eyeglass frames she really liked on some Club Monaco in-store signage. No matter what she does, however, she can't find out if they really exist and whether or not she can purchase the same frames for herself. They've gone so far as to make Russell, the sales guy who was trying to help her, "disappear."
Here's her story:
Late last year I was shopping at the Club Monaco store in Pentagon City. I saw a pair of glasses on a picture in their store. The sales associate at the time; Russell, informed me that they were made by Club Monaco. He said that the Lenscrafters store carried them but that he would try to get the name of them and send it to me. He was very polite and helpful and I ended up purchasing a cardigan and a belt he recommended. True to his word he called me and let me know that he had sent a series of emails to his corporate office and would call me back when he got a response.
A few weeks later he called again and informed me that he still had not heard back and had re-forwarded the email. He ended up calling me at least four times to let me know that he was still trying but was having no luck.
I then tried visiting the Club Monaco website and while the site is virtually impossible to navigate (visit it if you don't believe me) I was able to locate a "general inquiries" email address. I sent the following:
Hello,
I saw a picture of a pair of glasses at your Pentagon City store a few months back. The frames were black with two small silver rivets on the front. They were rectangular shaped and I loved them! They were featured on a male model on a large picture in the front window of the store. I asked the salesperson; Russell, where they were from and he informed me that they were made by Club Monaco. He said that the Lenscrafters store carried them but that he would try to get the name of them and send it to me. He has called me multiple times to update me but has unfortunately had no luck hearing from his boss about them. He has really gone above and beyond trying to locate these for me but has had no luck.
The Lenscrafters store in the Pentagon City Mall does not have this pair (and are not helpful or interested in finding them). I am sure Russell will continue looking (he called just last month to let me know he hadn't forgotten and was still looking), but if you know where I can find this pair I would greatly appreciate it!
-B.
The response I received was from a Todd Piercy - Area Manager Mid/Atlantic/Southeast. In it he said that he was sorry that no one had responded to me. I was quite upset that he had obviously not even bothered to read my email, if he had he would have clearly seen where I had complimented the salesman for following up with me in the first place. He asked me to describe the glasses to his stylist, apparently forwarding the description in my first email was simply too difficult or time consuming for him. I responded with my phone number so that he could contact me and subsequently received an emailed response from Tina Gershoff - Vice President, Retail, North America. She apologized for the inadequate reply from Mr. Piercy and informed me that someone would be calling me shortly. To this day I have not received a phone call or an email to my reply to Ms. Gershoff directly. It is as if they have decided I no longer deserve to communicate with them.
To add insult to injury I called the store on Saturday and talked with a man who became very nervous when I asked for Russell. When pressed for when he would be available he said that Russell had been laid off last month. I asked this new person if he knew what glasses I was referring to but of course he did not. I am frustrated by the fact that the only helpful person I have ever worked with at Club Monaco is now gone and further more he was the only one who a) knew what the glasses looked like & b) seemed to care.
At this point I am giving up. Obviously Club Monaco does not want me to buy these glasses from them or anything else for that matter.
What did poor, good-hearted Russell know that Club Monaco didn't want Beaverly to find out? Who's behind this "Club Monaco," really? Is Beaverly in danger (of being ignored even more)?
If Beaverly is a lawyer, this could totally be a Grisham novel.
(Photo: Robyn Gallagher and matt512)
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Comments:
I wouldn't be surprised if Beverly herself went missing after this story.
Damn! You sure you feel safe putting this on your site?
This is how those movies start out. Some Regular Joe (Jane?) inadvertently stumbles onto something and then he is on the run. Soon he'll call an old hacker college buddy to help figure out what's going on ("The NSA wants to keep this a secret!") but, oh noes! College boy is found dead in a freak accident/suicide a few hours later.
Before this is over, Joe will steal a truck, find new clothes that surprisingly fit perfectly, ditch his credit cards and cell phone, and use a Kinko's.
heh, let's write this one guys.
There's no telling how many people have gone missing because of this woman's over zealous ad-hoc investigation. This "Beaverly" (if that is her real name) needs to be stopped before she destroys the lives of countless others.
I worked at Gymboree when I was in high school. We'd have ads up in the store where the kids would be wearing things that we...just didn't make. There was a super cute tiny denim jacket, and we'd be asked where it was, and we'd have to be all "yeah, that doesn't exist." That's probably what's going on here--they bought some glasses and are giving her the runaround because no one is 100% sure that they don't make the glasses, but are pretty sure.
BTW, we had some pretty annoyed customers when we told them that we didn't make the stuff we were advertising. Go figure.
The first rule of Club Monaco is you don't talk about Club Monaco.
Consumerist: Come for the stories, stay for the comments!
I love reading what you all have to say about stories like this. Ha!
@babyruthless: Maybe that's part of their business plan... create a mockup in the artwork, but don't actually put any money into producing the product until you have had X number of customers inquire about where they can get it. That way #1 you inflate demand for it (because we humans have a tendency to want something more if we can't get it), and #2 if it turns out to be a dud design, you've only lost the money you put into creating an image of it, instead of having 600,000 unwanted tiny denim jackets with the Gymboree logo, or a million Club Monaco super-spiffy glasses, laying around on the discount table at 90% off, gathering dust and making the company look bad.
Sounds to me like the glasses weren't Club Monaco. Their eyewear is made by Luxottica, so they probably just used a different brand from their massive stable because all their glasses look exactly the same.
Not that Luxottica glasses are bad or anything (even the "new", crappy Ray-Bans are of very decent quality), but I find it difficult to believe that these glasses were SO unique that she would never be able to find a similar pair again.
