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CB Glasses and Lenses Lens.com Astronomical processing fee for contact lens order
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Lens.com review: Astronomical processing fee for contact lens order 8

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Author of the review
11:58 am EST
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Customer since 2014... Last order placed 12/26/2020 and was charged processing fee of $110.38... I immediately contacted the company and was simply told "that was their processing fee"... I escalated the issue as I have never paid more than $35.96 for a processing fee (last order was 8/2020 and fee was $29.54)... Continued to reach out via email and was finally told on Jan 3rd that my complaint was escalated to leadership... I reached out again on Jan 11, 12 and now this morning and have never been contacted back... I am now in the process of disputing charge with the credit card company... I have included the processing fees paid so you can see for yourself the ridiculous amount charged this last order:
4-2014 $18.16
3-2015 $26.47
8-2015 $26.11
9-2016 $35.96
9-2017 $25.51
9-2018 $25.99
12-2019 $27.51
8-2020 $29.54
12-2020 $110.38

I understand I owe for the contacts but I refuse to pay that amount for processing!

Desired outcome: Credit for processing fee (all of it since this has been so time consuming and stressful!)

8 comments
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Kimba529
Worcester, US
Jul 18, 2023 7:18 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Unfortunately, I was victim to Lens.com 'processing fee" of over $100. I never thought to look for reviews as I had ordered from them in 2019 and had very good luck and no processing fee. I have been arguing for days with them, only to be quoted a whole lot of BS. "the system adds the fee automatically" "we can't refund the fee" yatta yatta yatta. I am so disgusted. I will forward my correspondence and invoice to my local Attorney General's Consumer department and file a complaint, but this company seems untouchable. I notice all of the reviews they show are excellent ones.

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Rebecca123456
, US
Jul 13, 2023 1:16 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Same thing happened here. Ordered contacts for 360.00 and saw bill was 520, now that just didnt make sense. Processing fee should be 1-3%. I was shocked and cancelled the order but now need to find contacts somewhere else. Its so annoying. Feel irritated and scammed. Why cant they just charge the amount for the lenses and not deceive us. I hate being deceived.

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Alfred Sta.Iglesia
, US
Jan 31, 2023 10:14 pm EST

Wow.

Another long time customer here that's disgusted by this ridiculous scam and will never buy from them again.

I ALMOST pulled the trigger and thank god I noticed the total amount before clicking through on that last checkout screen. If it hadn't been so obscenely off-base from the previous screen (+$200 in fees and taxes and fees, plus more fees), I might have submitted the order.

I really hope a lawyer gets scammed by this and take these suckers down in retaliation.

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Jules Konetzki
, US
Jan 29, 2023 9:51 pm EST

called about total of order after not being able to find why total was so different, told about the processing fee and taxes, then hung up on by customer service rep when I stated it was nowhere. Sure they are getting hundreds of calls about the same thing. Hopefully one day there will be a successful class action lawsuit.

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eyecu
Seattle, US
Jan 12, 2023 6:38 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Same here. Customer since 2014, but noticed a huge disparity in cost when initiating my most recent order. Without a rebate, they show $72.24 per 90-lens box of 1-day lenses. Buy 8 boxes and the price (after rebate) is shown as $35.99 and rebate as $290. Great. The next screen in the checkout asks you to confirm where you want the boxes sent with a 'continue' button below it. When you accidentally scroll below that, you see a blowout of the order, with a whopping $241.92 in taxes and fees that "are compensation for servicing your order". That's the only place they show the added taxes/fees. If you click 'continue' and approve where to send the boxes, you miss that, because the final checkout screen never shows that added charge in its summary of your order. ... This is deceptive. Reporting this to my state's attorney general He's very responsive to consumer stuff like this. ... Even the rebate is designed with multiple failure points: Instead of just offering an instant rebate at the point of sale, they introduce things that will prevent some customers from getting their rebate money. You have to download and print out a form; you have to submit the form by a deadline; you have to send in proof of purchase panels from the boxes (never mind that lens.com already has proof that you have the boxes); you then have to wait for your rebate card; when your rebate card arrives, it has an expiration date on its usage. And now, they've delayed sending out rebate cards by, in my case, more than 6 months, because of "supply chain issues" due to the pandemic. It's all BS, just a method for them to keep millions in customer dollars in their corporate bank accounts to invest and capture $$$ in interest instead of simply returning it to you promptly or immediately at the point of sale. ... I tried to remove my credit card from my account, but they don't even let you do that. You have to contact customer service, where you're told the only way to remove your credit card info is to have them cancel your account. Which I did. They used to be good. They are worthless now.

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Drew6187
, US
Sep 13, 2022 5:10 pm EDT

It's their new, sleazy way to maneuver marketing. Let's say they can/choose to offer a modest 10% discount. They slash the price by 50%, then add a 80% "processing fee". Voila. When you shop around or price-compare, you only see the low price.

I do wonder if arbitrary processing fees are legal. I can sell you a new, legit car, for $20… plus a $30,000 processing fee.

What makes this extra onerous is that Lens.com completely hides the fee. At the very last step of checkout, you're magically presented with an amount drastically higher than earlier steps. Only when I talked to their support rep do they then give you a screenshot with the real cost breakdown.

I guess they took a lesson from the healthcare industry - before regulations about EOB's and minimal pricing transparency kicked in.

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Noquarter
New Haven, US
Jan 11, 2023 9:28 am EST
Replying to comment of Drew6187

Infuriating! So now I am looking elsewhere. I was gonna order contacts, After I added to cart, it showed a price of $13.84 x 8 boxes and total of $110.72 after rebate, cheap enough, but when I click "Checkout" the order summary showed $470.59 then $290.59 after rebate. There is an added $9.95 shipping, which is ok but then the $169.92 Taxes & fees. Definitely not $13.84 per box!

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John R Habib
, US
Jun 14, 2021 3:14 pm EDT

I for one am sick of this processing fee which I believe if challenged legally it would fail. It has been described to me as money that goes to GOOGLE for some reason but as I see it, what is so different between buying a contact lens or buying a pair of shoes? It's nonsense and let them know how you feel.