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mountain brands, businesses, events and more! From where to eat,
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OAKLEY
And we're back with another review for you. Remember these are not you're typical reviews. So lets do this. We've all had our favorites goggles or shades, since eye protection and style has been a thing for a longtime. And recently there has been a bunch of new comers to the eye protection market place. In our opinion more options and competition the better… especially after a bad experience with BIG corporate money grabs.
Decades ago I was working as race coach and lifeguard who purchased my first pair of Oakley Zero's. I really liked them, a bit pricey at the time, but I thought worth the investment because of the amount of time I spent working in the outdoors. Unfortunately, a few months in one of the arms broke, not at the hinge but right in the middle. When I contacted the customer service department, that was not outsourced back then, I got every excuse from unintended use to not covered by warrantee. After repeated attempts with different agents is was obvious I was getting nowhere with them and I still had to work.
So, I thought perhaps it was just one defective pair, and that maybe another pair of Oakley's would perform better. Wrong. The same thing happened again with the sunglasses and the customer service representatives. This time the saga ended differently. No they did not replace their failed product. And No they did not refund my purchase price or do anything to make it right. The difference was how this consumer feels about this brand. Since then Oakley has gone on to be BIG and successful doing business that way, and I have never spent one dime with them ever since.
As you can tell decades later I still live in the mountains and meet thousands upon thousands of visitors on the slopes, on the streets and at all kinds of events year-round. Anytime sunglasses or goggle talk comes up… so does this story. With so many sunglass and goggle options to choose from I suggest you look into the reputation of the company and the performance of their gear… don't fall for self serving advertisements and endorsements. Sometimes I wonder if they wish they simply replaced the broken merchandise rather than have a ski instructor and race coach telling people not to by their products for decades because the company won't stand behind it. Probably not.
They executed a calculated strategy that back-fired in this case, but made them successful. The moral of the story here was although everyone and company would want a second chance to earn back your business or trust… not everyone will make the most of it. YES, I still believe in second chances. Am I sour on Oakley? Of course I am… about being the victim of their corporate money grab and poor treatment, but I will always be an advocate for second chances no matter how many times I get burned. But once your business or brand burns me twice… well, you might find yourself getting more than just a little bad word of mouth advertising... you might end up here as the subject of a disappointing review too.
YEP... still Two thumbs down for the same reasons.