@wardawg: Fast forward 8 hours, I pull up Consumerist from my favorites and its a site offering links to all the great things I should buy, lots of FREE GIFTS! just for registering or clicking a link, and really really bad javascript games that if you win you get a laptop. Oh and I can see if my IQ is higher than Nicole Richie's.
Once you bring LensCrafters in, I think it goes downhill from there. A couple years ago, I bought a frame from Lenscrafters. After they broke, I tried to buy the same pair, so I could just switch the lenses and save two hundred bucks. The website had it listed, but you can't order from the site. I stopped in the local LensCrafters at my mall, and they didn't have them.
I emailed their customer service, and ask if I could order online somehow, or if they could give me an idea where to shop. According to them, every store is independently run, and they have no way of checking a stores inventory. Long story short: I called every single store in a fifty mile radius, and finally found a store that had one pair left, about two hours away.
Of course, they tried to sell me insurance so that I could get them replaced if they broke. As if they'll somehow be able to find that same frame in the future.
Maybe Mr. Maneuvers by Blinde Eyewear. (I'm not kidding.) "Black acetate with Blinde Eyewear signature silver rivets."
@Evan MacIsaac: [glassyeyes.blogspot.com]
After reading the info on this guy's site, I now buy my glasses for about 20 bucks a pair online. I keep spares. If I break them, lose them, whatever, I'm only out the 20 bucks. Much less hassle.
Something to think about for your next pair.
@britne: I have two pairs of cheap internet glasses, so I used those as a backup for a few months. I just really love this particular style, and have had it in a couple color combos over the past few years. I agree its overpriced, without a doubt.
Their website is a nightmare. I am a HFI Certified Usability Analyst (it sounds good and you get a cool certificate - but it really is the standard setter in website/ user experience design, and my firm paid a lot of money to send us to classes). Why anyone would design a store website without allowing users to browse the offerings is a beyond me. You can't even buy anything on the site. Why did they even bother? I think the CEO's kid is taking a class in Flash.
Just go to a private doc next time. Get better service, better warranty and something that wasn't made by a monkey. Do that an you will be infused with happiness.
This was a Seinfeld episode. Elaine liked the frames that someone was wearing, but the person with the glasses wouldn't tell her where he got them for fear that he'd lose his exclusive looks.
@babyruthless: I work at the Children's Place. On the pictures showing the styles of big girl jeans, one girl is wearing shoes that do not exist. Her shirt and other accessories exist in store but if you like her shoes you are out of luck. What makes it odder is that there are similar shoes in the boy section, just in different colours.
I just bought a pair of Club Monaco frames at my local Lenscrafters - apparently they just recently got them in stock. I would ask them instead... Since they're the ones who would actually be selling it to you, it's much more likely they'd be more obliging and get it shipped in from another store.
hehe, Beaver(ly), lol
@Evan MacIsaac: It's amazing that they tried to up-sell you even after proving that it's practically impossible to get those frames. Weren't they supposed to get you to buy insurance before you found that out?
Club Monaco merch is garbage anyways, shop elsewhere. I bought a few very expensive pairs of jeans from them, and *every single pair* ripped in the *exact same spot* within only a month or two of wear. A $400 parka I also purchased fell apart within a week. The store manager was somewhat helpful - repairing the jacket, but telling me I was SOL with the jeans because they had already been worn and washed.
Yeah... never again.
Club Monaco is owned by Ralph Lauren, and RL's glasses & sunglasses are licensed by Luxxotica - perhaps you can find something similar by either brand?
It's a shame when one of your favorite stores ends up in the Bad Store Bin on your favorite store watchdog site.
FWIW, the clothes I've bought from there last YEARS. Even the toss-away T-shirts from there, once they got old I'd wear them to the gym, but they still didn't wear out. They're still in shape enough to wear to casual day at the office.
I would imagine the reality is, they subcontract the store artwork to the lowest bidder. The contractor provide a bunch of stock pictures. Profit all around.
I'm not sure if this is the case, but it's a perfect capsule description of capitalism- the appearance of quality and thoughtfulness and caring about the customer, but the underlying reality, whatever bullcrap it takes to make more money.
The truth is, er, your glasses are out there.
I want to believe.
I'd never heard of this store before, apparently there's a store in the Galleria here in Houston, but I don't shop there.
Anyways, op is right, go to the site...click on eyeware and the only glasses on there are their line of aviator sunglasses....seems pretty useless!
@zandar: Then, too, clothing manufacturers often produce prototypes for use in ads, but they never go to mass-production because the product development group scraps them for one reason or another (too expensive, anticipated low demand, etc). I work for a clothing company and have seen ads which feature clothing items that were never mass produced, but the models wear them anyway. Sort of like sending a model down the runway in a fashion, but not mass-producing it because it's just to garner attention for your work.
They do this all the time at Neiman Marcus with their catalogs... there have been several items I see in some X-Mas or upcoming season catalog that I really want, but then I'm told that they've never had that item in their inventory--ever.
Apparently stores like to take pictures for catalogs months in advance before they even secure agreements with suppliers to sell those products. I know this isn't the same situation as the OP, but it's pretty close.
Those glasses show who is an alien in disguise. That's why everyone involved "disappeared"...
@tangent4:
How funny, I JUST bought a pair of Club Monaco sunglasses yesterday at a Lenscrafters too...AND I'm leaving for Mexico tomorrow.
Gulp....maybe I need to share my itinerary with US intelligence...
@Mad Dog McCree: And Enemy of the State, Shadow Conspiracy, National Treasure (kinda), Conspiracy Theory, Pelican Brief, The Fugitive, US Marshals... there are tons of them.
That is some Dark City shit right there...